Week 13 - End of 90 Days

The 90 days ended this week, not exactly with a whimper but certainly, for me, without fanfare. Our last week we were on our own so we all planned our own workouts and exercised independently of each other. The group had a celebration dinner Friday evening, which I missed because I was, and currently am, in Tennessee for the Ragnar.

Because I left before the final Friday workout, I was weighed and measured on Thursday. Final weight was 180, down from 207. Waist measurement was 33.5 inches, down from 39. Nice results for 90 days. This is just a beginning, and I am committed to maintaining the discipline I have exercised over the past three months. Talked to Dan last week about meeting M, W and F for weight training at 6AM. Then cardio on our own and T, Th and Sat. If it works, Dan and I should be able to keep each other working hard. I also appreciate the opportunity simply to spend time with Dan.

Our final homework project was to create vision boards, boxes or books. This entailed finding pictures and key phrases to remind us of our objectives. I spent Monday evening copying pictures from my iMac and from the internet onto a flash drive for printing at Costo. I picked them up Tuesday evening early, and was surprised I had selected over 50 photos, far more than I could use. Tauni had bought a foam board and I used colored paper for a background.

I laid out the pictures and had a hard time visualizing how to make it all work. I had seen vision boards created by other members of our class that were works or art, and could not seen how mine would turn out near so well. Finally I started cutting and arranging pictures that meant something to me, jotting down key phrases. I finally came up with the following words or phrases:

FAMILY (used family pictures from summer vacation to Cannon Beach)

FRIENDS (picture of Parky, Wil Colom and Derrick Johnson at a restaurant on the road to Morogoro)

MY ONLY ONE (three pictures of Tauni; she is beautiful in all)

Hit the road, Jack (pictures of Morogoro Highway, Trapper's Loop Highway and Avon Pass Road)

"We thank thee, Lord, for all thy bounteous blessings" (Picture of Grandpa Barney and Grandma Jo with Mom and Dad at a Christmas dinner. The photo could have been posed by Norman Rockwell. The phrase was uttered in every prayer I heard Barney give and reminds me to be grateful)

You Never Know (picture of Beatty and Hoffman from Ishar - reminds me to keep trying because you just never know what you might miss out on if you don't)

"It doesn't take much to realize that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world." (Photo from closing scene of Casablanca, Bogart and Raines standing together watching plane carrying Ingrid Bergman and husband fly away. Reminds me to keep my problems in perspective.)

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." (Picture of Steve Prefontaine running last race.)

As a man thinketh ... (Pictures of Nelson Mandela and Morogoro Mountain. The ANC spent time in exile at the foot of that mountain. Mandela visited Morogoro (I believe) before returning to South Africa and over 25 years in prison. While there, rather than hating, he imagined, and later succeeded, in making peace, when violence would have seemed much more likely.)

Nyumba Bora. (Picture of prototype house at SUU, copies of which we plan to build in Africa in furtherance of our goal to be first to successfully provide reasonably price middle class housing and mortgages in developing world, most likely starting in Tanzania.)

First lines of "Relay" from chapter entitled "Dad." (Picture of young with golf bag over shoulder next to car. Reminder of goal to finish draft of book by March 2011.)

I felt like I had completed my first Young Women's project. Even thought I stayed up past midnight Tuesday putting it together I had fun doing it. It certainly focused my attention on things that are most important to me.

After presenting my vision board to the group on Thursday I thanked everyone, including our trainers and coach Kristin, for being there and inspiring and motivating me. I meant every word. It has been a wonderful, life-changing experience. Physical evidence of the change, aside from the loss of weight and inches, is my having completed two Ragnars within two weeks, which I hoped, but was not sure, I could do when I started the 90 days. I was skeptical I could get fit enough or that my knee would handle three relay legs but I did it. Twice. I have made mental/spiritual changes. The details of those are for another day. Suffice it to say I am happier and more productive, and heave improved relationships that are very important to me.