Krissy Thomas

I looked in the mirror last week and saw something that freaked me right out! I saw my mom’s body taking over mine. I really don’t mean to sound so ugly, but it was the weirdest thing. I’ll admit, this winter has NOT been easy for me. It’s been one thing after the other…

• it’s too cold out
• it’s snowing
• it’s not snowing, but it’s icy
• it’s too windy out
• it’s been below freezing for 4 weeks straight
• i’m busy
• i’m tired

You know the drill…I’ve had my excuses and because of that my shape has turned rounder than I prefer.

So, last week, I told a few friends and decided it was time to stop with the excuses and get back on track!I have a couple of people that I’ve asked to hold me accountable. A friend who I’ve asked for motivation/coaching. An app for the phone to calculate my calories/excercise and most importantly, an updated outlook on my personal health.

One of my friends that I’m being accountable to as well as checking in on them told me that it sounded like I was “kickin it” so I told them that they needed to kick it too and their response was “well, unless I’m eatin’ it. The end result of that conversation was that…failure is not an option(yes, we’ll have setbacks and bad days, but…) we will “KICK IT!” Friends, Life’s too short to complain and whine and let yourself slide right into complacency and a bigger rear end…so I’m gettin’ off my back-side to kick it!

Who’s with me?!

Do you have ridiculous fears? I mean like really stupid and ridiculous fears?
Do you ever fear falling down the big flight of stairs that end at the main entrance in your place of employment?
How about feeling like somebody will walk into the bathroom stall you are currently in?
Do you ever think that you will be hit from behind on a day when the roads are icy?
When was the last time you thought about getting a tickle in your throat and coughing uncontrollably while you are in a very quiet environment?
How about a twitch…any chance that you fear getting a twitch on your face with some upcoming filming soon?
Oh wait, how about the fear of stepping on a sleeping rattlesnake while on a run?
Better yet, how about the fear of having to go potty(i mean, not number 1)while on a trail in the middle of nowhere?
Hmmm no, none of those fears ring a bell? Oh okay, yeah, me neither.

So… I’ve got something to tell you. On Friday, my little man asked me how much I weighed and I said I didn’t know because I never get on the scale and so he asked me to get on and…well…it’s a sad story the rest of it.
The silly scale told me that I weigh more now than I have weighed in SEVERAL years! I’m not saying I’m fat(hush, those of you that I complain about my muffin top with). I’m just saying, I’m too big for ME.
I don’t like trying on 5 things each morning before deciding on something appropriate for work. I don’t like bulging out of my clothes and I don’t think it looks attractive when my clothes are skin tight.
After that little moment of awareness, I decided that it was time to stop my smack talking because you know; all of this is attributed to the fact that my knee got hurt in the fall(also attributed to laziness, the holidays, winter, stress, work, kids, lack of time etc…) and I had to simmer down on my running. But now, I have got to get my booty movin’ and back to where I like to be physically…without ANYMORE excuses. Sometimes little moments like these(the awareness’)push me into my hyper-motivated mode and so I went out and bought 30 day Shred with Jillian Michaels and decided that I am going to run every day (1-5 miles) except for Sunday.
Yeah, so I did the crazy work-out on Friday and it kicked my butt! I ran 4.5 on Saturday and then did the work-out again yesterday. Now, I’ve just got to stay on this bandwagon with an upcoming work trip and all the other craziness in life.
I was talking to one of my girlfriends the other day and wondering how come we can’t be those girls who lose weight when they are under stress?!
So there you have it…Transparent enough for you? Now I’ve told you and I’m hoping that this makes me somewhat accountable for working out…and makes me stop whining a little too. Anyone wanna join me…anyone, anyone?

Yes, yes, I’m getting to it. I know I haven’t posted since last week and I’m sure all 4 of you are eagerly anticipating my thoughts.

I had quite the learning experience my friends. I wasn’t expecting to get schooled during this marathon, but, really, that’s what happened.

Training for a marathon isn’t the easiest thing as it takes so much time and so much commitment. Needless to say, I spent hours of training, some of it very painful to get to the point of feeling confident about the marathon.

Hannah and I had our splits down, we had a plan and we were on our way. Everything felt so freaking perfect…even the freezing cold weather before the start. We ran and talked about how awesome we felt, how great our bodies were doing and how different this marathon felt from the last one. Wow! Well, then mile 12 hit and my knee sent a lightning pain up to my back and down to my foot. I tried to act like I didn’t feel it and pushed through and succeeded for about 3 steps, before I had to stop in pain. Hannah smeared ibuprofen rub into my knee, but i couldn’t go, so I asked her to please go and I would catch up as soon as I could figure out what was going on with my knee.

I went through my mental check list of things that i needed to try to make the knee work again, then i went over the list again. Nothing was working, so then of course i resorted to the only thing I know to resort to when everything i know stops ceasing to be what i know…I pray. Yes, I’m sure there are others who would resort to prayer first, but I’ll admit, I’m a weak human and it was what i did when i had no other options…Is this foreshadowing? I begged God to make my knee work again so that I wouldn’t have to quit. I couldn’t stand the thought of turning back or stopping and walking off the course. I couldn’t stomach the relentless “if only’s” that would follow me around forever, so I continued praying, then suddenly… For some reason, I had this strange peace and I knew that I should start running again, so I did and I was able to run another 7 miles. Amazingly well at that…not as fast as before, but still it was a run.

At mile 19, I stopped and then it was done…there was no more running to be had by my poor little knee. Mentally I was sooo NOT done, but there was nothing I could do, when every step running resulted in shooting pains up and down my legs. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get back to running, so I walked…because stopping was not an option. In my walking I observed so much and what i observed is part of what I’m believing was a very defining life moment for me.

I finished the race with a friend that I made at around mile 22. We had a pretty uplifting conversation for the final miles of our marathon where neither she nor I were very happy about walking, but knew beyond a doubt that the walking was purposeful and necessary.

So, friends, I finished strong…albeit, it wasn’t the way i planned and there was no sprinting to the end to greet the camera’s head on, but I smiled(humbly) walking across the finish knowing that I gave it my best and the path to the finish meant as much or more than crossing the line.

On Saturday I had an 8 mile run scheduled, so I ran out 4 miles into the eastern plains of Colorado Springs and back. The terrain was a bit hilly, but more downhills on the way out which meant there were more uphills on the way back… and the wind was pushing against me too.

I felt pretty good on this run, but it’s never really “fun” to run uphill against the wind, so i decided to do one of my “interesting” mental experiments. I hypothesized that if I were to smile while running uphill against the wind, then my mental state of mind would be changed and I would be forced to pretend like I was enjoying my exercise. (Stop it, stop calling me crazy!)

Guess what? My hypothesis totally works, no really it does!
Yeah, I’m pretty certain I looked freakish running with a big smile plastered across my face, but guess what? It didn’t matter what anybody thought as they drove past because they weren’t out running with me. I finished MY course and felt strong at the end of MY 8 miles. My attitude affects everything I do and only I can determine what it will be.

Yesterday a kind old gentleman behind the deli counter randomly said to me, “Just remember to keep smiling your smile and everything will be just fine.” I forgot Saturday’s running lesson come Monday night, but I’m grateful for his reminder. So here’s my new motto: “Smile when you’re going uphill, against the wind because you will finish just fine”