Fitness

"You know the name of the game-anything is possible as long as you never give up on yourself! Keep chipping away!"- Linsey Corbin, from an email she wrote to me.

What do I want to be? I want to become an elite athlete, where my body is my tool, a machine through which I accomplish amazing feats of endurance, speed and commitment. I have awakened an athlete inside of me that I never knew was there, and now that I've found her, I've got to set her free. That's what I want, and that's who I am.

Let me start, with a story. One of my favorite places on this earth is Delicate Arch, In Arches National Park in Moab Utah. The hike to arches has always been special to me, almost like a religious experience each time I'm there. The beauty and grandeur of the arch is amazing. The hike up the red slick rock is thrilling. I don't let a Moab trip go by, without hiking up to Delicate Arch.

That's me, under the arch!

When I visited Moab, in the fall of 2012, I was too heavy to hike up to Delicate Arch. I could barley make it up a small incline to see the back of it from way below. I remember feeling so.....dark that day. Dark inside. Sad. Let Down. Disappointed in myself for allowing myself to get to a point where I couldn't climb up and enjoy one of my favorite views in this whole world. 

Let me tell you another story. A few years ago I went hiking up to Cecret Lake (Yes, that's how they spell Cecret). It's a hike at Alta Ski Resort in the mountains of Utah. The hike is a mile long and is considered an easy hike. I huffed and puffed up the entire trail, embarrassed to be hiking with people who knew me, embarrassed at what they must be thinking of me when I had to stop every 20 feet for a break.

This wasn't me. This wasn't who I wanted to be and inside I felt like a much stronger person, physically, than I actually was. I had to change. However, I didn't know how. How do you stand at the base of Mt. Everest, seeing how far you have to climb, but having no idea how to take the first, timid step...

Fast forward to November, 2013 when I decide to embark on my Whole 30 adventure. I did not exercise during that first 30 days. I didn't have the energy to! My body was literally in detox mode. The only movement I did was go skiing about 3 times that month. I enrolled in some ski lessons at Park City Mountain Resort (and this ended up being the best decision I could have ever made). I feel like skiing is what made me realize I could do hard things. I realized I liked skiing so much that I wanted to get better at it, and lose weight to be more agile on my skis. 

I should point out that at first I enrolled in snow boarding lessons. I lasted about 30 minutes before I was in tears, lumbering my way back up the slope to the ski plaza. I was knee deep in powder, with the uncomfortable ski boots digging into my pudgy legs, and hot tears stinging my cheeks. Feeling embarrassed, defeated and small.

The staff at PCMR was amazingly kind, helpful and understanding.They graciously let me switch my boarding lessons to skiing lessons. I feel like skiing helped save my life. It helped me become active. 

Before Snowboarding, Happy Smiles.

Feeling Pretty Good about things.

.....and skis.....

After the first 30 days I decided that I would add in some yoga. I started doing yoga at home, in my living room, in front of my T.V while watching Bob Harper's Biggest Loser Yoga DVD. 

Doing yoga made me feel strong, it made me work, and I started building muscles and seeing definition in my arms, shoulders, back and neck. 

After 60 days I felt stronger than I'd ever felt. I set my sights on getting cardio into my schedule. It was then that I decided to return to the pool. I knew I liked how swimming made me feel, and I was good at it. So I decided to dust off the ole' cap and goggles and give swimming a whirl. 

Swimming at Steiner Aquatic Center 2014

Remember, to take it slow. Too much too soon just results in injuries. One day at a time, one mile at a time. It's all a journey. I started to appreciate what my body was doing for me NOW rather than feeling like I would love my body when it looked a certain way. 

I also do a lot of visualization. When I work out I visualize how I want to look eventually. I visualize the number on the scale that is my goal. I visualize the rewards I am going to give myself when I reach certain milestones. I never reward myself with food, but with a new pair of running shoes, or some new lifting equipment.

Something I suggest is setting incremental goals, and at each increment designate a particular reward. Recognizing your accomplishments and rewarding yourself for a job well done is, I think, vital to the whole process. 

My goals were/are as follows:

Day 100 of Whole 30: Buy a Juicer and a Food Processor 

Losing 4 pant sizes: Buy a new wardrobe

Losing 70 pounds: A new tattoo

It didn't take long for me to start feeling incredibly strong, like I was back in the game. And of course, in the natural progression of things, I decided I should probably look into getting a road bike, and begin running. As I shed more and more pounds, my ability to do these sports kept getting better and better. It was addicting. I began to get addicted to the workout high. This is not a bad thing, in fact, with all the extra energy I had, working out turned out to be the best release. 

In May, 2014 I was fortunate enough to buy my own road bike at Performance Bicycle in Salt Lake City. They are so easy to work with. They fitted me to my bike, they let me take it outside and ride it around, and they hooked me up with an awesome lifetime service plan. I highly recommend them if you're in the market for a bike.

Bringing Home Baby

Enjoying a ride around the avenues

Next up, came running. Now, I've never been a runner. I've been known to utter the words, "I hate running" in my past. In high school, I walked an 18 minute mile. But I needed to move my body, I started thinking about triathlons and knew I needed to start somewhere. There is this wonderful app called, 'Couch to 5K' and you can get it in the app store for like $1.99. The reason I like this program is because it starts you out really slow. Walking for 60 seconds, running for 30 seconds, walking for 3 minutes, running for 30 seconds. It slowly amps up your running and lessens your walking over 8 weeks. It is designed to ease you into running, and avoid injury. By week 7, sure enough, I was running for 25 minutes at a time, without stopping and I felt like I could run forever. 

Couch to 5K app+ My Running Face

Getting Ready for a run, and admittedly, Feelin' like I'm lookin' good! Actually liking the reflection in the mirror. 2014.

Just as I was really hitting my stride and feeling on top of the running world, tradgedy struck. My natural flat feet had lead to posterior tibial tendonitis in my left ankle. I was devastated. I couldn't run at all without pain and I didn't know what to do. I stopped running and thought I just needed a new pair of running shoes. 

So I hit up Salt Lake Running Company and got a new pair of kicks and some orthodic inserts. I even made an appointment for a free injury assessment at the orthopedic hospital. At the time I had been off my ankle running for about a month, so the free injury assessment cleared me for running, and away I went. It wasn't more than 10 minutes into my run that the pain came back in full force and I was forced to return home, defeated. 

I finally wised up and decided to make an appointment at the Orthopedic Center at the University of Utah. The orthopedic center is world renowned, treating patients like Reba McIntire and countless pro athletes. 

The doctor knew just what was wrong with me within minutes and sent me strait to physical therapy, with a prescription for custom made orthodic inserts for my shoes.

The physical therapy facility

Getting Medicine injected into my ankle via electricity. 

I was in the middle of Triathlon training, and I still planned to compete, however, I knew if I wasn't cleared to run, I would walk that 5K if it was the last thing I did. Not finishing my Triathlon was NOT an option.

I never knew I could feel so competitive, but finding the inner athlete in me has awakened a fire within me. I love the thrill of sport, I love feeling strong and like I'm being my best self. Once I started exercising, it came naturally to me. It's something I crave.

I fuel myself during workouts with Clif Bars and Clif Shot Blocks (These are not Whole 30 Approved, so I don't consume them when I'm on a Whole 30) 

Also, don't forget the importance of proper recovery. Recovery is something I've really struggled with, I don't' like to take the time to stretch and ice after workouts. But after suffering from an injury, I now realize the importance of recovery, and honoring rest days. I rest 1-2 days a week, I may do some light yoga on those days. 

This photo pretty much sums it up for me. July 2013 I was on vacation in Boston. I had a hard time getting around, walking was painful, I was hot and out of breath all the time and I felt out of control with my eating and lack of exercise. Fast forward one year later, to July 2014 and I was training for a triathlon.

I feel on top of the world. I feel like I can conquer anything I set my mind to. 

And then came crossfit.

Crossfit has changed my world. My life. It's my drug of choice day in and day out.

Read more about Crossfit and how it's changed me on the Crossfit tab.