Fight Gone Bad - AWESOME!

It was a beautiful, perfect day and a great venue at Whole Foods downtown. We raised $28k for Prostate Cancer Research and the Wounded Warrior Fund. DJ, dancers and athletes of all fitness levels. If you missed it -- well you missed out. I'm proud to say I came in 2nd place of Intermediate Females - just behind my pal, Mel who had her A-game on for the day (and her game face too!).

Lessons From Dad

I worked hard in boot camp this morning - and I was motivated. I was thinking about my dad. There are countless lessons he has taught me in life. I have two today I'm embracing. One is hug your dad - reach out and tell him you love him - he won't be around forever. Second is to take care of your body - it's the only one you get. Dad was an army pilot, fought in Vietnam, then flew commercial. He was (and still is) a damn good pilot - the kind you'd want in the cockpit when you are onboard. He's really pretty darn good at most everying he puts his mind to. One thing he failed to do (so far...) - as so many of us do - and I certainly failed to do from about age 18 to 38, was take care of your body. Dad is now 67 and in pretty poor shape. Carrying 250-350lbs on his body since his 30's has taken a toll. He's type 2 diabetic, with bad knees and an extremely bad hip. He's currently flat on his back in a hospital bed, fighting a nasty staph infection, compromised kidneys and all of the complications there in. Surgeons are shying away from him because of these complications and his size. He has had heart surgery, back surgery, circulation issues - more white coats have come at him in the last 20 years than he can count. So - you can likely see how this translates into motivation for me. "...if you can't be a good example, be a horrible warning..." is one of my favorite sarcastic saying... Bluntly put, I don't want this to be his fate... or mine.

I want to be around for my husband, my girls, my family. I want to go from living a healthy, active life to one day, when the time has come - to just be gone -- not to suffer, languish or in the case of my dad, lose his mobility, his freedom. Say a prayer for him -- I'd appreciate it. And if you are looking to change your life - I'm proof you can do it. I went from 210 to 140. I can eat on the Zone. I can show up to work out, compete in triathalons and will do FGB tomorrow, and I will run a 5k and bike 40M for the LiveStrong Challenge end of October. And I'll keep going to boot camp and the CrossFit gym. You just have to decide you want it bad enough and stop all the excuses. I really think it's that simple.

Jeremy Thiel - Intense

CrossFit has many faces - elite athletes to intermediates and beginners - but CrossFit leaves no one behind (who don't want to be be left behind, I should clarify). What CrossFit means to me is pushing your hardest - striving for excellence. Jeremy has been my coach for a year and a half, and I've worked for him for about a year -- and this is him. Intense, competitive, giving 100%. He brings this to all things he does - if it's coaching my Lake Pointe boot camp, coaching youth programs, doing personal training, running free community programs, etc. Who doesn't want a coach like that?

Check out Carey to the far left - I think she's yelling louder than Jeremy. Watch the video - look for the Sat Sept 20th post. Awsome and inspiring. http://www.crossfit.com/

Fight Gone Bad - OK, I'm IN.

I was sitting back, just watching. Not committing myself to the FGB whoopin. Then, we did FGB in the noon class last week with Coach Zachary. Darned him - pushed my buttons as only he can. See that smirk? You know it if you work out with him - I'll call it the the "smirk of excuses" Put that together with a loud "what??" add a "what are you waiting for..." maybe add a colorful word or two and then, well, there you have it. Thank you Zachary. I'm in and I'm raising money. To donate to this worthy cause...

Click here...

Yes, Zachary, I'll use the freaking 12 lb ball for wall ball.

LiveStrong & Reflection

The LiveStrong race is coming -- so it's time to reflect, as this was my first "race" and quite a goal for me in Oct '07, especially for the the girl who lived by the quote - "only run if something's chasing me"...

I finished the LiveStrong 5k last year in 31.33 minutes. This time, I will be faster - though I still dread running. So - goals. Right. LiveStrong 5k in 28.8 minutes - 9 minute miles. LiveStrong 40k bike on Sunday too (shout out to my pal Crazy Kelly for talking me in to that).

I've had stable weight now for about a year. Time to take off 10 more lbs and firm up. Today, I commit myself to the Zone and to Advocare. I commit to giving Jeremy a food log (swear it). I've been doing Boot Camp and Gym 4-5 times per week. Going to keep that up -but push myself harder, cause Zach says I can. Because if Don can run his second marathon...(NY Marathon Nov 2) well, that's just amazing to me.

This last year, I ran a few 5K, a couple 10k and crazy enough, three triathalons. What a difference a year can make. My proud little collection - missing one important PBBar race (sorry Mel). My favorite you ask? Well - has to be the LiveStrong, cause it started it all (and who doesn't love Lance - except the French? Ride vent the like, Lance !). Muddy Buddy takes a close second for sure.

Crossfitter, Spartan, and Pal - Mel

Every so often, you come across a gem in your life. Someone who makes you laugh, someone who inspires you, someone who just has a crazy energy and outlook on life to help you remember to not take yourself too seriously. I love Mel. She and Dave put on the Peanut Butter Bar run on Sunday - a family event - we had fun. Thanks to the Nike race that evening, I worked off maybe one of the 5 peanut butter bars I scarfed down in the morning - giving me a crazy sugar high and crash that afternoon - pure heaven - and I'm sure they are Zone-able, right? Thanks Melissa aka Melicious - you are fab!

Human Race

Daughter Grace (8) skipped right past the ol' 5k effort and went right to the 10k - running the Human Race with me in Austin this weekend. Way cool to see the sea of red running around Austin - one of only 3 locations in the U.S. out of 29 around the world that hosted the event - but way cooler to have my middlest daughter run along side me.