Challenge... Accepted!

Last year I challenged A to accomplish a certain fitness goal and promised him a certain financial reward. Today it occurred to us (Well, me actually. I'm selfish like that) that I didn't have any incentive to get fit (you know... Aside from the health benefits yada yada yada). So we decided on something measurable. By next June, if I am able to successfully complete all of the necessary components to the police department physical fitness standards, I get my choice of a few "luxury" excursions while we are in Alaska next July. That's totally worth working out for!

That's the long-term goal. The short-term goal is to successfully complete one month of the squat/plank challenge. This is where you work up from doing a 20 second plank (think of holding a rigid push-up while on your elbows) and 25 squats on the first day to a six minute plank and 300 squats on the last day. So far I'm up to 40 seconds and 70 squats on day 6. It's definitely getting easier every day! I also added in some Pilates moves and a couple of yoga poses to increase my range of motion and strength. It feels good!

When we are done with this challenge, I plan to do the Burpee challenge (think old school military squat thrusts) which incorporates more cardio and requires greater range of motion in my hips... Gotta get them ready!

We just started looking at what we are going to do for fun during our upcoming trip to NH/ME and decided on some hiking in areas we've never been to before. I'm looking forward to it and hope that my hip feels as good through that as it does these days! With a little more strengthening, I think I'll be ready!