#OctGTD: A guest post -- Vinny's Final Thoughts

To all of my #OctGTD participants:  I'm sooo very proud of you, and so very touched that you decided to go on this journey with me. I'm also jazzed to see so many of you not only want a #NovGTD, but already signed up on the self-reporting spreadsheet (i.e. no need to send me emails, just go back on the spreadsheet and enter your mileage for each period (Nov. 1-9, Nov. 10-16, Nov. 17-23, and Nov. 24-30).

I wanted to have someone else's thoughts close up this month, passing the torch if you will.  I'm honored to introduce Vinny (of Fat to Fit Diary), my friend and fellow #OctGTD participant.  He's not only a huge inspiration to me but also a great support during the times when I'm being mental.  Without further ado --



October has come and gone and so has OctGTD (October Going the Distance). This was not so much a way for us to challenge each other, but a way to challenge ourselves, and I must say at least for me, it worked. I found myself rooting people on to complete their goals as others pushed me to finish mine. It was great to see a large portion of the fit blogging community helping each other out.

I set the bar high for myself, pushing for a whopping 100 miles on the treadmill in the month. For those who don’t know me, seven months ago I couldn’t even walk for twenty minutes straight I was so out of shape. So to think I could trek 100 miles in a month was a pretty aggressive goal for me. So, when I put together my final numbers and realized I came up about 7 miles short, I was a bit disappointed to say the least. I really wanted to complete that 100 mile goal. Then it hit me, I just walked and ran 92.8 miles in a month! In one month I walked/ran double the distance of Rhode Island from north to south. There is no reason to be down about that. I could have sat at home for the month of October and filled my face with food, but instead I walk double the length of a state! If you had said to me seven months ago that I would log that many miles in a month, I would have laugh at you and went back to eating my double cheeseburger. I may not have hit my aggressive goal, but I sure as hell set a personal record, and that’s what OctGTD was all about.

There was great deal of people who took on this challenge. Some of them hit their goals and others didn’t, but one thing they all had in common was they all tried. They all got off their asses and pushed themselves to do something out of their comfort zone. For that I say to them, congratulations!

OctGDT was a huge success in my eyes, and I want to thank Fat Girl vs. World for giving us the chance to challenge ourselves. I also want to thank her for giving me the opportunity to guest post on her blog; it has been a true pleasure.

-Vinny


Patrick's final thoughts (@Rspnsblty199)
Steph's final thoughts (@stephmiller)
Simon's final thoughts (@cyclingsi)
Carrie's final thoughts (@CarrieSinCA)
Mertle's final thoughts
Brigitte's final thoughts (@brigittemittler)

14 comments

Yeah!! My first time guest posting! :) I'm new a this, I guess I should have included my blog..::smacks forehead::

http://fattofitdiary.blogspot.com

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I'm in a pretty similar boat - my goal was 50 miles of running. And I fell 10 miles short. eh. I did 40 miles of running - and almost no running the last week while I've been sick. One of the greatest things I'm learning during this journey - and this challenge - is how to recognize my achievements and focus on the positive.

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Vinny - thank you for sharing your thoughts. Congrats on the challenge, 92 miles is quite awesome. Are you keeping up for November?

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Vinny -- no no no, that was entirely my fault for not having written an intro -- that is corrected now.

Laura Lynne -- It's okay to come up short. Just focus on the behavioral change. I mean, would have you run 40 miles otherwise?

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@Carrie - Thanks! Yes,I am keeping up with November as well. Being that October was such a success for me, I can't wait to jump on the scale tomorrow and see if shed some pounds. I weigh in once a month.

@LauraLynne - You must focus on the positive. There is absolutely nothing negative about running 40 miles!! Congrats!!

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Vinny you totally rock!! Thanks for guesting!

Congrats to all of us for stretching ourselves in October!

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Nice job on the guest post Vinny, you succeeded at both this post & OctGTD!

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Excellent, Vinny!

I, too, plan to keep up in November. I surpassed my goal by fifteen miles, but am STILL hanging on a plateau!

Thank You, Thank You, FGVW for getting us started!

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Oooh, I'm gonna do November too! I need something to keep me on track through all that Thanksgiving food. Where do I sign up to do it again?

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click on the words "self reporting spreadsheet" to sign yourself up (grab as many columns as you need)

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Thanks so much for doing this Robby and congrats on your progress Vinny. I think I hit my goal, in the end, I didn't keep track of my miles last week but if I add it up in my head, I should be about 10 miles over. I'm gong to continue pushing myself this month and see what happens.

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Vinny and Robby, two of my favs to follow. It was a nice and run and I learned some new things about myself as I start a really long journey. I nearly doubled my past daily output on the elliptical to a point I really never thought I'd see.

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First off a well done to everyone who took part you all did amazingly well and should be proud regardless of making your targets or not, I know I fell short of one goal but I am happy with how I did but as I have said before OctGtd is not just for October there are 12 months a year we must take what we have done this past month and take it a little further for every month we will grow a little more, these little goals now are just stepping stones on the longer path to the goals we are all aiming for and by breaking it into smaller chunks it becomes a more manageable and maintainable lifestyle change.

Good luck everyone on the November challenge, hope I will be well enough to join you again at some point.

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