What a Round, Full of Excitement, Events and Achievments

Wow, almost into the final week of the round and looking back at what has happened has me blown away to be honest, but looking forward has me excited as well.  Why you might ask, what has happened, what is going to happen?  I have been reading lots of posts on Facebook, twitter and the forums about people's failures and achievements and this caused me to stop and have a look at what I had done this round.  Had I done all that I hoped to do?  Both on and off the scales.  Where was this leading me to and what was I going to do in the future.  It also had me looking towards next weekend and the finale for this round.

Now 12 weeks ago I blogged about the fact that I was not at the last finale and how I realised how much I missed it and was excited that this one was in Melbourne.  Well no excuse to miss it this round is there?  Well I almost did when I didn't have a ticket and they were almost sold out when I did get one.  That would have been a catastrophe.  The finale is an awesome time.  Since starting the 12WBT last year I have been to 2 of the 3 finales.  This has allowed me to meet up with some amazing people that I only talk to via social media or the forums but have built up a real connection with.  This finale will allow me to meet up with some new people, whether it be at the workout, Friday night drinks or the party itself.  It is a great weekend where everyone is celebrating the fact that we are all doing something positive and healthy in our lives to enrich them and become better people.  Plus we all get to watch the guru at work and possibly have a photo with her and maybe meet her.

Bring on the party and look out all you crazy people, the shrinking running man will be out in force and look out for me dressing up at the workout for a laugh with my Western Warrior harem.

Today I decided to look back at what I have achieved this round.  To say I was shocked is an understatement.  I had decided I wanted to improve my running early on and set goals around it.  I decided to take part in my first fun run. The Brooks sunset series at the Melbourne Zoo.  Was originally an 8km run, but shortened to 7.2kms due to renovations of the meerkat enclosure.  I got through the run in 48 mins which I was happy about but my running buddy Dayna suffered and injury which she is still coming back from.  My wife then decided that 1 was not enough and signed me up for the last run in the series, another 8km event at Princes Park 2 weeks later.  This one was in 34 degree heat, not what I call fun, but there was a huge group from the Western Warriors, my training group taking part in various distances and this included my wife and three boys doing the 4 km walk.  I got through this one in 53 minutes and it was tough.

Now this is where things get a little crazy and I found myself signing up for the Run Melbourne half marathon.  Why would I do that?  Running 8kms was enough wasn't it, why would I want to run 21.1kms?  I spoke to my buddy (aka my running coach) and he was over the moon about me doing something like this.  Fast forward 4 weeks and I had managed to run 14kms in one hit, was over the moon with this as it was 2/3 distance for the half and I still had 16 weeks to cover the rest.  Then just after Easter a friend and running buddy posted on facebook that she was ill and couldn't run the Geelong Half Marathon and was offering her ticket to anyone that wanted it.  I had a chat to Julie and my running coach and decided I would do it as a training run and if I got to 16kms and had to walk the rest so be it.  Well we all know what happened and I ran the entire bloody thing!!!!!!

So where to now?  Well look at the below photo and you will see that I have since done the Glow Run with my family.  Not really a run, as we had to walk a portion of it but it was another outing with the family and keeping the kids active and introducing them to these sorts of things is important.  I might not have thought so at the time, but Julie has been doing a great job with getting the kids involved.  She is a great mother and awesome role model.  I tend to do these things for my own sense of accomplishment and set PB's, she wants to to the family thing.  Difference between mums and dads and the kids are lucky to have her.  I also noticed and had forgotten that we did the MS Cycle in Feb which was a 50km bike ride.  So as you can see I have been very active in the last 12 weeks.  Add to this the leaps and bounds that my running has taken and I am pretty stoked with how quickly I am improving.  There is still a lot of work to go but it will happen.

Now besides the obvious physical achievements there have been other wins.  I am really loving the changes to me mentally.  I am now looking forward even more to exercise.  I am looking for challenges to set myself, maybe trying to improve my times for running, wondering what crazy event I can do in the future and starting to dream big about these things.  I am also loving the changes to my body.  I have never really worried about looking at myself in any way with admiration.  Why would I?  Being morbidly obese is nothing to admire.  Sure I tried to be a good person and do things for charity, volunteer as a football coach and help out people where I could, but that is different.  Looking at yourself in the mirror and being happy with what you see if very different.  You have to be happy with yourself, it doesn't matter what other people think.

The crew ready to run/walk

Wednesday saw me hit another milestone.  I wanted to smash this round out and try and get to goal. This was always going to be a tough ask, but you have to try. I also split my goals up along the way with kilos lost and actual weight. One of my big goals was to get under 100 kilos.  Well I had to lose 1.3kgs this week to achieve that.  Amazingly I lost 2.7 and not only smashed the double digits I missed the 99's.  OMFG!!!!  I have now lost 19.1kgs this round and want to have another huge week this one to see if I can get over the 20 kilos lost for the round.  

I have never been a vain person, obviously for the reasons above, but now I am happy to admit that I do look at myself in the mirror.  I notice the changes to my body and can see what people are commenting on.  I may not have guns yet, but I have some definition to my arms.  I have muscle definition in my legs, which I love and I now have an arse.  Just ask Rebecca Green (aka RunBecRun) who commented on the fact that I had a skinny bum some time ago, she also tried to say she wasn't checking me out.  Sure Bec, you are only human!!!  She is a great mate and I know she was only trying to point out that I had lost weight on my backside, but I love reminding her of the fact she accidentally made that comment to someone who will remind her of it for ever.  I have even let myself start wearing skinny leg jeans.  I catch myself looking in the bathroom mirror at work looking at how slim I am now compared to the past and enjoy the fact that I can now wear size 36" jeans.  Yes it is vanity, but I don't care.  I have not looked at myself for over 20 years due to the sight that looked back at me.  I am now happy with what is staring back and going to make the most of it.  I was even contemplating wearing a mankini to the finale just so everyone else could look at the new me.

Might be a little over the top with the tie though

Seriously though, having lost over 140cms off my body in 11 months has me proud of what I have achieved and whilst there is still some work to go I think this last round has been the most successful for me.  I have built the foundation in the first three rounds and now I am going to smash it next round to get to goal.  

Myself and Mini Me

Thank you to all the people that have supported me this round and have helped me through the crappy runs, tough days and celebrated my good times.  Without you this would be much harder.  If you read this blog regularly and are coming to the finale weekend, please come and say hello.  I would love to meet you or renew the friendships.