Talkative Tuesday – Spartan Race TRIFECTA COMPLETE

WE DID IT! WE COMPLETED OUR SPARTAN RACE TRIFECTA! 

What exactly does that involve?

Sprint – 4 Miles + 15 Obstacles 

Super – 8 Miles + 20 Obstacles 

Beast – 12 Miles + 25 Obstacles

We climbed ropes, hiked up and down a mountain (yes…the SUPER at Wintergreen Ski Resort was BY FAR the most brutal race), crawled under barbed wire just to fall right into a freezing cold water pit, climbed over 6 foot walls, carried buckets full of rocks, earned bruises and scrapes and much, much more.

I am sure right about now you’re saying we’re crazy, right? I used to think so too. Robert always had high hopes of doing one of these races and had mentioned it more  than once. That’s when I knew he was serious. Me on the other hand…I just didn’t think it was possible. Let me tell you the reason why and I am about to share a very personal secret with you all. Well, it’s not a secret anymore, but to you all I am sure from the outside looking in you would have never thought this about me. I had an eating disorder. There, I said it. I had an eating disorder. Bulimia to be exact. Now, that the initial shock factor is over let me talk a little bit about it because I am not ashamed.

It started when I was in 8th grade and stopped probably about a year and a half ago or so. Crazy right? Why did I do this to myself or goodness, let it go on that long?! Count that. That’s almost NINE years. NINE YEARS! Lots of excuses, tears, and break downs later, I finally figured out why. I didn’t love myself. In fact, I hated my body. HATED IT. This beautiful gift from God and I hated it. I remember getting in fits of rage because I was so upset that I didn’t look right in a pair of jeans or a top that were honestly too small for me in the first place, but it was the numbers that mattered. It was the other girls around me in a size 0 that mattered. I would buy food just because, eat it, and throw it up (sorry to sound so…ya know…gross). I was too lazy to do anything about it to MAKE a real change. It was my way of being in control of my body. Things got serious and obviously out of control. I made numerous confessions to Robert and my family about it and finally I decided I was going to make a change. Not only because I was torn apart every time I told them that I had an episode, but because it was getting to the point that if didn’t do something, I would not be in good health.

The Spartan Race – this crazy sounding, why would I EVER do this to myself AND pay money for it thing was my way of making a promise to myself.  After signing up it started to set in what I was getting into and I was ok with that. I needed something to push me the extra mile and make it worth it. And bless poor Robert’s heart, he has been such a saint in all of this. He’s watched me cry, freak out, hate myself, and no matter what, he believed I could make a change. People say we’re “the perfect couple” to us all the time and that they admire our relationship. Don’t get me wrong here,  It makes me so happy that people say these things but I laugh because we aren’t perfect. No one is, but the thing that makes us strong as a couple, is that we love each other unconditionally. Did I just say that? A 23-year-old knows what unconditional love is? Yes. I do. And it’s the most incredible feeling on planet earth.

We started training, training and training. Somedays we didn’t train because life happens, but we stayed on a relativley good course. In January I decided to try this Whole 30/Paleo thing that everyone was talking about because I knew our first race was coming up fast and I wanted to learn how to feed my body the right way. I had wonderful success with it. I lost weight and have maintained my weight, which is awesome, but the thing that is most important to me is that I feel better. Actually, I FEEL GREAT. I’ve never felt more alive. I feel good about myself, because I worked for it. I sweated for it. I learned how to cook food for myself and what proper nutrition is. I just did it. I made the choice to make myself get better. I am a optimistic queen after all, but in all seriousness, I promised myself that I would make this a new beginning for me.

Here I am now three races later (in a calendar year). Happy. Married. Living this life God gave me to live. I hope others read this post and read it for what it is. It’s not me being boastful and saying “haha, I am awesome sauce”. It’s just me telling you what you might not have known from looking at me on the street. I hope that this small little dent in the internet world (aka my blog) can help someone reading this who may be going through something similar or  maybe someone who just needs motivation. Either way, one thing I do want to say is that:

I am me. That is who I am.

PRAISE GOD! HALLELUJAH! WE DID IT!

Philippians 4:13 I can do anything through HIM who gives me strength 

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