Full Throttle

On July 4th I ran a 5k with my hubby. I did not have on my garmin and had no way of know my pace . . . I was going with feel and flow. At the first mile marker, someone called out my time. Wow! I'm a minute and a half faster than my usual race pace. But the first mile is the easiest part of this course. At the second mile marker, after climbing a steady grade hill that leaves many walking, I hear my two mile time . . . lost 30 seconds over the first mile time, but still respectable! But I know this course. I know the beast that is the last mile! It is a series of three hills that consistently increase in grade.

I was able to run, even up the hills and tried my very best to sprint in the finish. I felt like I was going to puke! I don't know if it was the heat, the humidity, the pace or the course . . . but I was trying very hard to not toss my breakfast! I had a sense of elation that I had just done a personal best on the hardest 5k course I have ever ran!!! We hung around for the awards ceremony because we thought I had a good chance of placing in my age group.

They call the third place winner, but do not give her time. They call the second place winner and again do not give her time. My hopes are dashed, I know I'm not a first place runner. They call the first place winner and her time was only one minute faster than mine! For a moment I think there must be a mistake! Certainly four of us in the same age group didn't come in within a minute of each other! Could we?

For a moment I retrace the entire course in my head. I was very pleased that there was not one place on that course that I felt I could have ran it any better than I did. I ran my best race, I laid it all out that I had to give on that day. I walked away without a trophy, but with a huge smile on my face . . . I was within 1 minute of the winner! And I ran my very best race! No regrets!


Hubby and I before the race!


Sweaty, stinky girl trying not to squint into the sun!

Live life full throttle, with not regrets!

It is My Gift

I have been so tremendously blessed. Each day is so full of possibilities and am in a position where I am happy and healthy enough to fully enjoy each moment of it!!!!! I do believe that where I have been (overweight, unhealthy and depressed) was very necessary so that I could fully appreciate the sweet value of how amazing good healthy and happiness feel. It also keeps me from being lazy! I vary actively pursue the lifestyle I would like to continue to enjoy for a looooong time! Every day I give myself the gift of exercise and active moment. My body needs it! Our bodies were created for movement. I have had people remark about my good posture. I am blessed to have a very healthy strong back. My mother was not so lucky, neither was my grandmother. My mother had back surgery when I was in elementary school. I remember that during her healing process we would 'play a game' of walking with a book on top of our heads. As we progressed we would be able to sit down into a chair without dropping the book off our heads. Then we could bend down to pick something up off the floor without dropping the book. Eventually we could go from a standing position to sitting on the floor and getting back up without dropping the book. I have always been very flexible in my spine as well and could do things like back bends. I lost some of that flexibility in my 20's and 30's because I stopped working on it during those years. Now I am working to regain as much spinal flexibility as possible . . . I have lost some in my lower spine due to arthritis. This is what I know, the condition of our spines is pivotal to our overall quality of health and life. The nature of how the spine is to compressed and degenerate over time. I believe it is my job to actively reclaim and maintain as much spinal flexibility and strength as possible. If I do not take responsibility for this, someone I love will have to responsible for caring for me when I can no longer bend to tie my shoes or straighten up completely. I have also learned to own every inch of my height. I am just a little taller than average for women. However, my husband and sons are shorter than me by a couple inches. At 5'8"+ I find that a lot of my women friends are more than a couple inches shorter than me. When I was obese I felt like a lumbering giant and felt that I needed to apologize for how much space I took up in the universe. After I lost the weight I noticed that in pictures I would lean down to the side to try to match my eye level to others. This was not attractive at all and was very uncomfortable on my upper back. Now I stand up tall, own every inch and enjoy the feeling of having a strong healthy spine and beautiful friends to be active with! The health that I am enjoying a gift to me. I workout hard, I eat clean and nutritious foods, I enjoy a little sunshine and a little rest every day. One of my major motivators is, I'm not getting younger. I want to look back on these years as my best years . . . not when I was in high school, not in my 20's or 30's. From here forward. So far my 40's are fabulous! I want to be an active and healthy 50 year old and 60 year old. I can't be, if I don't invest now. At 45, the clock starts moving in a not so good direction if I am not actively working to regain and maintain as much mobility and strength as possible. These are not the years to be self indulgent and to feel like you can just lay back and coast into your 'golden years'. This is the time to realize WE are NO LONGER kids! We can't get away with eating like a teenager. Our metabolisms are not as forgiving. Obesity and lethargy are reeking havoc on the bodies of people who are my age and just a little older than me. This healthy strong body is mine and I will work for the quality of life I desire to enjoy. Oh, let's look at a few pictures so I can wrap up this blog and let you get on with your active busy life!!! My hubby flew in from a business trip in California to spend a couple days with me in Virginia! This is our favorite restaurant and the day was just gorgeous!!!! The gal on the left (Lisa) has lost 120 lbs! She had gastric bypass and said she would do it again, even knowing all she knows now about how sick she got and that she has trouble regulating her blood pressure, lost her hair and feels weak and tired most days. The gal on the right is my bestest girlfriend! We have been buddies since the sixth grade! On July 4th, hubby and I got up early to run a 5k together! It was a hot, humid morning and this course if tough!!!! The last mile is up hill, to an up hill, to another up hill towards the finish. My pace was amazing in the first mile. I purposely scaled it back by 30 seconds in the second mile because I knew I would need all the power I could muster in the last mile. I came in at a personal best!!!!!!!!!!!!! After brunch and a change of clothes, I headed out on my bike for an 18 mile training ride. I have a new seat (saddle) and new pedals with toe clips. I wanted to have a chance to try them out and get used to them. Since my hubby would be leaving later that day, it was the perfect time to do this ride. He dropped me off at the start and looped around twice to check in on me. Then he was waiting at the top of the last series of the hardest hills (again on the back stretch!). Once I gave him the thumbs up we went to the finish line to wait for me. I don't mind riding alone. But I was trying out new equipment and the area I was in was secluded enough that I didn't have to worry about traffic, which means I was also isolated enough that if someone wanted to be a problem the opportunity was there. It's time for me to hit the gym! This is the gift I give myself! This is the gift I give to my loved ones! I do this not only because I love the results, but I love the active lifestyle I am living and I want the pleasure of enjoy many more years of pictures like these! I want to have fun with my friends and my family. Be brave, be bold, be fierce and be fabulous!!!!

<a href="http://clk.atdmt.com/APM/go/265276560/direct;wi.300;hi.250/01/8278359" target="_blank"><img src="http://view.atdmt.com/APM/view/265276560/direct;wi.300;hi.250/01/8278359"/></a><noscript><a href="http://clk.atdmt.com/APM/go/265276560/direct;wi.300;hi.250/01/8278359" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://view.atdmt.com/APM/view/265276560/direct;wi.300;hi.250/01/8278359" /></a></noscript> SparkPeople advertisers help keep the site free! Learn more Other Entries by CAROLYN1213 The Value of Being - 7/2/2011 10 Reasons Not to Eat Clean or Exercise - 6/27/2011 It Requires Focus - 6/24/2011 What Doesn't Kill Me . . . - 6/21/2011 View All Entries Subscribe for Blog updates from CAROLYN1213: By RSS:

The Value of Being

I truly am blessed. Not that anyone else is any less blessed that I am, but I truly value the blessings that I have received. I am blessed to have good health. I am blessed to have wonderful friends. I am blessed to enjoy an active lifestyle with those friends. I am blessed by the gorgeous weather we are having in Virginia during my visit. It has been amazing! I could list 25 blessings without a problem, 50 with some thought.

In this week I have gone bowling with friends from high school.


Went to the studio of my first and favorite yogini (Jennifer, on the left).

Debbie (on the right) and I had the blessing of being led through a very divine yoga session. It is always divine with Jennifer. We later had lunch together and went to the pool. I shared with her my hopes, dreams and wishes. She affirmed everything I knew to be true and just helped solidify my path.

Earlier that morning I had met up with a dear friend, Maria, for a five mile run. We talked the whole way!!! I have missed her. We have a lot of the same interests and philosophies about health and fitness. The only thing I regret is that I did not take a picture of us after the run! I am meeting her again this week to run, so I will be sure to get one then.

On Thursday I met up with Amy (Fitchick75) to do a bike ride on the W & OD trail. Little did I know that we would end up riding 28 miles. The first 14 were a piece of cake. They were on the down hill grade. By mile 22 or 24 I was whimpering and having to stand up on the pedals to crank it up the steeper grade. My thigh muscle, right at the attachment at the top of my kneecap was killing me. I should mention that I have only started riding again recently and my long ride was 10 miles last week. We had delightful weather and great conversation.

I was starving after our bike ride and had seen a Mediterranean Restaurant on my way to the bike trail. It was a good call! The food was delicious and the weather was so delightful, we ate on the patio. Sorry, I can't find the picture I took of my salmon platter (yes, she is still eating fish!).

Yesterday I was blessed to have the opportunity to meet up with some of the gals from our Fabulous Fitness Facebook group. Carla, Lisa and Amy all live in the area of the park we met at (well, within a 40 min drive). Tiffany made the longest trip, she traveled four hours!!!! Wow! I love her commitment, not only to her health, but to her community of support. Building these networks of support, encouragement, inspiration and motivation are vital to long term success. If you are not currently building that network, I encourage you to plug into one that supports the new lifestyle you are building, otherwise you are just dieting and it will be hard to sustain.

Tiffany, Lisa, Amy, Carolyn and Carla (sorry, I don't have everyone's 'stage' names memorized!)
We started off with a time of yoga, as peaceful as one can accomplish in a very busy park with vehicles whizzing by. It felt good to share something that I enjoy with others. We then enjoyed a packed lunch together. During one of our health/fitness/wellness chats I was sharing with the ladies the value of knowing that you are precious and loved without having to be perfect or DO anything. Right on cue as if I had paid them, these two little boys came over to the table and said "He wants you to know you are beautiful". I was in such shock all I could do was smile with delight at how precious they were. . . . 5 year old boys with a playground full of friends came over to address a table of women (30's - 40's). How very precious is that?!!!

After our three hours together, it was hard to want to leave. I just wanted to spend time with each one individually to get to know them better and help them in any area they may need support or encouragement. However, I did have a schedule that day and needed to respect the schedules of others I had made a commitment to. So, we said our good byes and gave hugs.

I followed Amy to her gym where I promised her an hour of torture . . . I mean love! I wanted to share with her some of my favorite lower body workout plans. I will share some of those gym pictures in another blog. But here is a shot of us before the meet up in the park.

We take one photo each time we get together for a workout, this is our third and personally my favorite photo of us.

To cap off this fabulous day, I met up with a friends from high school to do some hiking and boulder climbing on the Appalachian Trail. I would call it hiking, but you might think we were just walking on a path . . . I promise you this was a workout! A very enjoyable one, we had to pay attention to every foot placement. I have no picture of us together at this time. But I do love a lovely picture of the view.


The time has been full and fabulous. I love my family and my friends. I am so blessed to have the health and strength to enjoy this fabulous lifestyle and to have made friends to enjoy it with. Mostly, I am blessed to know the value of these things and for that I am grateful that I was 267 lbs and had very high blood pressure. Had I not known such great pain, discomfort and sadness in my soul, I am pretty sure I would not delighting so greatly in being me at this time.

10 Reasons Not to Eat Clean or Exercise

1. You don't mind having chemicals in your body
2. It doesn't bother you to look 10 years older than you are.
3. Muffin tops might come into fashion.
4. You don't have time to go to the gym because of all the doctor appointment you have.
5. Weights are heavy . . . pills only weigh ounces and can be lifted to your mouth several times a day.
6. They make clothes with elastic waist bands for a reason.
7. Your doctor is a friend of yours and you want to keep him/her financial secure.
8. If you wanted to feel young and energetic you'd take a pill for it.
9. You prefer the puffy feeling of having too much sodium in your diet.
10. If you want your arms to look slim and tone you can always wear a black top with long sleeves.


Guess who was selected as a success story for the Eat Clean online community?!!!!
eatcleandiet.com/community/success_s
tories/carolyn_channell.aspx


I am visiting family and friends in Virginia right now. This is my grandma with her youngest granddaughter and her oldest granddaughter (me)

It Requires Focus

I am staying with my in-laws in Virginia. They live in the town that I moved from, so I am very familiar with the area. My parents live five minutes from here, so this is a convenient place to stay. My parents have a really small house with no place for guests to stay other than the living room floor.

This mornings training schedule was a 9 mile bike ride, 2 mile run and day two of my twelve week TRX training. I am used to the little town I live in in Indiana. There is hardly any traffic and I can crank out 8 - 10 miles without worrying about seeing more than 4 - 5 cars.

This morning I really had to focus on that white line on the road. It was an extra workout trying to hold it steady and pedal for all I was worth to get the job done and get out of traffic as soon as possible. I was praying hard, not for my safety as much as for the drivers around me, that they would be alert ... not distracted or texting . . .that they would see me and be courteous and generous in giving me a margin of the road.

I needed this focus, keep it on the line girl, steady and straight . . . all you can control is you and your bike in this moment. Everything else is in Gods hands. He's got the whole world in HIS hands . . . I start singing and the tears start flowing. There we go, a little hormonal release is always a good thing.

There are a lot of things going on right now that I don't have any control over. People who I love are ill, unhealthy and struggling. It is hard to see. I weighs heavy on my heart. My mom is sicker than anyone let me know. To see my mother in pain and weak is hard. I want to scoop her up and take care of her and make her pain go away. But I cannot. I just found out about this last night when I got here and saw her. My mother in law is starting radiation and chemo on Monday as the precautionary follow up to the colostomy she had done a couple months ago for rectal cancer.

I am watching the quality of life for these two women go into sharp decline and it aches my heart. So, this morning as my thighs were aching and the bike was rocking from the passing 18 wheelers and my arms went numb from trying to keep from getting sucked into the draft of the passing trucks, I rode with an added fuel and fire in my belly. Do my health choices and exercise insure me again a fate similar to these two ladies? No. But, they do add quality to my life right now. And I will run, ride, lift, train, eat clean and lift mean . . . because I can. Right now it is a struggle for my mom to even take a flight of stairs without pain . . . she used to be my daily biking partner just seven years ago and I know her fighter spirit would LOVE to be out there biking. So who am I to fuss over aching thighs, numb arms and having to work for something I want.

All I can do is focus on what is right here, right now . . . just like that line on the road . . . God has the rest in HIS hands. I trust He will safely see me home, and care for the people I love in ways I cannot. This morning as my bike made it safely back into the subdivision, I exhaled, had a sense of relief and allowed the bike to just coast as I unlatched my helmet strap . . . thank you for safely seeing me home.

What Doesn't Kill Me . . .

Today I got asked by more than a few people what my 'secret' was to losing weight and keeping it off. There secret is there is no secret. Here is how simple and yet how complex that answer is: I changed my mind about who I am in the universe, how I interact with food and how I relate to my god. Everything else is just a matter of making choices and forming habits for me. Does that mean that everything has been easy . . . heck no, the emotion, mental, spiritual stuff is the hardest thing I have ever done, but until I did that I was merely going through motions grasping for 'the answer' to my obesity issue and my binging issue. The core reason I was doing those things was what I had to deal with first. I was losing weight, changing habits and dealing with the emotions as they came up. I didn't just sit and wait for an epiphany moment. I knew I needed to make changes and along the way I changed my mind little by little about how I wanted to interact in this world.

The 'secret' to how I stay motivated . . . I like my lifestyle. I like feeling healthy, strong and confident. I like wearing pretty clothes and not wondering whether or not a chair is sturdy enough to hold me. In order for me to continue living how I love to live, I have to invest in my self. Anything you value, you will invest time, money and effort into. Think of your children, your spouse, your house, etc.

The 'secret' to how I keep from plateauing . . . I abhor boredom. I cannot and will not exercise for exercise sake! I can't just jump on an elliptical a couple times a week and go mindless numb for 40 - 60 minutes . . . that is some kind of torture invented by a sadistic mind. I'm glad to have the option of using a piece of stationary equipment on bad weather days, but you will not see that on my 'plan'. I keep my ACTIVITY fun and changing all the time. No two weeks of exercise look exactly the same. It may say 40 minutes of cardio on my calendar and that could be dancing, riding my bike, running, push mowing my yard, or if need be, using a piece of equipment in the gym. It will say strength training upper body on another day and I will choose on that day how I am going to work those muscles. Maybe at the gym, maybe in my driveway, maybe with my TRX, resistance bands, medicine ball or maybe trimming bushes and raking! It just depends on how I am feeling, what needs to be done and what the weather allows . . . but it will happen, that is a non-negotiable with me.

Let's talk about non-negotiables. Do you ever, EVER get up and decided whether or not you are going to brush your teeth before you go to work? Or whether you should get dressed and comb your hair or not? I hope the answer is no to all the above. Those are non-negotiables, they will happen even if you don't have time for anything else before work you will get those things done. I'm not a morning exercisers (I did when I had to for marathon training), so I do not want to start something that I know for a fact will not be a sustainable habit for me. During my work week I exercise right after work because that is what works for my schedule. Sometimes that means coming home jumping on my bike and going for a ride before I make dinner. But it is a non-negotiable. It will happen.

Now to the above title. I'm in transition, yet again. This journey just keeps revealing new things for me to experience and try. As I learn more, I apply more and see how that experience works for me. Two big changes for me are my diet and my training. Usually I would not be real excited about this because I don't transition well in most other areas of my life, though now that I think about it I have gotten much better about that in the past 6 mths. or so. Food, I know that subject can be frustrating to some and that information can be conflicting making it hard to make a choice about what is right for you. Here is what I know, clean eating works for me. I feel vibrant, healthy, radiant, energetic. Another thing I know is that different foods work for different people and some combinations of food do not agree with my digestive system, it does not matter how good or how clean that food is, if it doesn't work for me, it doesn't work for me. It doesn't mean that YOU should not eat it, it just means it's not for me at this time. About a month ago my taste buds and constitution seemed to suddenly change. This was in conjunction with me starting the hot yoga classes, so I chalked it up to a temporary thing, that I was just being wise about what I put in my stomach before taking a 80 minute class in a room that was 115 degrees. Well, those food preferences have stuck. It is now a daily pattern. How long will it last? IDK. Each day while I'm prepping my meals I ask myself "will this be the day I desire something other than seafood, veggies, fruit, nuts and greek yogurt?" And each day the answer is Nope! That has been my diet for almost a month now. I do have a little coconut milk each day and some dates. The fruits and veggies change, the type of seafood changes, and the combination of how I eat them changes. But, the basic foods stay the same.

The other thing that is changing is how I workout (stay active). It is summer! I love being outside and will do as much as possible outside each day. I invested in a TRX back in March I believe. But I never really had the time to explore it and use it. Now that weather is awesome and I can be outside I connect the TRX to a tree in my front yard and am learning new ways to use it to get the workout I need. Since I workout outside I don't have access to a monitor to follow a DVD or a YouTube video on workout routines. So, I purchased a couple tools to help me! One is called a FitDeck which are exercise playing cards with the moves on the card w/pictures and description to help me out. I can 'deal' out any workout I want to do or play a wild card game of random exercises! The other thing I got is a training manual (I do well with pictures). This is a Military Fitness Guide for the TRX, it is a 12 week training program. The outside of the manual says "Make Your Body Your Machine" . . . YIKES!!! I looked at the schedule and yea, what doesn't kill me will turn me into a Navy Seal! LOL! I am excited! I will blog for the twelve weeks of training to let you know how much fun I am having!

How about you? What foods do you enjoy in the summer? How do you incorporate fun and fitness? Is it different in the summer time? What goals are you training for or events are you preparing for?

It Takes A Village

Two paths, which to follow? Hmmmm. . . . I have two topics to throw out for conversation tonight, not sure which one gets top billing tonight. Since yesterday was about all the people that have come into my life and the impact friends and family have had on me during my two year transformation, I will select to go with the topic of TEAM!

As many of you know, my husband travels for work and is only home for the weekends most weeks of the month. Our Saturday morning ritual is to go for a run together. We are training for a fall half marathon and have plenty of time to build our miles, so we are kinda in maintenance miles with a slow build schedule. If I am doing some strength work that requires some assistance, I will usually save it for when he is home. He is not fond of the gym and does not enjoy weight lifting like I do. We head to the gym before our run since the university gym closes at 10:00 a.m. on Saturdays. Two things I'm working on I need him to spot me with. One is heavy squats with the barbell (this gym does not have a Smith Machine, just a squat rack). The other is hip thrusters. With hip thrusters I have two weight benches parallel to each other about three feet apart. My shoulders are on one bench, my feet on the other. The movement is bend at the hip (dip down) and then straighten driving my hips up toward the ceiling (like a bridge up). The position makes it complicated to then add a weight bar without assistance. I get in position and ask DH to start out with the 50# bar for a warm up set. Then we move up to 70# set and last I do a 90# set. On the last couple reps of the 90# set I could feel the hip muscles fatiguing in the low range of the position. I finish the set and he says "You owe me one more." No, no I don't, that was 10. Take it. "No, you need one more" I can't. I've now been holding the bar and hovering the muscles are fatigued. "I'm not taking it until you try one more" We are both laughing at this point because I am helplessly stuck! Without his help I cannot get out of this position without getting hurt. But, my muscles are totally fatigued and I cannot push even one more time. He is not sadistic, he saw I was serious about not being able to push another rep, so he removed the bar. I thanked him for being part of my team. He joked that he would drive the short bus for me anytime.

Our conversation during my workout had been about team members and how each has a role. Some are point shooters, some are guards, some are coaches, some are the water boys and some drive the bus. Who is the most important member? Who is the least important member. If me performing well depends on him performing well is it not in my best interest that he perform well? What if my bus driver gets upset because he doesn't get the attention that my point guard does and so he doesn't show up? It doesn't matter how good my point guard is if we can't get to the arena.

In this game of life we all have the opportunity to 'go for the gold'. I grew up on that dream of going to the Olympics! I love everything about the Olympics (except the doping)! I jumped up proudly onto the hassock (vinyl footstool of the 70's) and accepted my Gold Medal for the USA as the crowd went wild!!!! Thank You! Thank You!!!! I beamed with pride *representing my country*, honoring the coaches, parents and supporting staff that were necessary to make this dream possible. In the Olympics the whole team goes, it is an honor to go. But only one will get the gold. Maybe this year you came up short of the gold, maybe you got the silver or the bronze. Or MAYBE, you just got one step closer to the podium. This may be your year to be proud that you wore the team jacket and rode on the bus. This may be the time that the teammate who got the gold needs a friend like you in a supporting role. I don't know, maybe this is your year as a spectator who emails the gold medal winner (or the one who did not place) and say "Thank you for your courage to go for the gold! Your story inspired me, touched me, moved me, etc."

This I do know. I cannot be me and do the things that I believe I am purposed to do without a large supporting cast. I need the assistance of others. I desire to share this journey with friends and family. I want the gold and will continue to train for it, but I cannot drive that bus, support that dream, and be a one woman show. It takes a village and I am blessed to have amazing people around me. Thank you for being a part of that community.

I hope I represent well those who have supported, encouraged, motivated, inspired, lead, coached and yes drove the short bus.

****My husbanded added that he is proud to be the guy who carries my cooler and gym bag! You would have to see the size of my cooler and gym bag to appreciate this statement****