A Small Reveal

I alluded to a complete change of lifestyle in my last post. It drew a lot of interest and some questions so I contemplated doing a 'halfway' reveal. That would be next weekend but I still am not sure I'm ready to open myself up for input, criticism, or commentary from the general public yet. Sean and a couple of my closest friends have seen and supported me through the last 5 weeks. It's not always easy to be patient and trust the process. I want instant results just like everybody else. So instead of completely unveiling my new plan and body I thought I'd share the overview and a sneak peek instead.

The easiest way to explain what I've been doing is to say it's a balance between exercise, nutrition, and supplements. I'm hitting the gym 11 times per week. I run 5 days per week and lift 6 days. I combine easy runs and speed work and I hit every body part with weights at least once per week. I eat 'clean' 98% of the time. That's no joke! I eat 6 times per day, 7 days a week. One of those meals on Sunday gets to be a 'cheat' meal where I go out to eat with friends or family and splurge on a burger or a milkshake. And every day I follow a routine of supporting my nutrition and workouts with a careful selection of supplements.

Today's cheat meal at Rockhoppers

(Split with my mom!)

The results of this complete change have been astounding. I'm still waiting on an appointment to get my body fat percentage checked so I don't know where I started or where I am now (yet). But I have seen huge changes and my clothes fit differently than ever before.  My performances are improving on both runs and weights. And my energy is through the roof.

And here's the proof:

Completed 5k on the treadmill, the day after leg day and after going out dancing last night, in 24 minutes. My previous best was 24:27 and that was back in 2012. After only 5 weeks I have already met one of my 2015 goals (set a new 5k PR!).

AND

I'm stronger and happier with my body than ever before. Every week I go heavier, go harder, find another way to tweak my nutrition. And while I can't wait to share the full transformation with everyone, right now I am enjoying the journey and focusing on learning and growing on my own. 

Are you ready for 2015? Have you set your goals and outlined the steps to reach them yet?

The Journey

This week has been rough. I'm not complaining though. I expect hard and I want tough. I knew when I registered for Burning River 100 that 'easy' was a thing of the past. Sure I might have easy runs or recovery runs on my schedule but they'll come after hard workouts and more mileage than I have ever consistently run before. I'm going to feel muscles I didn't know I had and I'm going to have to train through illnesses and minor injuries. No more 'playing it safe'.

And, as I thought about this today, I was reminded again how deeply running and life mirror eachother. I started coming down with a cold early this week. By Thursday I felt awful with stuffy head, runny nose, sore throat, headache, body aches and fever. However, I sucked it up and went to work. I felt thankful it was a rest day, sure that I would wake up tomorrow feeling better. But then tomorrow came and I felt WORSE. All through work I wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed. There was no way I could run.

I had a hard workout on the schedule Friday and my long run scheduled for today. I put some effort into figuring out what to do. And I came up with pushing everything back one day. Run my time trial today and my long run Sunday. I'm extremely happy that I woke up feeling better, not 100% but better, today. Because you know what they say about the best laid plans...

As I hit the treadmill (my safety net in case I was still too sick and had to cut it short) for a warm up, 5k time trial, and cool down I thought about how there are no short cuts in life or running. I want a degree so I do the homework and studying sometimes late at night when I should be sleeping. I want to have a meaningful blog so I make time to write about things and leave myself notes with ideas all over. I want to run one hundred miles so I will put in a thousand miles (or more) of training. And that reminded me of my favorite quote and necklace...

 

The front of a necklace is a compass rose and the back says, "The journey begins today." It is a reminder of the quote from Lao-Tzu and I purchased it when I was just beginning to run. I have no idea of the company who made it or anything about it except I have been wearing it for the past four and a half years and it reminds me that I made the first step, the hardest step. Now it's up to me to finish the journey.

On July 28, 2013 when I cross the Burning River finish line I will finally feel that I've completed the journey I set out on in 2008. It doesn't mean my journey will be over, just that it will head in another direction. I can't wait to see what 2013 holds!

Do you have a favorite quote? A favorite piece of jewelry? What inspires you to give it your all every day?