How this happened.

I figure I should probably talk about my background in a little more depth.

Growing up, I was my mother's daughter, a complete girly-girl (Ok, I still am)- happy to wear dresses and look pretty and never do anything gross like get dirty or sweat. Girls are supposed to glisten- duh. So I never really got a lot of exercise and it never mattered. Unlike my siblings, I was super skinny without trying. In 6th grade, my teacher actually asked me if my parents fed me at home. Seriously. So, exercising wasn't really high on my list of fun things to do. In fact, it was a joke around my family about how uncoordinated I was (and still am). It made me not ever want to try anything athletic. I always figured I would embarrass myself.

So besides a brief (and only slightly embarrassing) stint as a cheerleader in middle school, I never participated in anything remotely athletic. As I got older, I did start to try. That amazing metabolism finally slowed down and I had to do something about it. But every time I tried to run, it hurt and I hated it, and so I stopped. I realize now that I never learned how to push myself physically. Plain and simple, I was a wimp.

Things started to change last year- I got married. And like most women, I wanted to lose weight and look good on my our day. Thanks to some friends of ours, we decided to join CrossFit. I both loved and hated it. It was pure torture but I could see the changes to my body and I wanted it badly enough. I wasn't great at it at all. Any workout with a run, I would complain (or not show up) and generally end up having to walk it or sub it out for rowing. But because of the competition in our group workouts, I was able to push myself further than I ever had before.

Unfortunately, as soon as the wedding ended, we moved away from CrossFit and I lost all motivation to exercise. The day was over, you know? I went from working out 4-5 days a week to Zero.  Until I saw a picture from a wedding we went to this past January and I realized that I was not happy at all. We signed up for the local gym a week after we returned from that trip. I started doing classes and I started the Couch-to-5K program. It seemed like a program that I could do. The best part was finding blogs and websites dedicated to the program showcasing people who had completed it. I found so much inspiration on the internet. And it was people exercising because they loved to exercise. I honestly thought Mr. T was the only person in the world with that problem.

Through websites like the daily mile, and these amazing blogs, I found the inspiration and motivation to keep going with the C25K program and train for my first super sprint triathlon. I can see myself slowly becoming one of those people who exercises because it makes them happy. It's amazing what finding the right motivation will do. I'm so excited to continue this journey and keep building. I hope know that this time everything will stick. I'm finally doing things for the right reason (a lifestyle change not a one-time goal). I've already come so much further than I ever thought was possible. We recently started back at CrossFit, and I realized how much of a wimp I still was last year. One of our trainers even pulled Mr. T aside to comment on how different of a person I am now. Crazy. And it can only get better from here :)