battle buddies – Lori's Life and Other Stuff

Our Swelfies

Anyone that’s read this blog or (knows me in real life) knows that I LOVE accountability when it comes to fitness! What started out as a fun idea to take sweaty selfies and keep each other motivated to workout and be consistent has since turned into many things.

It’s often more than just physical. It’s more than just a workout photo. It’s been an accountability measure – a way to stay in touch in a Navy life that sent us to opposite sides of the world. It has kept us connected. It’s also morphed into a few years of snippets and snapshots of our lives. Sometimes it’s celebrating the new pants or kicks we purchased, how much sweat we are now dripping with, or even that glass of wine that we wanted to share, if only virtually. It’s husbands along for the ride, kiddos and fur babies getting into the workout, shoveling snow for days. It’s “Hey! Look at my workout space!” and “It’s a crappy day.” Even our spin peeps, running friends and clients have gotten in on the action! “Look at the necklace you gave me – I’m wearing it to my spin interview!” It doesn’t matter time of day, whether or not we have make up on (rarely!) or how “posed” the picture looks. It’s just a selfie. That’s sweaty.

And so much more..

I’m proud to say that Katy is not only my mil spouse sister, but my battle buddy! These pictures are just a small portion of the way we support each other. Accountability partners are key if we are to have any sort of success with life change; we need people in our lives that help hold us up and keep us to the standards we set for ourselves.

I love you Katy!

To the….

To the friends who inspired and paved the way…

To the trainer who believed in me and my abilities before I could believe in myself…

To the friends who didn’t laugh when I told them what I wanted to do…

To the friends who walked and ran beside me as we cheered each other on…

To those that took the time to say a few kind words, drop a line, or call to say, “You’ve inspired me.”

To the friends that taught me how to be a friend and what true friendship looks like…

To the marathon: being able to say, “yeah, I ran a marathon, I can handle this”…..

To the fear, and the courage to proceed anyway….

To shows like The Biggest Loser for motivation and inspiration…

To the deployment that frustrated, stalled, and detoured me…

To the technology to keep in touch with accountability partners, friends and my husband…

To this body that continually surprises me with its capacity for strength..

To Facebook peeps who tolerate my exercise vomit…and food pics…

To the constantly improving weather as we head into spring…

Thank you.

To the gremlin voice who still rears its ugly head: thank you for the criticism that propels me forward…just to prove you wrong. I am doing the damn thing and my goals WILL be achieved.

Watch me!

Kokohead, Battle Buddies, and Facing Fears!

So after hiking Diamondhead a couple of weeks ago, Katy and I decide that we are rockstars and we are gonna do Kokohead. It’s only 1,048 railroad ties or “steps” to the top – can’t be that bad! And we swam over a mile yesterday – lets climb a volcano today! Yippee!!

My rockstar battle buddy Katy!!!

These pictures of course aren’t going to do it justice, but here is where we start. Way off straight into the distance you can see the path that leads STRAIGHT UP!

A few steps in we see some people (and one crazy guy) RUNNING down the ties. Katy’s husband says there is some 70 year old that does this multiple times a day!

There are stretches where you can’t see the whole trail because of the incline. It’s INSANE!! Just keep climbing, just keep climbing, just keep climbing…

This was my view when I had to sit down for a bit….

Had to let my stomach calm down….

Katy had to lean in cause I physically could not make myself stand up and look down simultaneously!

This was the AMAZING view from the top!

Way off in the distance you can see the last mountain we climbed! Diamondhead!

And this is Hanauma Bay from the top looking down!!! Never thought I would see that view!!

And from this view, it dawned on me just how far I ran during the marathon. Diaomndhead crater is there in the upper left corner and I ran all the way from the front of the mountain (actually where the Waikiki skyline is) to where the first little water inlet is on the bottom right corner of the picture. And back.

Seeing it from this vantage point really brought the accomplishment home in a remarkable way. And if I hadn’t faced my fear of heights, I would have never seen it.

Yeah, all I can do to stand there and not hug the mountain on all fours!

Battle Buddies Baby!!! We did it!!!

I am so glad I was able to do this. The crazy guy we saw running down the mountain (and a couple of others who did it twice in the time it took us to do it once!) made a comment as we passed him that stuck with me….

Us: “Can’t believe you can RUN down this thing! That’s awesome. Aren’t you afraid you are going to fall?”

Crazy Guy: Big smile, “No. We have different minds. I don’t think about falling.”

Hmm. Got me to thinking. Our main focus is what will be brought to fruition. If my main focus is fear, then I will be incapacitated. All the way up that mountain I had to keep telling myself some things…

No fear

All the way up – and all the way out! (What is chanted at us in spin class!)

Don’t feed the fears

Keep climbing

One step at a time

Baby steps

Look only in front and where your feet are going

Stand up and be proud of what you are accomplishing

Finish Strong

Victorious not Nauseous

Focus.

And we did.

And on the way back down when my stomach stopped flipping around, we ran a few of those last stairs too!

Climbing Mountains

I don’t know why, but climbing Diamondhead seemed like such a daunting feat. We have lived here now for almost 3 years but with the excuse of the kids, being too busy, and just life in general it was something we never got around to checking off of the list…

…..until today!!!!

My Battle Buddy!!!!

We made it!! The view was absolutely BREATHTAKING! The signs all said to allow for about an hour and a half.

Yeah, we did it in 17 minutes!

So many things can be built up in my mind as difficult or impossible. But really when broken down into manageable pieces, it IS possible.

Next….Kokohead – and I’ve heard it’s REALLY hard!!

My First Half

Today I ran a half marathon. I just need to breathe that in for a moment. Wow.

I woke up this morning full of adrenaline and anticipation (having slept very lightly as my mind was racing all night long!) I have been looking forward to this race for sometime - even before I had actually signed up. It has been a goal of mine for awhile, but even as I got dressed at o'dark thirty and ate some breakfast, I still thought to myself, "Can I actually do this?!" Today that answer was a resounding YES!

I have ran distances like this before, but there is something inspiring about being in an event with 1000+ other runners of all different athletic abilities. The other runners inspire me. The faster ones whom I hope to one day be like, and the slower pacers whom I was just a few short months ago. That is one thing I love about the running community. We are out there encouraging each other whether we realize it or not. Whether its deliberate or not. And there is room for all fitness levels. We walk before we jog, we jog before we run, we run before we sprint. Bill Murray was right - Baby steps!!!

On the run itself there were moments of euphoria and moments where I was asking myself why the hell am I doing this?! The euphoric moments cannot be beat! When I look up and see Diamondhead crater to my right and never ending ocean on my left. No - you can't beat that. I feel powerful in those moments. I can do this. I can do anything I set my mind to. The, shall we say, "less than euphoric" moments were hard. Some runners call that hitting the wall. I feel like 75% of this is mental. The whole "if you think you can or you can't - you're right" definitely applies. I try to learn from the hard moments too. Focus on breathing. In and out. I repeat my weightloss goals...I listen to music. Whatever it takes to push the focus from pain and negativity to whatever thought will get me to another one of those euphoric moments! They just can't be beat!

I love running with music. So much so that I really doubt I would run as far or as fast without it. I love the shuffle feature on the iPod...it never fails to have THE most perfect song come up just when I need it!

But all of these thoughts aside, this run for me means so much more. I crossed the finish line (SPRINTING) with my battle buddy who has been on this fitness journey with me. We have cried and laughed and achieved goals together that neither of us thought were possible.

I had given up. I was just going to be a mom. Just a mom. I am learning that while I strive to be the best mom I can be, I do also need other things in my life, some that are just for me. Running is that "just for me" thing. I crave it. When I get that time to work on me. It makes me a better mom, a better wife, and a better friend. It is possible. It can be done. I can dream big. Without holding back. I did it.

Now - time to take a nap!