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Jamie Lesk comes on the show to get real about her yo yo of overweight to underweight and back, before finally learning to get strong and accepting wherever she is. We also talk a ton about eating.
Todays Podcast is sponsored by:
Wetsuit Wearhouse – Save 15% using coupon code ORM15 on all purchases.
Show Notes:
Listen using the player below or the iTunes/Stitcher links at the top of this page.
In a few short days I will be competing in the Obstacle Course Racing World Championships and it has been an amazing and difficult journey getting to this point. 5 years ago I never would have imagined that I would be winning anything more than a video game let alone qualifying to compete in a world championship athletic event.
Just A Skinny Kid
I’ve always been the skinny kid, I never participated in sports in High School or College, never worked out. The closest thing to an athletic activity I did was play disc golf, which generally involved drinking and smoking weed (not the most “athletic” drugs). At age 18 I started smoking cigarettes and developed a pack a day habit which would last me almost 12 years. I wasn’t happy, I hated that I smoked but it was just so hard to quit. I had tried to quit many times but always failed, I felt defeated by my addiction. There were so many things that I wanted to do but felt I couldn’t until I stopped smoking. I wanted to be active I wanted to go to yoga classes but thought “you can’t do yoga if you are coughing every 5-10 minutes”. I had the desire but I did not have the right attitude. 
When I was 29 I had the opportunity to go to India with some good friends. One week of our month in India was spent at an ashram on the banks of the Ganges, where we learned yoga and meditation. I had hopes that at the ashram I would be able to not smoke. It wasn’t so. But I learned there, next to that beautiful river, that failure does not mean defeat. I learned how to forgive, and to cultivate love for myself and others.
I Quit
When I got home I started a daily yoga and meditation practice, I started working out. I wasn’t going to wait till I quit smoking to get in shape. I was going to make a plan and put my hand to the plow to create the necessary environment where I could accomplish my goals. I wanted to quit before I turned 30 so one week before my 30th birthday with all of the love for myself and will power that I had cultivated over the past 6 months I quit.
I knew that I needed to rehab my lungs so I decided to try the number one cheapest cardiovascular exercise in the world, running. (I would later be dismayed about how not cheap it is to race OCR) I remember my first run, it was on a treadmill. I thought “I’ll just run 30 minutes, that will be good” after 7 minutes running at 5.5 mph I was gassed, got off the machine and thought I was going to puke.
I quickly discovered that treadmills are demons from hell that should only be used in times of great need. Outside was where I belonged and I eventually started to be able to run 5k and thought it was time to do a race.
Enter the gateway drug to OCR – Warrior Dash.
I was such a mix of emotions going into my first mud run, and the biggest was doubt. That doubt had power and I had a choice of how I would let that doubt affect me. I could have let it take over and keep me from the race but I chose to face it and put in the training I thought necessary to overcome this new challenge. I trained my ass off! I would go to the grade school by my house and run a lap around the building then do the monkey bars and run through the play structures, take another lap do some pullups, climb the jungle gym, do another lap, on and on. (I still do this because it’s fun and a great OCR workout) Physically I was ready but I didn’t know it. The doubt was still there, my goal was just to finish.
The day of the race finally came and I was a mix of anxiety and excitement. I was physically ready but completely unprepared (all of my clothes were cotton). My first exposure as I pulled into the parking lot was of people drinking and smoking. Smoking cigarettes! I was surprised, I was confused, I was appalled. “how could all of these smokers run this “intense race” My judgement was out of control. As I got ready to run I saw people of every type, not just the lean athletic bodies I was expecting. “Maybe I overestimated the difficulty of this race” More unnecessary judgement. Then at the starting line for my heat was a woman well over 350 lbs, and my judgement melted away. “This race may be more or less than you expected, but this woman who so many wouldn’t expect to be here is challenging herself with the exact same challenge that’s been scaring you for months.” I realized that everyone at that race was there to challenge themselves, and I was quite the hypocrite to think negatively of those people smoking in the parking lot. Maybe they are on a journey towards quitting and fitness is helping them just like it helped me.
New Challenges
The race was easier than I had made it out to be, but it was also way more fun than I thought. I had been bitten by the OCR bug. I couldn’t wait to do it again, I signed up for next year’s race once registration opened. I loved it but after two years of warrior dash I felt I needed something more challenging.
I signed up for a Spartan sprint and again felt intimidated. From all accounts Spartan was far more challenging than Warrior Dash and my intimidation and doubt fueled my training. I joined a gym and upped my running regimen. That 2016 Chicago sprint was the muddiest race I’ve ever seen and likely will ever see. It was hard, it was a challenge, but it was also much easier than I had built it up to be in my head. Having accomplished yet another new challenge I felt confident. 
It was time to compete
I signed up for a Savage Race even though I’d never ran a 10K, and I went to compete. I was timid though and stayed in the middle of the start coral. I held back since I’d never ran so far in a race. I let my doubt get in the way of my performance that day. I let slower runners be ahead of me and hold me back on obstacles where I could have gone so much faster. Doubt may have fueled my training but it bit me in the ass on the course. I was a mix of emotions, I knew I could have done better, but I knew I could learn from my mistakes, but above all I had so much fun! I signed up for two local OCRs and the Spartan Beast in Breckenridge. Each Race I gave myself a new challenge and pushed myself harder eventually taking 2nd place overall in my final local OCR of the year. 
Goal Time
I set a goal of competing at OCRWC and signed up for 5 qualifying races. I was going to set myself up for success. At Terrain Race 5k in Tucson I went back and forth between 3rd and 4th place for most of the race when a wrong turn with 1 obstacle left took me out of guaranteed spot. I went from for sure qualification (maybe even pro) to uncertainty. I felt sick, literally I thought I was going to puke. I’d never put so much effort into a run before. It took two days but I found out I got first in my age group and qualified. Just 5 years removed from destroying my lungs and heart, I had qualified for a world championship event.
Overcome Your Obstacles
I know that everyone has adversity and obstacles in their life, whether it is smoking, losing weight etc. Every obstacle we face in our lives comes with a choice though. When you are faced with a new challenge and you have doubt, will you let that doubt weigh you down or will you let it fuel you? Will you take it and use it to your advantage?
Too often we all think “I can’t do that until I do this” I need to lose weight before I can run a race, I don’t want to look like I don’t know what I’m doing at the gym. We setup unnecessary obstacles (not the fun ones we all love) in front of our goals when all we have to do is keep moving forward, and we will reach our goal eventually. Don’t wait until “the right time” to make improvements in your life. The “right time” is right now. It may not be the convenient time but it’s the right time to start making the changes you want to see. I know that I can accomplish whatever I put my mind to. And I know you can to if you give your all.
Love
In Conclusion I just want to share the meditation that helped me learn to love and forgive myself. Imagine yourself as a child and repeat these words to your child-self
May you be well
May you be happy
May you be healthy
May you feel loved
I love you
And give your child-self a hug.
Thanks for reading. I hope to see some of you at OCRWC and other future races.
Be Well.
Justin Smith
Photos Courtesy of: Justin Smith, Warrior Dash, Spartan Race, Terrain Race
A couple that races together stays together and this couldn’t be truer for Helmy (46 years old) and June (39 years old) who embarked on their Spartan journey to celebrate their 15 year wedding anniversary after looking for something new to add a spark back into their marriage.
Helmy was a cross-country runner back in school but had not exercised regularly for years resulting in an unhealthy overweight BMI reading, while June suffered a hamstring injury which took almost a year to recover from. “The thought of me being unsexy to my wife and the image of growing older with a big fat belly, extreme obesity, and a bad health condition was enough to make me do something,” Helmy said.
Making a conscious decision to find something new to do together, they discovered Spartan Race by accident as June was looking for something to make her stronger for her yoga practice.
“When we both agreed to sign up for our very first OCR, we knew we needed to be very well prepared as it’s not a walk in the park event,” June confirmed.
They soon discovered the training was no walk in a park, struggling to get through the first community session they attended. But they came back the next week after being encouraged by the trainers and challenged by the workouts. Overtime, the OCR training taught them personal endurance, upper body strength, good balance, and most importantly mental fortitude. Now they both attend multiple sessions a week and have even picked up running together.
Knowing how tough Spartan Race is as a beginner, the most memorable moment for them both was running side by side overcoming the obstacles together in their first race in Singapore, likening it to the challenges that they both had in their marriage journey.
Helmy credits June with being the biggest contributor to his transformation, from exercise down to the healthier eating approach they have both embraced. Even though the scales only show a 7lb loss, his BMI is now back in the healthy range having built muscle from all the training, and fitter now than he has ever been.
June attributes the amazing OCR community as helping her be successful. “Everyone comes from different backgrounds and shows such great passion and commitment. They have been supportive throughout our journey and we grew to be a fitness family and eventually great friends,” she says.
Both try and do a few HIIT training sessions a week, some yoga and run when they can. With more races now planned for the remainder of the year, they will increase their training closer to those dates, including traveling overseas to participate in the Spartan Beast in Sparta, Greece.
The best part of racing together? According to June, it’s the fact that they get to wear matching outfits!
Photo Credit: Spartan Race and Couple
ORM presents the series of stories on OCR Transformations. Runners and athletes whose mind body, and spirit have been altered through obstacle racing.
Dawn Stowers is a 45 year old mother of two who enjoys Obstacle Course Racing, CrossFit and auto racing of all sorts. When she turned 40, she weighed 182.6 pounds and was miserable. Performing the basic tasks in life were difficult for her. She was like most other mom’s with tweens, always running around errands with her girls. She would eat the worst possible take out and generally putting her health and happiness on the back burner.
Before Dawn’s 40th birthday, her father passed away unexpectedly and meanwhile her and Dawn and husband were at odds over her increasing weight gain. Her husband lost some weight few out of spite, and she was determined to do the same. Dawn had half-heartedly tried so many things over the years, but eventually realized that the only thing that stood between her and her weight loss goal was self-control. That is when she finally decided to commit to changing her health for the better. Over the next few months, she found a program that worked work for her. Dawn significantly changed her diet and began to eat cleaner than ever before. She also found a support group of others looking to be a better version of themselves and together they persevered.
Dawn began to realize that she was capable of so much more than she ever thought possible. She eventually got all the way down to an unhealthy 112 pounds as she became obsessed with watching the scale go down further and further; to the point that she became sad on the days it didn’t move. At that point, Dawn decided getting stronger and healthier should be her goal. This quest soon became her focus and she found a Boot Camp that she enjoyed, it became her home away from home. She went religiously, rain or shine, sickness or in health and enjoyed the feeling of becoming better. Dawn feels that the gym is one of the few places on earth where everyone has only one focus; to be the best version of them possible.
Eventually, she heard about the Spartan Sprint in Charlotte and decided to sign up: ALONE. She knew that it would be the ultimate test of her physical and mental abilities but it was something she says, “I HAD to do it for ME.” Another one of her boot camp friends eventually signed up with her and together they set out on a quest to jump the fire. It was sleeting as they stood at the starting line shivering, wondering what was to come next and then AROO! AROO! AROO! They were off! It took a long time and Dawn failed many of the obstacles, but she exclaimed “who doesn’t love burpees!?!” Dawn believes that jumping the fire was one of the most satisfying things she has ever done.
She wore her medal most of the day and had to figure out how to get that feeling again and again! She joined several Spartan Facebook Groups and realized that her Boot Camp wasn’t going to get her the training she would need to be more successful in her Spartan Trifecta quest. As a result, she searched for a new gym and found CrossFit 77 where she works out 4-5 times a week. OCR has become a big part of Dawn’s life and helps defines who she is as a person. Her running partner is her youngest daughter, Ashley, who is a sophomore in college. For Dawn and Ashley, OCR is the perfect Mommy/Daughter Weekend getaway activity. They try to run at least one OCR a month together which gives them an excuse to see each other and to keep training hard.
Dawn is now beginning her 4th year of completing double Spartan Trifecta’s. She doesn’t limit her runs to strictly Spartan’s, as she has enjoyed many other OCR’s: ie BattleFrog, BoneFrog, Warrior Dash, Dirty Girl, etc. Dawn and her daughter Ashley just recently completed 8 hours at Toughest Mudder Atlanta. However, Spartan is by far her favorite race. The Spartan Festival Area is our Narnia! She says, “everyone there is happy, working to be the best version of them, encouraging, helpful and generally pumped up!” The OCR Community is all about the build-up and never the tear-down; it truly is a FAMILY. Dawn wants everyone to know that it doesn’t matter how old you are or where you start; ONLY where you want to go. Age is only a number. Find your passion! Leave your comfort zone and find the new best version of you! NEVER SETTLE! AROO!
As a kid growing up Wes was always overweight. It had a tremendous impact on his life and made things hard for him. Making friends was difficult and the friends that he did have would still pick on him because he was the “fat” kid. For many years after high school Wes tried all the different diets out there. Atkins, weight watchers, nutrisystem, you name it he tried it in an effort to lose weight. He never really had a friend that would take him under their wing and show him the way to be healthy.
Wes was bullied alot because of his weight and the fact that he would not fight back. He would just shut down and take the bullying. Wes was always told that he wasn’t good enough, he was too fat, or too slow to do anything. This caused him to not want to tryout for anything, even if he was really good at it. Shopping for clothes was even worse because he always had to shop in the big mens store and he couldn’t wear the trendy fashions that his friends were all wearing because of his size.
Wes says that, “people would laugh at me and it was extremely hard to approach any girls because I wasn’t part of the cool crowd.” In turn he kept to himself and found other ways to spend his time. Wes can’t really limit this to one specific event. There were multiple events leading back to childhood that forced him to make the change and to start his journey to a new and improved, and healthier Wes.
One day about 4 years ago he woke up in the middle of the night by what he thought was gas. Turned out that Wes had Gallstones and his blood pressure was through the roof. They removed his gall bladder and he made a promise to himself that he was going to get healthier. Not only for himself, but for his family as well.
Back in 2014 after having multiple health issues and just not leading an overall healthy lifestyle, he decided to make a change. He had constant high blood pressure even with medications, which were being increased every appointment because he couldn’t get it under control. He was smoking at least a pack of cigarettes a day, drinking and eating completely unhealthy. It was at this time that he looked at his 4 grandchildren and decided to make a change to be around for them and his family.
He started hanging out with friends that had a like mindset and were working towards their own weight loss goals. They taught him how and what to eat and how to exercise properly. He used to laugh because he was never known as a runner and he turned to them to help him with any advice they may have since they had worked hard and were attaining their goals.
In 2014, he had just started running and began getting serious about his health. His friends in turn challenged him to do a Rugged Maniac that August. He had heard about the OCR community from them and had already met alot of great people who welcomed him with open arms. They showed Wes that getting in shape didn’t have to be work and that it could be alot of fun. They accepted him for who he was and they liked him as Wes. Not one time did they pass judgement because he was overweight, or because he couldn’t do what they could do.
In August of 2014, Wes ran his first race a Rugged Maniac. His friends David Yates and Richard Estep challenged him to sign up and race with them. He knew he would never be able to keep up with them, but he decided to do it anyway. He signed up and they helped him train. David and Richard helped him prepare for the toughest challenge of his life.
Wes worked for 7 months to get ready for the race. When the race started his friends got well ahead of him. He did a majority of the race by himself. As he approached about a mile to the finish, he look up and there was David and Richard. They were coming back out to the course to finish the race with him. After that race Wes had a fire lit under him that he never had before. He was already looking forward to doing his next race, which was the “Down and Dirty” that October. He wasn’t as prepared as he wanted to be, but he went out and gave 100% and completed the race. That was the end of his first race season, but he was determined to make the 2015 season even better and he trained to do so. He started going to more events to learn different techiques and ways to make himself better. There were alot of people that were willing to help him attain his goals and they are still in his life today.
March of 2015, Wes ran his first ever Spartan race in Conyers, Ga. He didn’t know anyone there and ran with a stranger that later became a friend, Marcus Conyers. Marcus offered to go with him and help him along the course. They started the Sprint and along the way he severely sprained his ankle. It hurt him to walk, but Marcus would not let him quit. They stayed together the entire time with Marcus helping him through the obstacles. It was at this time he knew that he had to get serious about training, he didn’t want to have to rely on others to get through a course again. He wanted to be able to do it himself. When Wes crossed the finish line that day, he was met by lots of cheers and hugs from everyone. They told him how proud they were that he didn’t give up and kept fighting through the course with an injury.
Wes contributes his success to his friends David Yates and Richard Estep. They believed in him and cheered him on to complete his first OCR. They helped him to succeed by pushing him to his limits and beyond. He appreciates his GORMR (Georgia Obstacle Racers and Mud Runners) teammates for always giving encouragement and letting him know how strong he can be. He is also successful due to his family’s love and support. He says, they “have been ther since day one, with the traveling and putting up with a hectic race schedule.” Most of all his parents, they have always believed in him since he was a child. They always taught him to go out and prove to himself and not others that he can do accomplish what he sets his mind to. There is a host of people Wes would like to thank and the list could go on and on but he had to keep it short.
Currently, you can find Wes spending 3 to 4 days in the gym working on everything from cardio to strength. Two times a week he tries to get out to a local trail working on building distance and cardio in order to be prepared for the next event.
At the time Wes started his journey he weighed close to 440lbs. He smoked cigarettes and ate very unhealthy. He was on blood pressure medication and was also a chronic sufferer of gout.Currently, he is down to 275 lbs! He has not smoked since he began his journey in 2014. He has now adopted a cleaner and healthier eating lifestyle that he incorporates everyday. He admits the temptaions are there, but that is where his new found will power comes in.
When Bill was young, really for as long as he can remember, he was always a competitive athlete. From swimming to football and wrestling, Bill seemed to always be either practicing or competing. When he got to college, he joined the fire service and served as a firefighter/EMT for 9 years. Food was his escape. Anytime something was stressful, going wrong, or even good, eating helped him get through it. Sweets and ice cream were his go to. For many years this didn’t manifest as he was burning many of those calories.
Bill and his wife Tracy 2013
When Bill got married to his wife in 1995 they moved to Syracuse, NY. They moved so his wife could go through graduate school. It was there that his activity levels began to decrease, and his food intake didn’t change. By the time they moved to North Carolina in 1998, Bill had added about 50 lbs to his frame. “I was never a small guy, so even 50 lbs was manageable”. When he left the fire service is when the weight really began to hit him.
By 2013, Bill’s weight was over 450 lbs and it consumed his life. At that time he says fast food was about, 45-50 percent of his diet he was drinking between 2 and 2 ½ gallons of diet coke a day. One of the biggest shockers for Bill was when he went clothes shopping. He was trying on shorts and surpassed the size 60 mark.
When Bills’ father passed away at age 59 in 2001 of a weight related disease, he was wearing a size 64 pants. “I remember cleaning out his closet and promising myself, I would never get to that size.” Bill describes that the feeling that came over him walking out of that store with a size 60 pair of shorts was overwhelming. He knew something had to change but was paralyzed with fear. He had tried with family to work out and exercise, but was constantly getting injured. He could not run or jog, and all movements caused him pain.
The motivation to change came from two really good friends that asked to meet with him one day. That morning was the day that reshaped his outlook on a lot of things. These men spoke to some of the areas that he was neglecting in his life including his; ministry, work, and family. It was not until then he realized that he was in a complete depression and was in the process of eating himself to death. He stepped on the scale that day and weighed right at 460 lbs. Something finally clicked for Bill. He had no idea what to do or how to do it, but something had to change.
Bill decided to meet with a surgeon to speak about bariatric surgery as an aid. This is what he now determines to be a turning point in his life. The doctor told Bill that this surgery, if he had it, was only a tool. Surgery would not solve his problems unless he dedicated himself to changing his diet and started exercising more. He was sold on this idea.
Bill’s surgery was on April 27, 2015. By surgery date he had already lost 55 lbs. He had completely abandoned fast food and his last diet coke was on January 3, 2015. There were some complications with his surgery as they had to remove his gallbladder as well, because it was basically one huge stone. In his follow up appointment is where the OCR seed was planted. Dr. Rao told him … “Here is your plan. In 2017 I want you to run the Gate River Run (15k) and in 2018 I want you to do a Tough Mudder or Spartan Race, deal?” He said he was definitely up for the challenge!
About 2 months after Bill’s surgery, he stepped back into the Gym. He walked in that morning very hesitant, not sure what to expect. In December 2015, he went to another gym to welcome a friend who was trying it out. He was very excited till he saw the workout….There in the middle of it was running….a full mile.
“I remember feeling my heart sink and I immediately accepted failure as my Goliath stood looming over me”. But he did his best, completed a full mile and was able to complete the rest of the workout as well. He shared that day with the group this was the first mile he had run since 1997.
The next morning, he went for a run on his own and completed a whole 5k. Over the next few weeks he pushed himself as far as 5 miles and felt good about it. He realized that something had really changed in himself. He was over 150 lbs down, and he felt great. Bill decided that he wanted to finish every distance of a running race that year. 5k, 10k, 15k and half marathon. Done, done, and done. On Thanksgiving day, with his friend Jim running by his side and his family cheering like crazy, he completed a half marathon. Bill ran the entire 13.1 miles with an 11 min pace….but his focus was 2 weeks away….SPARTAN.
When Bill decided to do the Spartan Race, he had about 5 months to train. Completing the Spartan however, has really kept him going! That was his first and only OCR. (That will drastically change this year) He says, “I can remember approaching the inverted wall and being terrified. I almost just went around and did the burpees. But my team was there, I jumped on, and zipped straight over. I was on top of the world…..I truly felt like a Spartan”.
Bill killing the obstacles at his first Spartan
Bill gives thanks first and foremost to his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for guiding him through this gauntlet. Without his salvation, he says he would not have been able to endure this test.
Family 5k
His amazing wife, Tracey of 21 years and his kids Luke (16) and Chloe (13) are his greatest fans and partners. They completed a 5k as a family this year, and he can see his influence in all of their training as Luke aspires to play college football one day and Chloe cheerleads and enjoys basketball and volleyball.
First Spartan finish with friends Anthony and Denea
Anthony and Denea Widener will always be credited with being the largest catalyst in showing Bill his true value and assisting him in achieving his goals and dreams. Jason Palmisano and his family for bravely following their dream of Trinity Fitness and spreading the gospel and wellness to all.
Bill trains 3 times a week in the morning at TF. Those workouts are all metabolic conditioning so they change up daily. No matter what the workout at the very end he adds in an extra ½ mile run. He also adds other runs usually once or twice a week. Sometimes it will be 3-5 miles running, other times it will be about 3 miles with breaks every ¼ mile for some type of bodyweight exercise (burpees, push ups, sit ups, ect…).
December 2014 – resting heart rate 97. BP 135/90. Weight 460 lbs
January 2017 – resting heart rate 61. BP 118/78. Weight 225 lbs.
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