A lot of help, determination, Sunday sessions, healthy eating (sometimes - sorry Al) and my trainer, Casey. Oh, and I can't forget Scott for his patience and all the meals he made while I worked hard at the gym. If you had asked me what I'd be doing now, a year ago, I would've said, "you're nuts!" But, shedding 13 or so kilos, building up my self-esteem and having a strong support system got me to the finish line this past Sunday, albeit spent and mighty muddy :)

More often than not you're used to seeing me pretty glammed up on Bagful, but let's take a look at our journey, shall we?

Yeah, we did this about halfway through the run too

Yeah, this is me struggling to get over some sort of semi-vertical wall in the background; Casey wouldn't let me go and all I kept thinking is, "man, I feel like such a jack@$$ right now!"

All that was left to do was wade through muddy water (a sweet relief) and then traverse Hell's Gate.

We could do it, right?

We started and finished with Flash Gordon and Wonder Woman

Would I do this again? It depends. While Tough Bloke was fun, we were, however, tired, bruised and muddy.

Perhaps, I'll just continue to work it out inside the gym and take pride in all that I've accomplished -- because, "we run, we jump, we swim and play; we row and go on trips…"

And the nails, they still look pretty darn good ;)

Tomorrow I'll be participating in Tough Bloke, a 7km course filled with running, climbing, mud, more climbing and did I mention mud? As a way to boost my spirits and to help quell my fears during the run, I opted to paint varying shades of blue on my digits.

If you'd like to try this look for yourself, here are the colours I used to complete this look: