It is finally here, the one year anniversary of me starting my Operation Melt fitness journey last summer. So, let’s chat a bit about how I spent my fit-iversary week.

One Year

There are so many thoughts and feelings inside me about the past year, the journey, the accomplishments, my transformation and such. So much has happened since I made the decision that changed my life. In addition to my physical changes, I have had changes to my confidence, to my passions, to my job and many other things.

I am not going to write a ton about the anniversary right now. I will likely write more in future posts, but I am still trying to sort out all of my thoughts. But I will share a couple of things.

First, I posted a separate brief blog post yesterday titled Milestone Moment: One Year of Melting that celebrated the actual double milestone moment. Please make sure to read that post too. It includes a some thoughts I wrote right before heading to my 5K, a poem of sorts called I Did It.

Throughout the week I shared posts on social media that included pictures from before or during the journey accompanied by quotes from my daily journal. It was very interesting as I reviewed my journal entries from along my journey. I really got to reflect on where my mind was during this and what my ups and downs were.

Finally, I will share the top 4 thoughts that are top of mind this morning:

1. Thank You!

A big thank you to everybody who made this past year successful.

From the likes and comments on my excessive social media posts to the in-person advice and support to the people who ran and supported my 5k to the people who sought advice from me along the way to the inspiring people who I looked to as role models to the people who just quietly followed my blog and especially to my wife Liz.

Every single one of these people helped keep me going and helped me meet my goal. I seriously, without hyperbole or blowing smoke, could not have done this without so much support.

2. Life Changing.

My life is so much different today than it was just 12 months / 365 days / 8760 hours / 525,600 minutes ago.

I never thought so much could change in a year, but it certainly did. I am still me but I am certainly an upgraded version of me. I am healthier, happier, more confident, more aware and more driven than ever before. I have also discovered a passion that I didn’t even know I had.

Plus, I think I am technically an “athlete” now because I have had a formal athletic event where I did great. Hard to believe it but I am already craving my next race and am thinking about doing a half marathon, mostly with walking.

3. Project Management Matters.

When people ask me what my “secret” is to the success of my journey, I usually credit 2 things: data and project management. P.S. there is no secret to my success, it was a process. It is a process that anybody can use and I can absolutely teach you how. The process was surprisingly easy, but does require you to work your ass off!

After more than a decade of being a project manager, I used those concepts and best practices to make this journey a success and it worked. This has reminded me of how important project management can be and that, done right, project management really matters.

I will be a lifetime project management evangelist!

4. Superpower / I Am Amazing.

Ok, I am wired to be a fairly humble guy and I don’t usually like to boast or brag. But through this journey I have learned that there are areas where I can be pretty amazing and even surprise myself.

When I think about this journey as well as some other aspects of my life story it becomes clear that I have at least one superpower. I can turn goals into realities as long as the goal is important to me. With a superpower like that, and after successfully conquering both poverty and obesity in my life, I know there is NOTHING I can’t accomplish!

This picture was from after my 5K and I am wearing a t-shirt that was given to me by an amazing woman, Pam McCarthy, the executive director for Central Community House.

Pam is retiring this month and these are shirts that were created for her retirement party. She gave me one when I stopped into the end of her party and told her about my 5K being a fundraiser for her organization – a total surprise to her!

I really love this shirt because it has very succinctly summarized the 2 things that I hope that I can do through my life, my journey(s) and my work. Lead and Inspire.

Operation Melt First Time 5K

Saturday morning was my Operation Melt First Time 5K run to celebrate my fit-iversary with another big milestone, my first 5K.

I am happy to say that I achieved 100% of my personal goals for this event:
1. I completed the run
2. I ran the whole time without having to stop to walk
3. My pace averaged 10:35 per mile which was right in the range I wanted
4. I didn’t finish last
5. People participated and had a good time
6. We raised over $500 for Central Community House, $645 was our total

This event was so much fun and so rewarding. I cannot say enough how appreciative I am for all of the people who supported it. We even talked at the end about making it an annual event and I already have a sponsor. So we will have to see if we can do that.

There are a lot of great pictures that were taken and I didn’t want to put all of them in this post. So, I will work on creating an album and linking to it over the next week or so.

New Job

Last but certainly not least, I started a new job this week! I have joined the team at a consulting firm named Data Systems Integration Group, or DSIG.

My first assignment is to spend the next year at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to help them with their project management office. This is another place where project management can literally help save and improve lives. When you think about the services provided by ODJFS there are some pretty important things they do. So it is critical that their projects are successful in the least amount of time and money in order to maximize the assistance that they can provide to those who need it.

So far I am just 3 days in but really enjoying it!

Check back next week for more!

Last week’s stats (6/4-6/10):
Distance walked/run: 49.8 miles
Total calories burnt: 25,828
Total calories consumed: 15,253
Weight change: 2.3 pounds lost