untanglingknots.com: April 2010

Introspection, Insanity, Before and After

by Karla ° Thursday, April 22, 2010

Without fail, every time I sit down to update this blog my mind races with everything that I want to share, but then I stop because, well, I don’t exactly know why. I guess part of me is feeling incredibly introspective these days and just happy to be alone with my thoughts, so to speak.

And ho boy does running ever give me lots of time for being alone with my thoughts, especially while training for a half-marathon. Technically, since I’ve already ran further than 21km at once I know finishing the half-marathon shouldn’t be too difficult but I’m not exactly breaking any records. Not that I expect to, god, not even maybe, but I’d like to finish the half in less than two hours. It’ll probably be more like two hours and fifteen minutes, but I’ve still got a month to work on speed. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll attempt a full marathon this fall, if, you know, I can ever wrap my head around how insane it sounds to run 42km all at once.

Speaking of Insanity, I finished it. Not that I think I’ve ever mentioned anything about that workout here, but anyone who follows me on twitter has heard my incessant bitching and moaning about how hard the past 60 days have been. Seriously, Insanity was the most physically challenging thing I have done. There were days that I was so drained at the end of a workout that I would literally collapse into a pile of my own sweat and just weep. And I’m not exactly sure if it was because I was glad to be finished or just relieved I wasn’t dead.

2009 was a year marred with several health issues and I had put on about 15lbs. Most of my clothes no longer fit and I barely recognized the person staring back at me in the mirror. I vowed to get back into shape in 2010 and when I realized doing Jillian Michael DVD's wasn’t getting me to where I wanted to be, I decided to give Insanity a try and I’m actually pretty stoked with the results. It was two months of intensity and counting every single calorie I put in my mouth. And oh did I ever enjoy those calories because I’m now eating more than I have ever eaten in my entire life, but that’s a whole other post that I need to bang out.

I can't believe I'm posting this picture online, but, well, here it is. My before and after Insanity pictures.

In hindsight, I wish I had a before picture from the beginning of this year to compare against. The first picture was taken two weeks into Insanity and also after I had completed Jillian’s 30 day shred. All I know is that I watched my body fat drop from about 23% in January down to where I stand today, at 16.8%. I know better now, after reading and following Kristin’s incredible fitness journey (and man oh man what a lovely picture perfect epitome of fitness she is) the importance of measuring progress, and I’m committed to doing that more closely moving forward.

I don’t know what’s next for Untangling Knots, but I do know this journey isn't over. As always, I’m incredibly humbled you’re here to share in wherever life happens to take me, but this quiet lull away from the computer has given me lots of time to think, focus on my family and work towards my health and fitness goals and right at this moment in time, that is where I need to be.

Labels: Fitness, Thinking Out Loud