A few days ago we had a fun theme over at DailyMile where we got to post pictures of Before n After. At first, I really didn't seem that eager to post a picture of the before then I started looking at pictures and seeing how much I have changed over the past two years (almost three now) and I got the courage to post them.

Things weren't easy and a lot of work has gone into the little bit of transformation. Unlike many people out there, I was cursed with a body that keeps all its fat around its middle. I have skinny, wimpy, spaghetti like arms and legs and a huge midsection. Losing weight affects me in a peculiar way: I lose all the chubs off my arms and legs, then I am left with a flabby, squishy middle, which is a great on the Pillsbury Boy but not so great on a humanoid like myself.

The 2007 picture was right at the beginning of the year, if not at the very end of 2006. At this point, I had been running for about 3 months, I was running a steady 2 miles, killing myself doing it too, going an all 11 minute miles. Speedy Gonzales was my name!

Fast forward 2 years and we have the picture on the left, during the Ogden Half Marathon. At this point, I had been working out consistently for 2 years. Running, cycling and swimming. I barely had started integrating some weight lifting in my life. During that half marathon, my average per mile was 8:10, a huge improvement from two years prior.

As I look at these pictures and others that I have taken over the past two years, I can see a lot of change physically, but what you can't see is the mental change that I have undergone.

I always thought that I could never run more than 2 miles and in that picture of 2007, I thought that I was at my max. I thought that I had a body that couldn't change and a heart that couldn't handle very long workouts. What I've learned is that the body is one of the most amazing machines in the world, it adapts, it grows, and as you push it and push it, its endurance grows to match it. I have learned that I have the heart to complete anything that I really dream and yearn for as long as I put the work forward. I have read in many places that running is 90% mental and 10% talent, it is true. I have about .0001% of talent but what I lack in that area, my heart screams to my mind at each step, it is your dream, we can do it, a dream is becoming reality.

My midsection is still chubby compared to a lot of women who exercise as much as I do, but it is not about having a thin waist or a super ripped body. I'll take my body as is as long as it can take me wherever my mind and heart wants to go, 26.2 miles today, 70.3 miles tomorrow, 140.6 in the near future.

I have to attest that this post has nothing to do with fried dumplins other than I like to eat them and at this very moment they sound like a fantastic idea. SQUIRREL!

Gosh, I do have the attention span of an ant!

Back to the thought, this weekend was a kicked bootie typed weekend, as in my butt is sore and I can't sit anywhere without having to tilt my self from side to side. I ditched hubby for a two day, back to back, 9-hour spinning training. Spinning as in the exercise not the fiber kind. A few months ago my friend Carol from Gold's Gym planted the idea that I should become certified and start teaching some classes. The opportunity came in the form of Les Mills RPM certification a two day course where you basically get a good butt kicking on the bike and are taught everything from bike set up to the magic of coaching. At the end of day one, my butt was sore from wearing the cycling shorts all day, idiot me forgot to put chamois butter, and of course the Bootie Gods couldn't let it slide, my butt that night was sore. Let's just say that A+D Diaper ointment works overnight miracles baby! The second day, I wasn't so forgetful and I brought the butter, a bit late for some of the sore spots but still helped a ton.

I got my RPM certification and now I need to practice, practice, practice, practice and memorize loads of choreography, then record a class video and send it in to get my assessment, which will give me my seal of approval to begin teaching on my own the RPM classes. The training is rigorous but it ensures that all their Les Mills trainers know their stuff by heart and can present the program in a super way! I am so stoked! A goal that I wanted to achieve is almost complete :).

Oh look, the Cycling Magazine arrived....SQUIRREL!

btw: my new PC will be arriving around March 20th...no pictures capabilities til then, my mini laptop has a memory the size of my pinky and it can't hold my Photoshop software, let alone my thousands of pictures...