35 Burpees and More!

Hello there! I'm sure all of you have seen these fitness challenges going around. Most of them are around 30 days long and involve a wide range of activities. There is even one for naps! :) So on February 1st, I decided to do the burpee challenge. Have you heard of it?

I think most of us remember the burpee from grade school gym class. When I was a kid, I didn't like burpees and lets be honest, they didn't like me either. So what prompted me to choose this one? Several reasons. In my Train 2 Mud program that I'm "trying" to do, burpees are included on certain workout days. After doing them a couple times, I realized they really are a good overall workout. Also, one of the races I hope to run eventually ,called the Spartan Race, makes you do 30 burpees if you can't complete an obstacle. Not to be pessimistic, but I think I'll be doing A LOT of burpees during that race. I figure if I can master the burpee, I can master the race!

Today is Day 8 of the burpee challenge. I only did half my burpees for Day 6 (Day 7 was a rest day), so today I had to do 15 for Day 6 and 35 for Day 8. Oy! Can I just say BURPEES SUCK! Yes, they do. But man they are oh so good for you. I did my 15 this morning, then went and did my Train 2 Mud workout. Later this evening, I managed to get my 35 burpees in for today AND did 25 mins of yoga. I know what you're thinking, "Wow Julie! You are a beast!" No. Other than the burpee challenge, I haven't worked out in a week. It's not good. Especially, when my BIG race is in less than three months. Not. Good. At. All. But doing something, is better than nothing. Slowly but surely I am getting there.

Before I go for tonight, I want to list some of my short and long term fitness goals. By putting them out there, I hope it will help keep me accountable to them.

Short Term Goals:
- Complete the 30 day Burpee Challenge
- Drink only water/unsweet tea. (This one has been sooooo hard for me. I looooove sweet tea and cherry limeades. Mmmm!)
- Stick with the Train 2 Mud program.
- Sign up for smaller mud runs leading up to the Tough Mudder (the BIG one). I did this one today!!!!

Long Term Goals:
- 25 full body weight pullups (Currently I can do ZERO, but I'm working on it!)
- 100 full body weight pushups (Right now I can do three!)
- 5K in under 30 minutes. A more ambitious goal is to do it in under 24 minutes so I can compete at the front of the pack in the Diva Dash! (Diva Dash is one of the smaller races I signed up for.)

So there it is. The good, the bad and the ugly. Are you doing any challenges right now? If you are, which one(s) are you doing and how's it going? :)