Measuring Growth

People ask me occasionally how it feels to go from this:

To this:

I remember the process. But honestly, its hard to remember exactly how I felt about myself and how I felt as a person between then and now.

There are a few things that I specifically remember about my old life, like how I used to come home from work in the morning and eat 2 chicken, egg and cheese biscuits and 2 hash browns from Chick-fil-A before I would go to bed.

I remember feeling like I couldn’t do things in my life that I wanted to do because I was fat. Simple things like go to the beach, ride roller coasters, etc. I wonder how many adventures I missed out on because I was too self-conscious to do things. Did you know that I actually didn’t go to the beach, wear a swimsuit or a pair of shorts for over 7 years!?! Fat or not … what a waste of a life.

Other than a few specific details, most of my former life is a complete blur to me now. I feel disconnected from that person, like it wasn’t even me.

Another thing that I do specifically remember though was when Tim and I first moved to our home in 2006, we decided to start taking walks in the evenings together. It sounded like a good idea in theory but it only happened a time or two. This hill was a big part of the reason …

I would end up getting about half way up and having to take a break, then I’d beg Tim to grab my hand and pull me up the hill. It sounds crazy now, but it happened.

Yesterday I did my first hill repeat run in a while. My self-created training schedule called for 8 x hill repeats. This hill was my obvious choice.

Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t love hills. But it is so empowering to run up and down a hill 8 times, that once I couldn’t even walk up once!

That to me is a true measurement of growth!

It was a short 1.55 mile workout, but the confidence and self-gratification it gave me were immeasurable.

My confidence spilled over to today’s run as well, a 45 minute tempo run that I rocked! Tomorrow I’m giving my body a rest day, and Saturday morning I’m meeting a group for a Half Marathon Training run. I’m hoping to get in atleast 9 or 10 miles.