Final Challenge Weight Picture. 120.9 Miles. I am Busy.

I’ve got a lot to get too today – so I hope that you are ready.

I am busy.

Life has been busy these past couple of weeks. My wife and I are in the middle of a move. I am trying to close down the school year and get my things cleaned out of my class for the next teacher to be able to get in there this summer. I started the summer semester with my Master’s program and then on top of everything else -- I work out. (Working out and running is actually a way that I can get away from all of the work - do you feel the same way?) I get busy, but I think I strive on busyness.

If you have not seen me stop by your blog in a couple days it is not because I don’t want too.

You guys fuel my fitness tank like no one else. Keep it up.

Can losing weight mess up your game?

I think yes it can. I think a mixture between weight loss, strength training, all the running, and lack of playing has messed up my basketball skills. I use to pride myself on being one of the best.

I’ve been humbled.

I can run all day around the guys, but that does nothing for me if I can’t make a basket. I’ve been over-shooting the basketball, under-shooting the basketball, and there was an air-ball or two in there, but let's not talk about those. I’ve got to figure this thing out. I’m hoping that it is just like riding a bike and it comes back to me real quick.

Weight Loss Challenge Final Results

I did not win the weight loss challenge that I hosted. I lost a total of 17 POUNDS in six weeks! I am very proud and happy with that and have worked my tail off to get it. I have accomplished a lot in the last six weeks.

I have…

…Entered into OnederLand!
…Ran and Placed 1st (my division) in my very first 5k race!
…Placed 12th overall in my second ever 5k race!
…lost 17 pounds through a weight Loss challenge I hosted!
…have watched my wife lose 9 lbs in that very same challenge!!!
…have spent many hours running!
…run a total of 120.9 miles in six weeks!

I’ve also been changing a little bit of the layout here at Fit With a Purpose and am trying to make it more interactive for you. I hope you approve and enjoy!

I’m going to end with my Final Weigh-In Picture!

I will be hosting another weight loss challenge that will start on this upcoming Monday. Everything takes place on Facebook. It's a pretty neat atmosphere that we have there too. I will post about it again with ways for you to enter. I just thought I’d plant the seed into your brain.

If you could follow one of your dreams and have nothing get in your way.......what would you be doing right now with your life?

BlogRoll Update?! Thursday Run. Picture from the Past.

I like to keep this site up to date. One of the ways that I stay on top of things is through my blog roll.

Do you want me to put your site on my blog roll?!

Tell me that you want on and why you should be on the blog roll?

Let us know why need to be on there.

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Today, I ran my Thursday 2 mile and more. I ended out with what turned out to be an easy 2.8 mile run. The runs continue to feel good. I'm trying to hit it really hard this week as it is the last week of the weight loss challenge. It's going pretty well - I still feel like I could be doing more. I think it's just me wanted to do more than I should. It's hard to put on the brakes sometimes, but I've had too.

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I thought I'd end this post with a picture from the past!


I look so unhappy there.

10k Run. Wellness Wednesday. Rainy Run.

Today was my Wellness Wednesday run.

Wellness Wednesday is just me running for no specific time or distance. It is running to simply run and enjoy myself.

I ran more than a 10k today! 6.41 miles.

That distance is longer than any other distance that I have ever ran at one time. I’ve included a map of the route and a picture of me after the run.

I felt pretty good for most of the run. There were a couple times where I could feel my stomach tightening up, but other than that – it was good! Oh yeah, I forgot to tape my nipples (you women don’t have to do that b/c of the extra support you wear, but some guys have too), and I paid for it about ¾ of the way through the run. Ouch! Painful. (TMI?)

Despite that annoying pain…

I now know that I can run the entire 10k.

Oh yeah – did I mention that I ran my longest run to date today in the rain?!

It poured, it sprinkled, it spit, and poured a little more – and I smiled. I smiled because never would I have even imagined that I would be running that far at one time and do it willingly in the rain.

I am so happy that I made this change in my life.

It’s changed everything.

I am living now.

How has the decision to become fit & healthy changed your life?

Day by Day. Race Pictures. Weigh-In Picture.

Closing down a school year is a lot of work! It takes a quite of bit of time and a lot of energy. I have a few things that I want to post about today. I’ll break it day by day.

Saturday: I ran in my 2nd 5k!

I ran in the Hot Dog 5k Run. This course had about four or five different hills – which is something that I am not use too. I rocked those hills! I finished my second 5k race in 26’53”. That is 29 seconds slower than the first 5k run, but this one was hilly and weather conditions weren’t as great! I’m super stoked about that time with the different elements taking effect. Very happy! Here’s a picture of my run, me in my race shirt, and race number!

I finished 12th overall! It was smaller than I thought it'd be and there were many fit people! I am happy with my race completion!






















Sunday: I ran an easy follow up 2.4 miles and played basketball for the first time since breaking my ankle! My shot was waayyy off! It’ll get better though; yes it will.

Monday: I did nothing. It was glorious. I’ve really noticed that I tend to not take breaks and sometimes I just have to force myself into breaks. It’s necessary that we realize that rest needs to happen. We only grow when rest is allowed to do it’s part.

Today: I took a group of middle schoolers to Worlds of Fun amusement park. I love amusement parks, but I have a few different tips for you to hopefully follow.

Tip # 1 - Don’t ride the super spinny ride first!
Tip # 2 - Don’t skip lunch to ride the coaster called Boomerang! It was fun, but lunch is too.
Tip # 3 - Wear sunscreen.

Another thing that happened today was that we got Carol a cat. Carol volunteers at the local animal shelter and we found a cat that she liked a lot, I do too, named Kizzy. If you want to see our new cat, you can check her out at Carol’s blog here.

P90x starts back up tonight now that the next race is a little ways off. Week 3, day 1 tonight. Yeah!

Monday also served as the Next to Last Weigh In for the weight loss challenge I am hosting. So far, in five weeks I have lost 12 lbs. I believe that to be pretty solid numbers. This past week was not exactly stellar on the weight loss, but I wasn't expecting that to be. I tapered for my races and took it a little lighter than normal. It was an intentional let-up. This week, I am hoping to kill it as I start the p90x again and get some longer runs in. I'm excited about it!

Here's a picture of the weigh-in. I lost .4 lbs. I love that loss. I lost while preparing for another race just one week after the other.





On Saturday, as I normally do, I got my weekly Starbucks coffee. Carol resisted. That is one thing that she really has trouble resisting. She was successful. It makes me wonder what everyone else has trouble resisting?

I really like Subway cookies. I have trouble resisting them!

What is the one thing that you have trouble resisting?

How do you do it?

The "Purpose" in Fit With A Purpose.

I was given this as a comment on a post the other day and wanted to respond to it.


"I guess I would like to know what is your specific purpose. I see fitness written in many places on your site. Perhaps you could provide the qualitative and quantitative goals."

As for the qualitative and quantitative goals - those are subjective and temporary. I write on this blog about myself and my life, but also try to reach beyond the tangible in front of me. I do have a Goals page immediately under the header for those goals. I will however, do my best to give what my purpose and mission is as I become healthy and fit.

My journey is for me. I understand that part, but I know that my journey reaches far beyond me. I'll get into more of that later.

I have many life goals and things that I want to achieve that were being threatened by my weight. I have a gorgeous, caring, and loving wife that I want to be there for. When I looked into the future as an overweight, exhausted, tired, and temperamental man - I did not see what I wanted. The future looked grim, tiring, and not a lot of fun. How could I give my wife all that she deserved when I couldn't even give myself what I needed? There came a point that I needed a change and the change was for more than just myself.

That's not it though.

My sister was diagnosed with small-cell cervical cancer on June 10, 2006. She passed away of small-cell cervical cancer on July 16, 2006. That fast. It caught us all off guard. It hurt. As some of us get older, we recognize the importance of being healthy and making decisions that will not only have a positive effect on ourselves, but on others as well. No one knows what is in store for the future - but we do know that the future will come with every breathing moment. I strive to be prepared in the best way possible for whatever comes mentally and physically. It is not easy; no one said it would be. It is important though; I say that.

That's still not all of it.

My wife and I want to have kids some day. Actually, we've wanted to have kids yesterday. It has not happened yet. Not many people know this, but we've been trying for over a year now to get pregnant. It hasn't happened. It takes a while sometimes. It's been mentally challenging for us, but we are not defeated. God will provide when He does. When that does happen - I want to be able to teach them good from bad. I want to show them by example how to live a positive life and make positive decisions. I want to out-play my kids. I want to run with my kids. I want to show my sons how to be men of Godly character. I want to teach my daughters how to show up the boys on the basketball court; and also to give them a positive example of how a man is to treat his bride.

Becoming fit and healthy does not guarantee these things to happen, but will definitely help these dreams become reality if given the opportunity.

That's still not all of it.

Many people think that what we do on Earth is all that we do. That is their decision to make. That is not the conclusion that I have come to. God has blessed me in so many ways and way beyond my level of deserving. I attempt to live a life worthy of that call to go and make disciples. America is overweight and lazy; so are the churches. There are a lot of church goers that go on Sunday, leave, and fail to practice what they preach in their "real lives". They call out against those that are caught up in negative addictions, greed, and/or gluttony of some kind. Those are the ones that give the church a bad name.

With that being said, I want to let you know my take on becoming physically, spiritually, and mentally fit in regards to what I believe and live by daily.

2 Timothy 2:3-7 tells me that I need to take a look at three different people. (1) A soldier, (2) an athlete, (3) a farmer. I'm not going to go in lengthy detail as for the reasons, but will give you a brief idea behind it.

1. Dedicated, Focused, Devoted like a soldier...
2. Disciplined, Obedient, and self-controlled like an athlete...
3. Diligent, Hard-working, and motivated like a farmer...

If you have been a follower of my site for any period of time - you should be able to tell that this is the message that I want to convey to my readers. These are the things that I try to live out daily. It is not easy all of the time and I fail often, but I am not defeated when I fail.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:26-27:

"I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified."

Everything we do - we must do it with purpose.

It may be the fitness goal of being able to jump higher than anyone else, lift more than your neighbor, and/or run the fastest mile. Whatever it is, have reason behind it.

This is my journey on becoming fit and staying fit - and it is driven by purpose. At some point I will be able to say that I am fit with a purpose. Right now, I say, I am getting fit with a purpose.

It drives me to become who I am meant to be.

We are only restricted by our negativity. I want to provide a positive outlook on fitness for those that are overweight, in trouble, and struggling to get their life back. This is how I am doing that.

I hope that this answers the question that was given. It may have been more than you asked for too. I believe that Fit with a purpose is not just a blog, but a place - an environment - where we can be pushed further than what we see as our limits, but create new heights both physically and mentally.

That is what this is all about.

Thank you for the question.

Running. Living. Believing. Finishing.

running.living.believing.finishing.

It seems that as of late – I’ve been getting a few questions about running. I intend to answer those questions in detail at some point or another, but today’s post is directed at the source of the issue with running.

I must note that I took up running just this year and that there are many more experienced runners out there that know much more information about running.

What I give is what I know to the extent of what I know about it.

I love running. It’s refreshing. It’s relaxing. It’s a sedative for the chaotic world around us. It does not change. It’s challenging. It’s freeing.

But it is not all of those things for everyone…yet.

It can be.

The source of the issue is that people simply don’t think that they can do it. This can go beyond running into a variety of life’s situations; the fact is that people do not believe in themselves enough to follow through. I can’t count how many people have started their weight loss journey only to give up already. They felt that what they had deprived themselves of had something more to give them. That’s their story and it doesn’t have to be yours.

When I run – I believe that I can finish. I believe in myself knowing that I can do it. I exercise follow through. I believe with everything that I have that I can complete the task at hand. If it’s one mile, two miles, five miles, a zillion miles – I believe that I will give my very best effort to complete what I set out to do.

And I follow through.

It’s not always easy. It’s tough sometimes. It’s physically and mentally challenging. My vision gets clouded. My path gets crooked. But I believe that no matter what gets in my way – it will not stay in my way. I can push through the pain. My body and mind work together on one front – believing and knowing that I can do it…and I do it.

Running is the exercise of freedom. It tests you. It pushes you. Only you can run for you. Believe that you can do it…and you will.

8.5k Run. Run Picture. I Need Your Help!

5.3 mile Run (8.5k)

Today is 5k Tuesday.

Why stop at a 5k though?

8.5k would be better.

I decided that today was a great day to go for the longest run to date. After Saturday's 5k race - I knew that I could go further than I ever have. The decision was made. I would run. One minute into the run I think I swallowed a bug. Other than the bug - my run was smooth. I tried to change my stride a little bit in order to make what could be a long, painful run into a long, pain-free run. I shortened my stride and lowered my impact point (make sense?). It allowed for less of a harsh landing. Whether it did anything or not - I completed the run and didn't stop running. It felt so good. My breathing has been very smooth while running as well. I tried to guess at the distance that I was going because I didn't map out my route (as I have suggested before to do). Here's a map of today's route for you to see. I completed the run in 1 hour 48 seconds.

I Need Your Help.

Fit with a purpose is a place where you know what you are going to get. It's been set up so that you can come and know what to expect and hopefully leave with something positive.

Today, I need your help. I want to know what you want on this site? Is this site missing anything?

Let me know what you think. I would definitely like and consider your suggestions. Thanks!

Challenging Day. Race News. Weigh-In Picture!

Challenging Day.

Today has been a mentally challenging day. It's been raining all day and Carol and I made a hard decision yesterday in regards to our moving (which takes place in just a little less than a month). I currently teach and work part time at a church. We have been offered a full time position with the church and I accepted. We have been searching for a house and thought that we found one twice - but each time something has prevented it. The first house fell through because of the inspection - the second because of pride. We are moving to plug into the community and we found a house that was really cool and we liked it, but it was far out of town and not the best fit for us now. I know I may be crazy to pass on that house, but getting that house was defeating the purpose of reaching the community. My ego would have definitely been puffed up with this house - but that house would consume our purpose. I am crazy. :)

The decision to pass on the house mixed with the gloomy, rainy day has produced a gloom attitude. It's been a long day. Something else will come up though!

Moving on to some better news.

I will find out tomorrow where I placed overall from the 5k race where I set my PR and placed 1st in my division. I am pretty excited to see how I did with everyone's time. It's all still new to me. I have some more pictures that will be uploaded that were taken of me with a couple of students of mine that also ran the 5k. They both beat me! An 8th grader ran the 5k in 21'30" (exact second?) and a 7th grader in 24'53". Both of them placed first in their division as well!

Hopefully, I will have that information for you tomorrow!

Now for the weigh-in this week. It was a success. I have consistently lost the weight with a healthy downward trend. The best part about this week, besides the 5k race, was that my father in law saw a picture of me and he didn't recognize me. He asked Carol who the two guys in the picture were (one was a guy from church and then me) and she said, "That's Seth dad!"

He said, "Thaaat's Seth?!"

We don't get to see them that often as we live in different states. I liked that compliment. Made me smile!

Back to the weigh in. I weighed in at 195.6 lbs. That's a loss of 2.4 lbs. I'll take it. I wasn't sure how this week would turn out because I tapered my running and workouts for the race. Apparently, the change in my workouts confused my body and it has responded with weight loss.

Enjoy the picture!

What is your favorite part of your body?

Tell me. Take a picture of it and post it on your blog.

Embrace your body.