Gallery
The St. Tammany Trace
31-mile-long asphalt trail
Mission: Destroying my old self in order to build a better version.
This was the perfect laboratory to work in as I formulated my plan to transform myself in 2023. It could be a harsh teacher at times, but I learned to make it my sanctuary as I forged a new direction for myself. While serving as my training partner, the endless trail seemed to mock my every step and almost dared me to continue with my daily sessions.
The trace is impossible to conquer and is always ready to inflict self-doubt. The relentless asphalt is always ready to challenge knees, feet, and resolve, but its lesson plans are available 24 hours per day. It’s not unlike an old friend who never lets you get away with anything. It will call your bluff and offer you the toughest of love. But perhaps most of all, it speaks only the truth and provides no shortcuts. There is something about being alone on a trail, like the trace, with nothing but your thoughts and the sound of your feet that brings clarity of purpose. I needed a place to test myself, and it always seemed to make me ask the most important question of myself: Did I have what it takes to just keep going?
Around the age of 51, 290 lbs. Circa 2020. Denial was in full effect at this point. I was lifting weights but not ready to truly flip the switch on myself.
June of 2023. I was down to 239 lbs. at this point. Losing weight was never a goal, becoming fit however, was completely nonnegotiable. No other options at all.
May of 2023. Down to 248 lbs. At this point I even had a shirt made just to remind myself of how things simply needed to be going forward!
Things starting to take shape in April of 2023. I went down to 255 lbs. at this point. My progress was coming fast and furious as I adhered to the plan with extreme prejudice. The defining plan – 365 days of No Options.