Gym date!

I am feeling good today - maybe a little hungry, but that will be remedied soon I think.

For awhile now I have been wanting my husband to come to the gym with me, just to have a second set of eyes checking my form and giving me any pointers that are needed. He knows much more about lifting than I do. This guy was in seriously good shape before all the surgery nonsense.

So we went this afternoon and got to work on the big lifts. Deadlift first. I have been using 115 because this is the lift I was most unsure about when it comes to my form. I was surprised to hear my husband say my form is actually very good, except that my feet needed to be a bit farther apart. Having my feet farther apart actually did give me a noticeable difference in my lift, my hips felt more stable and powerful. He upped the weight to 135 and it was hard, but I did a couple sets at that weight. I think I can start working at that weight now.

For bench, he showed me a wider grip but I didn't feel comfortable using 95 lbs with it. Showed me a different variation on thumb placement which I will have to experiment with. We talked about how I'm not certain on my future with the barbell bench press, when weight gets heavier I may just switch to dumbbells completely, for safety reasons and me not having a spotter.

Squats - he was impressed by how much I have improved my form here. When I first started losing weight a couple years ago he coached me on the squat and it was a total mess. That was just an air squat too - no weights! Now I am squatting 135 and he says my form is very good. The only thing is I struggle with leaning forward, and I have been aware of this and trying to correct it. I may not be able to up my weight for awhile because of it. But it's something to keep working on.

Other than that we did a few random things, Some shoulder exercises since that was what he wanted to work on, then finished out in the free room. He was ready to go but I wasn't tired enough yet, so I finished off with kettlebell cleans and burpees.

It was fun! I wish we could go together more often, but it's just not always in the schedule. Plus I have to bring him in as a guest - the girl at the front desk knows me and hooked me up with a freebie today, but I'd imagine it can't be a regular thing. I just have to go in the mornings because I don't always go to work at the same time every day. My husband has been working out consistently at home, and he's doing what is within his limits. I'm very happy about that.

Random thing - I converted one of my 2014 Spartan shirts into a sleeveless! I have 3 of these exact same shirts so I figured I ought to do something different with one of them.

Complete with arm bruise from the NJ Beast

Stridebox - April

I got my second Stride box a couple weeks ago

It had some -

Movit gummies - Had the red one before a gym session, ok tasting but not great. Did serve well as a "I haven't eaten recently and need some energy before a workout" type thing.
Zing snack bar, double nut brownie - Pretty tasty!
Ultima drink powder - Meh. I tried this today and it was like they tried to sweeten it way too much without actually adding sugar.
Spenco gel heel cup - Tried it for work one day because I get pain in my left heel from time to time. Didn't like it, actually hurt my feet more and they wouldn't stay in place.
Cold compression wrap - Haven't had the need to use it yet but can't wait to try it!
Squeaky Cheeks powder - Have not used yet but if it's anything like my Anti Monkey Butt powder then I'm sure I will like it.
Vega Sport gel - Also not used yet.

I haven't tried everything from this box yet but so far I have mixed feelings about it. Definitely wasn't as good as my last one. But it's ok because I always like to try new things and that's what this is all about.

Run the D.O.G Street 5k

Hello!

This past weekend I made a trip down to VA to see my parents for a bit, and do something new - run a race in my home town!

I grew up in Williamsburg, VA. Left the area when my husband joined the Army, and it wasn't until 2012 when we were living in GA that I started running. I hadn't run a 5k race since December 2013 so I was kind of itching to do another and see if I could PR. At the same time I also wanted to visit my parents now that it's springtime. My mom and I love to take walks together and it's a beautiful time of year to do it. That settles it... run a 5k in Williamsburg for the first time ever and spend a couple days with the family.

The weather ended up being a little chilly on Saturday morning, they were calling for rain later in the afternoon and it managed to hold out until after the race was over. My mom and dad were there with me, I answered their many questions about all things running and racing because this experience was pretty new to them. There actually ended up being quite a few people there - all ages ran the race, lots and lots of kids, middle aged, and plenty of seniors too.

Williamsburg always does things a little differently. We are known for history because the downtown area is a living museum - a reconstructed Colonial town with live actors in period dress, along with taverns, blacksmiths, tailors, brick makers, leather makers, general stores, churches, etc. We started the race at 7:30 with a song by the fife and drum (pictured above) and ran down Prince George street. There were so many people to dodge. I know for a fact people wave jumped, I did the honor system and hopped into the 25-27 minute wave. And I know this definitely affected my time (more on that later) there were so many little kids running and I literally almost ran into some of them. Anyway, we ran towards the college, passed William and Mary's stadium, ended up on Scotland street which has many of the iconic college deli's and pubs, kept going that way for awhile until we ended up at the Governor's palace. We were now in the heart of Colonial Williamsburg (CW) dodging horse crap and everything. Headed down to the old jail, turned a corner to find some sheep in a pen who must have been cheering us on because they were baahing like crazy. Ended up at the Capital building, then turned onto Duke of Gloucester (DOG) street for the final .5 miles and I could see the finish line. Dodged more horse crap, also had to dodge a kid who got in my way right before the finish.

In the grey short sleeve, trying to get around the crowd

I paced myself pretty well for this race, maintained a 8:36 pace (26:49)  but it wasn't quite fast enough because I did not PR that day. Like I said, lots of people around. Oh well. This was my second fastest 5k and that's ok. I loved the race though - it hit all the major historical spots in CW. The colonial buildings, lush green trees and colorful gardens, farm animals, and having to dodge horse shit on the streets. It all felt like home. Having my parents there was nice, and they both understand my crazy lifestyle a little better now. My mom came and found me around mile 1 and cheered me on.

The medal and shirt are awesome! Especially because they have my mom's church on them which she went nuts over. She's adamant about getting her own shirt.

After the race we had breakfast at a favorite local coffee shop which was amazing as always. My dad had to go so me and my mom did some shopping around town (it began raining at this point so we didn't take our long walk) my mom even got me a couple things from the Under Armor outlet. That night we had dinner with both my brothers at a tavern down town. The whole experience was awesome - the rain and cold was unwelcome but we made the best of it anyway.

Sleeping on my mom's couch for 5 hours a night took it's toll on me, so this week I only have 1 afternoon gym workout in. Prefer going in the mornings by far. On the list for this week are a couple runs, then a workout with my husband!

NJ Beast - The official pictures

During the Beast last weekend I noticed photographers throughout the course. Despite how challenging the race was, I did my best to look decent whenever I saw a camera. Usually that backfires on me because I'm not very photogenic. But I gotta say, these aren't too bad.

I like how the only real pictures of us doing obstacles are at the 2 obstacles I struggled with the most.

I look ok, but the reality is that bucket carry was hell. Looking back on it now though, I am stronger for having completed it.

After the dunk wall. I didn't have to put my head all the way under, but my face was covered in mud from falling off the rope and into the mud pit - which happened about 30 seconds before this picture was taken

This was towards the beginning of the second barb wire crawl

Right before the finish line!

48 hours after the Beast

So uhh..

I was scheduled to go to work early this morning and had no idea why. Turns out the regional manager is coming this week and we have to clean. So I was tasked with vacuuming (oww, my sore arms and back) and wiping down all the shelves/clothing racks/baseboards. Uh, ever hear of a duster? Other than my calves, wasn't having too much leg soreness - until I had to bend down and clean all this shit. My boss knew I was running Spartan this weekend. I fully believe this was intentional. He asked me how it was. This picture sums it up perfectly.

I also nabbed some of the official Spartan pics off their Facebook page. These capture the obstacles in (nearly) their full glory..

Start line hill

Bucket carry from hell

2 shots of the final barb wire crawl. 

Not a hard obstacle but the view was amazing!


I think I will go foam roll my back and hang out for the rest of the night. Right now I am thinking I'll be back in the gym Wednesday - we'll see!

NJ Spartan Beast

The Beast. 

That's what this was alright.

So - 2 weeks ago I signed up for the NJ Spartan Beast. I had planned on doing a different beast later in the year, but this just made more sense logistically, so without specifically training for it I took the plunge. I did SC last year and made it through, but that's like comparing apples to oranges.

Not so great picture of the start, straight up the mountain

Entered Mountain Creek ski resort. Parking and traffic was fine, they did a good job planning everything. I was there super early and actually witnessed the first male elite finish the race, in some ridiculous time like 2:30. Inhuman! My turn to go was 10:00. The wall just to get into the start corral was higher this year and I actually needed help to get over it. The start sent you straight up the mountain with snow on it. As for the snow on the course, it was definitely a scare tactic because it was just them turning on the snow machines in certain places. Everywhere else was snow free and it was actually a warm and sunny 70 degrees. Dressed perfectly in a short sleeve and capris. Anyway - off we went, straight up a hill that did not end. It was seriously a mile of nothing but uphill. Mixed in were some snow hills to climb over. Then a little while later we encountered some log hurdles to hoist ourselves over. At one point we were under the chair lift which was just straight up rock climbing. None of us were moving very fast. I knew this race would be mostly hiking, very little running. My goal is simply to finish - having never done a mountain race I did not want to burn myself out trying to go for time. 12.3 miles plus obstacles = just over 13 miles. 4800 feet of elevation gain

Finally we reached the summit of the mountain and wow, what a view. I admired it for a second before moving on. I had started talking to a fellow racer and wound up doing the entire race with her. Her name was Ashleigh and she was there with her boyfriend, who I vaguely remember seeing when we first met up but he went ahead and kind of left her behind. She was just coming off of a back injury due to car accident and planned to take it slow. I felt bad that her boyfriend left her behind and I also wanted some company. So we ended up talking and found out we have alot in common. At the top of the mountain there was a cargo net climb, at which I accidentally kicked her in the face. I felt awful about it but she assured me it was ok. Down the mountain, encountered the log hop. We were gonna help each other across but the volunteer was a jerk and said no helping. Booo. We both fell off and did burpees - squats for Ashleigh due to her back injury. Not long after the logs was the Rig, or "Multi Bars". It's basically a pipe you have to shimmy across, then grab onto 2 ropes, then grab onto another pipe. I got across the pipe (sideways - whatever works, right?) but when it came time to transition to the knotted rope I fell off. Damn, already 2 failures. Thankfully the Spartan gods put my favorite obstacle up next - Herc hoist. I seriously considered doing the mens, if it wasn't a Beast I would have. Demolished it and swore to myself to do the men's weight at all Sprints and Supers.  At some point early on in the race we were given a code to memorize and we would be tested on it later. Mike 025 5788. Also early on in the race was a nice muddy river to wade through. It was cold but it felt great.. the men didn't seem to agree with me however because I heard alot of nice high pitched shouts.

A spear throw made it's appearance early on. Nothing new here, I didn't get it. Then the monkey bars. They seemed really far apart this year! I got halfway through and lost my momentum. I was hanging there for a few seconds, and I knew that if I didn't get my momentum back I would be done for. So I swung my whole body forward and reached for the next bar. Got it. Proceeded to fly through the rest of them. Not a couple seconds after I finished I heard my name. Ashleigh was halfway through and needed help. I got underneath her and she rode on my shoulders to complete her monkey bars. Yay, we both did it and I am 5 out of 6 on monkey bars at Spartan races. My victory was kind of short lived, because the next obstacle was the traverse wall. Now they are doing them in a Z shape so you have to navigate corners. I have never completed this. Ashleigh held me up while I moved across my wall. Trying to figure out my foot placement for the corners was tough but she was giving me guidance along the way. Navigated the blind corner, but I felt my strength failing me. Got about 2 pegs from the end when my right foot slipped and I fell off. I was so pissed off. But I learned an important lesson - I took too long. If I had gone faster I would have had more grip strength, but by taking too long I wasted alot of energy just holding on to the thing. Ashleigh didn't need any help because she's a champion. Seriously this chick is good at obstacles. We descended a hill again to find a random hay bale to climb over (really? this is considered an obstacle?) then turned the corner to find a water station. Then, up the mountain again and there it was. The goddamn bucket carry. I hated life when I did this last year, and this bucket carry was a freaking nightmare. For one, the volunteers were super strict about filling your buckets. People cheated anyway, but I filled mine up because I did not want to be forced to repeat the obstacle like they were threatening to make you do. Straight up the mountain. I had to take so many breaks, a break every few feet!!! It was killing my hands. A plastic Home Depot bucket with pounds of muddy rocks in it isn't fun to carry by the bottom. I felt like I was in hell. This took me so long to do, but at long last I was dumping my rocks back into the station and said goodbye to that damned bucket. This obstacle took alot of energy out of me and killed what strength I had in my forearms. But we were almost to the halfway point! All we had to do was 1 more of what we just did!

Walls, 10 or 12 feet?

We turned the corner and it was time to climb the mountain again. A little ways up the slope was a plate with a sandbag on top of it that we had to drag through snow. There was a line so I chose the plate on the end with no one at it. I soon realized why no one was using it. It was the hardest one because it had the most snow. The plate kept getting stuck in the snow and I actually needed help getting it back down the hill. Sometimes the path less traveled isn't always the best. More climbing - Ashleigh had a somewhat amusing angry meltdown, then calmed down a bit and felt better afterwards. Another summit reached, time for some barb wire crawls. This one wasn't too bad, but it ended just in time because I was starting to get tired. Had a very motivating volunteer who pushed us to keep going. Time to cool off in some mud hills and pits. Maybe I'm weird but I always appreciate the mud and water obstacles. They're fun! If memory serves, this was one of the flatter areas of the course. Soon it was time for the sandbag carry, it was an easy one but it was very long. Probably half a mile at least. The hill descents did get a little tricky with footing at times. I think at my next race I will do the men's weight. We were now in a relatively flat, wooded area. Up comes the memory test. I got a bit of stage fright and transposed 2 of my numbers, but on the next guess I got it right. Ashleigh heard me say "MIKE" and it screwed her up, but the volunteer was cool and gave her another try. We passed through an area with cabins, some type of abandoned kids playground, then approached the inverted wall. I dunno if it was the 9 miles of insane climbing and obstacles, or the fact that we already climbed 2 walls, but I couldn't do this one alone and had to get a boost. Ashleigh almost fell off but she saved herself and got over. Instantly following was the Tyrolean traverse over dry ground. I tried, but I just can't get it yet. Following this was some more nice cold water to walk in, we were approaching a lake and even got to cross the dam. The trail got kind of monotonous for awhile, then we climbed even more. Very rocky, lots of fallen logs to climb over/under, then we wound up on another summit with an A frame cargo on top. Climbing a mini mountain on top of a mountain. The view at the top was amazing.

Rope Climb

Atlas carry somewhere in here. I think because it was so late in the race I had a harder time with it, but I got the stone where it needed to go. We began another steep descent with snow, down to the big walls (pictured above) They are either 10 or 12 feet, got help of course. Immediately after was the rope climb. This rope was drier than SC. I got up the first knot, got my feet on the second but they slipped and I fell into the water. But I'm getting better and better every time I attempt it! Ashleigh's back seized up so she didn't make it either. Next we did the under water wall followed by the slippery wall. I swear they made this thing taller. I got up it with no problems. We were in the final mile. But ahead of us was a true test...
the long barb wire crawl, uphill in the snow. The snow part wasn't bad, just made my hands cold and painful, but halfway through it got muddy and very rocky. This thing nearly broke me. I took breaks. At one point I considered just standing up and walking out. It sucked all the energy out of me. Every move I made hurt. My knees, elbows, everything. I heard several grunts of pain and frustration from everyone around me. People getting their skin stuck on barb wire, cramping, etc. At the very end I was so relieved it was over, but when I went to stand up it happened - Calf cramp. I couldn't move for about 30 seconds, it almost brought tears to my eyes. Ashleigh helped me stretch it out and once the pain faded a bit I moved out of the way and got on with the race. Last climb, also the worst climb. This slope was absolutely brutal. I had zero energy left. Ashleigh had to stop often because of her back, she was crying a little bit it hurt so bad. Her morale was gone and she was ready to quit. I helped her up and told her I wouldn't let her. At this point it was all about putting one foot in front of the other. The final descent was hell on my knees and my hip. We reached the bottom which held a Tarzan swing above a mud pit, a fire jump, and a water pit to cross. Then, the finish line. We crossed at the same time, the green medals were ours. 7 hours, 13 crazy miles, 33 obstacles. My greatest challenge to date, and I won.

Ashleigh was reunited with her boyfriend, and I was united with my free beer (Shock top!!) hung out for a bit, got cleaned off and on my way back to the hotel. Well first I went to Applebees for dinner, not a place I usually like but I saw they had brisket nachos so duh, of course I had to go.

They were good except for the brisket itself, it was all slimy and unappealing. I picked around it mostly.. and only ate about half of what you see here, lol.

I had a great time. It was brutal both physically and mentally. But it was also fun to experience it all. Ashleigh and I randomly met at mile 1 and were kind of there for each other through the whole thing.  We talked the whole time which helped take our minds off of the tasks ahead of us. I failed alot of obstacles but kicked ass at others. I did my best and finished all in one piece! 

I'm sore and bruised today, but feeling good.

Spartan Beast Eve

Yes ladies and gents, it is Spartan Beast Eve. The day we officially panic and flip out!

The rumor is - 14 miles, 33 obstacles, plus the mountain still has snow on it. See...

Barb wire crawl uphill in the snow? Something tells me grandpa didn't do this "back in his day"

(What the hell am I going to wear? Packing a bunch of stuff and deciding in the morning I guess... )

I am freaking out a little in these final 24 hours. I have never run a Beast in the mountains - just SC, which pales in comparison to the mountain races. I always hear about how brutal the VA and VT races are just because of the mountains themselves. They are saying this beast might be the hardest yet - don't know if that is just a scare tactic, but Norm Koch is the course designer and supposedly he is known for designing very punishing courses. Lots of uphill sandbag and bucket carries.

However, all of this impending craziness also excites me. This is going to challenge me like nothing ever before. The mountain will test me. The obstacles are harder this year, but I'm ready to see how much my strength has improved since last year, now that I have been working hard on a *consistent* basis for 4 months. I know one thing, my upper body is finally starting to come together with some visible muscles.

Weighed myself out of random curiosity this morning - 166. A far cry from 2 years ago when I was 155 with little to no muscle.

Ass on the counter! But I swear I can see the beginnings of some back definition.

I am stronger than ever before. Right now I am at the point where I can go out and run 10 miles on hilly trails after 6 months of not even touching a trail. I didn't specifically train for this race - signed up 2 weeks ago - but this year I am hungry for Trifecta #2. Let's get 2015 started with a Beast! 

Arrrrrooooo..... :)

Yay it's spring!

Hello!

Spring is finally popping up all around me.

This tree in my front yard has cute little flowers. Never seen a tree with buds that are this large.

And then there are these little blooms by my door.

I ran 4 miles this morning and it was refreshing to see so much green life around me. Weather is perfect too, so I'm savoring it while I can before things get too hot. I'm really loving it.

I like how this is my "easy to moderate" pace now. 2 months ago it was more like a 10:30-10:40 min/mile. Who knows, maybe I can PR at my 5k in 2 weeks?

Time to eat dinner (carbo loading!!!!!) and chill out for the rest of the night.

Off Day

Bleh.

Today I was dragging ass at the gym and I'm not sure why. Maybe I ate something that threw me off. I know I was sweating buckets too - I'm already a decent sweater, but this was ridiculous, like I needed a towel it was so bad.

My lifts were kind of sucky. Deadlift was ok but not great, could be because I did legs 2 days ago and I'm still a little sore. I usually wait until Friday to DL but this week is different. Plus my back has been sore lately so it just made my workout even harder. I could hardly do pull ups today for some reason, kept having to take breaks every 1-2 reps which is ridiculous for me. I can normally get through a set of 10, then a set of 8-10, then a set of 5-6 before having to break. Reverse flys, barbell curls, and was struggling to do #80 lat pulldowns and #70 rows. What gives?

It's all the weight I can normally lift, it was just 8 billion times harder today for some reason.

But at least I did it. For the most part I did every rep I set out to do, or just till I could do no more. I was feeling kinda down about it at the time, but I worked hard and got it done so I can't be too hard on myself.

So here's to getting it done, even on the days when we don't feel our best.

Patapsco State Park - Getting Lost

Hi!

I went trail running today. I have been wanting to go for some time now. But the fact that I have a Spartan Beast next weekend and zero trail runs in 6 months kind of .. accelerated things. I had to get at least one trail run in!

The obvious place to go is Patapsco State Park. It's huge and about 15 minutes from me. There are like 8172684 miles of trails and several areas to hike. I chose the Avalon area. Before going I researched which trails to run and read reviews of the trails. Alot of people said they got lost. Great! I am the queen of getting lost. No pressure.

I didn't get too many pictures of the cool stuff along the way, my phone was in my Camelback which isn't easy to access. I got some pics just some along the entrance.

Beginning of the trail

Reached the entrance to the trails. And it's straight up a HUGE hill. Like I couldn't run up the whole thing. I was like damn, is this what the whole trail is gonna be like? But it was just to get up out of the valley, once the hill was passed it ended up being alot of flat stretches. Easily runnable. The whole time I was comparing this trail to FATS (my old stomping grounds in South Carolina) FATS had several small hills throughout, whereas the hills on these trails were longer inclines. So not going uphill as often, but when I did it was tough.

Beginning of the trail, right before the big hill

It's a beautiful area. Spring is about to pop into full bloom within the next few days, so not tons of green just yet but it's coming soon. Lots of fallen logs to hurdle over. In the first 1-2 miles I encountered a water crossing that was about 1 foot deep. I took a split second to think about it, then jumped right in. Wasn't expecting water, but I have learned to always expect the unexpected - so I just went with it. The trails take you through a really pretty meadow with nice green grass and houses/farms up on the hill. And the trails were quite muddy. Closest thing I could get to a Spartan Race really. About 6 miles in I came to a split that took me to the Cascade trail. Down a huge hill (all I could think of was the fact that I had to run back up it later!) then flat for awhile, then the trail came to a creek with several crossings and turned into a very rocky path. I had to pull off some fancy foot work to maneuver the rocks, but I actually felt like I was flying through it. I got many weird looks from the hikers, there were tons of people around this area hiking or just hanging out. Cascade was pretty, almost reminded me of a "mountain" because it was so rocky. I turned around because I was 6 miles in and knew I had 2-3 more miles to go before reaching my car.

Up high on the hill, 8.5 miles in

This is where it got a little crazy. Passed a sign that said "Parking lot, 2 miles ->" But then the trail split off and it didn't say which way the parking lot was. The left was unmarked and the right was yellow blaze. Asked a couple of passing ladies if they knew the way. They pulled up the map on their phone and said "I think we're here, so you take the fork to the right" My gut told me to take the left fork, because I knew the right took me back in the direction I had came from, and the left was heading the direction of the main road. But I had never been here before so placed my trust in others that might know more than me. Big mistake! I went back through the meadow, about half a mile before coming to an old ruined house where a guy was taking pictures. Trail split off again with no signs, so I asked the guy and he pointed me back the way I came. Said it would be awhile no matter which way I went. Guess my instincts were correct. Came back, took the unmarked trail. Then it changed to an orange trail. It got hilly but I was still running for the most part. I was over 8 miles in at this point, saw a couple hikers and asked them if I was still going the right way. They said yes. Came up to yet another unmarked split, at this point I just pulled out my phone to make sure I wasn't going to get lost again. Phone said to take the white blazed trail and not the unmarked split off to the right. Finally after another half mile or so I began the descent back down to the road. 9.75 miles was the final reading. It took 2:12 with a 13:35 min/mile pace. I'd say this was pretty good considering I took breaks to walk/climb hills and talk to people. I was flying at 9:13 min/mile during one point of the run.

Gone muddin' 

Everyone out there looked at me like I was crazy. Running around dodging rocks, splashing through water when they were afraid to even step in it. Saw 2 other trail runners out there, both of them men. The weather was amazing, sunny and 60 with a cool breeze. Shirt, shorts, sunglasses! Took 1 gel (probably should have done 2) which was the pure maple syrup gel - it was really good and hit the spot nicely at mile 4. It felt great to hit the trails again and unleash some pent up energy out in the woods. I know I could have gone longer if I had to, so covering the distance of the Spartan Beast won't be a problem. The mountain might kick my ass, however.

Silly post run picture

As expected I'm feeling sore today. Right hip is a bit agitated, but this is the first time it's bothered me in months which is good news I suppose. Oh, and as an added bonus, my husband went rucking yesterday afternoon and I tagged along. He loaded his pack with 40 lbs and hit the walking trails. That ended up being 3 miles. So I pretty much ran/walked a half marathon yesterday. Last week he also ran once. I'm so happy he is up and moving.

Today I'm just gonna hang out and take a rest day. Next week it'll be 2 gym workouts, 2 runs, then it's Beast time.

Stride Box!

I have been meaning to post this for awhile but I forgot about it.
You know those subscription boxes - where you pay a monthly fee and they send you boxes full of various products that fit your interests?

Well I signed up for one for the first time ever.

Decided to give Stride Box a try. It's a box for runners!

This was the box for March. The packaging is nice :)

It's $15 a month and it has things like nutrition (gels, chews, bars), hydration, strength and recovery items, stickers, etc. Here's what I got in my first box.

Bonk Breaker chews - Haven't tried yet

Mango Chia Bar - This was really good! I found more flavors at my grocery store and bought some. They make a good little satisfying snack.

A cooling towel - much needed for hot messes such as myself

Maple syrup gel - I'm gonna try this out on my next long run. I love real maple syrup (Don't even want none of that fake crap!) and the concept of using it as running fuel is really intriguing to me

A yoga strap - I NEEDED THIS!! I was literally about to buy one to help with my stretching. Hooray!

SOS Hydration powder - Had it in my water post run today. Did not like it, tasted very weird. 

Honey Stinger bar - This I gave to my husband, I don't like peanut butter. But I did try a piece and I gotta say, not bad for peanut butter. Very moist and chewy with a slight honey taste.

Can't wait to see what I get in April's box!

Workout, Spartan style

Monday's workout is usually legs, but yesterday I changed it up a bit, Spartan style

Front squats (65)
Sumo squats to high pull (65) I don't do enough things in a wide stance, this really lit my glutes and inner thighs on fire.
Deep goblet squat holds. I do this sometimes to work on depth.
Pull ups. Doing these twice this week to get ready for the race
Kettlebell swings
Calf raises single leg
Stretches for hips

Some of the stuff today I think will help with things like the traverse wall. I have crappy hip flexibility, and last year I know my hips/glutes were too weak which is probably why I couldn't do it. Alot has changed since then - seriously, I have kind of a big ass now for the first time in my life. It better help me get across that damn wall.

Finally I simulated a tractor pull with this

I think the tractor pulls at the races are 75 - a 70 lb bell felt similar. The tractor pulls at the Sprints I did were easy, but the one in South Carolina was pretty brutal. This rope tore up my hands, but it's all just preparation to me. Making me stronger.

This week I will do more pull ups, high pulls, overhead presses, and BURPEES. Might even hop on the stairmaster or Jacobs ladder to help with the climbing.


I am now questioning just what the hell I have gotten myself into. Rumors are flying of a 20 mile course, 35 degree water temps, cold weather with snow still on the ground. But I can do it - might be ugly but I know I can finish.

The Spartan Beast - Sure, why not!

"Sure, why the hell not?"

... Is this the attitude I should have when spontaneously signing up for a Beast that is 2 weeks from now, that I haven't specifically trained for?

Yep. Shit just got real.

What happened was... I wasn't going to do the NJ Beast because I really wanted to run the Flying Pirate half marathon in NC. So instead I was gonna do the OH Beast at the end of May. But I realized I needed my husband's help to get me to OH so I didn't have to miss any work, plus I wanted him to come to Flying Pirate with me, and he just wasn't feelin' all that. And as much as I wanna do Flying Pirate, it makes more sense just to do the NJ Beast. Maybe next year they won't be on the same date and I can do it then, if I still live up here in MD and don't move back to GA.

As far as training goes, I actually feel ok with my strength training. Lots of heavy lifting, lots of pull ups, alot of work to strengthen my hips and glutes which I hope helps me out at the traverse wall... the problem is, I have literally not run on any trails since last year's Beast in October. Just with moving and the winter weather, I have not had the chance to get up to the park to run some trails. So, 14 mile trail race in the mountains, yay! I'm gonna hurt bad the next day. I do have one more weekend to finally get out to Patapsco park and at least get one trail run in, get the calf and foot soreness out of the way.

I am glad I am at the point in my life where I can sign up for a Beast 2 weeks in advance and feel semi confident about it. There's something to be said for that I think.

Trip to Philly

I just got back from Philly where I ran the Hot Chocolate 15k. Here's some of the other stuff I saw/did while I was there

Started off in Chinatown and walked past this on the way to the PA convention center for the race expo

My mission was to eat a cheese steak during some point of my trip. I found a place right next to the convention center that had them. This was really good, I loved the fresh diced bell peppers.

This little place had a wall mural. Not too sure what it is but it's interesting

I am not a "city person" ... I would rather live in the country than in a crowded area, but I can appreciate occasional trips to big cities. I like looking at all the different types of buildings.. such as this church

Next I headed to my hotel which was in a nice area, alot of high end shopping and popular restaurants around. Before checking in at my hotel I had to stop by Insomnia Cookies and get one of these

This was a Smores cookie. It was amazing. They serve their cookies warm, so by the time I walked to my hotel, got checked in, spent awhile getting to the 7th floor due to a broken elevator, then waiting another 30 minutes to eat the cookie ... it was still gooey in the center and it was perfect. 

I got up at 5am this morning to make plenty of time for the 8am start. Checked out, went to the nearby Dunkin Donuts which had just opened, but they made me wait forever because they weren't ready yet. I walked to my bus stop and waited. The bus came and went. Didn't realize I needed to flag the driver down.. duh! Whatever, I don't know how to bus! Thank god for smartphones, found another bus nearby and got down to the race area. I'm so bad at getting around cities. Thankfully driving wasn't so bad, Philly is pretty simple to drive in unlike Baltimore which is just sloppy in my opinion.

I snapped this crappy picture of the area right before the race!

After the race I was on the hunt for some food. My car was parked near the hotel I stayed at, and to simplify things I looked for food around that same area. Found a place that serves wraps, and after finding a bus that goes there (detours were in place because of the race which made getting around a bit more difficult) I arrived at the wrap place and got a chicken fajita wrap. It's huge. Was really good, the beer in the picture was nasty so it was replaced with some good ole familiar Miller Light.

A few weeks ago I read an article about the best donut places around the country and it just so happened one of them was right near my hotel. Stopped by Federal Donuts!

They had deluxe donuts and hot donuts. As well as fried chicken - for a minute I felt like I was back in the south. A hot donut sounded good and I wanted something unique to this place that I couldn't get anywhere else, so strawberry lavender it was.

It was a warm cake-style donut. Pretty good!

Near the donut shop just so happened to be a running store! So I popped in to check it out. It sells alot of the same things my work sells, didn't buy anything because I can get it all much cheaper, but it was nice to pop in and look around. I like how their signs say PR

Finally I stopped at Starbucks on my way out to pick up an iced coffee for the road and also got the Philadelphia mug. I am starting a collection - the other mug I have is from Seoul, my husband got it for me while he was stationed over there

And that's pretty much it. Not in town to see any sights really, just there to run a race and check out some stuff along my way! I had fun, although I don't like cities that much it was exciting to be in one for a little bit. But now I'm glad to be back home!