June 4, 2012

Dear Adriane,

I am writing this to you 6 weeks before your Spartan Race and 14 weeks before your first half marathon. Life sucks right now, DON’T LET IT BRING YOU DOWN!! Remember this quote, one of your favorites from Rocky…

 



















You’re getting hit hard right now. What you need to do is prove that you can keep moving forward!! Go out and get what you’re worth!! You are NOT a coward!! Look how far you’ve come in the past 16 months. Just think about how much further you would be ahead right now if you didn’t slack off once in a while. Eating is hard right now…being poor sucks for healthy food, but don’t use it as an excuse!! There ARE healthy options that are cheap. You need to force yourself to make better choices when you are able.

One of the reasons you feel so crappy right now is because you’ve been having a pity party for yourself for the past few weeks. GET OVER IT!! It’s time to put on your big girl panties and straighten the heck up!! Exercise WILL make you feel better physically and emotionally. YOU KNOW THIS!! I want you to stop giving up on yourself, get the bad, unmotivated thoughts out of your head and just “shut-up and do it!” Isn’t that your motto? And “no pain, no gain”. You got this!! Look at all the people who have been inspired by you…look at all the people who have told you they made their first steps because of watching your transformation. Don’t let them down! Don’t let them see you fail! Tomorrow you WILL get out and run and when you’re done running, you WILL do your P90X. NO EXCUSES!!

This is not to fit in a bathing suit and look good. This is not to fit in to some new fancy dress. This is for your HEALTH and for your LIFE!! Look at your family history; heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, depression, morbid obesity, sleep apnea, CHF, COPD..seriously?!! SERIOUSLY!! ??

You do NOT want heart problems EVER, but especially not before you are even 40-50 years old!!! Diabetes, hypertension…completely preventable based on diet and high cholesterol can be kept down as much as possible. You’re already getting depressed…and for what?? Things that are out of your hands right now.

You need to keep on keeping on and forget about the rest!! You know this is all for a reason and God might bend you realllllly, realllllly far, but he won’t let you break. Things WILL get better. Things WILL be ok.

Use that faith that you learned a couple years ago and put it to work. Let God handle all this other garbage around you and don’t let it bring you down. Stop getting all worried and anxious. That’s what puts you in a bad mood and that’s what makes you want to close up, become unmotivated, and sleep it all away. When that happens..go exercise!! God has given you such wonderful opportunities to be an inspiration to people and to probably someday use your story to help others. Don’t you think he’s gonna give you a really good one to share??!! The better the story, the more powerful the message. People will relate to you better if you’ve been in their shoes. This might mean physically, emotionally, spiritually and financially…he’s covering all bases why can’t you see that!! This struggle you are going through right now is only to make you stronger…this mess of a battle..emotionally, spiritually and financially. All this junk here doesn’t matter in the end. I know you’re not materialistic, but there are people out there much worse off than you. Be thankful for the things you do have!!

God loves you and he won’t let anything drastic happen to you. It’s all sifted through his hands. He gave you such a wonderful gift of perseverance and determination. You need to start using that to get through this. Use the analogy part of your exercise….running the race is extremely hard but crossing the finish line makes it all worth it in the end. You train long and hard for a race….what else do you think you’re training for? Imagine the feeling when you cross the real finish line…. Everything will fall together and make perfect sense to you in the end. You never know what life will bring….our time here is unknown. You could die tomorrow. Do you want everyone coming to your funeral saying, “oh she was such a grump the last couple weeks, she was so depressed and upset about things.”? Or do you want them saying, “wow she really was amazing. Even after all she was going through she really handled it well and walked through life with a smile on her face, even in the worst of times.”?

All of this “stuff” isn’t coming along with you. All of this “stuff” isn’t what got you to come around to find God. It was your experiences and the challenges that God placed before you that brought you to where you are. He isn’t going anywhere, He’s just helping you become a better you, and that’s not always easy. Just like becoming a better healthier you isn’t easy.

Signed,     Adriane

So this is how I left this letter...kinda open ended. Those six weeks are gone now...and my race is in 3 days!! I plan on taking some time tomorrow and Friday to reflect over the past year...and will write another blog..maybe even another letter. I can't wait for race day..and of COURSE there will be a race re-cap!