Today marks the one -year mark for this blog.  It’s strongsarah.com’s blogiversary, which also means that today is the (4th) anniversary of  The Accident. That was a rough day, but it was also the start of something very cool. You just never know how things will unfold and evolve into something beyond your wildest imagination.

A look back at the past year is in order.  It has been a big year, most of which has been documented here. In the last 12 months I have evolved from kettlebell newbie to HKC instructor.  Not to be limited to kettlebell training alone, I became quite proficient at jumping rope, and also tried a Randy Couture MMA (mixed martial arts) workout that I loved.  I explored (and did not love) the Eat Stop Eat program. My kettlebell studio, Intensity Works, was conceived and opened, and I shared many details of that process. I worked through the Enter the Kettlebell (ETK) program twice and realized success with it,  nearly doubling my kettlebell pressing ability.  I struggled with physical limitations resulting from The Accident and worked around or through them. I even began to feel ready to register for the RKC Instructor course. Just contemplating that was a milestone for me. I feel pretty good about the last year.

The blog has been neglected a lot too. I didn’t want my posts to become too repetitive, so I stopped posting regularly when my workouts often looked the same.  When starting a small business became my focus, blogging dropped down the priority list.  Then, when a (cancer) bomb was dropped on my world, I started a new blog, strongersarah.com, which has received much more attention than this blog lately.

But, Happy Birthday to strongsarah.com.  I hope to be able to post many more workout triumphs over the course of the next year.  Possibly, I will even have the priviledge of posting my experiences at an RKC instructor weekend.  If not, maybe I will have at least registered for one by the time this blog turns 2.  I am grateful to all who have visited and commented and encouraged me here. This has been fun, and it is far from over.  You just never know how things will unfold, and I am excited to continue the adventure!

This morning I wasn’t even sure I could make it through today’s light workout.  My son came down with the same virus yesterday, and although he was over the “worst” of it, he was awake much of the night with body aches.  Of course this means I didn’t get much sleep either, so the thought of exercise wasn’t all that enticing this morning.

However, propelled by the desire to reestablish my normal routine, I made the workout happen.  Today consisted of clean and press ladders:  five ladders of three rungs each.  As usual, I added in chinups/rows as prescribed in the workbook.  Together that portion of the workout was difficult but doable.

The second half of my kettlebell practice consisted of 9 minutes of snatches performed at a comfortable pace.  I got through this, but not without experiencing more fatigue than usual, and probably less-than-stellar form for some of the reps.  Afterward I felt exhausted rather than energized.  I guess that’s to be expected, so I’m not too concerned.  And I am continuing with medium day of week 10 on Wednesday.  Tomorrow’s variety day may end up as a rest day, though.  I’m still not feeling 100%. 

My second, and somewhat unplanned workout of the day consisted of moving a large desk and heavy park bench into my future studio space.  The landlord had agreed to let me  have these pieces of furniture, which had been left by prior tenants in other units.  So my husband and I used our “functional” strength combined with some hand trucks to get the job done.  Look for pictures of the space and the two “new” pieces of furniture to be posted here later today.