I have been relatively active my whole life and did many sports. However, when my work life started and we became parents, there was not much time for sport or exercise. I kept active somewhat by entering in running or ice-skating races to push myself into training for those races. Because I hate going to a race knowing I could have done better. When we moved to Malaysia, I found myself spending even more time at work and on top of that having a Malaysian lunch every day. Slowly I gained weight until the point I could not fit into my pants anymore. That was the time I decided to make a change- I changed my eating habits. Around the same time Alame challenged me to do the Spartan Beast race. I told him it was a crazy idea! Running in the heat of Malaysia is already a crazy idea. Running 20+ km is even crazier. Adding more than 30 obstacles makes it impossible! I never ran more than 16 km in my life, and this was in nice sub-20-degree weather! I did not commit anything to Alame for a long time, as I decided that I would first join Warrior Bootcamp sessions and see how it would go. This was around June 2016. The first few sessions of Raw were tough for me. I remember I had to vomit on two occasions during the sessions, but quickly it started getting much better. I enjoyed the variety in the workouts, sometimes lots of running, sometimes more strength training but every time in different forms. The once challenging goal of the Spartan Beast race started to look more feasible and I decided to sign up.

A few months before the Spartan Beast race, I increased my training to 3 times a week, and right before the race I realized I had lost almost 10kg and gained a lot of strength. I finished the race in just below 3 hours and with a 13th overall placing. I enjoyed the race so much! I had pushed myself to my limits and I knew I had given it everything I had. It was an immensely rewarding and fulfilling feeling. After participating in the race, I kept coming to Warrior Bootcamp sessions to stay at that fitness level. Due to more events like the Penang Round Island Relay, the Warrior 10 km Obstacle Race, or the latest Spartan Sprint, I found enough motivation to keep on training. Warrior Fitness has helped me go back in time. My weight and fitness levels are now the same as when I was in my early twenties. The coaches and other Warriors are great motivators to keep me coming back. I need to be challenged, and that is what they do best. We will be moving back to The Netherlands soon and it will be difficult to find such a positive group with so many great inspiring and various athletes to look up to. Even though my time with Warrior has been less than a year, but it has changed me, not only physically, but I rediscovered the fun and excitement of competing at the top of your limits and the self-fulfillment that that brings.