Fitness Challenge

Okay – so I talked a little bit about why we’re doing this on Undies101 and a little bit about why I’m doing this, but I don’t know that I was really honest about it. For the last year I have been embarked on a fitness journey. Last January, I started on my journey to become a barefoot athlete. I had seen those shoes – you know those ones with the 5 toes on each shoe. They are a little freaky to me, even to this day, but I still wear them. I approached a trainer at the gym who was wearing them and started asking him questions about them. It began there. I got my first pair, I did a session with him at the gym. I started running in them. I hurt myself.

I took it easy for a while and came back to them. I hired the trainer on my own to work with me. To re-train my body, muscles, joints and nerves to do what I want them to do. I did bodyweight exercises, I did sprints, I ran up and down stairs, I got up and ran in Central Park once a week with my trainer. I got stronger and faster. I ran with my trainer – along and in the park. I ran with dogs. I was outside training in the wind, the cold and the sunshine. We trained for a year. I took my barefoot shoes with me to London and wore them while I ran the parks there – I got stared at (apparently they are not big over there at all).

I kept going. I re-trained my body and my mind. I became an athlete – according to my trainer, and I started to feel like one. I became a runner. I changed my diet (more on that later on) and started dropping weigh steadily. I gained a friend. I’ve had trainers before, and still have one for my strength training. No trainer has touched me like my running coach has. I don’t know why.

yes…that’s how I ran…no shorts…just the tee and tights and barefoot sneakers

A few weeks ago, I lost my trainer. I knew that it was going to happen. His wife finished grad school and they moved back to sunny California. I prepared myself for it, but I wasn’t prepared for the reaction that I would have. I feel like I’ve lost a piece of myself. I feel like I’m a ship without a rudder right now. I feel kind of directionless. I wasn’t prepared for that. I had no idea that a once a week session with a trainer/coach would leave me feeling like this. I’m not giving up, I just have a hurdle to get over. This is why I’m doing this. I’m hoping that this challenge and the band of brothers we’re creating during it will help me re-motivate myself to keep going.

Sunday’s are usually my days off, but I decided to try and get out of my funk and go for a run in the park – even if I just got a mile in, I was running. My goal is to get out two mornings a week and run, if it’s not too bitterly cold (my asthma is affected too severely then). I’ll continue to lift three days a week – once with my trainer. I’m hoping my motivation will rise again. I’ve lost 15 pounds since the beginning of September, and my tummy is almost flat. I need to keep going. I need to find a way out of the funk. That’s why I’m doing this!