Tears of Pride

Today I completed 100 miles in 29 days for the challenge, Just Do It June, created by my dear friend, Stephanie. There were days I didn't want to go to the gym. There were times it was flat out difficult to get motivated. Thankfully, those days were few. I missed three days out of 29 and managed to make those days up. Doing the intense cardio became such a stress relief that I really enjoyed it. The support group that developed as a result of the challenge helped immensely. Stephanie is creating another challenge for us in July and I can't wait. My chiropractor wants to join now!!! I had to do five miles today to finish and when I did I walked right into Sonya's office. (Sonya, owner of the gym, my cheerleader, and friend) I said, "I did it. I did it. I did 100 miles in 29 days." Then my tears came. And so did Sonya's. (This is what makes her such a great cheerleader! Sonya cries when I cry in pain, sadness, or joy. Mostly, Sonya reminds me of how far of I have come in this journey. She vividly remembers the day when I walked into the gym. I told her I was going to give it a try. She reminds me of the lack of self confidence I had on that day. The growth has been amazing.) I'm so blessed to have Sonya there to share these celebrations and milestones with me. She is a blessing for sure. As I left the gym I called my mom, "I did it mom. I did it. 100 miles in 29 days." "Oh Honey, I am not surprised. I knew you could do it." I cried again. My mom has been a big cheerleader for me in this as well. I came home and saw my honey. I said, "I did it. 100 miles in 29 days." He said, "I knew you would and I was the first person to respond to your post. Read it." Dave gets to see me at my worst through this whole thing. Whether it be the time commitment (19 hours and 20 minutes this month) or the sore muscles. He is another great piece of my support system. All my messages on FB from followers. Wow that helps so much. Keep em coming. I appreciate them so much. We had another member of the challenge who was doing no exercise, started the challenge 10 days late and is already doing 5 miles in an hour and five minutes. It's stories like this that continue to inspire me. We all have to continually seek our inspiration from others because it's never easy. A weird thing happened last Sunday. I had to go give a presentation for the Northland Childhood Hunger Fund (great charity with which I am involved). Anyway this presentation took place in a very nice home. I was standing in the foyer and I happened to glance a person. I don't know how to really explain this except that I was looking into the biggest mirror I had ever seen. It was 14 feet long. Once it occurred to me I was looking at a mirror I did a double take. The person I had caught a glimpse of was ME!!! It was ridiculous. I didn't readily recognize me. It's a strange phenomenon for sure when you don't realize you are looking at yourself. It reminded me of a conversation I had with Trainer Mike on the phone before ever meeting him in person. He asked me what my goals were and I said, "I want to be able to look in the mirror and not be disgusted." Readers, I'm not disgusted anymore. I'm PROUD! During the challenge I didn't measure...EEEERRRR! I'm going to do that soon. I did weigh. I'm 5 pounds down. 5 in a month. I realized I haven't added some pics on here in a while. The following one was taken this week.

Tears of Pride...I was moving. I did more cardio for these past 29 days than I have done in any month since beginning this journey two years ago. AND I was going for longer periods of time at much higher intensity than ever before. I am proud at how far I've come. Thank You to each of you for cheering me on and supporting me! If you hear of some random girl announcing to everyone she sees..."I did it. I did 100 miles in 29 days" Just say, "Ya. I know. That's my gal Bunchy. :) Cause seriously, I told the checkout lady at Wal Mart. Now...I'm getting off of here. We are leaving for Yellowstone tomorrow morning. VACATION HERE WE COME!!! When I get back, I'll post about the newest challenge. And even though I will miss the first week, I'm going to make it my goal to meet the challenge. :)

Little Shocked...A Lot Proud

I know you are shocked that I am writing two days in a row. I have BREAKING NEWS!!! I wasn't really in the mood to go to the gym today. I tried to talk myself out of it actually. I didn't feel good. I had too much to do. Thank goodness I ended up there. I planned on doing three or four miles on the stepper and running a mile. Both of the steppers were taken. I had to get on the treadmill. You need to know that normally I do two miles on the treadmill and I am done. Last week I hit my personal best in running. Today, not only did I hit my new personal best as far as time goes, I ran for 3.1 miles!!! I'm still in shock. I can't believe I did it. I had tears in my eyes. Thank God for Luke Bryan, Rascal Flatts, and Kenny Chesney. Those boys helped me through. However, the best was when my friend Sonya came over beside the treadmill and was cheering me on. She's so fun and a huge fan! I LOVE her!!! There is one strange thing...ever since I finished...I can't stop sneezing. It's weird. I hardly ever sneeze. It's an event when I do. I bet I've sneezed 50 times since my run. Holy Cow. To all of you pro runners out there. I still don't know how you do those 10 minute miles. But...I didn't know how you ran at all until recently! :) This is what the journey is all about the SWEET reward of finding something within you that you didn't even think was possible!

Bootcamp!!!

The 17th of June and I have 62 miles down! I'm not kidding this is tough. Not physically tough so much...but the time required is excessive. It's like a part time job! I'm loving the changes and I love how I feel. I've also started a bootcamp class on Thursday nights. CHALLENGING for sure. I've done it twice and the first time I thought I was going to throw up if we had to squat one more time. I made it though. The soreness didn't hit until Friday afternoon. It was just in time for the Saturday morning kickboxing class I started the same week. I LOVE kickboxing. Talk about a way to get rid of stress. When the instructor tells me to kick or punch the pad...watch out!!! If that pad were in front of me right now, I would kick the heck out of it... Have you ever known people that get so caught up in doing things their way because it's the only way? It's the RIGHT way. Highly frustrating. Good thing I went to counselor school. It provides some insight and reminds me when I should just bite my tongue because there is no arguing with these type of people. It doesn't do a bit of good. Feeling very frustrated. On a GREAT note. I LOVE being a principal. I'm having an incredible time!!! So grateful for this opportunity!

100 Miles or More

Three weeks since I posted??? What in the world have I been thinking??? Well let me tell ya! The morning after my last post I opened an email at work from the gatekeeper to those who want to do research in my district. Two years ago I had met with the superintendent and assistant superintendent and interviewed them regarding teacher evaluation. At the end of the interview, I shared with them that teacher evaluation is my area of focus for my dissertation. The superintendent shared with me that he was extremely passionate about changing our evaluation to make it more meaningful for teachers. He shared that a committee would be formed and the instrument and process revised. I asked how I could get on the committee. They told me I was on. For the first year the committee met at least monthly for no less than four hours at a time to identify best practice and rewrite the process and instrument. This past year teachers and administrators have been using the new instrument and process. I had been up front with the committee about wanting to interview teachers and administrators to find out if they felt the new evaluation had impacted their classroom practice. I sent my formal request for research to the gatekeeper who asked me a gazillion questions and then took it before the research committee. DENIED!!! Reason? I'm too close to the research and my data would be skewed. Six months of intense writing to develop chapters 1-3 of my dissertation and 2 years of intense committee work. I'm a counselor. I understand the stages of grief. I was able to identify each of them as I have gone through. The first night was shock. I intended to work through the stress by going to they gym. I came home and fell into bed while crying. I didn't eat. I was done. I am now stuck in the bitter stage. I'm trying to let it go. I realize bitterness is not doing me any good. I have the worst case of writer's block I have had EVER! Thank God for an amazing advisor. She made some contacts at the state level with policy makers who are rewriting the teacher evaluation policy. I've already been in touch with them. I will be going to Jeff City to conduct interviews. This has saved me a lot of time and headache. I won't have to start from scratch. I will use some of the work I have already done and change from a program evaluation to a policy analysis. I'm hoping to meet with my advisor this week and maybe talk through some of the block I'm having. With that and May being so busy, I did not meet my 100 mile goal. In typical Bunchy fashion, once I realized I was behind on the goal, I quit keeping track. I have no idea how close I was. I kept up with friends who surpassed 100 miles and am very thankful Stephanie is keeping us on track by starting us fresh in June. I'm nine miles in. Again, I'm really excited about the challenge. I've completed these first miles on the PRECOR step machine which seems to be my favorite. My goal is at least 100 miles. I'm really hoping for more!!! Please remember how important it is for you to get some form of exercise every day!

Since we are in our extended school year (summer school) and I get off earlier each day, I plan to add strength training back into my workouts. In other shocking news: My husband has developed this craving for chocolate Frosty's from Wendy's. There is a Wendy's ten minutes down the street from us. The first night he wanted one I jumped in the car and came back with a cookies and cream treat for me. The second night I was tired and refused to go. (Please note it had nothing to do with knowing this wasn't good for us.) He shocked me and went and got it and came back with a vanilla one for me. (Yes, I always choose vanilla over chocolate ice cream!) The third night he wanted one I put my foot down and told him we could not get into that habit. I'm grateful he didn't override my decision! Since I've started this journey he has been the hard nose about me not having ice cream. His cravings could be a road block for sure. Tomorrow I have my first day as summer school principal.We worked on Thursday to get ready, but tomorrow it is official because all of those smiling little ones are going to join us! SOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!! Be it my weight loss journey or my goal to become a principal..the following quote seems fitting. :)