Insane in the membrane

In December I set a somewhat lofty goal that I wanted to be in the best shape of my life for the Olympics this summer. Keeping in mind that my job involves being around 525 of the fittest people in the world in various stages of undress for two months, my reasons actually weren't just aesthetic.

I have yet to give up the dream that this body of mine will someday grow a baby and would rather lower the risks my over thirty-fiveness is already bringing to the table. With the exception of a few days in Portland and a few days in Paris (Paris! It's really happening! My sister and her husb and Dr. Lance!) I have to be running operations centers from June 21-Sept 1 and I'd rather not collapse in the middle of the summer because I've been existing on Chik-Fil-A in the lead up.  And you add to that being just a wee bit vain and knowing this summer is chock full of flirtatious situations and I definitely had a sincere desire to make this resolution stick.

But.

I left for Austria five days into 2012. Fifty-eight teenagers, inconvenient meal locations and an insane schedule meant that more days than not I was running on chocolate cookies and Red Bull. I walked to the IOC office approximately 790, 098, 876 per day so I got some exercise, but I watched my best laid plans to wake up early and run along the river die a quick death on pretty much day one.


Lance and I walked and walked and WALKED our way through Germany but we also maybe ate pretty much whatever we wanted. And getting out of a cozy bed on a freezing Berlin morning to do anything but eat the pastries Lance always managed to track down before lazy over here even woke up never seemed terribly appealing.

So there was that. There was also the fact that I am both lazy and unmotivated when it comes to serious exercise programs and I have zero will power when it comes to giving up treats. I have trained for two marathons, run countless other races, biked up all kinds of ridiculously hilly places, hiked The Incline more times than I can count but I have never been good at doing the kind of day in day out committed exercise regimen it takes to truly change your body. I did Tai-Bo for a week. I quit Jillian's six week six-pack in about six days. I really like being active, but I really hate commitment of virtually any kind. (Says the single girl living in an apartment who has only bought her first couch three years ago. This is not news.)

Then Logan's Ironman weekend happened and something apparently snapped. My sister-in-law is busy getting her pre-Luke body back and she pretty much forced me to do these RIDICULOUS workout videos with her. She has always been an athlete so when I protested that I was nursing an SI joint injury she pretty much looked at me like I was a naughty child and told me to suck it up.

We did the workout. And then we ran up a hill. And then we did the workout again. And then we ran up a hill. And then we did the workout again. This joint that had been KILLING ME for a month felt better. The one I had been babying and using as a reason I didn't have to do my runs. Pushed through the pain and came out feeling better. Cliche alert?? But it's true, I wanted to sit on the couch and eat hot tamales but Tasha wasn't hearing no and somehow those workouts lit some little fire I was hoping I had in me but wasn't totally sure.

I copied the videos and brought them home. I'm on Day 17 and I feel kind of like a rock star. I'm getting stronger, sleeping better, making better food choices so I can get through the workouts and not throw up (that maybe happened once) and you guys, my butt looks totally awesome. I am seeing muscles that I never before seen on my own body.

It's a complete bananas time at work right now and I've had some personal rough spots the last few weeks but I get so excited to come home and sweat it all out. I feel so, so, so good. Good physically but also good mentally and emotionally for sticking to this and for doing something that is really hard for me. I don't ever want to get to the point in my life where I just coast. I always want to be walking right up the edge of what feels comfortable. I get to spend this summer with people who have spent their lives shattering what seems possible and I want to get a taste of that myself before I go.

If you are interested in the workout I'm doing, check out Insanity. They are so hard the people in the video can't even last the whole time without breaks but they are working some miracles here at my house.