Meet Kristina and Join the Kristina 8K

Kristina is a hilarious woman with a sunny disposition that loves crafting.  She is mother to 4-year old Sophia, and her days are spent taking care of the cute redhead.  At night, after Sophia is in bed, Kristina is hard at work sewing skirts for Sweet Spot® Skirts.  She is about to turn 32 and has been married for 12 years.  Her husband works to pay the bills and she works to pay for the fun along with filling in any gaps if needed in the monthly income.

Last August, Kristina weighed 232 pounds and felt self-conscious wearing the skirts she was sewing.  More importantly, she was frustrated that she couldn’t go down the slide at the playground with her daughter.  She didn’t want her daughter to grow up being ashamed of her.  She also wanted to lead by healthy example, instead of just telling her daughter to eat healthy (while actually eating junk food herself).  

Kristina decided to make a change.  She planted a garden and started walking several times a week.  By November, she kicked it up a notch and ran her first complete mile.  Now, Kristina runs 3 times a week and walks most of the other days.   She has walked several races in the past, but ran the entirety without stopping at the Shamrock 8k in Portland.  Prior to that race, she had a bad bout with shin splints and almost wasn’t able to make the run.  We are pleased to announce she did it and beat her goal time of 55 min with a time of 53:05!!!

It’s also been important to her to encourage others with their healthy lifestyles.  Kristina’s friend has a daughter that was struggling with her weight, and the two of them have begun to work out together.  Kristina has created a plan that started with 2 min walk/run intervals, and has progressed to 4 min run intervals!  

Thus came about the inspiration for the Kristina 8K event on June 26, 2013.  It is a Fun Run supporting women on their fitness journeys.  Participants receive a brand new running outfit (consisting of a logoed cute tech shirt and a matching never-before-released Fast ‘N Flirty SSS running skirt).  We encourage all participants to wear these outfits during the run to band together and show support for not only Kristina, but the other participants' fitness journeys.  Of course, there will be a celebration afterwards at the SSS store in Vancouver, WA.
More info.

Join the Challenge
As of April 1^st, Kristina weighed 183 pounds and has pledged to lose 8 more pounds by the day of the “Kristina 8K” event.  She invites you to join the 8K challenge as well, and send your picture and stats to kristina@sweetspotskirts.com.  She will help track your progress weekly, blogging the experience and offering encouragement!  Prizes will go to selected participants.

She would love to hear your story and receive an update each Friday:

• tell her how you did during the week, how you're feeling about the challenge, if you're having any struggles, and/or your weight.  All comments are encouraged!  

"I think (I'm hoping!!) this will be a really great opportunity for women to support each other as well as have a "safe" place to brag about accomplishments. When I first started losing weight and trying to get healthier, I didn't really talk about it with my friends or anyone because I just figured no one wants to listen to a fat girl complain about being fat, but I think it really would have helped me to have someone I could talk to without fear of being judged. I'm really excited about the challenge and about the race itself!!" 

~ Kristina