Where did the last year go?

This morning was bittersweet...

At 5am this morning, I was at the gym for my weekly training session with BJ.  This marked exactly 1 year since the first time I worked out with him!  Yup, I started my personal training adventure with him on Halloween last year... it also marks the last training session that I will have with him.  :(  I will be forever grateful to him for everything that I have learned from him in the last year, and where I am  as a person today!  I still remember that first workout - I couldn't even make it through the entire workout... between feeling like I was going to pass out and almost puke, we had to cut that workout short.  I couldn't run a 5k without having to walk at least half of it.

Today we pushed through rounds of push-ups, core exercises that I couldn't even do last year and a battle rope workout!  In the last year, I have lost 18 pounds and almost 17 inches, but more importantly I have also lost just over 12% body fat!  I have also improved my 5k time by nearly 10 minutes between March and November, plus have finished 3 Half Marathons (improving my time by over 10 minutes from the first one in May).  I know that I could not have done it without BJ pushing me to do things that I never thought possible.  The last year has helped me to see that there is so much out there that I want to do and that even though the road will be tough, I can do it!  I will guarantee that I will keep in touch with BJ going forward as my health and fitness adventures continue.  I know that I will always have him. as well as my awesome family and friends to continue to push me to the next level!

You are probably asking what's next for me, because by now, you all know that I can't just still.  You are right... and I won't be sitting still.  I start my new fitness adventure on November 11th at Fitness Renegades.  Fitness Renegades is a new gym that opened in Green Bay last May.  It is all small class training sessions (no more than 12 per class, as some as small as 2!) that combines High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), Olympic Style Weightlifting, Gymnastic movements and quick cardio.  It's not going to be easy!  I have been at the gym already and saw part of a few workouts - I will be honest, the workouts scare me to death!  I felt like I was going to die just WATCHING!  But in reality, I know that it is going to be fun, as well as the push that I need to take it to the next level!

Today is also the final day of the Biggest Loser at work.  Although I did not do as well this round as I did in the last one, I am proud to say that I pretty much maintained my weight over the last 3 months.  With summer coming to the end, my running as tapered off, and I had to get used to eating differently to make up for the reduced miles that I was running.  That also means that today is also the start of the next BL round at work!  With my new adventures beginning a few weeks at Fitness Renegades, I am determined to make this round another good one and get the scale moving again!

Here's to the start of new things to come!!  Look out 2014!  This year's adventures are almost finished and I am already looking forward to the next adventures to come!!!