swinging from a tree

Goals.

I’m a semi-goal person. This means I like attainable goals, not ridiculous ones. I like checking things off lists. I like working hard towards something and achieving it. I consider myself a practical girl – reasonable, realistic. This plays into the goals I set. I make them reasonable and realistic…but ones that just don’t happen unless I work towards them.

Last spring I set a fitness goal. It was totally random and probably only makes sense to a handful of people. Some people set goals to run a 10K or a complete their first triathlon….I decided to work towards a muscle up on the rings. I was told by my Crossfit coach that it was a realistic goal for me. In a basic sense, a muscle up is a move where you go from hanging on the rings to supporting yourself above the rings. You can do this with a swing (kipping) or without a swing (strict). I’ve been working towards a

kipping ring muscle up. My goal was to be able to do one by my birthday.

I’m pretty sure I’ve watched every online instructional video. I’ve tried countless exercises that build up to the muscle up. I’ve gotten a million tips from those that can do them. I’ve recorded my attempts and replayed them looking for what I need to change. I even bought rings so I could work on drills at home because I can’t exactly spend all day at my Crossfit gym.

My birthday was this week. No muscle up.

My coaches keep telling me it just needs to click in my head. Like riding a bike.

I learned to ride a bike really fast. I really want that clicking in my head to happen soon.

I’m used to setting goals, working hard and achieving them. This whole muscle up thing has drove me crazy. Instead of scanning Pinterest for crafts, I’m scanning it for muscle up tips. Seriously. I need to get this muscle up so I can return to hot glue guns and mod podge.

While I’ve been practicing, my boys have joined in too. My eight year old (pictured below) is pretty determined to do one too.

When I showed up at the gym the morning of my birthday a good friend surprised me with balloons attached to Ring Pops – in honor of my ring muscle up goal. I didn’t meet my goal. On the way home, another friend called to ask me if I got it. She didn’t know what a muscle up was or why it was a big deal to me, but she knew it was and she was cheering me on. She also encouraged me and said she was sure I’d learn something from this experience and have a blog post to write about it – she knows me so well!

So, I didn’t meet my goal. I set a new one. My 8 year old made a wager with me if I can’t do it by Christmas. Christmas it is.

I may not have done a muscle up this week, but this week was a reminder of how fortunate I am to have good friends and family. People that love me enough to cheer me on even when I am doing something that doesn’t make any sense at all to them. As much as I would have liked to reach my goal, I’m thankful for the conversations I’ve had with my kids as a result of not reaching it. They’ve seen me doing strange drills from rings on the stairs, they’ve glanced over to see me doing dips on park benches and they’ve joined me in swinging all crazy from a tree. They watched me work hard and not make my goal. I’ve had to process my frustration in front of them and with them. It is easier to tell them to not give up and work hard…it is a lot harder to live it out in front of them. Harder, but better I think.

Now, they are going to watch me not give up and they’ll be the first to celebrate with me when I get it before Christmas. I’m going to get it. I am not letting my son win!

**I shot the images above from a really low angle, so he looks higher than he actually is. Also, please no Crossfit controversy in the comments. That is not the point of this post. Thank you