It is finally Friday.
This is fabulous because it now is 2 weeks period until I am on my
plane. Crazy to think about really. My life really has come full circle if you think
about it. I just spent some time rereading some old blog posts from before I
went to Maui over 2 years ago. In June
of 2013. This also happened to be around the time that I joined the gym for the
first time. I had finally lost the
weight AGAIN and was close to 140 pounds and ready for my tropical Maui
vacation. But I was scared what would
happen when I returned from Maui because that was the same exact point I have
been at in my life so many times previously and I ended up gaining all the
weight back. I knew I needed something
different and enter the gym. It’s beyond
crazy to me to think about this entire journey I’ve travelled down. To find the woman I am today.
If you had told me 2 plus years ago, on the heels of going
to Maui that I would return in approximately 2 ¼ years to run a full marathon I’d
laugh my ass off at you. Although secretly I think I’d believe it. I remember that on that vacation I packed 1
running outfit because I thought it maybe might be fun to run outside on Maui
once. It never happened! At that moment
in time I was too scared to run outside in public. Crazy how 2 years can change a person to
their core. Today I read some of my
posts around that time and I kept smiling, and shaking my head and mostly just
felt grateful. I had no idea what
strength training was. I mean, sure, I knew what it was, but I’d never done
it.
When I got back from Maui within the week I was signing my
name on a million forms for a solid years’ worth of weekly personal
training. One of the best decisions I
ever made in my life. Seriously. My
random musings told me how I scared I was and afraid. I know now how life changing it all really
was. I spoke lots of the athlete that I
thought I was deep down on the inside. I
spoke of the fit chick that was dying to get out. And I did cut down on the running as per the
trainer. But what you love will always
find a way. It’s been a long journey and
a struggle at points. Balance is an
interesting thing. I found a true love
for my fit chick but also a strong realization that I am actually a bonified
runner. And that shit will never go away.
I embrace that now. Running is my
passion. But I can still lift and build
muscles and work on being the best overall all around version of myself.
I can certainly tell that running changed me. Truly running. After I did all the strength training and my
body did change I was still utterly disappointed with myself and how I
looked. A year post working out, when I
honestly looked great I wasn’t happy. I
still belittled myself and had way to many body image issues. But I wasn’t running the way I have the past
while. It’s like when I really started
to run, all the other stuff went by the wayside. It’s really been in the past year, but more
specifically the past 4-5 months since I really started this whole marathon journey
that I have found a sense of love and contentment and happiness within myself
and my body. It’s like I appreciate it
in a way now that I never did before. I
feel blessed that it is so strong and capable.
I remember back almost 2 years ago now, when I was standing
at that defining moment where I knew I was at the brink of some major upheaval,
something big going down in my life that I pretty much looked at Chris and told
him… this is it, I am not turning back now. I have turned a corner and I know
now I am a different person. That I am
moving forward full steam ahead with this life and either you get on board for
the ride and allow me to soar or you need to get the fuck out of my way. That sounds harsh but I remember the
conversation clearly. I knew I was in
route to bigger things. To his credit,
Chris was never standing in my way. And
to his credit, he got on board. The man
is running a marathon after all. But it’s
like this inner beast in me was awoken and once she was, there was no caging
her again. I’ve pretty much felt that way solidly for the last 2 years of my
life. But nothing like I’ve felt the
last 4-5 months.
Marathon training has changed me. It has once again been that major crossroad
of my life that everything is suddenly different and I can’t ever go back. I can’t explain it. I don’t know why that is. But it just
is. I am forever altered and that is
perfectly okay. Joining the gym was one
of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life, and deciding to run a marathon
was another one. 2 of my greatest most
defining life altering moments.
When I got back from Vegas in May, actually on May 14 to be
exact I was 153.1 pounds and my body fat percentage was 26.9%. I have an OMRON body fat machine I bought
from Amazon years ago. But funny thing
is I didn’t hate myself. I didn’t really care about those numbers. But I just generally knew that I
wanted/needed to overall be in a bit better condition to run a marathon. And thus that Marathon Training began. REALLY began.
And so to begin the best 4 months of my life. Funny how I describe training for a marathon
as the best time of my life. But somehow
it has been.
I really was just doing the things that I love for the past
4 months and in doing so, found myself completely. I didn’t “intentionally” lose weight, not
really. I didn’t intentionally try to
drop my body fat. These were all just
the side effects of doing what I love.
And this is probably what has made it the best time of my life. I was truly enjoying my life. Bonding with my husband. Doing these epic things and feeling great and
happy. The body was the side
result.
This morning for the hell of it, I took my body fat again.
Yup. 21.3%. Yesterday
my weight was 134.1 So that means, just
by doing my thing, in 4 months I went from 153.1 t0 134.1 and from 26.9% to
21.3% That is pretty insane. And because body fat percentages mean not a
whole hell of a lot to me, I looked it up.
Turns out that’s LEAN. For my age
that puts me in the lean category. Yes, the high end of lean. But still
lean. Women have 10-13% essential body
fats. Meaning that for us to function we
are simply going to be 10-13% body fat.
That is our zero point, unless you are like insanely shredded or doing
steroids. At like 14-15% women start to
lose their periods, etc. That is about
the lowest women tend to get 14% ish.
Anyway, without really trying or working at it I will gladly be thrilled
with 21.3% honestly. Who am I kidding I’m
not putting out the muscle building effort as of late that I have in the
past.
I actually miss some heavy strength training and fully
intend to tackle it again once I get back from Maui. I am NOT giving up running though. I will still try to come up with some plan
and stick to it. I need consistent
running in my life and basically I don’t want to lose my ability. I want to
always be able to run a half marathon on a moment’s notice. That’s my plan.
I don’t tend to track my body fat the way I do my weight
because well it doesn’t change that often I think. But I do have a few numbers from my life here
and there. When I joined that gym and
signed up for personal training back on 6/17/13 my starting body fat was
27.7% Those first couple months when I
didn’t run so much and hit up strength training really hard I did get my body
fat around the 21% mark, somewhere around there. But that was the only time I’ve seen it that low. I’m thrilled with where it’s at right
now. Again, I don’t anticipate it
getting much lower. This is pretty much
as good as it gets for me. This is
pretty much me in my peak condition right now.
You probably don’t get much better than 2 weeks before a marathon that
you’ve spent 4 months training for. I
accept that. I really do. I would anticipate that all the numbers are going to
go up a little. But for today, I am just happy with where I’m at.
This all leads me to that whole post Maui what now
thing. Seriously. I anticipate and
expect an increase in weight and body fat.
But I don’t want to gain a ton. I
really do like where my body is at right now. I feel so good about myself.
Probably partly because I am working towards such an identifiable goal. But I’m just going to have to try and figure
something else out honestly. That’s
pretty much my thinking. And for the
record Chris is experiencing the same kind of results by marathon training
to. He is down almost 20 pounds and
dropped about 6-7% body fat too. He is
also loving his body and results right now so he’s not keen to give it up
either. I keep telling him that when we
get back I just want to go right back to the way we’ve been living and
eating. He agrees. So maybe. We will see.
I’m pretty happy and content and excited about life. Who wouldn’t be excited about going to Maui
in 2 weeks and accomplishing a goal you’ve been working towards for a solid 4
months. Anyhow. As for the rest of it.
Well today is a much needed rest day. I
realized last night at the gym how much I needed a rest day when my body didn’t
want to do boot camp class. It was
HARD. I realized my legs were sore. My butt was on fire and my hamstrings were in
pain. Yup. The night before kind of
fried them. I had mentally promised
myself I was going to burn 400 calories.
I was only at 250 post class. I didn’t want to run. I ended up on the stair climber. That thing is a beast. My heart rate doesn’t get higher than it does
when I run but I drip sweat in an unbearable way. I ended up doing 20 minutes and got to 450
calories burned. GOOD enough.
And I am overall tired and glad today is a rest day. I need
it. My body needs the day to repair itself.
No half marathons this weekend.
There is one tomorrow I considered but ultimately passed because I didn’t
want to spend the money. It would be
like $80 for each of us and right now, on the heels of going to Maui that seems
like a waste of $160. We don’t need to
run another half nor do we need another medal.
And honestly we don’t need the mileage. My training plan is calling for
8.5 miles this weekend. That’s it. We
are going to go to a park and just run.
Run somewhere between 8.5 and 10 miles is my plan. That’s it.
So this was me this morning. Yeah Friday!
And then these happened yesterday and honestly they are good
so I’m going to share them.
Oh yeah, this is my body right now at 134 pounds. I like
having documentation of that because I promise you in another 2 years I might
be back here reading this exact post. Seriously. Comparing numbers and
percentages, etc. And that
transformation. Well, you get the idea.
Okay that’s about all I got for now.
1 comment:
You're gonna rock in Maui. What's next? Iron Man?
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