How My Story Begins…

 

The beginning… where do I start?

I would probably say it was in February of 2014… in Tampa Florida. Or more specifically in a mini van on the way to Tampa Florida.

Up until that point in my life I had always played it safe. Never really doing anything for myself, but really not knowing what I wanted to do… or if I really wanted to do anything for myself at all. I had always done whatever it was my family needed or wanted me to. Don’t get me wrong, I took care of myself, but hobbies were really limited to things that I could do at home or ones that involved my family. My husband always tried to push me to find new and fun things, but I just didn’t know what I wanted, so I stayed put.

Back to the trip. I was with a friend, in a crowned mini van, on the way to watch these people do this crazy OCR thing… I had no idea what that meant, but I knew I didn’t want her going alone.

Over the course of that weekend, I learned that OCR – Obstacle Course Racing, was something that these people did for fun. I knew this stuff existed, but I thought it was just on American Ninja Warrior or Wipe Out… not real life.

But these people… these people whom I traveled with, were like me. Worked 9-5, had families, were even in their 40s… were just out to show themselves they could do it.

I wanted to be more like them.

Fast forward to the April of 2014. I joined a gym… yeah, I could not believe it myself. I. JOINED. A. GYM.

I really was not good for much but the bike, and even that tired me out, but since I committed to doing a 5k Dirty Girl Mud Run in May, a 5k Neon Dash in June, and then a Spartan in November, I had to do something.

I was sooooooooo scared. Like ready to puke my guts up scared, at the beginning of the Dirty Girl. I made it… barely, but I made it. To be honest, it killed me.  I had waaaaay more training to do before I would be ready for anything else.

Moving forward even further, by the end of October, I had managed to get get in a couple more 5ks and even a 10k, but the upcoming Spartan Race scared the you-know-what out of me… for days I cried, scared of failing, scared of disappointing me and my friends, and even a little scared of dying… but I did it. I really did it! (please note: there was whining and crying, but I did it)

Feeling like a BEAST going into 2015, I knew I had to up my game. So I went from the bike to lifting weights AND walking on the treadmill. I thought I was the cats meow (as my grandma would say!)! So I signed up for a few more 5ks, another mud run, and even thinking hard about doing another Spartan.

Somewhere in the middle of 2015, I felt a rut… I needed something to help move forward and that is where my hashtag came into play… #becomingabetterme

I wanted to be more than this new body I was working on. I wanted to be a better person, PERIOD.

Now here is it the start of 2016 and over the course of the last six months several of my friends have asked what I have done to get where I am… so I decided that part of my #becomingabetterme campaign (hehe, I like calling it that), I would journal all the good, bad, and ugly that happens as I try to do the right thing, and show my friends that it isn’t easy – but it doesn’t have to be horrible and painful either.

***side note: one of the hardest things for me is to get in a rut and forget what I had done to get to that point. This blog is not only for anyone who wants to read it, but for me to remind myself that I am #movingforward, #gettingthere, and am #stilltrying.

So, to those of you who have made it to this line, thank you… this is just the beginning of the story of a better me….