Happy Motivational Monday! I'm home from Minnesota, and my brother's wedding was fantastic (I'll write about it tomorrow). The past couple of weeks have been SO busy, but things are back to normal for now. Vacation and the wedding were a great end to the summer!
I think it goes without saying that my proudest moment of the past couple of weeks was stepping WAY out of my comfort zone and wearing a bikini for the first time. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done (and I realize that sounds ridiculous), but I'm so glad that I did it.
Well, I have a ton of stories to share today, because it's been a couple of weeks since I prepared a MM post. Enjoy!
Tiina just completed her first triathlon! The race consisted of a 750 meter swim, a 24.5K bike ride, and a 5K run. Despite having panic attacks during the swim, and an extremely hot day, she pushed herself hard and finished in 2:10:14! (Tiina's race report)
Katie got engaged in 2010, but didn't want to set a wedding date because she was unhappy with her weight. She couldn't bear the thought of all those pictures being taken when she didn't feel good about herself. Last September, they finally set the wedding date, even though Katie wasn't at her goal. She put off wedding dress shopping until the last minute, and when she saw the pictures of her in the dress, she was really disappointed in her appearance. She joined Weight Watchers, and committed to exercising daily (exercise videos on YouTube, and training for a 10K race). By the time her dress came, she had lost 25 pounds and her dress had to be taken in! She is currently down 45 pounds and went from a size XL/14+ to a S-M/8. Even after the wedding, she's still working on getting to her goal weight and improving her fitness!
Felicia just recently PR'ed one of her favorite races--a 10-miler as part of The Crim Festival of Races in Flint, Michigan (they offer a 1-mile, 5K, 8K, and 10-mile race, along with a Special Olympics run). In November, 2011, she lost weight by eating better and exercising. Then in 2012, she started running. She beat this year's Crim time by about 5 minutes, finishing in 1:58:35!
Two years ago, Lesleigh ran her first race--a local 5K. She finished in 43:30, was very happy with her finish time, and developed a love for running. Since then, she's run several more races, including two half-marathons. Recently, she ran the same local race that started it all--and this time, she opted for the 10K. She finished in 1:03:30, exactly what she'd hoped to finish in! She's was thrilled that her 10K time was just 20 minutes more than her 5K time, showing just how much she's improved as a runner over the past couple of years.
Laura recently completed the We Glow Run 5K--and is proud that it was the first time she was able to run the whole race! She finished in 35:30, an 11:25/mi pace, which is faster than she's ever run that distance. She's also lost 65 pounds since she started running a few years ago!
Megan is a Family Medicine intern, which means she basically works 12+ hour shifts, 6 days per week, so she doesn't have much (if any) "free time" to train for a race--but she just completed a half-marathon! The long work shifts have made eating well and exercise difficult for her, but she managed to carve out the time necessary to train for this race when she really just wanted to go home and sleep. The race took place after her second month as an intern, so it was a crazy couple of months with the training and the working, but she did it!
In February, Melinda received some devastating news--her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. She didn't want to just sit back and see what happens, so she decided to do something that she thought was an impossible task--train for and walk the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure. The walk consists of 60 miles(!) split up over 3 days, so roughly 20 miles of walking per day. She raised the donation money, and started training in early March. She completed 570 miles of training before the weekend of the walk. And last weekend, she did it!! She walked 60 miles over 3 days, and when she crossed the finish line, the tears started rolling at the feat she'd just accomplished. (By the way, Melinda's mom is doing great--she's been through chemo and a mastectomy, and now she's got about five weeks of radiation left, and she should be in the clear.)
Angela recently ran her first 5K! She and her husband had a trip planned to Calgary, Canada (her hometown) and she noticed that there was a race the day after she arrived. She and her best friend, Shannon, signed up to do the race together, and she trained for two months (in the Alabama heat). They set a goal to finish under one hour, and she ended up finishing it a full 15 minutes faster than that! She said it was great to share this experience with her best friend, because they live so far apart.
Denise has always been into fitness, doing DVD's, Body Pump, Zumba, kickboxing, etc, for the past 20 years, which has kept her in shape. Feeling tired of the usual routine, she decided to give running a try about a year ago. She was surprised to find how difficult it felt, despite being in good shape! A few months ago, a friend suggested signing up for a half-marathon, so she agreed and started training right away. The race was very tough, being hilly with six miles of trails, but she did it! She felt very strong through the race, and despite her pace being slower than expected (due to the tough course), she had a great time. She's even planning to do another half in December!
Crystal is training for her second half-marathon. Her first was in March, and was very difficult because she wasn't sure how to fuel properly. Yesterday, she tried using ShotBloks and fizzy tabs of Gu for water, and it made all the difference. She planned to run 11 miles, but was feeling so great that she ended up running an impromptu practice half-marathon. Her goal for the half-marathon is 2:30, and she actually finished this one in 2:25!
Amber recently made some changes that she is very proud of, and she's lost 29 pounds! She had lap band surgery, but prior to the surgery, she made some dietary changes and lost 11 pounds. Once she was cleared to exercise after surgery, she started walking on the gym at the treadmill. At first, she was just able to go 2.0 mph, and now she's up to 3.4 mph after a month!
Erin just started a new healthier lifestyle a week ago, and she was thrilled to see that she was down 7.4 pounds in her first week! She used a nutritionist, My Fitness Pal, and her Fitbit as tools to keep her going, and she was very happy with her results so far. She feels very motivated to keep going!
A huge congrats to everyone! Make sure you check out the Motivational Monday Facebook post for more stories :)
Congrats to everyone!
ReplyDeleteSo much motivation today! Love all these women and their effforts to improve their lives, keeps me inspired. As you know I had a 32-lb. regain over a 7-month period of time, but two and a half months ago I reversed the gaining trend, and have lost 20 pounds! You keep me going. So happy to be back closer to my goal, and can't wait to hear about your wedding experience this weekend and see pictures of you and your family. I bet you all looked great!
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