One day, I took my 325 pound couch potato self to Disneyland for a vacation. It was around Christmas time in 2009 and I wanted to show the family a good time. Then, the unthinkable happened. My world came crashing down as I was kicked off of a ride in front of everyone because I was too big to fit in the seat. It was humiliating, embarrassing and unexpected. But, it changed my life.

I realized that my life needed to change. I also realized that I have missed out on so much in my own life because I never took control of my health. I missed out on serving in the military because I was too big, I missed becoming a police officer because I was too out of shape, and I missed achieving some of the dreams in my life.

Not any more. I threw away the fear of failure and dared to do something impossible. In one year, I lost over 100 pounds and did something that I never thought I could do – I ran a marathon. I achieved the impossible and it was the most amazing thing ever.

The next year, I traveled the country, seeing new cities 26.2 miles at a time on a marathon tour, all while training for the impossible - the title of IRONMAN!

On June 24, 2012, I crossed the Ironman finish line in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, listening to Mike Reilly announce me as an Ironman, after a long day and 140.6 miles.

I am continuing on my journey, getting through the ups and downs of maintaining a new, fit lifestyle. Life is good, and I want to live it to the fullest.

This blog celebrates our ability to achieve things that seem impossible.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Hopefully poised to break through the big plateau

The pace of my lunchtime run is getting faster, but I am still not under 30 minutes yet. It is amazing that I was running 5Ks in 26 minutes, but after taking just two weeks off I added 5 minutes to my times. It is amazing how quickly you can loose something that you have worked so hard for. That is one of the frustrating things about almost everything in life, usually you work so hard for the things you achieve but you have to be very careful because you can loose them very quickly of you are not careful.

I am hoping today's run will finally be under 30 minutes again, yesterdays was only about 40 seconds over so I am getting close to where I was. The weight dropped another pound back down to the low I have been flirting with for the last couple of weeks, so I am very optimistic that I will break through this big plateau that I am on. This is by far the largest plateau I have dealt with, lasting about three weeks, and I hope that it is finally done. I really want to break under 250 and be able to say that for the first time in over 7 years, I am closer to 200 pounds than 300. I also am very excited to get within 30 pounds of my initial goal weight, 220.

One of these days, I have to pony up some money and get some new clothes. I only have a few articles of clothes that I can wear and most of those are baggy on me. When I started this I was a size 50 waist and as of right now I am down to a 38. My dress shirt size went from a 19/34 to a 18.5/34, and my T-Shirt size has gone from XXXL to XL. Back to normal sizes, but my wardrobe is all big sizes. Luckily, I have hung on to a few pieces of clothes from 2003, the last time I was trying to get in shape with any success. Those clothes are baggy now, but they fit a lot better than the clothes I wore last year. I also need to get new workout clothes, all of my clothes are now too baggy to be OK to wear. Oh well, the cost of getting in shape, I'll have to pay it.

Speaking of costs, I am still not able to go flying and wont be able to for a couple of months still. I am hopeful that in August I can start back up and I have set a goal of soloing before my 32nd birthday in September, but the finances need to cooperate. Hopefully things will settle down a bit soon.
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