Hard Decisions

It's been two months since my last post and a lot has happened, but not really in the weight loss category.  It's been a busy past month with Spike and I moving into our first house and taking ten days off of work to do so.  

I've been reminded by several friends that I haven't been sharing my journey as much lately, and I think it's because there hasn't been a lot of progress made since the paleo challenge back in February.  I've actually been fluctuating up and then back down about five or six pounds since then and with the move haven't been in my regular routine for a while. 

Yesterday, I got in a swimsuit for the first time this summer and felt like I didn't look much different from last summer at all.  It reconfirmed what I've been feeling for the past few months, that I need to reassess where I want to be and what I'm willing to do to get there.  

That's what I started to do earlier this week when I made one of the hardest decisions since having lapband surgery.  One of the biggest reasons for my success so far is that I became part of the 573Fitness family.  I found my love for being an athlete again, I built my strength and endurance to a level it hasn't been since high school, but more than anything, I gained so many friends that feel like family.  There was not one class that I attended over this past year where I didn't feel welcome or special or part of the "team."  After living away from the area for five years, it was an amazing way to get reacquainted with those who I had lost touch and meet for the first time others who would end up being some of my very best friends.  

That's why this past week was so tough.  Since moving to Farmington, 25+ minutes away from the gym, I was only making it to the gym 2 or so times a week.  While I was running 1-2 miles on the other days, I know it's not going to be enough since I still have ~40 pounds left to lose.  I really need to challenge myself to run longer distances and I must work out at the gym a minimum of five times a week.  That coupled with eating a paleoish diet with portion control is the only way I will continue to make progress. 

Because I know myself and know that since the move I have not been making working out and eating healthy my highest priority, I went ahead and made the decision that was inevitable.  I decided it was time for me to switch to Parkland Crossfit, which is literally two minutes from our new front door.  I went for the first time on Wednesday to check it out and think it's going to be a great fit for me, but at the same time have a feeling of guilt for skipping out on my 573 family. 

But the thing about family is they love you, support you and just want the best for you. And that's exactly what everyone at 573 has shown me since I told them about my plans.  They were understanding and more than anything wanted me to know I was welcome to come back anytime I wanted, which I'm sure I will be there frequently over the next few months preparing with my partners, Alexia and Lisa, for the Mrs. T event in August.  

So while it was one of the hardest decisions I have made, one that I spent hours and sleepless nights thinking about, I also know it was the right decision... the best thing for me.  And I am so excited to get to know even more people who share the same love for crossfit and who have already been so great to me.  

I hope to report some more progress soon, but in the meantime here are some recent pics that have helped remind me that I am still doing good despite the stall in progress over the last three months.

Here was my last "official" work out at 573 Fitness this morning doing Murph for Memorial Day(1 mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats, 1 mile run.) I love these people and will always consider them my family.  :-)

Since I was feeling a bit discouraged in my swimsuit this weekend, I decided to do a side by side of where I was a year ago.  The left picture was Mother's Day last year, the right was this past Saturday at my cousin's college graduation party... in a dress I bought last year and am finally able to wear comfortably.

This picture was taken back in December of 2010 compared to the one on the right, which was last weekend.  I finally don't feel self-conscious of "sitting" pictures. 

 Picture on the left was probably 2009 or 2010... picture on the right was two weeks ago.

Picture on the left was back in February of 2011... you can just see how unhealthy I was in my face. I think I look happier now, too. :-)

Have a great week!
- Ashley

One Year Out

On the eve of my first "bandiversary," I am writing you from the very bed where I laid one year ago nervously awaiting the moment that would change my life forever. What I did not know was how many ways my life would change over the next 365 days.... many of which had nothing to do with the plastic band that was put inside me the next day.

These are the questions I've been asking myself a lot lately with some answers I think are important to share...

Is the lapband the reason I lost 52 pounds over the past year? Not really. 

Was getting the lapband a catalyst for me to take back control of my life and health? Absolutely.

Would I recommend the lapband to someone in my situation from a year ago? I don't know.

You may think the first two questions are the same, but they are not. Looking back now, I had very high and unrealistic expectations of what getting the lapband was going to mean for me. I thought I'd lose weight quickly... as in be at my goal weight in the first year. I thought I would eat close to nothing and never be hungry nor want to eat food that was bad for me. I thought it was "my only option left." I actually said that in my very first blog post.

But here's the truth.... here's how I lost my 52 pounds this past year:

1. I eat 50-60% of the amount of food that I used to. That is the one thing the lap band has helped me do.

2. I also eat slower due to the lapband, which helps me feel full without eating more food-- another habit from having lap band, but those without one can get in the habit of doing this, too. (When I don't do this, you will find me throwing up in the bathroom-- yes, gross, but it's my life with lapband.)

3. I eat healther-- this is one I am still working on one year later. But I can say that I now know what is healthy and what is not, which is probably the most important thing considering there are so many people who don't realize they are eating all the wrong foods in the name of "Healthy Eating." I also stopped drinking alcohol except for at an occasional party or wedding with friends.

4. I exercise a minimum of 5-6 days a week. This includes crossfit WODs, running, walking and the occasional tennis or disc golf match. There are no more excuses as to why I can't work out any given day. Remember-- I worked out 146 days in a row-- if I can do that, you can do it, too.

That's it, guys. That's all it took for me to lose 52 pounds. Was the lap band a magic fix? The easy way out? The solution to morbid obesity? No.

I was wrong. All of my early blog posts were wrong.

But what wasn't wrong was my desire to be a better person. My commitment to make sure that this time I was not going to fail. My determination to make this drastic change. Something that made me realize there was no turning back-- it was time to be the happy, fun, healthy athlete that I used to be.

Even though I am still 40 pounds away from my goal weight, I can tell you that I will succeed. I will get there. And I will do it following the four habits I outlined above and also with the love and support of my family.

My husband, who has not been mentioned near enough in these blog posts, has been my encourager, supporter, teacher and stickler this past year. I finally believe that I am as special and loved as he has always told me I was. Knowing I had him in my corner has really made all the difference. 

I've shared my journey with you over the past year because I wanted you to know the truth. What is lapband? What is it like to be morbidly obese? What does it take to be in control of your life again?

What I've found though from having this blog is so much more than just me typing my thoughts out on my computer screen.

--This blog has helped me connect with others who have common interests and struggles.
--It has allowed me to open my life to you so that maybe your struggles don't seem too bad or too hard for you to overcome.
--It has helped me hold myself accountable to keep going because I have this whole network of people depending on me to share my progress.

So thank you for reading and checking in on my page from time to time-- your support is really the fifth reason I lost 52 pounds this past year. Because without it, I'd just be a chubby girl with a story and no one to listen.

 Here are a few more progress pics on my one year Bandiversary!

Paleo Challenge and Eleven Month Results

I've talked a lot about setting goals this past year because that has really helped me make progress in what I call my weight-loss, health-gain journey.  At the end of 2014 I let myself get side tracked a little after the Tag Team Throwdown training was over and through the holidays.  I had gained back 5ish pounds putting me at 218 when I started the Paleo Challenge a little under seven weeks ago at my gym.

I can't stress how critical setting goals has been to my success over the past six weeks.  But it's not just in setting goals, it's about doing what you have to in order to achieve what you set out to do. It's in making little decisions every day to keep you on track and take you closer to where you want to be.

--When the family was having my favorite pizza, I ate tuna.
--When I wanted lemonade at the restaurant, I ordered water.
--When I didn't feel like going to the gym, I went and worked out for two hours.
--When it was too cold outside to run, I bundled up anyway and ran a 5k. 
--When my friends were indulging in beverages on Superbowl Sunday, I was the sober one watching the game. 

Those are all decisions I made so that when I stepped on that little white scale in the gym this afternoon, I would see THE number.  Not just any number-- my goal for this paleo competition was to hit that one number on the scale that all those who have weighed more than 200 pounds think about-- 199... aka ONEDERLAND.  That was my goal and that's exactly what the scale said today.

I'm in onederland.  FINALLY!  A little under eleven months ago, I weighed 251 pounds and today, on that scale, I weighed 199.  That's 52 pounds that I will never see again!

In the past six weeks, I have lost:
--19 pounds
--.5 inches in my arm
--2.5 inches in my chest
--6.5 inches in my waist and
--2.75 inches in my hips

With those results, how can I go back to what I was doing before?! I can't stop now.  I'm getting closer and closer to my goal weight and obviously I have finally found what is working for me.

No dairy, no sugar, no bread, no alcohol.  Sure, I'm going to allow myself to have fun every once in a while-- this Saturday will be my first time doing just that at a party we have been planning with our friend, Brice, for over a month now!  I'm so excited to let loose and have fun knowing that I worked so hard to get here.  But come Monday morning, I'm back on the paleo train to continue setting and achieving every goal I set.

Lastly, I have to mention how amazing it's been to be a part of "Team Farder" these past six weeks. Teresa, Brandi, Steve, Jan and Barb have been supportive, motivating and so encouraging throughout this entire process.  Our trainers pushed us beyond our comfort zone and each one of us had amazing results because of it.  I couldn't have picked better trainers than Kenny and Dave-- seriously Team Farder killed it and I can't wait to see the transformations from the other teams as well!

I'm so excited to share these photos with you that show just how far I've come over these past six weeks and my almost eleven-month journey.  And just so you know... I'm just getting started!

 These are my overall eleven-month results:

These are the Paleo Challenge six-week results:

And then these are progression snapshots.  Progress from March to September was really due to exercise and eating less; progress from January to now is all about diet and exercise.  So for those who think lapband or other weight loss surgery are all it takes to lose weight, that's not true.  It is simply not possible unless you change your lifestyle to include regular and consistent exercise and clean eating.  

One Cliche of a Blog Post

As I type these thoughts out tonight, I know I will start to shudder at the thought of how cliche this whole thing is.  (If you know me well, you know I despise cliches.)

Just when I start to think.....that I'm not making quick enough progress... that I'm getting on everyone's nerves by talking about working out all the time... that I am never going to see onederland..... something happens that completely validates what I am doing here. 

Tonight, I received this note from a girl I've known since I was a teenager, but haven't talked to in years:
 
"Hey Ashley, I have been reading your blog and first off want to say you are doing an amazing job!  I am so happy for you becoming healthy!  I have always struggled with my weight and have tried and tried to shed the pounds.  I recently went to the doctor and found that my thyroid was under active (so I thought that was my problem).  But I know what my problem is... I need to exercise and eat healthier.  

I feel like I am the queen of excuses when it comes to this thing.  Do you have any advice for me?  Like where should I start?  I'm 25 years old and I am TOO heavy.  I'm tired of people telling me I'm pretty because I feel disgusting.  I don't want to cut my life short because of my weight. Keep up the hard work!"

Quite often I receive messages of encouragement and support from those on my Facebook Friends list and others who stumble across my blog, but this message tonight was different.  The thing about this message is that if it was one year ago, I could have written it.  This was me.  If the sequence of events that I blogged about in my very first entry "Behind the Pounds" hadn't have happened, maybe this still would've been me.  

As this new lifestyle becomes the new norm for me, it's easy to forget what it was like before I started.  And it's also difficult for me to believe in this cliche idea that I am an "inspiration."  No, I'm just a girl who got too fat and now is being celebrated for being a little less fat--- may sound harsh, but that is my typical thought process.  But when I open my inbox and have a message like the one above, I have to recognize that maybe this whole thing is a lot more than I give it credit for.  Maybe, as cliche as it sounds, I'm doing this for a reason more than just having something to write about on a boring Thursday night.  Maybe this really does matter. 

So, I leave you tonight with my response to this sweet girl, and hope that maybe you can learn from my mistakes, too.  And that maybe next year you will be the one with a message in your inbox from someone that you inspired, showing that what you are doing is working and why you can never stop.  

"Hi Girl!  Thank you so much for your message.  Your story is almost identical to my story so please believe me when I tell you that YOU CAN DO IT!!! I had lapband surgery, but I can tell you that I have lost weight because I changed my lifestyle to make exercise and eating healthier a priority.  Exercise was a lot easier for me than the eating part, but I finally feel like I have that semi- under control.  

I'll tell you how I started-- I set a goal.  I decided that I was going to exercise in some form every day for 90 days.  (It's one of my better blog posts if you'd like to read it.)  That might sound a little too aggressive for you and it took me doing something as drastic as surgery to get me to commit to setting and achieving my goals.  But my advice would be to start with making small goals.  

Maybe you want to exercise five days a week or maybe three days on and one day off, etc.  
Maybe the Couch to 5K App would be a good starting point.  
Just making yourself set and stick with your goals can help.

I'm eating paleo right now, which is a huge change for me.  I don't eat dairy, sugar, wheat or breads, etc.  Maybe to start off you give up one of those things?  If you try to do it cold turkey(pun intended), you probably won't last long.  I don't drink soda or anything that has calories.  It sucked at first, but now it's so normal I don't even miss it. 

But I think what you said is true and you really have to believe it's true-- the only thing stopping you is the excuses you are allowing to run your life.  I have PCOS(ovary issues) that "causes" weight gain... I have extremely low metabolism... I used to work a minimum of 60 hours a week and was too exhausted to do anything by the time I got home... Those were all my excuses.  

They aren't why I couldn't lose weight.  It's because even though I said I wanted to, I wasn't willing to give up those excuses nor stop eating the tasty, horrible food in order to make my dreams come true.  I'm lucky it finally clicked for me and that I put an end to letting excuses get in my way. 

I tried for years and FINALLY, it clicked.  I know it can work for you, too!!  But you have to start by making realistic goals and sticking to them.  Health issues, time constraints and even the weather-- none of those things should determine whether or not you will meet your goals.  It's all on you! Good luck and message me anytime!"

No More Excuses

I can't sleep tonight... so here's a new blog post coming at ya!  It's been about a week or so of not being able to sleep even though I should be exhausted from all of the extra workouts and running I've been doing since our gym's Paleo Challenge started almost three weeks ago.  

Even with little sleep, I have seriously never felt better.  When I had lapband surgery back in March of 2014, I knew it wasn't going to be a "fix" for my obesity.  They say it in every meeting you go to and you read it in every piece of information they give you, but you don't realize how challenging it will be until you have had your surgery and you still want to do the same things you have always done.  

I've said in the past that my weightloss has been slow, and it has.  I got on the work out train quickly after surgery, and have consistently been working out hard for nine months now.  I strongly believe that working out and eating about 60% of the amount that I used to eat are what caused me to lose between 32-38 pounds in those nine months.  But I stalled... and stalled.... and stalled even more.  I would lose two pounds and then nothing for months, two pounds and then nothing.  Heck, then I GAINED six pounds over the holidays-- I let myself go a bit, but I knew that would come to an end very soon.

It was obvious to me that just like I told myself I understood at the beginning-- the lapband is not going to fix my obesity.  I HAVE TO.

You see, lap band can help me suppress my appetite, but it can't keep me from buying a candy bar in the check out line of the grocery store.  And it won't tell me no when I decide to go through Dairy Queen for dinner after I just worked out.  That's all me.  I have to be the one to fix what is broken. 

Exercise has been a life-saver.  It is my one true passion in my life at the moment. I literally live for it and love it.  Every single day.  But exercise alone isn't gonna get me where I want to be.  

It all finally clicked about six days ago.  I, and anyone else out there, can eat healthier if they really want to.  We can do anything we want as soon as we let go of every single excuse we have allowed to hold us back.  Nothing can stand in our way unless we let it.  Man, do I know that to be so so true now.  

Like I said, I gained 6 pounds over the holidays and on January 5th weighed in at 219.  My lowest at that point had been 213 where I lingered from October through December.  Since then I have been eating paleo and paleoish.  

On three to four days of the week, I eat completely paleo.  This lacks seasoning and isn't super tasty, but is still doable if you plan ahead.  Examples of meals are ahi tuna filet(my go to), chopped steak, chicken, tilapia, salmon, vegetables except for potatoes, corn and beans.  On paleoish days, I eat food cooked from paleo recipes that I borrowed from my aunt.  I typically prep food for three days ahead so that I don't have to worry about cooking every day.   So no dairy, no sugar, no breads, soft drinks, juice-- only water, all natural produce, meats, etc.

The past few days I have been consistently weighing in at 208 so that's 11 pounds difference in 18 days. (43 in all!) That's pretty incredible considering how stalled I've been since my surgery in March.  It also means that I am now considered Obese!  I say that enthusiastically because back in March I was Morbidly Obese according to the Body Mass Index scale and then I was Moderately Obese, and now I'm just Obese.  Next stop-- Overweight... as long as I stick with this new way of life. 

But here's the kicker.... it's not even hard to do.  I'm completely fine with eating paleo. When I've been out to eat in the past two weeks-- though it's only been twice-- there is always something on the menu I can have, even if I have to substitute veggies for potatoes. All you need is a plan to follow and you are set... JUST DO IT!  

Here's an example....  I put the picture below together tonight.  The left picture is of me back in 2009ish and the right is of me a few minutes ago as I was getting ready for bed.  I actually probably weigh the same in these pics or even less back in 2009, but man do I look SO much healthier in the picture on the right.  That just shows what living healthy will do for you, even if the scale doesn't always show it. 

This is seriously the most important of any lesson that I have learned-- YOU are the only thing stopping you from getting what you want.  I've never been more sure of anything in my life.  

Don't believe me?  Just watch-- I'm about to show you...

2014: The Year of Transformation

The year two thousand, fourteen will forever hold a place in my heart.  It's the year things really changed for me, it's the year I found myself again.

According to Merriam Webster, the Word of the Year is Culture.  The Washington Post says it's not a word at all, but a heart-shaped emoji that was used most for society to show their happiness.  But for me, there is, without a doubt, no other word to describe my year than "Transformation."

Not that my transformation is complete-- I still have such a long way to go, but I'm going to spend this New Year's Eve celebrating just how far I've come with this countdown of 7 accomplishments that have made my year.

#7:  Making it through Lapband Surgery and the awful three-week liquid diet 

This consisted of ten day of clear liquids and two weeks of full liquids while healing from surgery.  It was pretty painful the first few days after surgery, but all of that is really a distant memory now.  Last time I was at the doctor's office, I took a picture of a lapband so you can see just what I had put inside of me this year.  

#6: On my 90th day of exercise in a row, I got first in the scaled division in my first ever Crossfit Competition.

This was a very unexpected moment.  I tagged along with some girls at the gym because I thought it would be a great way to celebrate my 90 day mark.  I had no expectations of winning, even though my division only had six people in it.  This was a turning point for me-- realizing that I was an athlete again, after a six year hiatus. 

#5:  146 Days of exercise in a row!

I originally set a goal of working out 90 days in a row, but I couldn't stop there.  I made it 146 days of literal blood, sweat and tears before taking my first rest day.   I have worked out no less than 5 days a week since then.  After years of yo-yo workout programs and diets, I have finally found something that works for me at 573Fitness in Bonne Terre!

#4: SKINNY JEANS!!!

For six years, I have not bought a new pair of jeans because I thought they made me look even bigger than I was.  They were also not comfortable because they would always cut into my stomach.  Even on Casual Friday at work, I would just wear my work clothes because they were more comfortable for me than jeans.  

I recently went shopping and thought, what the heck, I'll try some out.  I was able to fit into size 16 skinny jeans.  That's progress! 

#3:  Not just skinny jeans, I was able to wear clothes I hadn't worn in years!!!

My wardrobe definitely expanded as I started to fit into things I haven't been able to wear in several years.  There were also many dresses and outfits that I had bought but never worn because I didn't look good in them.  I'm finally getting to a point now where there are things in my closet that actually are too big on me-- it's almost time to let some of them go! 

This picture is of a dress that I only wore once for engagement pictures in early 2013, but that I was very comfortably wearing in October for a wedding.  Now that dress is on the verge of being too big.

#2: The Tag Team Throwdown

I covered this in my last post, and this was really the best moment of 2014 for me in this weightloss, health-gain journey.  I have had so much fun training with my 573 family and can't wait to see what the new year brings.   At the Tag Team Throwdown, I beat my Clean and Jerk max from the first competition in Union by 15 pounds, I finished every workout with my partner and friend, Alexia, and I went total Beastmode on the last workout for one epic crossfit moment.    It was a weekend I won't soon forget.

       (Comparision pic of my first competition on the left and the Tag Team Throwdown on the right.)

#1: My TRANSFORMATION

Now that BEST thing I am celebrating on the last day of 2014 is my Transformation that has already happened and that continues every day.    Here are some pics that show just how far I've come.

Thank You!

It's been quite the ride these past nine months.  I have made some important changes in my life, but still have a long way to go and a lot of work to do.  

For my last post of 2014, I'd like to thank each of you reading this blog as you have helped me more than you know.  The comments, likes, private messages-- they all keep me going, remind me why I'm doing this and fill my heart with so much love and excitement.  This is what life should be-- people supporting other people, no matter their differences, opinions, beliefs.  We all can use a little encouragement, and my heart is full because of you. 

Emergency Doctor's Appointment & the Tag Team Throwdown

It's been an interesting past week, that is for sure.  Over the past few months, I have been training for my first "real" Crossfit Competition with my WOD- partner, Alexia, that took place on Saturday, December 13th.  Though I almost didn't make it there.

Emergency Doctor's Appointment:

On Thursday morning, I woke with an extremely uncomfortable feeling where my band sits at the bottom of my esophagus.  I can't really explain it, but it felt like my stomach was going in and out of my band.  By the afternoon, I decided it was time to call the doctor to see what they thought I should do.  They asked me to come in on Friday to get checked out.  The whole time I was worried they would tell me I couldn't exercise for a while, and that all the hard work Alexia and I put in over the past few months would have been for nothing. 

I showed up at the doctor's office and waited for two hours before I finally saw my surgeon's assistant, who is the one who usually does my adjustments.  After talking about what was going on, she told me I could be experiencing one of two things:  I either had something stuck and obstructing my band or I had a prolapse, which means part of my stomach actually came out above my band.  Both could be caused by my band being too tight so we decided the best thing to do would be take out one full milliliter of saline from my band.  

I immediately felt better, but she told me I could come back in on Monday to get an x-ray if the pain came back.  I've actually been SO much better since she took out the saline from my band.  I can actually eat a meal in 20-30 minutes again instead of taking almost an hour to get just a small amount down.  I'm able to get full and stay full for longer and hopefully that means I'll start to see the numbers fall on the scale again.  (I again haven't lost anything in almost two months.)

I decided to cancel my x-ray since I'm feeling better and will just wait until my January appointment to see if I need to get any saline added back in or if I'm in the "green zone" where I currently am. 

Tag Team Throwdown:

For those of you that haven't attended a crossfit competition before, this one was a pretty big one.  Alexia and I were one of 44 teams in the Women's Scaled Division and took 25th overall.  That's pretty good considering some of these women have been doing this crossfit thing for years.   

There were three workouts throughout the day, and what was awesome is each team from our gym went at different times so we all got to cheer for and support each other throughout the day.  It really was so much fun!

Here's a pic of our 573Fitness Crew!

WOD 1:

The first WOD was one partner finding their one-rep max on the Snatch lift and the second partner finding their one-rep max on the Clean & Jerk.  Yes, I'm aware theses lifts sound a bit perverted. :-)

Alexia got 95lbs on her snatch and I got 140lbs on my clean & jerk for a team total of 235lbs placing us 17th in the competition after the first WOD. 

Here's a video of my Clean & Jerk Max:

 

WOD2:

This was our most difficult WOD, for sure.  We had to do the following with a time cap of 10 minutes:

150 meter run

21 synchronized burpees

63 jumping pull-ups

150 meter run

15 synchronized burpees

45 jumping pull-ups

150 meter run

9 synchronized burpees

27 jumping pull-ups

Once you completed all of that, if you had time left, you did as many 65lb snatches as you could and that would be your score.  We completed the workout in 9 minutes and ended up doing 11 snatches in the last minute.   We really could not have done that WOD any faster, and it moved us to 28th place out of 44 teams.

Here's a video of some of those jumping pull-ups and snatches.  You can tell we are absolutely dead. 

WOD 3:

This was our favorite WOD and turned out to be one of my favorite moments of the year.  This workout also had a time cap,  this time of 11 minutes. 

20 Toes to Bar

30 Wall Balls

60 Dead lifts at 115lbs

20 Toes to Bar

30 Wall Balls

50 Power Cleans at 85lbs

20 Toes to Bar

30 Wall Balls

40 Shoulder to Overhead at 65 lbs.

It was a perfect example of Alexia and I coming through in different areas that were our strengths.  I did the toes to bars while Alexia did the majority of the Wall Balls, we split the deadlifts, and Alexia knew I was dying during the power cleans so took over the last ten while I got ready for the last set of toes to bars.  

As I posted on Facebook, the really amazing moment of the day came at the very end of this workout.  We knew going in that we wanted nothing more than to finish.  We didn't care what place we got in the competition, we just wanted to finish all three workouts and the day could be considered a success.  

Because Alexia was able to finish out the power cleans and the wall balls, I took a few breaths before picking up the bar for the last 40 shoulder to overheads of the workout.  With less than a minute left, I needed to do all 40 as quickly as possible.  There just wasn't time to switch off back and forth between Alexia and me so in my head I told myself that I had go until the clock stopped.  

Before I knew it, I had 12 more to go at the ten second mark.  At that point, I wasn't really even feeling myself lifting the bar, just thinking "there's no way I'm going to make it."  But my arms kept moving and Alexia kept screaming the number of reps I had left.  Before I knew it I had done all forty and the clock hadn't stopped yet. We finished it with two seconds remaining.  

It was crazy.  Our gym-mates were cheering, strangers were clapping and I dropped to the ground!  Brandi, from the gym, even asked me if I wanted water and my response was, "I don't know."  Needless to say, I needed a minute to recover.  Later on as I was watching another heat do the workout, I heard a couple who I didn't know sitting next to me talk about what I had done-- it was pretty cool.  

It really was all possible because Alexia and I played up our strengths and she carried us through the power cleans and wall balls.  If she would have been just two seconds slower on any of them, we wouldn't have been able to complete our workout.  

It was the perfect ending to our very first crossfit competition together.  I couldn't have asked for a day or partner!

Here's a video of the end:

 

Some additional pictures of our day: