If you've read my blog for any length of time, you probably know some of my journey over the past few years. It was just over three years ago I made a huge lifestyle change. I started small. Eating healthier portions, cutting back on processed foods, and walking a couple of miles a day. At the time, I really had no intentions of doing anything except for losing weight.
Fast forward to this week, and I completed a Half Ironman. There's SO much that has happened in three years to get me here. None of it has been overnight. And the journey has most definitely been full of ups and downs, discouragement, and difficulties. I will be the first to say that none of this comes easy for me. I do not have natural talent and ability when it comes to running, swimming, or biking. I can't tell you how many people have said to me, "I could never do what you did." And if you don't want to do it, then I don't encourage you to. But I want to say to all those people: I am a prime example of someone that could never have done this.
I hated exercise. In fact, I hated anything health or fitness related. It was all nothing but a reminder of just how out of shape, slow, and unhealthy I was. I preferred to embrace my size and not do anything about it, because that was the easy thing to do. I hated pushing myself out of my comfort zone. Even when I started out, I felt embarrassed and ashamed on my walks because being a 26-year-old walker screamed to everyone, "Look at me! I'm out of shape! I'm fat! I can't run!"
But I started somewhere, and with no intention of ever doing anything more. And I was ok with that. It was only when I moved away from Florida that I became a runner. I think part of it was that walking was getting boring. Another part was I was dating a guy who valued fitness over everything, and I felt like I needed to do more than I was already doing. (And let me just say, that is the dumbest reason EVER to start doing anything!) I downloaded Couch to 5K on my phone and started there.
Over the next year, I dealt with nasty shin splints, severely disordered eating, a stress fracture, weight gain and total loss of fitness, until I finally reached a place after my injury where running was possible again. Bloomsday was a huge deal. Next came my sprint triathlon, another huge accomplishment for me. I set my sights on a half marathon in October, and was able to finish with a much faster time than I thought was possible for me.
My friend Haley had signed up for the 70.3 a few months before. Being a much more hard-core athlete than me, I figured that was something for the big leagues and I would never be able to do it. But something in the back of my mind kept nagging me, telling me this was something I had to do. I was scared to death. And because it scared me, I knew I had to do it. Of course signing up in October, it seemed like a great idea! It was still so far away, and there was plenty of time to get in tip top shape. I would often find myself anxious for the "real" training to begin, although I was pretty hardcore in keeping up with informal training all winter long. March 6, day 1 of training, loomed in the distance and I was excited.
I didn't anticipate just how difficult the journey was really going to be.
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