Yo-Yo No Mo

It has been a while to say the least. 

What was it—September 2019 the last time I blogged? 

I was telling you all about my word Persistence and how it was God that was persistent with me.  Thankfully yall he has continued to be persistent.  He has put the right people in my life.  He has given me the tribes I need in my life.  He did not give up on me!

When I last blogged, I was in the middle of Morning Meltdown 100 with my Sister Shred group and enjoying listening to the Big Life Podcast every morning.  Once MM100 was over I decided to give running a go again.  I was nervous to do this after the struggles I had with running, but I really missed running so I went for it.  So glad that I did!  It was like old times, but better.  I found a rhythm that worked for me and I just kept running. 

In November and December I did LIIFT4 4 days a week and ran 2-3 days a week.  I started training for a half marathon that my lifelong girlfriend and I signed up.  The half was end of January and I wanted to finally crush that 2:30 time. 

Before we talk about the race let me tell you about the start of 2020.  I had listened to Pamela’s (from Big Life Devotional) video on writing goals and it was a light bulb moment for me.  So, I made me some 2020 goals and then I made me some January goals and then I made me some daily goals for the month of January.  Yes, you want to learn more about this because it rocks!  I started out 2020 already on a great fitness plan so the next step was a health plan.  Meal Prepping became my new best friend.  Sunday’s became meal prep day.  I would prepare a breakfast, lunch and snacks for the entire work week.  Before I went to the grocery I came up with my meals for the week, plus what I was going to make for supper each night. 

2020’s main goal was to make a lifestyle change.  To stop the years and years of yo-yoing back and forth.  I do not want to pick a diet and lose the weight only to gain it all back when I stop the diet.  I have been doing this since 2013.  I have probably gained and lost 10-20 pounds a dozen or so times.  I wanted to be done with that.  I made the following health/fitness goals:

·        Eat healthy 85% of the time

·        Get my body fat under 23%

·        Lose the fat and build the muscle

·        Have a bad day-- maybe even 2, but get up the next and get back to it

·        Be patient

·        Break 2:30 on a Half Marathon

·        Do a Full Marathon

Yep!  Those are some big goals and they will take some time.  That is why I also added BE PATIENT and HAVE A BAD DAY.  In the past I had no patience and if I had a bad day I could turn it in to 3, 4 or a week of bad days.  I was trying to set myself up for success!

Now back to that half marathon.  Kristie and I had the most amazing weekend at the beach catching up, relaxing, and getting our run on.  I did the 7K on Saturday and the half on Sunday.  I did not break any records, but I did have an amazing run with my best friend.  I ran the entire race with her by my side and I felt fantastic.  I was not down on myself, in any pain or feeling miserable.  It was just a great race start to finish.  My chip time was 2:36:15, my Garmin watch had me at 2:33:14 (that 3-minute difference was probably my potty break).

I continued running and strength training in February since I had two halfs coming up end of March and first of April. I was starting to notice the “cottage cheese” in my legs and booty was shrinking.  I was losing inches and even a few pounds.  Most important was that I felt great!  I had energy and I was sleeping better than I have in a long time.

BAM!  Covid-19 hit like a bomb and everything changed.  Gyms closed.  The park that I run OUTSIDE at closed.  My two springtime halfs got postponed until the fall.  My office hours changed to 50% home, 50% in office.  The old Kelly would have used this as a time to “take a break”, but not this girl!  I dove deeper into my fitness.  I decided to keep running and do LIIFT4 again.  I started doing a quick 10-15 minute workout with my Big Life Sisters.  I started doing yoga.  I never thought I would do yoga and now I love it!  If you do not do yoga you should totally try it. 

After I finished LIIFT4 I decided to take the plunge and try The Prep with Amoila Cesar.  This guy scared me, and I was not sure if I was ready, but I surprised myself.  I have been hanging pretty good.  I am 4 workouts away from finishing the 4 week program as of today.  Next is 10 Rounds with Joel Freeman and then back to Amoila Cesar for 6 weeks of The Work. 

I have a big day coming up in July!  It was July 2019 when I had my first Body Fat Scan.  It was pulling up those results on my laptop and seeing that image of me.  Thinking this is what I look like?  Seeing my body fat percentage and feeling the tears roll down my face. In those moments the wool was lifted and I saw me and not the me I had drew up in my mind.  Shit got real!

God was working though!  If you remember that is also the time I found Big Life Podcast and my friend, Jennifer invited me to her health/fitness group Sister Shred.  So, we are caught up--at that least you got the quick run down.  I have so much more to share-- stay tuned!  

I have decided to start blogging again because I have had friends and acquaintances reach out when I post on Facebook or Instagram about my journey.  I want to use this blog to spread the good and positive.  To give motivation.  Share recipes, tips and ideas.  I want to be your accountability partner.  I want to hear from you so please leave a comment, ask a question, share your story or just say hi! 

I am so happy to be blogging again! 

Persistence...

What is persistence?

The act of persisting.

The quality of being persistent.

Continued existence or occurrence.

The ability to stick with something.

This was the word I chose for 2019.  When I chose this word my main focus was to stick to my health and fitness goals.  I tend to get so far and take a little break or let something slow me down until I have given up.  It has happened again and again over the last few years.  

Fall of 2011 I picked up running again and so begin my battle with reaching my fitness goals.  Here we are 8 years later and I still haven't reached my ultimate goal.  2018 started off so good for me and I was so close to reaching my goal before I got really sick in October and let that be my downfall.  When 2019 rolled around I was struggling.  I was disappointed in myself, in my lack of motivation and my willpower.  I decided to pick a word and make a vision board.

Persist is my word for 2019.  My quote is "nevertheless she persisted".

The beginning of my year was full of ups and downs.  Highs and lows.  I would start up and fall flat.  Around April I realized sadly I would not be bikini ready for summer. ;)  I am normally the most positive and happy person in the room so this struggle was hard for me.  I couldn't figure out what was not right, not working, not letting me move forward.

Rewind to November 2018 when a friend told me I should listen to a podcast during my drive to and from work.  Why would I want to do that?  You love to read and you love a good mystery so you would love this podcast.  Okay, okay I will try it.  This was the best thing ever.  I am so into what I am listening to that Tom, Dick and Harry could cut me off, ride my butt or cuss me and I wouldn't care.  I listened every morning and evening for almost 2 weeks and then the podcast was over.  OVER!  What am I going to do?!?!  I tried a few others and couldn't get into them and one afternoon I saw that Sadie Robertson has a podcast.  I always liked that family so I gave it a whirl.  I ended up really liking her podcast, especially one day when I heard Annie F. Downs and that led me to Annie's podcast.  So for months I was going between Sadie, Annie and Rachel Hollis.  These 3 women are all good Christian women who send good messages and positive vibes.  It was something I needed in my life.  Something that had been lacking more and more the past couple of years.  It was good for my soul to have this time with them and God.  Normally drives to work, workouts and runs were my time to talk to God, but clearly I wasn't getting enough time and He found a way to get more time with me.

Around May is when things started falling into place for me.  Or I should say puzzle pieces starting fitting together.  God was about put me back together again. I was making it to bungee training so I was getting 2-3 hours of fitness in a week. A friend had invited me to join her FB group about fitness & nutrition and another friend had done a post about her daily morning thing "front porch church".  A daily women's devotional.

One morning I decide to pull up this Big Life Devotional Podcast and give it a listen.  Little did I know that Lisa's Front Porch Church was about to become my Drive Time Church.  The first morning was a little overwhelming.  I am generally a happy person, but this Pamela was over the top.  She was just to bright and chipper for me I thought to myself.  All during the day her words would pop in my head though and on my drive home I found myself listening to her again.  The next morning I listened again and the next afternoon.  After a week of listening to the days devotionals and going back randomly picking an old one I was hooked.  I was following her on Instagram and Facebook.  She was exactly what I needed.  She loves Jesus.  She finds her strength in Him.  Its her love and devotion to Him that helps her find her happy.  Until I started listening to Pamela every day I didn't realize I was really missing true happy.  That I got Jesus and nothing is going to bring me down happy.

My friend Jennifer invited me to her Facebook group Sister Shred and I gladly went.  I could always use some encouragement from others about health and fitness.  I am getting so much more!!  Yes its about health and fitness, but its about being positive, loving and encouraging sisters to one another.  I thought I was going to do some fitness and health challenges, but I am getting so much more.  I am totally 100% loving what I am learning health/fitness wise, but I am also learning so much more about me.  We are doing this Morning Meltdown 100 and she added a devotional to it.  100 Days to Brave.  I needed this book in my life.  Each day something I read is helping me to be braver.  To be the real me.  The real Kelly Bea and not care if I fit a mold.  It was another way for God to say "yo Kelly Bea you really are needing more of me in your life".

I share all that to say that while I picked the word persistence for 2019.  My quote is "Nevertheless she persisted", but it has been God that has been persistent with me.  He knew that I wasn't reaching my goals and finding pure joy because I was leaving him out of my life a little too much.  He threw Himself back into my life in bits and pieces until I was craving more of Him. Needing Him in all I do.  Here we are in September and I am thriving and I know its not just because of my persistence, but because He was persistent with me!

Life is so much easier when He is there with us.  Yes, I believe He is there not only for the big things in life, but all things.  He is with me when I make myself get up at 5 AM to work out.  He is there when I make choices on what food to put in my mouth.  Because He is there I am stronger to tell the devil to go on his merry way.  Because He is there I am more persistent!

I am so ready to crush some goals before this year is over!  I am so happy to have Jesus filling up my heart and soul.  I look forward to sharing more of my journey with yall.  Let's go out and be persistent!

Thank you for stopping and have a wonderful day!

  

River to River Relay 2018

Last fall my good friend, Tony asked me to join his team and run the River to River Relay.  I quickly said yes, but my mind was going in a million different directions--- "Kelly what are you thinking you have never done a relay before, this run is 80 freaking miles, you are not fast, what if..."

In the end I just went for it.  I have always wanted to do a relay and here was my chance.  I was assigned Runner 2.  I was thankful to be runner 2 since it seemed to be the easiest as far as hills go.  Believe me this 80 mile relay was full of hills!

This past Friday we all met up and loaded down our 15 passenger van and headed up to Anna, Illinois to get with our 8th and final member John David.

Tony and Kristin were the only 2 that had done this run before so there was lots of excitement and nerves in the van.

Runner 1's first leg was nixed due to road construction so the race started with Runner 2's first leg and that was ME!  Pulling up to the start was pretty scary when I saw the huge line of vans and people everywhere.  I was ready to get started so the I could get my nerves settled and start having some fun.

Me and Kristin

Got the baton and ready to get this race started!  3.60 miles here I come!

Almost there....

passing the baton Maggie (Runner 3)!  

Thanks Kristin for this amazing shot of me! :)

Kristin (Runner 4) is getting ready to start her leg!

Here comes Maggie!

and the baton exchange....

and Kristin is off...

We all hustle back to the van and off to the next exchange.  

This is about the time that I am really getting into everything.  It is truly organized chaos.  You have 250 teams starting in groups of 30-40 every 30 minutes until all 250 teams have taken off.  That is 8-10 people per team (counting the driver and alternate runners).  24 exchanges along the 80 mile route.  The roads are not closed so you also have to deal with cars traveling along the route.  Its just WOW!

Here comes Kristin.

and she makes the exchange with Tony (Runner 5)

and Tony is off...

Here comes Tony...

  and he makes the exchange with Shannon (Runner 6)

Shannon making his way to the exchange...

and Runner 7 (Tony) is off.

There is always fun to be had on a run!

We owe a lot to this guy!  David was excellent behind the wheel of that van.  Couldn't ask for a better driver or person!

Just a little bit of the organized chaos I was talking about!!  Vans and runners and volunteers everywhere!

Kristin, Tony, David, me and Shannon

Here comes Tony...

and he makes the exchange with David (Runner 8) 

and David is off up that hill...

and we are in the van headed to the next exchange.

Vineyard

and here comes David...

and he makes the exchange with John David (Runner 1) and yes we have lots of David's and Tony's.

Everyone has run one of the 3 legs!  Each runner does 3 legs ranging from 2.5 to 4 miles.  In the end you run anywhere from 9-12 miles total.  It is really a great experience!  Here are some highlights from our 2nd and 3rd legs of the race!

He popped up on me and I wasn't ready! haha!

Maggie take the baton now!  I'm done! Haha!

Maggie was a rock star!!!

Yes we had hills like that all damn day!  They killed them, too!

Kristin killed those hills!!!

She's a badass!

A little fun with Brookie at one of the exchanges.

Not long after this I was hit by a migraine and went downhill from there.  Ended up in the ER with the scare of my life.  The ER doctor said my calcium levels were extremely low and this could cause dehydration, muscle cramps and so on.  Sadly I didn't get to run my last leg or cross the finish line with my team.  I would like to thank Maggie for running my last leg and kicking that hills butt.  To my teammates and the runners who stopped to help and take me of me until the ambulance arrived I am very thankful for your help and calming words because I was scared.  Never been through something like that and don't ever want to again.

A big thank you to Kristin for staying with me the whole time!  Love you girl!

Here is the team running to the finish together!  We placed 26th in the mixed group with a finish time of 11 hrs and 21 minutes.

Tony, David, Maggie, John David, Tony, David, Shannon

I can't say thank you enough to Kristin's parents!!! Richard and Mary Ann yall are 2 of the nicest and most amazing people.  Not only did you let 7 people invade your home for the weekend, but you made wonderful meals for us, took care of us and cheered us on.  Thank you so much!  I always thought Kristin was incredible and now I see where she gets it!

Mary Ann, Richard and Brookie

Jude the Dude

Rocket City Propulsion Team

2018 River to River Relay

After the scare I had I am more determined than ever to figure out what is going on with my calcium levels and get my migraines under control so I can come back and conquer this run next year.  I give up and miss out on a lot of things because of migraines and I am done with that!

Again thank you Tony for asking me to be a part of this team, for the team welcoming me in and putting up with me and for the amazing weekend!