Breaking Through

At my gym, I decided to participate in a 30 day challenge. There were two teams with about 20 people on each team. Each day we had to do a challenge and rack up points. I loved doing the challenge because it really pushed me to do my best. Some days I felt awesome when doing the challenge, others were really hard and I had to dig deep in order finish.

This past Saturday was the final day of the challenge and the final task was HUGE. I mean I literally didn't think I could finish it. It was just so much and I didn't think my body could handle it. First we had to do 10 burpees, then I had to bear crawl around 10 poles, then I had to pull a rope with a 30 pound kettlebell attached to it, once I finished that I had to break off into a run around the block, which was about 1/4 of a mile, and then to finish I had to pick up two kettlebells and walk down the block and back. And it was all timed!

Before I even started, I started to get upset. I didn't know if I could do it, or if I did do it that it would take me like 20 minutes to finish everything. Plus it didn't help that the woman before me completed the whole thing in just 3 minutes!!!! It just made me realize how far I still have to go to get to the body I want. I went into it feeling defeated which was wrong and made the whole thing that much worse.

I started the challenge and by the time I finish the bear crawls I was already gasping for air. Then when I broke into the run, I just didn't think I could do it. I was so exhausted and literally couldn't get my breath back to normal. Thankfully my trainer saw that I was struggling and went out to help support me. She ran with me the whole time and when I started walking she helped motivate me to just run a little more and finish it strong. While I did walk more than I ran, I still did it.

When I finished, there were so many emotions going through me that I just started crying. I mean like sobbing. My trainer just came over and gave me a huge hug. Which was exactly what I needed. I was so happy that I finished and really pushed past my comfort zone that I was in when working out. I truly didn't think I was going to finish. Even though I was happy, I was also really sad because there is still such a long road ahead of me.

But now more than ever, there is a fire light in me to become the best me. The healthy strong athlete that I know I can be.

PS - my final time for the challenge was 7 minutes and 13 seconds.