2014 - One last look back, and some goals for 2015

In 2013, I had a total of 206 training/exercise days, and 154 of them were CrossFit days.  In 2014, despite losing a lot of time to prostate cancer surgery early in the year, those two numbers remained exactly the same.

I count a day as an exercise/training day if I run, bike, do CrossFit, lift weights, or go on a focused hike, rather than a meandering walk.  Often, my warm summer weekend days will be a mix of walking and jogging with my 2 Rhodesian Ridgebacks.

I would like to see my total exercise days be a bit higher.  In the past 5 years, I have gradually dropped from about 250 days per year to just over 200.  I think the progression has been something like 248, 227, 212, 206 and 206.  Part of the drop-off is simply that I no longer compete in running events, so I run less on the weekends.  I also fly fish about 40-50 days per year, and I never count those days as exercise, although I occasionally have long days with tough wading that are as challenging as any other training day.  It just seems to me that fishing can't be counted as exercise.

The prostate cancer really messed with some other bio-markers as well.  When I got my diagnosis, my weight was decreasing.  This was partially due to the fact that I was taking testosterone replacement therapy, but I was also training hard.  I had hit a peak lifetime weight of 242 in 2012.  By the fall of 2013, I had gotten down to 218.  My eventual goal is to see 200 or so again.  Given the amount of lifting I do, that would be a good place for me.

When I was diagnoses with prostate cancer, I had to stop the testosterone replacement.  I also lost a lot of training time before and after my surgery.  I finally felt like I was 100% again around April of last year.  By then, my weight had gone from 218 to 235.  I felt weak and out of shape.

In July of this year, with my weight still near 235 pounds, I was able to resume using testosterone.  In the six months since then, my weight has dropped to 225 pounds.  So, I'm not back to where I was before surgery, but I'm getting close.  As long as the cancer does not recur, I still think that getting to 200 pounds is a reasonable goal, but something that may take 1-2 years.

This past year, I did manage to put up a few decent numbers in the gym.  I got my bench press over 200 pounds for the first time ever.  By December, I'd gotten that lift to 210.  My Olympic lifts had been fairly stagnant due to a shoulder injury that plagued me for a lot of 2013.  This past year, the shoulder was much better after having been treated with platelet rich plasma.

In 2014, I set new personal records for the snatch (I only power snatch due to shoulder mobility issues), power clean, squat clean, split jerk, push jerk, and clean and jerk.  These were mostly lifts that improved because I got better at them, rather than being stronger.  My best pure strength lift of the past year was probably a 285 pound front squat.  My back squat and deadlift were fairly strong going into my surgery a year ago, and I simply have not recovered enough to get back to that level yet.  Hopefully this year will see me putting up good numbers on those lifts again.

So, here are some goals for this coming year.

Lose some weight, but slowly and safely.  Getting to 210-215 by the end of the year would be enough to make me happy.

Go to CrossFit at least 160 times.  Do at least 225 workout/training days.  Ski at least 45 days.

Get to 450 in the deadlift, 380 in the back squat, 300 in the front squat, 225 for the bench press, 145 for the power snatch, and get over 200 for any variation on the clean and jerk.

Fly fish about 50 days.

Add more hiking and running to what I do, even if it's short runs a couple times per week and perhaps a weekend hike with my wife.

And lastly, have fun.  All of these things remain fun for me, and as soon as they aren't fun, I'll find something else to keep me busy.

Last year was a tough one for our immediate family, with too many illnesses.  My son had some health issues, my father-in-law had surgery for melanoma, my wife had 2 surgeries for melanoma (and is still facing 4 weeks of radiation), and my wife likely needs another significant surgery very soon.  Plus I was dealing with prostate cancer.  Cancer seems to have become a recurring theme in our lives, and I'm hoping that will change this year.  So, while this isn't a goal, my biggest wish for this year is good health for all the people in my life.  I'm really, really tired of doctors, hospitals, and never-ending medical bills right now.