Over 200 lbs. Lost and 13.1 Miles Later

(Jessica, Justin, Me & Karilynn)

Here we are at the finish line of the Utah Valley 1/2 Marathon. We're all smiling because we made it to the end but i must say that it was a challenge and a half!!! Jessica and i walk/ran the entire race together and with out her i would NEVER have made it through. Quite a few weeks ago we had decided to try for a 15 minute mile but ultimately we wanted to finish in 4 hours. I crossed the finish line at 3 hours 31 minutes and 33 seconds. WHOOP!!!

It was an amazing experience. Jessica and i were talking about how it was the most difficult and painful thing we've ever chose to do next to natural child birth. HA HA At one point she said that she did not believe she'd ever do it again. I smiled and said, "I bet it is like child birth. Challenging and painful but after it's all said and done you forget about that part and just remember the awesome feeling at the end so you keep doing it over and over again." Well it turns out i was right!

I'm now training for the Layton 1/2 Marathon, October 9th. My goal for this race is to do it in under 3 hours. I think that would be a marked improvement and I'm almost certain i will do it. Regardless i will be thrilled to finish once again. It is the inaugural year of the Layton 1/2 and i think it will be really great to be a part of that.

This last month I've been spending TONS of time at the gym with my trainer. I've devoted all of my training to lifting weight and building muscle. This means that I've gained weight this month. I would be having a hard time with that fact if it were not for the fact that I'm losing inches, and a lot of them at that! I will likely start our next comp on July 1st with a 10 lb. gain but as you will see from my pics I'm looking HOT HOT HOT!!! Once the competition starts i will be weight training still but hitting the "leaning out" process really hard.

I CAN'T WAIT! I hope that any of you that haven't reached your ultimate goal will join in the fun all over again. I didn't win much in the last competition but i love have the support and getting to know a lot of you.

For those that know you're joining up... I'll be in touch!

My daughter Jade and I at the finish.

My freaking legs are noodles!!!

I had an appointment with Devin today (my trainer) and i was TOTALLY late. I had this crazy crappy morning and showed up to my appointment like 20 minutes late. i hauled butt into the locker room, threw on some clothes and busted into the weight room. With a day like today i was NOT going to miss my session even if i only had 30 minutes to work out.

REMIND ME NEVER EVER EVER TO BE LATE AGAIN!!!

Devin kicked my butt!!! Legs or Abs was the question she asked and i said, "whatever you can do in a half an hour." She said, "Legs!" So we set to work super-setting exercises. Going from abductors to wall sits and back again. One muscle to the next with little rests in between. I worked so hard i didn't know if i was going to be able to walk my wobbly butt down the stairs after we were done. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!

DANG do i feel like a million bucks! I love lifting weights SOOOOOOO much! I don't know why i ever for even one second forgot about that. It's freaking amazing. I feel so strong and empowered. I feel like i can kick butt and take name and it really takes my focus off the weight loss and the fat all together. Lifting weights gets me focused on how strong i am. How accomplished i can be and how hard i really can work for something.

I'd encourage ALL of you to get a trainer if you can. Even if it is for 1 week... work hard and dig in and you will be so impressed by yourself that all the self doubt and self loathing just melts away.