An Insight from the book An Accidental Athlete by John Bingham

I just finished reading this amazing book! If you are running or if you are a 40-something looking at Adult- Onset Athleticism, this book is for you! I loved every second of reading this book and was sad to see it end.

However, towards the end of the book, there was a passage that made me think of our relationship with the Scale and our Weigh Ins.

“I was not alone. Standing at the finish line of races today, I see people come across the line angry with themselves and disappointed with their times. They’re grumpy when they finish. There’s no joy in their faces.

I want to grab them and remind them that life doesn’t guarantee that they will see another start line, let alone another finish line. i want them to be grateful for what they have achieved, not discouraged by what they did not.”

How often do we step on that scale and see a number we would just rather not see? In one moment we have forgotten about all that hard work that had gotten us here to this moment. We have forgotten about all of the weight we have lost up to this point. We have forgotten all of those Non-Scale Victories that we have under our belt. We let that moment with a less than perfect number on the scale bring us down.

When in reality, there are no promises in life! There is no guarantee that we will make it to another weigh in. Are we going to let a less than perfect Weigh In rob of us of all of our joy and achievements and hard work it has taken us to get here. Are we going to let it stop us from celebrating the life we are living right NOW? NO!!!!!!!!!

Thank God (or whoever/whatever you believe in..or just yourself) that you have taken the steps to get where you are right now. What a huge accomplishment that is! Even if this is your first week, your first official weigh in and its not as big or as great as you would like…YOU ARE HERE!!! That is so much better than you were just last week or 2 weeks ago when you were burying your head in the sand. Celebrate THAT!

My Epic Face Plant…Every one should do it at least once in their lives!

I have been boarding this same ski hill for 9 years now. Bogus Basin Ski Resort just outside of Boise, Idaho. It’s my play ground all year-long!

For the last 9 years, every time I rode up the Morning Star Chair lift I would look down at the tracks beneath me. Skiers and boarders have been playing in the “off trail” powder, making their own path down the mountain just beneath these chairs. Every year, I say, “I wish I could do that.”

This year, I decided that I WAS going to do that! The last time I went up to Bogus, I was with my son. He managed to almost kill me with some crazy hard runs and we never made it to the chair lift run that I wanted to take. So today, with 12″ of powder over the last week, I decided today was the day. My legs were just about done for the day, but this is what I wanted! I rode up the chair lift and looked down planning the path I would take. I couldn’t wait to play in that off trail powder. (Off trail powder has been my goal all year…reaching out and doing trails that are new to me and un-groomed and a bit more risky.)

I was reaching the top of the chair lift, and getting ready to exit. I had made my plan and was I was ready! I slid off the chair and down the ramp with expert precision. I strapped my board on and headed towards my run. Immediately, I was taking a new path; even getting to this run was new to me!

The powder was a bit sticky and almost slushy as today was perfect spring conditions. I was gliding along and just reaching the Chair Lift line. The chairs were full and I was in full view of the Lifty (chair lift operator) Shack that was just up hill from me. I had not a care in the world and was totally enjoying my day, when…….BAM!!!!

I have no idea what happened. But all of a sudden I found myself bashing my face into the snow, helmet hitting the ground and bouncing back up. I was on my knees and hands (all fours) and I was sliding to a stop, all the while laughing my head off. Finally, I stopped and turned around to sit on my bottom. I looked up to see where I was, and sure enough, there were chairs right over my head. There were people in those chairs. I had an audience for this amazing fall.

I scooted to the edge of another drop in to my run and sat there for a minute. I had snow INSIDE of my goggles. (How the heck did THAT happen?) I took off my goggles and cleared them of any snow. Above me a chair rider yelled down, “You can do it!” I laughed and replied, “I know I can! Thanks!”

Up I stood and aimed my board back down the hill. Sliding and turning. Surfing through the white powder. Listening to the sound of my board cutting through the powder as if it was butter; it was making a different sound than normally it does. (Gotta love spring conditions!) I turned to find as much untouched snow as possible. I glided over a scary narrow path with a chair lift pole on one side and a cliff with brush on the other. I kept going. Soon, there was a huge dip ahead of me. I squatted down deeper and built up some speed going down the path and hit that dip, and “Swoop!” up I went catching a bit of air before landing back down in the soft snow. Down I continued going, cutting back and forth. I had a HUGE grin on my face.

Finally, the end of my run merged with another main stream run and I was back on the groomed trails racing back to the chair lift to take another run!

Since that run went so amazingly, face plant & all, I decided to take another scary run in the search for fresh powder through the trees! THAT was so much fun!

It dawned on me, today. Sometimes we gotta take a face plant in front of an audience & pick ourselves up and keep going along our path if we want to reach our dreams & our goals! Never mind the nay sayers and those who will laugh at us; just keep heading in the directions of our dreams, and the journey will totally be worth it! I know my powder run was! I can’t wait to do it again!

52nd Week…..”Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end” ~ Green Day

My official weigh in was March 13 and my official 1 year anniversary with Weight Watcher’s was March 15.  I am 60.8# down in 52 weeks.  I went from 246.6# to 185.8#.  I went from a size 22 pair of jeans to a size 12. I went from wearing XXL shirts to L.  I went from a size 20/22 dress to size 14 dress.  I went from being a couch potato to a bonafide athlete!  But the 52 week journey was about so much more than numbers on a scale, what size clothing I wear, the race finisher medals or how great I look.

In the last 52 weeks, my blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol all returned to normal/healthy levels!  My skin looks healthier.  And my emotional life is healthier.  I learned to say what I feel instead of stuffing my emotions (most of the time). I learned how to let go of relationships that no longer served me. I learned how important it is to find the right job and not just any job.  I learned that taking the first step may be scary, but its the only way you will get anywhere in life!

A year ago, I was afraid to take this first step back into a Weight Watcher’s meeting.  I was afraid of being a failure again.  I was afraid my family would roll their eyes and say, “Oh no, here she goes again. I wonder how long this will last?!” I was afraid I would be a quitter and hear (in my head) my mom’s voice, “You’re a quitter!”.  Heck, I was even afraid of the success I could be. “What if I lose all of this weight and completely change?  What if my friends and family don’t like the change?”  But there comes a time when you just have to take a deep breath, close your eyes and force your foot forward and don’t look back!

As a runner, I have often heard, “You will never regret going out for your run, but you will always regret not going out for your run.”  The same can be said for most any other first step!  What is keeping you from taking that first step? It doesn’t have to be Weight Loss. It could be about a job change or getting back out there and finding the mate of your dreams.  It could be about anything.  Are you standing at the edge and waiting, over analyzing and weighing the pros and the cons?  What could happen if you just stopped all of that and took that first step? GREATNESS could happen!  Yes, there could be bumps along the way, but you will never know what is out there until you take that first step!

Look at me. I took that first step 52 weeks ago.  Now I’m healthy!  I’m running races.  I’m reaching my goals. I’m belly dancing for live audiences.  My family still loves me.  My friends still love me. I have done my inner work along the way and in doing so have opened up doors for past friendships to be rekindled. I have learned to forgive myself and I’m actually HAPPY… TRULY HAPPY!  And just recently as I closed this chapter of 52 weeks, I also closed another chapter in my life.  I put in my 2 weeks notice for my job.  I have decided that I want to continue walking this path of health and fitness and to do so, I need to find a different job!  I want to inspire people to live a healthy lifestyle.  So I decided to become a Zumba Fitness Instructor!  I’m excited for the possibilities!  

What are you waiting for?  I know it isn’t easy. I know you are scared.  But you can do this!  Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and take that first step into your full potential!  Stop watching life pass you by, get out there and live it!  I would love to have you join me!  I will even be here to hold your hand when it gets dark and a bit scary.  Lord knows, you have been here to support me when my days got a bit stormy.  C’mon….you can do this!  It’s just one step.. JUST ONE.  Then you can take the next when you are ready.  Then pretty soon momentum will take hold and you will be running right through that finish line!

Just in case you need some inspiration, here are a few photos……

 

I had my week count wrong, almost to my year anniversary. In the mean time,check this out!

Last year around this time, my husband & I took a drive up the mountains on this road called Shaw Mountain. This road twists its way up, up & up some more. The pavement gives way to a dirt road that just keeps going. While we drove, we saw LOTS of runners and I said, “What are they doing? Don’t they know they are running up hill? They are CRAZY!” I wondered if maybe this road was the training grounds or maybe even THE course for Robie Creek 1/2 Marathon the Toughest 1/2 Marathon in the Northwest. As it turned out, it WAS the course for Robie.

Fast forward a year. I am a few days away from my 1 year anniversary with Weight Watchers. I am about a month away from my 1st anniversary with the 2nd love of my life, RUNNING! I managed to get a coveted race number for Robie Creek! There are 2500 slots & it sold out in 10 minutes! I got a number!

Saturdays are my long run training days. Instead of training on my local hilly road, I decided I NEEDED to get up to Shaw Mountain and actually train on the course. It’s 9 miles up hill, 3 miles down and 1 flat. Today, my plan was to run 8 miles on this road: 4 miles up, 4 miles back down using my 4 minute run & 2 minute walk cycle.

With iPhone, headphones and water on, it was time to hit the pavement. I started running up, up and UP! My mind played tricks on me. “Yay! I’m on pace! I can do this!” Moments later, “What the heck did I sign up for? I’m NEVER going to be able to do this!” I kept putting 1 foot in front of the other. I saw other runners running down hill & they were all smiles. Other runners passed me running up hill joking, “Are we there yet?”. But every runner I came across was all smiles. There was a sense of camaraderie as we all knew we were training for Robie Creek. We all had the same goal: to finish the Toughest 1/2 Marathon in the Northwest!

It’s a beautiful run through the mountains. And the spring snow run off sang a beautiful song along my running path. The sun was shining. The birds were singing. It couldn’t get any better!

My legs were hurting. My heart was pounding. I kept moving. I realized as cars passed me and the passengers turned to look at me that I AM one of those CRAZIES now and I’m PROUD OF IT!

At the 4 mile mark, I stopped to take a picture. A year ago, I drove in a car and watched life happen. Now I am LIVING my life! I am incredibly blessed to have these mountains as my play ground! I am incredible GRATEFUL for my health! I used to be walking horrible path that would certainly end in disease and death and NOW I’m running a path of health, joy, laughter and LIFE! I began my run back down. As I ran, I saw 2 deer running down the side of the mountain and leap over a fence post and kept running across the street into the brush on the other side. THIS IS MY LIFE NOW!

My life is so completely different now! I’m crying tears of joy as I type this. I may be one of those CRAZIES, but man if I am not enjoying every step I take along my path, whether it’s the journey up hill that makes my quads & glutes beg for mercy or the fun run down hill and everything in between! It’s a JOY to be living THIS life! And I wouldn’t change it for the world!

Today, I ran 8 miles in the mountains in 1hr 57min. I climbed 1292 ft in elevation and burned 964 calories! This is faster than the pace I have set for myself for the race! I am not only going to finish the Toughest 1/2 Marathon in the Northwest, but I am going to DOMINATE IT (at least *MY* version of dominating)!!! Man, I love my life!