My Fitness Journey

By: Keely Holsinger

It all started with the EKU Ultra Iron Man. I was working out one day at the gym and a flyer caught my eye. It stated a fitness challenge that would last from June 10th to August 9th. During this time I would be asked to complete 50 miles of running, 5 miles of swimming, and 200 miles on the bike. We were able to track our progress by logging in our mileage each day. I immediately wanted to accept the challenge. I had never pushed myself to complete a fitness challenge before. I was always relatively active but I felt like I wasn’t challenging my body to its fullest potential.

That following day I started the challenge; this day was by far the hardest. I can still remember running that first mile on the track at EKU. I started listening to my favorite music play list and took off running. It started off comfortably and I felt like I could handle it but after two laps I questioned my ability to complete it. I was out of breath, hot, and uncomfortable. I slowed down but didn’t stop or walk, I just kept going. After progressing this far quitting was not an option. By the end of the mile I had such a sense of self accomplishment that I knew that I could complete the challenge. I felt unstoppable!!

The swimming portion of the Iron Man was by far the hardest portion of the Iron Man Challenge. I was unaware of how hard lap swimming was and I have a new found appreciation for anyone who swims. This is an effective cardio workout that is good for people of any age. There is a lot of technique behind lap swimming from breathing to arm and leg movement, for any beginner interested in lap swimming I strongly suggest swim lessons.

The running continued each day and gradually I would add one more lap onto the time before. I always pushed myself and kept my eye on the prize (to complete a challenge). I took a day to rest each week. Soon after running I added the bike into my workout routine. I liked the bike because I felt like it was giving me a different type of workout and helped me to switch up my routine. I also started hiking with my friends in Berea at the Pinnacles. This was a great workout and it felt good to get out in nature. I loved this time with my friends because we were able to get away from cell phones, computers, and tablets and just focus on good conversation and the challenge that was in front of us.

I started noticing changes in my life. My diet was now looking like a colorful assortment of fruits and vegetables. The mere consumption of these foods altered my overall mindset and my body reacted better during workouts.

Contrary to popular belief being “in shape” isn’t about your weight on the scale or the clothing size you wear. It isn’t about depriving your body of food and starving yourself. Your body needs food to function properly, and when you eat the right type of food your body will react to it by making you feel better. Quick fixes like diet pills and starvation never last. Your body goes into deprivation mode and this means that when it finally gets nutrients it holds on them as fat so that you can survive. When you eat properly there is no need for the body to do this so you stay healthier longer.

In order to be “in shape” one must be well versed in a variety of modes of exercise that combines strength, endurance, agility, balance, and flexibility while maintaining a healthy balance of lean muscle/body fat ratio. When you are “in shape” the health aspect of your body outweighs the superficial one.

Following several intense workout sessions I immediately began to notice how my stress levels began to subside. After researching this I found that the body reacts better to stress when being active. This continues the conversation of how important it is to be healthy and do things that will help your mind and body.

After 2 months of hard work I finally felt that I was able to complete a 5k. I remember feeling nervous right before the first race, I just kept telling myself “Don’t give up!”. I finished it in 30 minutes and was very happy that I was able to complete it without walking.

I had a great experience at this 5k. I met new friends and the proceeds from this 5k went to Madison county school backpack program. This program gives backpacks full of canned food and other needed items to underprivileged students to take home for the weekends.

This was the day I received my t-shirt for the Iron Man Challenge. The feeling of self accomplishment on this day was indescribable. I was a part of a select few group of individuals to finish the challenge. This shirt was a representation of all the sweat and hard work that had taken place over the summer, needless to say this shirt means more to me than any other piece of clothing in my closet.

This was at the Warrior Dash. It was by far one of the best experiences I have had. This is an obstacle run full of mud, climbing, and crawling. This is about 5 kilometers long or 3.10 miles.

Another exciting and fun experience was a 5k night run called the Run Like Hell. It was held in Cincinnati, OH around Halloween. Runners would dress up in costume for this event and run through Cincinnati’s graveyards. It was an enjoyable and very different than the typical 5k.

This was my first win at the Freedom Run 5k in Ashland, KY. This accomplishment made me very happy and encouraged me to continue running.

There have been a multitude of things that have kept me motivated during this process. The first being the support of my family of friends. I also had support from the people I would run races with. The running community is a very supportive and positive group of people, whether your first or last your fellow runners continue to cheer you on.

My Grandma and I

I also had motivation via social media outlets, following Health and Fitness sites on Twitter gave me a motivational quote on my time line each day that inspired me to keep going. I think that the quotes I read gave me that extra motivation because I felt like I was not the only one on a fitness journey. There was also free exercise ideas given by these sites and healthy eating tips to keep me interested.

My journey has just started, I want to continue to train and set new goals for myself. I hope to train and complete a half-marathon by next year.

For anyone that desires something more out of life I strongly recommend starting their own fitness journey. It all starts with one single step and the pay off is incredible. To be able to feel confident, healthy, and surrounded around positive people is something that you can get by working out. I can’t think of any other thing that you can do for yourself that can be so beneficial. No matter what fitness level, age, or weight you can always start a fitness journey.

Check out these resources for helpful information about fitness!

Resources:

http://chicagofamilyfit.com/wordpress/?p=180

www.active.com

Pinterest.com

www.livestrong.com