1 Year later today!

Life takes you for a crazy ride right! I've been plugging along mostly posting here or there on Instagram and my Facebook page. 

We had an awesome time in Cali for the warrior dash in April. 

Or family finished out the school year and made a big move back to Colorado. And today on my 35th birthday I will measure and weigh in, reflect on this last year and report where I am at with my personal number goals and my pebble moments list. 

I am super excited to see how far I have come this last year and where I will go from here!

SOCAL Warrior Dash 2013

Las Vegas Warrior Dash in October has been cancelled. Total bummer! My Vegas Bestie and The Hubs both signed up to go.

This would have been Las Vegas's second year warrior dash (glad I braved the first one and did not miss out), but according to the email, "multiple factors with the vendor..." they cancelled. hopefully it will get all worked out and they will come back for 2014.

So instead the bestie "bobbie" and I are making it a girls weekend and travelling to SOCAL Lake Elsinore,CA  for their warrior dash and will be seeing my Cali bestie "Melissa" and her family.

Here is the countdown, I have some weight loss and fitness goals I want to hit before the race. Sorry I have not updated on my blog in awhile. I really do miss it. I have been spending a lot of time on my facebook page, instagram and MFP (my fitness pal) tracking my journey (come find me over there!). I do however, have a lot to update on my blog and some comparison pictures to update and Pebble Moments!

For now here is my countdown clock to SOCAL!

COUNTDOWN CLOCK WEBSITE

Pebble Moment 10: Warrior Dash!

On 10/20/12 I completed Pebble Moment #10!!!

I am still excited and in awe that I completed the Warrior Dash. my Nevada bestie who is 60 years young did the Dash with me. She is an unbelievable inspiration. I do not know if i could of done it without her and her support.

It took us 41 minutes a mile approximately. We had an idea of what to expect, but we found out very quickly we really had no clue lol.

most of our course was working our way uphill. It was physically draining. The two toughest obstacles out of the 12 for me was the clay mud pit and the 65 yard army crawl under barbwire. The obstacle i was afraid of the most was the dreaded wall, believe it or not it was one of the easiest!

I faced a lot of fears today, I wont say i wasn't afraid because i was, but I made the choice i would do it, do it afraid if I had to. The first climb over obstacle triggered the most anxiety and took everything i had not to freeze at top. The boards where far apart for my comfort and transitioning to turn around to go down other side was the scariest part.

My confidence increased, no, it sky rocketed after the first 3 obstacles. The height/climbing obstacles got better and I tackled them braver each time. The transition at top was probably the most scariest. It did not help that other people where on it at the same time making it creek and move as your trying to keep steady lol.

In my age group of 30-39 yr old women there where 713 participants. I can say I was not first but with a sense of accomplishment I can tell you I was 710 :) I wasn't last!

My 60 year young friend took 2nd place in her age division. Now granted not that man 60+ women did the race here in Vegas and that alone tells you just how Amazing she is!

Before I share the things I learned lets get to pictures!!

Bobbie before our wave started.

 Bobbie in our first obstacle

The longest 65 yards of my life. The volunteer in Red on the right was so encouraging. By time Bobbie and I finished this obstacle we where the only two left.

I was very nervous to do this one. I do not have very good upper body strength, but it was surprisingly easier then it looked.

 This was my first up and over obstacle and was the scariest one. Took everything I had not to freeze at the top.

 Bobbie and her Blonday Awesomeness!

 Our highest up and over obstacle. Very easy to climb but the transition over top was scary for me.

Bobbie up top, she went first :)

Bobbie headed down the cargo climb. We had to come up on the other side and go backwards down.

Steepest climb out of the whole course. I seriously almost puked once I go to the top. it was intense. Even those who looked very physically fit had to walk it.

bobbie on one of my favorites, the teeter totter walk.

Me in the Tire crawl. This was actually hard for me and these tires where hard, hurt almost just as bad as the gravel and rocks on the army crawl.

Bobbie making her way out of the tire crawl

me scaling the wall. Those slats are not very wide at all. this is the obstacle I was most afraid of but with help from the yoga pose frog, i was able to do it!

bobbie on the wall

Bobbie coming down the mounds. I slid and almost face planted on that big rock on the lower right corner of the pic. Sent pins needles through me but i recovered uninjured :)

Yeah Bobbie! leaping over the Warrior Fire, only one last obstacle to go!

In my proof at top of post you can see the last obstacle after the fire. We had to swim in mud under barb wire then cross over the finish line. It was Amazing and we did IT!!

Bobbie and I after we crossed the finish Line!

A much needed bath in Lake Las Vegas!

Bobbie getting her Grub on!

Me getting my grub on, that turkey leg was so yummy!

Victory meal. I am not a drinker of beer but it was free for finishers (legal age to consume, of course) so in the spirit of the experience i took one drink. This was the best meal ever :)

Bobbie took 2nd place in 60+ Womens!

Bobbie Warrior Dash 2012 Las Vegas

Chrystal Warrior Dash Las Vegas 2012

Vegas Warriors!

Blonday Warriors!

Bobbie and I after the most physical challenging and rewarding experience of our lives (to date of course :)

Bruising on inner side of right knee. my left knee and forearms match :)

 will never forget this experience. I learned a lot. I was not able to get out of bed for a whole day. Every muscle in my body felt shredded. Every bone in my body ached. As much pain as I felt, it also strangely felt good. i did not suffer any major injuries. however I did get some gnarly bruising from the two crawl obstacles.

What did I learn?

I am not Capable!

I am not Determined!

I am not Strong!

I am  not Brave!

I can not be Fearless!

I am not everything God says I am!

Learning. From the Inside Out.....

Wednesday Weigh In 10/24/12

Super busy exciting week. Will be updating on the Warrior Dash I did on the 20th.

So I broke my replacement phone at the warrior dash :( I have not had a good streak with phones and missing my iPhone desperately.

Glad I kept my weigh ins on paper as I had to redo my app on another device.
Seriously ::slaps forehead::

It has been slow and steady and an up and down but my measurements and clothing have remained consistent.

Eating at home and staying off tv and being active is working for me. For November I will be stepping it up and have a few challenges I will be taking on, I will share about later.

Pic of this weeks progress is below. As you can see for the first time I am not below my target line. But I am ok with that, lost another .5" this week on my waist. I look forward to doing my monthly pictures and measurements next week.

Taking it one day at a time from the Inside Out..

Pebble Moment #9

On October 9th I reached Pebble Moment #9!! :)

Pebble Moment #9 was achieved through feelings of fear and anxiety I was experiencing. i have pebble moments on my list that I very much look forward to with no fear and with ton of enthusiasm, some not so much.

That is why they are on there, to face fears and experience life even if only just once (one day I will add a plane ride :P) I recently signed up for the Warrior Dash, it will be the first time this race will be in Las Vegas. I originally had it on my list for year 2013 but for personal reasons I decided to go for it. I have mixed feelings about this pebble moment. I look forward to the event. My fear is not for the course itself it is about my body and my self esteem.

A fear that I will be embarrassed by my performance, be the biggest person out there, the most out of shape, that I will have to walk around the wall climb because I can not climb up and over, etc..

I wish my self esteem would increase at the rate of my inches or lbs decreasing, but truth is I will probably always be in recovery of self esteem and self doubt issues.

So what do you do...find something else I am afraid of and do it. So that is what I did. I thought about my list and new I needed to move my body that night and I have been feeling bored with just walking so I remembered I have rollerblading on there.

Rollerblading is very scary to me especially if you figure in uncontrollable variables into the mix. (out side a skating rink) hills, gravel, traffic, uneven road etc. The thought of falling well, that is scary too. I am a mom of five I can not be laid up in bed that would be disastrous..seriously..

Well my oldest and I dropped the girls off at cheer and headed to a nearby school with an empty parking lot. It had the most perfect view of Las Vegas strip and only one way in loop around and one way out. Only thing is it does have an incline on both sides. I stuck to the middle mostly till I felt warm and not all stiff and my son helped (saved my life) my first attempt at going down the incline to loop around.

by the end of our 1 hour 15 minute skate session I felt great. Hit a few walls but it was so fun skating with him and seeing all the Vegas lights. It was evening time but the parking lot had lots of lighting and since it is fairly new it was pretty smooth with little debris.

Not only did I feel physically stronger and capable but I felt mentally stronger just conquering something I feared due to the "what ifs" and I realized that is all I was projecting about the Warrior Dash..the "what ifs" and of course just all the negative ones at that.

So What if I get over that wall?, What if I do finish? What if I do complete all 12 obstacles? What if I have fun and create a memory I will never forget? What if I inspire my kids? What if I live life!?...I like those "What ifs" a lot more!

I told my son last night in a conversation about something he didn't want to change in his life because he would be quitting. ( but by not quitting he was actually doing more harm to his future). I told him he was not a quitter or a failure because he tried something and turned out it was not for him. That it was better to try things in life and find out it is not the right thing/time for you then to try nothing at all. Pretty good advice I must say...I'm going to take it!

T minus 9 days till Warrior Dash!!

Trying to live fearless From the Inside Out....