October 20, 2014

Motivational Monday #83


Happy Motivational Monday! This has been a crazy-busy week for me. I had a very fun week, but I'm also proud to say that I counted every Weight Watchers point eaten all week long. I had two blogger trips, so I was worried about how I'd eat while away from home, but I just made the best decisions I could, and it worked out really well!

It looks like a lot of you had a great week also. Here are some motivating stories for this Monday:


Alma (in purple) ran the Long Beach Half last year, and lost the running bug a bit. She thought about doing the 5K this year with her friends, but couldn't get excited about running. At the last minute, one of her friends realized she couldn't make the race, so she offered Alma her bib. She actually was pretty excited about it, considering she had friends doing the race also. She ended up finishing the race in 34:21, completely crushing her goal of 40:00! Best of all, she says she feels like she was bitten by the running bug again :) (Alma's blog)



Jennifer finished her FOURTH marathon at the Chicago Marathon! She actually met a girl on the train on the way to the expo, and they hit it off as fast friends, so the two ran the race together. Nothing like running a marathon and making a new running friend in the process!



Jennifer just completed her first marathon! She ran the Chicago Marathon, and finished just under 6 hours with a time of 5:59:53. She ran the race as a St. Jude Hero, helping raise over $2500, and she said the experience was amazing and rewarding. Her family from Detroit went to cheer her on, along with her college roommate and a surprise appearance from friends.



Kathleen (on left) started losing weight in August, and she signed up for a beginner's running class with her friend, Meredith (center). The class would prepare them to run a 5K on October 19th, the Pumpkin Run 5K. They started by just doing one mile--running 30 seconds, then walking 30 seconds.  She said she nearly died that first week--it was tough! Each week, the running volume increased a bit, but Kathleen stuck it out and even bought good running shoes and compression capris. Her goals for the race were to finish (hopefully under 45 minutes) and run the entire way. She ended up finishing in 41:40, never stopping or walking!



Jen just completed the "Remix Challenge" at the Rock 'n' Roll St. Louis weekend of races! She completed a 5K on Saturday and a half-marathon on Sunday. She was hoping for a PR, and ended up finishing in 2:32:05--a PR of over 6 minutes, despite a hilly course! (Jen's race report)



Anne wrote in to share her dad's big accomplishment--he ran his first 5K! Steve turned 65 this year, and spent the last two years losing weight and getting into shape. His only goal was to not come in last, and he didn't even come close to last. He got to drink a post-race coffee while watching the other participants finish :) He shaved 10 minutes off of his training time, and has already signed up for two more 5K's!



I have to brag for a moment about Dean as well. He didn't ask me to share his story, but I tell everyone I can when I get a chance to share his accomplishments! Dean first submitted a Motivational Monday early last year to celebrate his first 5K. He's been working like crazy to lose weight and get faster at running, and yesterday, Dean ran his first marathon--in 3:52:43!! You would never guess that he used to weigh 317 pounds. Now he's super speedy and just about to his goal weight. (Dean wrote a guest post here before, as part of my Ragnar SoCal team, but I've asked him to write another post because so much has changed since then. You can read his blog here.)



As always, a huge congrats to everyone who is celebrating an accomplishment this week--big or small!

3 comments:

  1. Go everyone! Woo Hoo! Steve and Dean, you are so inspiring! Way to go. :)

    And a shout out to my fellow Long Beachers. I did the half this year and made a new friend in the process.

    Looking forward to hearing about Nathan's first marathon tomorrow.

    Martine :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awesome job everyone!! That puppy in the picture of Dean needs to be MINE!!!! OMG!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anne's dad looks amazing! Goes to show it's never too late to make a lifestyle change.

    ReplyDelete

I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

Featured Posts

Blog Archive