Sports & Adventure: Fitness

Why do you want to do this?

Going to Costa Rica in March 2011 to celebrate my 40th birthday at a surf school is literally a dream come true. But it's winter in Oregon and we go weeks and sometimes months without surfable waves. My arms are flabby! I refuse to get to Costa Rica and not be able to make progress with my surfing skills because I'm too tired to paddle out. I want my paddle muscles to be in top shape come time to leave for my trip - March 17th.

What three things will you need to make this happen?

Encouragement - last year at this time I did a "50 sit ups in 50 days" challenge and my brother did it with me. There is NO WAY I could have made it without him. He's not available this year to be my daily workout/encouragement partner, so I'm going to need to enlist others to help keep me on track.

Resolve - there were times in my daily challenge last year when I realized I'd forgotten my sit ups at 3:00 AM and I'd crawl out of bed to get them done! That's resolve! I need to remember why I'm setting this goal and stay focused enough to stick with it. (Organization would also help so I'm getting my push-ups done before 3:00 AM.)

A plan - I need to come up with a short routine of exercises that will target my paddle muscles. Sadly, I think that's going to mean sit ups again, and also a few yoga stretches, push ups (of which I can do zero right now), and some bicep curls/tricep extensions with my dumbbells. And I need to up my running to ensure I get in three 5k's a week. I'm quite lame right now managing about one run a week. Totally not enough. I need to increase my endurance so I can enjoy three long and tasty surf sessions a day on vacation.

What is the biggest barrier to your achieving this?

I'm incredibly busy right now with work, school, and helping my family. I'm getting very little sleep as it is, so adding another thing to my list - even something small and very good for me - feels incredibly stressful. I want to get back into the mindset that it's better to cut almost anything else than it is to cut exercise from my daily routine. I have to make it a real priority, especially if I'm not going to wimp out in Costa Rica!