Monday 13 August 2012

Greetings from Holidays!

Hello Everyone!

It's Christina writing you from my vacation! We've been gone since Friday and are having the most fabulous time! I've had a few pretty significant accomplishments on holidays so far.

As some of you know, I'm not really good with spontaneity. I like to have a plan and stick to that plan. When we left Calgary Friday morning we were all set for some camping but didn't know exactly where we were going to go. We didn't have a reservation and we were hoping we'd find somewhere around Fernie. When we got to Fernie everything was booked up. We got away later than expected and it was almost 3 o'clock, we'd been traveling for hours and everyone was starting to get antsy. I was starting to panic a little, what if we couldn't find somewhere?

As always, I'm going to be very honest with you. In the past this would have been a prime example of when I would get my bitch on ... I'm happy to say that was not the case this time! I felt the anxiousness, I took deep breaths and I stayed calm and in good spirits! Greg commented on a couple of occasions how good I was handling the situation! We did find a beautiful spot and I won't lie, when we got there I felt a lot of relief.

I truly attribute my positive behavior change to the changes I've made in my life! Working with C.S. (Coach Swagar) and having CrossFit in my life really has changed my outlook! When I write that I'm a little taken aback! How can a thing like exercise change a person so much? How is this possible? Don't get me wrong, I still struggle! I still have bad moments and even bad days! I'm not always the best wife, mother, sister, daughter or friend that I can be. I still make bad decisions and sometimes behave in a way that I wish I hadn't, but on a whole I feel so different!

While we were camping on Saturday, Greg suggested we do a workout. I'll admit, I didn't feel at all like exercising. Not only did I not feel like exercising, there were people around who I knew would see and I felt embarrassed. Regardless of those feelings, I went back in my journal and found a WoD that I did last month that would work at the campsite. We did a quick 10 min AMRAP and although I did well, I felt very self conscious. I was very happy when those 10 minutes were up!

Later that evening, we got the kids to bed and Greg and I were sitting and having a beer by the fire when two woman walked up to us from the campsite across the way. They said they saw us working out earlier and it inspired them to also get out and exercise! I couldn't believe it, the workout that I felt so self conscious about inspired 2 other people to do something active! Hearing that made those 10 minutes so worth it! I felt proud and it's exactly what I needed at that time!

The thing about camping, especially with 3 kids, is it's not overly relaxing. Everything is an event! To set up the campsite, make beds, cook, warm up water, do dishes, get dressed ... Everything is requires effort! I loved it! Even when I was doing it I was able to acknowledge that a year ago I would have been hating every minute of it because it would have been work then. Now it's not work, it's life! When the kids were finally in bed at the end of the day and Greg and I would sit and have drinks by the fire, I thought about the day we'd had and loved it. I look forward to more camping in our future!

We had great meals when we were camping! It was not all healthy but we're on holidays and there will be treats! We had hamburgers, corn on the cob, cucumber slices, carrot sticks and good old fashion potato chips for dinner Friday night! Lucky Charms for breakfast on Saturday morning. It was the first time in probably 20 years that I had Lucky Charms and they were still Magically Delicious! Ha! For real though, they were awesome. Saturday night we had steak, sautéed mushrooms and onions, baked sweet potato with garlic and baked zucchini. It was awesome! Sunday morning before we packed up I made a big breakfast using up the leftover from Saturday nights supper! Scrambled eggs with the leftover mushrooms and onions, sweet potato and bacon hash, steak and bacon! It was all awesome!
We packed up the tent trailer after cleaning up from breakfast and headed to Whitefish. I don't know if I've ever been so happy to see plumbing! There is nothing like a shower after a weekend of camping!

This morning I woke up knowing I was going to do a WoD that I did when I was here at the beginning of July. It was a hard one that C.S. and David had to literally be at my side to finish. It consisted of 20 skips and then going up the driveway to the road and back, 10 times! I didn't record my last time but I'm pretty sure it took me almost 25 minutes. I was nervous about this WoD. Last time was so hard and I was nervous without C.S. and Dave by my side I wouldn't be able to do it all.


I found 10 rocks and put them in a pile, I told Catie (our youngest, she's 3, almost 4) to put one rock on the ledge of a flower garden each time I got back down the driveway. After a deep breath I started. The last time I did this WoD I found myself having a lot of negative head talk. I remember specifically on my 3 round last time thinking "why the hell are you even trying to do this, you can't do it" and "how did you let yourself get here? You'll never be able to dig yourself out of this hole you've gotten yourself in". This time on my third round my head talk was "you got this! Think about when all those rocks are on the ledge! You can do this". At no point in the 10 rounds did it ever come into my head that I wouldn't be able to finish this WoD. I'm happy to tell you not only did I finish it but I beat my last time! I did it in 23.07!



Soon after I was done I called C.S. and told her about it. When she asked me how I felt I started to cry, not because it was hard or because I wasn't happy but because of the accomplishment I felt. Just 6 weeks ago I could have never finished on my own and today not only did I finish but did it in less time ... Completely by myself! The kids watched and encouraged and Catie even came partly up the driveway every time greeting me on my way back down. At the end of the workout I saw those 10 rocks lined up and felt like a million bucks! This has been the sweetest WoD of my journey to date.

I now know I can do this! No matter what, I have the drive, I have the strength and I have the confidence! Life is great!






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