Puerto Rican Vegan: I AM A SPARTAN! ...In the making.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

I AM A SPARTAN! ...In the making.



This post was going to be about a scrumptious vegan coffee cake I made recently, and I might still post that because it will change your life. Seriously. Today's post instead is about a decision I've made to compete in an upcoming Spartan race. I say "compete" quite lightly - it's more like "survive".

When I became a Christian in 1996, one of the first things I ever heard God speaking to me was that I am an athlete. After choking on my powdered donut, I thought He must've gotten the wrong girl. Surely the Heavenly wires got crossed because athlete was not a word that anyone in their right mind would use to describe me. Class President? Yes. Honor Roll Student? That's me! Great public speaker? Why, thank you! Athlete? LOL.

I was always an overweight junk food junkie. I literally got involved with every extracurricular activity that would allow me - except sports. I was the girl that dreaded gym class. Remember those yearly Presidential Physical Fitness exams? While my friends effortlessly breezed through the different obstacles, laughing at how much fun they were having, I felt like I was being tortured for every bite of pernil I'd ever eaten.

When I became a vegan and started working out in my early 20s, I got closer to that athletic image. I lost over 40 pounds and became the healthiest I'd ever been. I even ran a full marathon...yes, folks...26.2 miles of RUNNING. Unfortunately that physical training has only occurred in small spurts since I first heard those faithful words from a Father that knows me better than I know myself. Which leads me here.

A couple friends of mine signed up for the Tri-State Spartan Sprint much like my childhood classmates participated in those dreaded physical fitness tests. "This'll be FUN!" they said. "Oh we're not even doing half of what the training requires...it's just something nice to work towards." I wish I was genetically equipped to show up on race day and just have FUN. If I had continued the last decade becoming an athlete, surely this would just be another notch on my belt; the challenge that would bring me to the next level.  And although my eating habits greatly improved as an adult, in essence I just graduated to an organic junk food junkie.

So I've made the decision to be who God said I am...one event to the next. I'm not the type of person that will workout for the rest of my life simply for the pure "joy" of it. Nope. Been there, done that, 4 months at a time tops. I'm the kind of girl that needs a challenge. I need a team. I need an event. I need accountability. From now until June 7th, I have a reason to wake up every day and train my body like my life depends on it. After that, I will train for something else.

This blog is simply so I can have a record of the precious day I decided to start turning the ship around. I've been heading in the wrong direction, but I'm turning. If you can relate to my story at all, if you've made better choices in your eating but still feel tired, lethargic, unfit, even weak, maybe you're like me and need something to train for. Maybe you need to jump passed the exercise videos, workout classes, and treadmills. Maybe, just maybe, you need to launch into the deep and be a SPARTAN.


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