the schoon's

new challenge....

Ok, it's official.

My next challenge is set...registered... no more "I'm thinking I might... " or "someday I will do this..." ... now its committed and scheduled...  and I'm not giving myself much time to back out or get any more ready.

Sunday, Aug 1.  A Sprint Triathlon.

I bike miles and miles with the family every week... yes, it is leisurely, recreational, and pulling a trail behind with a almost 5 yr old Kristian on it, but in 2.5 weeks I'm going to ditch the trail behind and ride alone for 20K after swimming for 500 meters in a canal and then running for 5K after the bike. 

Jeff and I have been running more together, and it's getting better each time.

The hard part and for me the scary part is the swim.  I have a 10yr old swimmer, he says it's a piece of cake and has even offered to train me.  Taking lessons from my own son, what a deal.

So although I haven't been in an official "training" program for this, I think I can be ready in 2.5 weeks. 
Because it's all in your head anyways, right?

So... any tri tips from anyone out there... (Molly)....  send my way....

Transition tips, what to bring, good references and resources, etc....

My hands were literally shaking when I hit that confirm button on the registration... and haven't stopped yet....

At least I can mark this one off the list of things to do before I'm 40.

Poor Kid....

What a way to put a damper in the middle of the summer. Right when he had
just started football camp and was loving it.

Broken toe, thankfully an easy heal, but needs some non-activity time to
heal it since it is in the growth plate of the bone.

Keeping Erik down is sure not easy... "Mom, can I go play Laser tag? Mom,
can we go here..."

All this for chasing the cat and having a door get in the way....

what next....

Two nights ago I went for an evening run with Jeff.  My calf has been really hurting for the last couple weeks, pulled it playing singles tennis in the first week of June.  So, I've been "babying" it, and not being as intense active. 

Jeff and I were on the run, at an easy pace.  There was a slight breeze, but still super hot.  I told him that I would only do a little bit and he could keep going.  Well, at the easy pace, I felt pretty good, so stuck with him for a little longer.  While in that run, crazy thoughts go through my head.  I feel pretty good, I feel like at that pace I could run for miles and miles.  I start to think, could I do a marathon? 

Now that the SlamBam challenge is over, I feel like I need a new challenge, a new goal to keep me focused.

As the run goes on, I realize my calf feels better, I pick up my pace a little bit, and Jeff picks it up too.  The faster we start to run, the more my mind changes.  I switch to a half marathon again.  Our pace increases a little more and I'm back to thinking 5K's are just fine.  From starting at a 11.45 pace to gradually increasing to a 8.22 pace by the end, it's amazing how your mind changes at the same time.  Seeing that pace on my nike+ literally blew me away... who knew I could even move under 10?

So, do you stay at the pace that makes you think you can do more? or do you push yourself to a pace that makes you go faster but want to stop so much earlier? What is better for you?  5 miles at 11.40 or 2.5 miles at under 10. 

I'm definitely not a runner, I still can't say that I enjoy it, but to me, it's a challenge.  But I like the results that it gives.  It makes me a better tennis player, I have more endurance in boot camp and on bike rides and it melts weight off.  Also, there is something mentally encouraging to say to yourself that you can run for 3-5 miles straight.

But what is going to be my next challenge... what am I going to put my mind to work on next and have my body follow along? 

a winner

"You have to believe in yourself when no one else does.  That's what makes you a winner."~~Venus Williams

So I read this on a facebook status today and it made me think even more about this weekend. Saturday was the final celebration of the 14 week slam bam challenge that I participated in as well as a general celebration for boot campers in general.  This weekend I was able to celebrate being a winner... not by the judges definition... but by my own.     After 14 weeks of boot camp, changing meal plans every 4 weeks, weigh-in & measurements every 4 weeks, and too many to count lifestyle changes, I am walking proud having lost 33 pounds and 27 inches. 

Friday was a very difficult day.  I went into the challenge not to win, but to change myself, find the balance in life, and to make lifestyle changes for me and my family.  I hit every single one of those goals and the icing on the cake was my body changed drastically.  For the one of the first times in my life, I challenged myself harder than I EVER have and definitely finished the challenge with nothing I could have done better, no regrets. Now, I am learning how hard I am on myself.  I still have a ways to go in this journey... another 30 pounds.

But Friday, an email came into my inbox that rocked me harder than I thought it would.  I wasn’t expecting to even be in the top 5, it wasn’t why I did this challenge, so I’m still bothered by the fact that when I learned that I wasn’t in the top 5 I was just sad.  Very sad.  It didn’t help that I had worked until 3am the night before so I was very tired and easily emotional.  But when I learned that I wasn’t in the top 5, I had a short feeling of ... “Really? 33 pounds, 27 inches was not enough?  Starting to like vegetables wasn’t good enough? Burning over 3000 calories a day for the past 4 weeks alone wasn’t what they wanted?  Changing how I eat, cook, and what we do for fun as a family wasn’t what this competition was all about? ”  

So I let myself wallow in my self-pity for a while, let myself feel hurt that I had opened up so much in my essays for the judging and exposed more of myself through words than I ever have before.  For someone who doesn’t open up to many people, I felt more exposed by my essay than I did in my after bikini picture. All that I had done, just wasn’t enough for the judges.   

But, it was enough.  It was more than enough.  It was beyond what was expected in this competition.  It was beyond what I expected I could do.  It showed me that I can change.  I can change anything I want to in my life.  I can change how me and my family eat for the better and actually like it.  I can change my strength and muscles and do much more than I ever thought I could physically.  I can change how my body looks and loose the weight and inches.  I can change how my family views fun and have them LIKE running up hills, biking for 30 miles at a time, and we can be an active family.  I can balance my time and fit in work, volunteering, fitness, family and me time.   

Now, the quote says nobody else believes in you... But as I’m finding out, I had more people believing in me than I ever realized.  Of course I had my Jeff, my Erik and Kristian right there with me the whole way, but at the bootcamp celebration, I felt more support than I ever knew I had.  While they announced and talked about every person in the challenge, I dreaded going up to the front when my name was called.  It was the second time that I had done this challenge, the second time I had learned that I missed the Top 5 by only 1 point from the judges.  All these people had cheers and clapping, and I was just glad that Jeff and M&T where there too so I would at least have someone to cheer me on.  I was so taken back when I was called up and my 5:30 class was cheering and supporting me there.  Jeff even asked me if I knew I had such a fan club.  The comments from my fellow workout classmates were so sweet and encouraging.  I have been watching all these people changing there, admiring and being inspired by all they were doing, to come to find out, they had been watching me as well and seeing my changes.  

My journey and challenge isn’t done yet...  I need to now put all these changes that we have made into action long term...  I need to continue this active, healthy family lifestyle... keep the balance... And I need to get to my goal.  

Time to continue the challenge... Time for a run.

Family 5K Fun

This past weekend there was a 5K in the park right by our house.  It had a competitive (timed) and family fun (non-timed) division.  I signed up the whole family, we needed a change in our family fun.  Erik wasn't so sure about it, but wanted to give it a try.

Our neighbors joined us and we even got a start on the warmup by walking the 2-3 miles to the park together in the morning.  Kristian got the easy way out, by riding in the stroller.

We got checked in, got our numbers and had time to get a group shot.

 

My goal was to finish, run the whole thing.  The mini surprised me as to how much running I was able to do, but during the mini I did not ever run 3.2 miles at one time.  14 weeks ago, I could barely run a 1/4 mile without having to stop and walk, so this was going to be a big test for me. 

Erik raced ahead to be close to the starting line.  Jeff and I started together towards the middle of the pack.  Jeff quickly was running ahead of me, I felt good to be keeping a solid pace pushing the stroller with the 45# Kristian and all of everyone's gear in the bottom of the stroller (shirts, sweatshirts... you name it).  As I was running, I noticed not to many were passing me.  As I got done with the first mile, I found myself gradually passing others in front of me.  I caught up to Erik just after the 1 mile mark only to find him walking.  After a little encouragement from mom, he was off and running again.  We kept that routine going for the rest of the run.  He would run off ahead, start to walk, I would catchup and he would run off again. 

The last .2 miles of the race was zigzagging up the sledding hill.  Luckily Jeff finished before me and was there to cheer us on at the bottom of the hill.  I passed the stroller off to him and raced up the hill. 

35 minutes, 3.2 miles, pushing a stroller, running the whole thing.  I did it.  My family did it.  Erik did great, Jeff did his best run yet (9 min miles... go Jeff!), Kristian had fun riding but wanted to be running...(some day, little boy). 

Looks like we have a new family fun activity to add into our routine.  Family 5K Fun.  Now we are looking to see when the next race is around here...and it sure was fun to have neighbors that enjoy this as well and want to do more together. 

I still can't say that I enjoy running.  But with running, bootcamp, tennis and our family fun activities, it works... As the motto of the morning was... "It's all for the burn".  500 burned calories later, and a continued burn after that for a day's total of 3800, it was worth it. 

But what was even better than the calorie burn, was the feeling of accomplishment.  I was so nervous before the run.  Afraid that my mind would talk me into stopping, that my knee or hip would start hurting.  When that feeling would come over me, I would just look ahead and find something... "make it to the tree"... and then reset that new goal each time.  Soon I could see the end and there was no reason to stop with the end in sight. 

I am amazed at what you can do when you set your mind to it. 

6 more

6 more bootcamps

8 more days

one weekend

_______________________________________

Hard to believe how fast the last 90 days have gone. 

When this challenge first started, it seems like so much time to get everything accomplished that I wanted to do.  Now I feel like I have run out of time.

Lots of changes happened, I've changed our eating habits and choices.  I've done better at scheduling my life.  I'm definitely putting taking care of me first and planning my time for fitness.  Good choices, active lifestyle... they all make a difference in getting to the goal of being healthy and slimmer.  But, they take a lot of hard work, consistent concentrated effort, and like I mentioned, good choices. 

Although it has been a long time, almost 13 weeks, and many changes have happened, not all the changes I wanted to make are done.  I'm not at my goal weight yet.  As I look back at that goal, I realize that I was being overly optimistic to get to that during 14 weeks.  I'm close, but still have more to go.  So now what? 

I've really been working on the planning part of this... so I need to continue that after these 14 weeks to continue this journey to get to my goal and then to maintain.  I've been keeping a pretty hectic fitness schedule and really challenging myself.  I know that I can't keep that up after these 14 weeks.  I have signed up to continue my bootcamp class through June, going 3 days a week and enjoy other fitness activities with my family on other days... biking, rollerblading, walking/running, tennis. 

Through this whole challenge, I have been using the GoWearFit.  This truly has opened my eyes on how active you really need to be to make changes in yourself.  The GoWearFit tracks my calorie burn for each day, my activity minutes for moderate and vigorous level, my steps each day and my sleep efficiency.  On a "normal" day for me right now... bootcamp at 5:30 am, tennis, an evening bike ride with the family, and then sedentary work most of the day, my burn will average around 2700.  Adding more activity burns more, not doing as much burns less... simple right?  It's easy to see how if you don't get out and walk, do something, how you don't burn. When you add in tracking your calories consumed, seeing the negative difference between the two and knowing that you are on a "weight loss trend", really helps to know going forward, that you can't eat whatever you want and hope that what you did that day balances it out.  

Then there are days like today, where you know you have burning at a high rate for the last couple weeks, your intake has been low, and the scale just doesn't budge.... and you start to get REALLY frustrated.  So, you talk to your hubby and he reminds you to not get on the scale, trust the clothes that don't fit and are falling off, and just continue to surrender to the process, that in the long run, it does pay off.  He reminds you that you are doing everything right, you are doing all that you can do, and there is nothing during these last 13 weeks that you could have done better.  He makes me feel proud of what I have done, even if it's not all that I wanted to do.  He reminds me that the overachiever in me sets the bar high, but what I have done, is good, and the only person that I'm disappointing is myself and to get over it and keep going.

With these last 8 days, I know I can keep going.  I know that I will not meet my weight goal, but I have met my goal of finding balance in my life, of learning how to make those better choices and finding the tools to remind me to make those better choices.  I know that I will continue to eat vegetables after these 14 weeks and that in itself is a big step. I know that I will meet my weight loss goal... it may be later this summer, it may be this fall, but it will happen this year.  I know that my family is right there with me in supporting our healthier and active lifestyle, enjoying and having fun with it as well.  

Time now to get up and move...  8 days left....

garden

Yes, I am growing a garden this summer.

I have two tomato plants started, strawberries, cilantro, mint and next to plant is peppers, cantaloupe, basil, beans,and SPINACH.

Yes, something very green... I said SPINACH, did you hear me?  Me, Kari, is planting spinach with plans to actually EAT it too!

Look at this beautiful bowl of green goodness. 

I've found a new favorite in my life. 

And with being on these last few weeks of this challenge, I need to find something to keep me happy in my food choices. These last two weeks are getting harder and harder.

I NEVER EVER thought that SPINACH would be one of those things that would make me smile and eager for a meal.

But, pour me something tall and strong... lots of spinach in a bowl with some raspberry vinaigrette spray, a sprinkle of fat free feta and a teaspoon of bacon bits for flavor and life is good.

So far I've had two salads today....  calories under 200 total....  and I'm FULL!  Ah, like I said... Life is good.

what a weekend...

Here I am at 9:15 on Sunday night and I am worn out, tired, dragging...and I feel that I have earned the right to feel that way.

Saturday, May 8th was the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon.  13.1 miles through downtown Indianapolis, a loop around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and ending at Military Park. 

 

6:18 am... Jeff and Erik dropped off the Deerstyne crew on the streets of Indy, ready to go.  It was cold, it was windy. 

7:30 am the race finally started, but it wasn't until 7:58 am that we crossed the starting line and it was on.

It's an amazing thing to run with 35,000 other people and within that sea of people, literally run into others that you know.. other bootcampers, neighbors, friends.... 

We ran... walked... ran... walked... and continued that cycle through-out the whole race.  From starting out thinking that we would walk the whole thing, to running probably close to 5 miles of it, we blew away our expectations of what we could do.  

 

Running up to and seeing my boys at the finish line was so special... having Erik see me finish 13.1 miles was a great mother's day gift.

12 weeks ago I could barely run a quarter mile... and here I was running and walking in a mini marathon.

 

Here we are at the end.  All our bootcamp mornings and long walks paid off.  And the biggest accomplishment... we might even want to do it again! 

definitely a challenge

The last 11 weeks in this challenge have been about changing my lifestyle...  fitting that time in to exercise, making good dietary changes, turning our family time into active fun time, balancing out everything else that I have going on - making sure that I give myself the priority time as well that I give to everything else that I do.

I've been happy with the changes that we have been making, the lifestyle improvements that we have added into our routine.  We are eating healthier, more active together, and having lots of fun with it at the same time.  Two family members shared good news with me this weekend.  Jeff had hopped on the scale for the first time in a while and although he wasn't trying, he was just going along with the flow, he had lost 5 pounds since early February.  Erik while on a bike ride with us this weekend, informed us that he had lost 7 pounds since the fall.

For Erik, we haven't been about weight and the scale, just making healthy choices and being active.  Turns out, Erik had made a private goal last fall through wellness class to lose 10 pounds.  Although he did not meet his goal, he was still pretty proud of himself.  This kid also has grown about 3 inches or more since the fall.   Although I am proud of how I have done so far, as a mom who has struggled with weight her whole life, seeing this confidence in her son and the habits he has now, are making this all worth it and I am even prouder of him.

Today, I dragged him with me to bootcamp and then planned some time for us to hang out at the park, since he has the day off.  We went to Jason's camp this morning.  Erik has become my budding photographer and brought my camera with to experiment with some nature photos.  Well, while he was "hanging" out in a tree, literally, he snapped some of me...   so here I am in my bootcamp workout:

 

Jason has a much different style than Jessica.  I love both their workouts... but I was surprised at the push that I felt in Jason's class.  I may just have to try to swap in a few of his through the end of these next 3 weeks. At the end of the workout, one of the girls made the comment to Erik, that "Hey, you should have a new respect for your mom seeing what she goes through"... Erik replied back,"Nah, I've always respected her."

What a kid....

He sat with me while we did our ab work and did some along with me to help push me along, every once in a while saying the right encouraging words to keep me going as I complained under my breath. 

How did I get so lucky to have such great kids and family?

So here goes the last 3 weeks of this... these last three weeks are truly the challenge part.  The first 10-11 weeks were changing my lifestyle... I've done that... now I'm challenging myself in a way I never have before.  I couldn't even challenge myself like this in the last slambam I did 2 years ago, as I was recovering from elbow surgery.

I'm challenging myself with exercise, how much can I burn each day... I'm challenging myself with diet, being stricter than I ever have been before... no cheat meals even...  I'm challenging myself to finish strong and see how far I can get myself to go.  I love having a challenge, I thrive on it.  You would think that I should be stressed out... but for some reason, I am having more fun and enjoying this more than I ever planned on as I see the results personally and in those around me. 

May 22...  I can do this.