After sleeping for nearly 8.5 hours I took care of the animals and then headed to the gym for my final workout of 2014.

When I first got to the gym I worked on my shoulder range of motion, starting first with the green Rogue Monster band.  

With it tied to a bar overhead I alternated shoulder stretches with my elbows locked out, similar to hanging from a bar. After getting a deep stretch I tried turning my body away from each shoulder to get an even deeper stretch. 

I then tied the Thera-Band to work on elbow external and internal rotation, performing 25 reps per elbow per exercise for a total of 100 reps. 

It felt good to work through my mobility work pre-workout since I have been performing it either post-workout or later in the day. 

To keep my body guessing I crafted a new workout to target my arms, abs and get my heart rate up: 

Pyramid down from 15: 

• Alternating Exercise Band Curls (10-12 lbs band)
• Alternating Tricep Kickbacks (15 lbs per arm) 

Squat Jumps - 30 reps 
Exercise Ball Situps - 2 x 25 reps  

In the past when I have used a reverse pyramid I have taken a 30 second rest in between sets. Today I didn’t take any rest, performing the sets as quickly as possible. It left my body exhausted as I launched nearly immediately into squat jumps. 

I do think I could have done more squat jumps but it was the first time trying them since before my injuries so it was a shock to my system. 

It was the first time in a few weeks that I had used my exercise bands. I was happy that I was able to use the 10-12 lbs band instead of the smaller bands that I had been using. 

After working out I sat down to draft my three words post that will go live tomorrow. The words flowed easier than I expected them to. Once it was drafted I let it sit for a few hours before editing and staging it for publishing. 

As we get ready to welcome in 2015 I feel great about my three words, the goals that I have set out and the determination that we have as we start this coming year. 

Work continued to be fairly quiet today though I did have work to get through. It continued to trickle in throughout the day as we tried to close out on a few contracts. 

With that accomplished we headed out to the grocery store for our New Year’s Eve menu. This year we scaled back the menu to include: 

• Bacon cheeseburger sliders
• French fries
• Horseradish roast beef crostini
• Pepperoni and cheese
• Assorted chips and dips
• …and of course, bubbles

The grocery store was an absolute zoo. It was the busiest we have ever seen it but we made it through relatively unharmed. 

Once we got back from the grocery store we took time to relax and read. Since I finished “Inside the Box” last night, I bought “First: What It Takes to Win” by Rich Froning Jr. (both aff links).  

Both books are focused on CrossFit. It has been interesting diving deep into fitness topics such as obstacle course racing and CrossFit. I’m reading these alongside other fiction and non-fiction books so that it gives me variety to choose from. 

We were originally planning on cooking to eat around 6-7p since that is usually when the New Year’s Eve celebrations in New York City start except this year they decided to time-delay them to 8p, the same time that they started on the East coast.  

We broke out the chips and dips and decided to watch "Ride Along" since that had just arrived from Netflix. It was a funny movie and was a fun way to spend a couple hours tonight. 

We are now settling in to watch the various New Year’s Eve shows and performances. I’m not sure if we’ll make it until midnight since we weren’t originally planning on staying up that late but we will see. 

Wherever you are tonight I hope that you have a safe and wonderful New Year’s!