My Remedy

It's been a less than ideal week for me.

Negotiations for this house we want have been stressful. The people selling it have been really stubborn so we've been back and forth over it, but now we're pretty sure they will accept it. Once it's under contract there will be lots of inspections - this house is out in the country so well, septic, etc. Assuming all that stuff goes ok... we should be moving in mid December. Moving and home buying stresses me the hell out... but it'll all be worth it because this house is freaking amazing.

My time in the gym has been short this week. I got a charlie horse in my calf one night and it messed everything up. I used to get these chronically - one every 3 months or so. They have been better since I became active, and this was my first one in 3 years. It was a bad one though, it's always my left calf and this time it radiated up into my hamstring. My bad hamstring. So not only could I barely walk for a couple days, deadlifting on my bad/sore hamstring wasn't gonna happen.

I finally walked into the gym and saw this

They had cute little pumpkins all over the place! I grabbed this little guy, because he very accurately represents me in the gym. He just gets me.

I needed this so bad. Lifting just helps me forget about the world for a little while. Any problems or negative thoughts I might have just fall away. It's my stress reliever and therapy session. At one point I felt this way about running, but it doesn't have the same effect on me anymore. I think part of it is when you're running you are left to your thoughts to keep you busy. When I'm lifting 200 lbs off the ground I have to focus on what I am doing. I feel bad ass when I'm in the gym, and am usually in a good mood for several hours after I leave.
My pumpkin friends summed it up really well here

Left - before lifting. Right - after lifting!

One of my favorite people has returned to the gym after an injury so that was a pleasant surprise, and I got to chat with a few other cool people as well. It was a good day.

Multiple people at my gym have told me I look like a Viking when I'm working out. Hells yea, that's me :)

Unfortunately the stress is back today... but first thing tomorrow morning I'm gonna squat it away

30

Well here I am, 30 years old.

I have come a long way from where I once was. I was once alot more sheltered, introverted, and self conscious. Over the years I have worked in alot of different professions and environments, met all kinds of different people, traveled to and lived in new places. Each experience helped form who I am today. Running, lifting, and obstacle racing have been huge parts of that. 

I have been alot of things over the years. I never thought "athlete" would be one of them. It started with running, which led me to run road races, trail races, and eventually even obstacle course races. Then almost 2 years ago I went to the gym. I started walking into the weight room more. At first the goal was to supplement my obstacle racing and running goals. My training had no real rhyme or reason. Then over time I started picking up heavier weights. And I liked it - A LOT. Lifting made me feel like a badass, and that feeling translated to the outside of the gym as well as I became more confident in myself. My body changed - for the first time in my life I didn't have a pancake ass and my legs became tree trunks. This has taken some getting used to because I got bigger - but also stronger. After awhile my training became more focused around lifting heavy and challenging myself physically. Changing gyms happened about a year ago when I found a functional fitness gym that catered to my needs better and had the most amazing "family" who inspired me to push even harder. And here I am now, training 4 times a week and just doing whatever I can to improve myself.

Running has fallen by the wayside and so has racing. I am just not into it like I used to be. Sometimes I feel bad about abandoning running, the thing that first shaped me into an athlete. But I can't let myself feel guilty for pursuing a passion. Weightlifting gives me that feeling that running once did. As a taller, larger woman I have never been agile or fast. Team sports were never my thing, and there was that one time my mom signed me up for gymnastics... yeah. With running I got ok, but I knew I wasn't cut out for endurance running. As a child I was good at swimming and even then had alot of upper body strength. I have muscle power and endurance. I can crush weights in the gym for HOURS. It's like this sport was meant for me. 

I am a weightlifter. What direction I will go with it, I'm not really sure. I will probably attempt a powerlifting competition and when I move I will probably end up at a Crossfit box. As long as I can lift heavy shit and feel awesome.

Tired gym face

And to help celebrate my birthday yesterday - I got 30 started off right with some PR attempts! I slept in, ate some good fuel, and got into the gym to discover it empty aside from trainer Sean. He was benching heavy so I asked if he could spot me for this PR attempt. But first it was time to squat. 

My old PR from April was 205. Goal - anything over 205. I did my warm up sets, belted and braced up for my attempt at 215. I got a good explosive push out of the squat which meant it was TOO EASY! Loaded 225 and fought to get that bar up which means yep, that's my max! 

This could be 2 big plates on each side!

Ok, feeling pretty damn awesome! Time to bench. I needed to beat 125 which I did 3 months ago or something. Goal - 130. I called in my awesome spotter Sean and got to work on that 130. WAY too easy. I put 140 on the bar. I was kind of in disbelief, like can I really lift this thing? The first attempt I had my grip too wide and I didn't really get it, so I corrected it and went in for attempt 2. That was one ugly lift and I had a teensy bit of help from Sean, but I bench pressed 140 lbs. 

And this could be 1 big plate + on each side!

I had NO IDEA I would do that well. Sean was like "well you must be stronger than you think you are!" I guess, god damn. Having no one to compare myself to, I did some research and I am OVER the standard for a (not even) 2-year old weightlifter. I am really happy with how well I did. Now the pressure is on to get a 225+ lb deadlift because theoretically you're supposed to deadlift MORE than your squat, but it is my worst lift and I have had to build myself back up after injury. But tomorrow I'm gonna get it, even if I have to use straps to deal with grip strength. 

30 will be my strongest year yet. 

Spartan Race Workout

I did the Spartan Race workout yesterday! They hold these all over the country and they're totally free. I have been meaning to do one for awhile. And this one was at none other than my very own gym! I showed up just before 0800, signed in and got my free shirt. After a quick shirt change I headed out to the turf floor to find everyone was in lines based on their number. I looked down on my hand to see someone had written a 5 when I checked in. I get in the 5 line and started talking to the guy next to me, come to find out he had come into my store last week while preparing for Tough Mudder. My world is getting increasingly smaller, it seems I can't go anywhere without running into someone from my gym or that I've helped at my store.

So the Spartan coach comes out and starts giving us instructions using the world's worst bullhorn. We seriously couldn't hear a thing he said, except for one guy who has laser ears and henceforth became known as our translator. So our warm up was a series of squats, push ups with holds at the bottom, burpees, and reverse lunges. Lots of "I am a Spartan!" and "Arrrooo!" 's throughout. I have no idea how we were still inside on the turf, there were so many people packed in there. Eventually we did go outside to do some more squats/burpees/pushups/lunges on the parking lot, and then ran a couple laps around the buildings. Back inside for some water and then back out to do lunges around the building! This kind of sucked, but we were all smiling and making jokes the entire time. Next we did more of that same squat/lunge/burpee/pushup hold circuit. The coach then asked "Is it anyone's birthday?" A bunch of us were shouting "No!!!!" but someone responded. "What's the birthday girl's name?" I shouted out "Ed!" because it was the shortest name I could think of. "How old are you?" A bunch of us were shouting numbers from 1 to 5. Alas, we did 25 burpees. Hey, it could have been worse because I saw some people that were easily 50+. The coach also separated the people who were doing Trifectas this year. There were maybe 10 people, myself not among them this year. I spotted my neighbor, it figures he would be at the workout. He did the Ultra Beast this year and we hadn't crossed paths since, so at some point I ran up to him and asked how he did. 13 hours. Screw that! I also saw Leon! He was just hanging out spectating, his knee is still bothering him but he will race again soon. The next segment we did was animal moves, A B and C. A was for Ape. The ape crawls are fine, I do them at the gym often enough. B was for Bear, and this was annoying because people in front were moving slow so I ended up hanging out in a plank for long periods of time. Can we say barb wire crawls? C was for Crab. These sucked because my arms aren't used to crab walks. Alot of people were lunging instead, I only took a quick lunge break then switched back. At this point I was starting to get quite tired.

Back inside for more crazy stuff. The 5 line was reassembled, and we took the line and formed it into a circle. There were 5 circle like blobs around the room

Adam was kind enough to take pictures. I'm pretty much in the middle of the room. 

So we locked arms and did a group sit up. My circle was more of a blob, and I was at a really weird angle because we were a bit too far apart. We tried to adjust it but I was still too far away from them, and the guy on my right was really sweaty so hanging on while doing the situps wasn't easy. Then we all got into a plank, held it, and one at a time we had to crawl under the tunnel of human planks. THIS. Oh my god. I am terrible at planks to begin with, so waiting for the entire team to crawl under me was brutal. I took breaks. Then as soon as I was done with the eternal plank it was my turn to crawl through. And after the 2-3 minute crawl I had to get back into the plank so the people to the left of me could go all the way through. It sucked but it was really fun at the same time. Next it was back into our lines and partnering up with the person next to us. First up for us was one of us holds a plank, the other does a burpee and jumps over the other person's legs. I'm so glad my partner was a small person. Next, burpees in synch with one another. Then, 20 mountain climbers while the other person did squats - this is where I really ran out of gas because I don't do well with mountain climbers. I'm trying to remember what the last one was, bicycles and flutter kicks or something. Then it was back outside for some sprints, and we were DONE! 2 hours of Spartan crazy. Arrroooo indeed. 

This was fun. It was a challenge for sure, but there were so many great people and all of us together kept up morale, we made each other laugh and smile throughout. I heard there were 400 people there - still not sure how we all fit on the turf, but that's ok. I left sweaty, sore, and bruised, in true Spartan fashion. And I'll be back for more - looking at the DC Sprint in a couple months

Deadlift Training - Day 2

Oh my gosh. This week has been nuts!

Tuesday morning was DL session #2! It went really well. I was hella sore from Monday's exertions but I did not let that stop me. Warm up was a little different this time, again with glute bridges but we threw some single leg variations in there. I did 4 part walk outs that I can't really explain over text, but they opened up the hips and stretched the hamstrings. More stretches to activate the glutes and a special foam rolling technique too. Today I worked with #155, so we're getting close to my sticking point where in the past the lift hasn't felt right. But this time everything felt good. The higher hip position felt a little less alien this time. At times I am still struggling with picking up my hips at the wrong time but it's slowly getting better. I am thinking maybe next week working with #175. During these next 3 months I wanna work my way up to finally pulling some big weight.

I'm so tired. I realized that I exercised 3 times in 24 hours. 9:30 class on Monday, afternoon lifting, 7:30 DL training. I did alot of new, intense movements and did all the major lifts. And get this, my husband wants to go lift again this afternoon. Killin me!!!! Ahhh but I can't turn it down. It may be brutal and exhausting but I love it. And I'm really happy he wants to work out because getting him motivated doesn't always happen. I am going to caffeinate myself heavily for work today, I was dragging ass yesterday but my boss came to the rescue with an energy drink.

I'm gonna sleep so hard.

Together again!

So back in the day my husband and I used to lift together. Then I switched to an awesome gym and our lifting sessions kinda came to an end as a side effect.

I guess my husband has been itching to get a little more active lately so all weekend he kept begging me to find out if he could come lift at my gym. Today was my day off so I went to bootcamp, and that way I could ask if he could come lift with me even if he's not a member... and just in case he couldn't, I'd still get my workout in for the day.

Class - a Will class today. I had never been in one of his classes before, but now I know they are intense. He tends to have you do more full body work and running so it gets tiring pretty quick. Lots of burpees, box jumps/steps/running, bosu burpees and squats, kettlebell swings and thrusters, and suicides with the sled and running. Also a massive ab circuit in there too. After all that I shopped for groceries and tried to take a nap. Then at 2:30 it was back to the gym!

So we did most of the big lifts and just worked our way up in weight
Squats
OH Presses
Bench
Pull ups
and Rope climbs! He made it halfway up and worked really hard to get there.

2 PR's today. 125 bench - I haven't used a barbell in 6 months so I was happy with this
And... I finally got 105 over my head! I had a feeling I was pretty capable of this one, I had just never tested it because of my crappy shoulder. And honestly, this weight felt kinda scary in my hands. I really psyched myself out of this one, like I wasn't sure what I was gonna do if I failed because it was over my head. The first time I picked up the bar I seriously doubted I could get it over my head, and I dunno why because it was just an extra 20 lbs. After a little bit of time I just STFU'd and moved the weight. It felt just fine! My husband even got a video :)

And my husband is now a member at my gym! I've been hoping he would sign up so I am really happy. His rate is even cheaper than Gold's was. 

I am super tired. I never do 2 a day's, but I swear if I had time I would do it (nearly) every day! I love working out. It's been a great day and now I'm ready to rest.

Enough

It's been a weird week for me. I haven't been exercising as often as normal and sleeping in instead. I attribute this to a week of non stop cloudy rainy weather and going to bed slightly later than normal.

Work's been stressful
!! But on a positive note, I finally saw Leon this week! He's a late 60's avid Spartan racer who comes into my work all the time.. but I hadn't seen him in months and I was kinda worried something had happened to him. So he finally came by the store - other than DNF'ing the NJ Beast because of hurting his knee on the rocks (I remember those rocks quite well) he is doing just fine and is going to be running up a storm this year.

Then this.... A former co worker of mine suddenly fell ill a few days ago, ended up on life support, and was taken off this morning. It's been heavy on my mind.

I went to class at the gym today since it's my day off. And I dunno what the hell happened but I just did not have energy today. I was struggling to get through it, even felt short of breath so I had to take some breaks. This I attribute to just eating like shit lately + stress. I went to the store today and bought some chicken, marinades/sauces, and veggies and did a tiny meal prep so I could have some more healthy options on hand. I'm not into meal prep because the idea of 5 of the same soggy leftovers all week isn't appealing at all. I'm a really picky eater and I need my food to have alot of flavor. I have some chicken marinating in some Tikka Masala sauce so I can just make it fresh. My diet really has been shitty and I need to at least make some improvements because I'm starting to feel the affects in the gym.

Tomorrow I will drag my ass out of bed to go run, and I think another class for Saturday. I'm not going to lift heavy because my body doesn't feel right, so I'm listening and will do other stuff instead. Until next week anyway.

I'm in this weird slump right now so it's time to STFU and do what I need to do. I can fix this.

Normal isn't enough

Yesterday morning I was about to take a shower at the gym and had already kinda slipped into "shower thoughts" mode. It dawned on me that these days I can never finish a workout until I'm absolutely exhausted. Like the out of breath, covered in sweat, and sometimes shaking kind.

And I didn't used to be this way.

I guess maybe within the last year I started to add "finishers" to my workouts. They are great for conditioning and fat loss, but I also like them because they just make me feel like I DID something. And yeah, lifting heavy stuff is definitely "doing something" but for me it's just not enough anymore. Like when I used to go to the gym with my husband we'd work on the big lifts first, then do some other accessory stuff, and that was pretty much it. He preferred to train like a bodybuilder and would focus on things like biceps and triceps. Which I may do from time to time, but I mostly focus on strength and use more functional movements. So we'd get done with everything and I would just stand there like "That's it?" I'm not sweaty or tired. I need to do more. So I'd go jump around and do burpees and stuff. Get all the gas out of the tank.

At the end of every lifting workout I'll do a mixture of these

Burpees
Jump rope
Snatches
Kettlebell swings
Box jumps
Squat variations
Thrusters

Now that I have access to such an awesome gym I'm throwing other things in like

Sprints
Sled pushes
Tire flips
Battle ropes
Rowing

Or even when running I'll go for an all out sprint for the last .20 mile

Yesterday was really awesome and it went something like this

Rope climbs (3)
A shit ton of pull ups and negatives
Push ups
Cable rows
Upside down kettlebell shoulder presses
Dips (PURPLE band! Next is unassisted for reps)
Farmers carry #35 x2

Then
Burpees x10
Rest 10 seconds
Snatches x10
Rest 10
Jump rope x30

Repeat aaaaand done!


I might be crazy or just a glutton for punishment but I love it when I'm struggling through those last couple reps and then the awesome feeling I get after finishing them. I can't just do a normal lifting session anymore - I have to leave feeling like I gave it everything I got

25,000 lbs

It's Tuesday. But first, let's back up.

Monday's Soldierfit class actually made my legs sore! It was Scott's 1 year anniversary so he gave us a special anniversary workout. There was alot of jumping and speedwork, and I pushed alot of sleds. So hats off to Scott for burning my legs, it doesn't usually happen from class.

For the next 2-3 weeks I'm deloading, so today's thing was a barbell complex. I did this before with just a bar, but because my gym has light bars, I was able to load it up with some plates to do #55. Now this might not seem like alot of weight but let's do some quick math.

There are 7 lifts

Deadlift
Straight leg deadlift
Romanian deadlift
Row
Front squat
Push Press
Back squat
Good morning

In pyramids. So 6 reps of each, then 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

For 3 sets.

So if you add the number of reps in each set together it becomes 21....

...x7 exercises. So in the first set you do 147 reps total.
....x3 is 441. So I moved the bar 441 times in about 45 minutes.

....

....441 x a 55lb bar is...

24,225 lbs lifted.

(I feel like I didn't do that math right? Like that doesn't sound possible.. but I've checked it a few times and it looks like I really did lift almost 25,000 lbs)

That's .... holy shit. I'm tired just thinking about it. And I was tired while doing it too! I wanted to quit early so bad, but I made myself push through it and finish the entire thing. I really started to run out of steam in the third group of sets, the last set of 6 was brutal. By the end I was taking things slow, deep heavy breaths, absolutely covered in sweat. All I could do was just gut it out. I could see the sweat on the damn barbell. It was so amazing though. I felt pretty damn awesome after getting through that.

I would have loved to stay and foam roll but I had to get the hell out of there in order to not be late for work. Now normally when I lift and even run, I get hungry maybe like 1-3 hours afterward. No. Today... I was hungry within 30 minutes. Like I wanted to wreck some food hungry. I had a sad assortment of snacks and protein bars, and just so happened to forget my yogurt today. But I held out, luckily we have some fitness nutrition stuff at work that I bought which helped. Then at 3:30 I shoved my face into some Chipotle.

Man, that complex was brutal. And I'll be doing another one with kettlebells on Thursday. Now here's hoping my legs aren't completely dead tomorrow so I can do some running!

3 year anniversary

It's been 3 years to the day since I made a choice to lose weight and become active.

3 years ago... my husband was still in the Army and we had just moved to our new house in Georgia. He just got back from a 1 year tour overseas during which we had not seen each other at all. So it was a great time in my life because we were happily reunited, had a great vacation together... also we just bought my Jeep and became homeowners for the first time. Still, I was unhappy with myself. Over the years I had really put on some weight. Not that I was ever thin to begin with, but this was kind of a new low for myself. I remember feeling so disgusting just sitting around all the time and not doing anything. I was also diagnosed with PCOS around this time, so now it was even more important to be at a healthier weight. It was time for a change.

Summer 2012

I began running. This was a huge change for me, I had never really been active before. I did swim team and other sports in elementary school, but did absolutely nothing in high school. In my early 20's I'd make a sad attempt to go to the gym every now and then, just bobbing up and down on the elliptical and maybe using 20 lbs on the chest press machine. Like once a week. I remember running the mile in school and how much it kicked my ass. So this was some really new and uncomfortable territory for me. I could run for like 30 seconds and then take a 5 minute walk. But I resolved to do this and each time I went out there I pushed myself a little harder. And as time went on I got better and really grew to love it. I felt like I was doing something meaningful with my body. I started signing up for races. I suffered through a few injuries, but eventually I would always get back out there.

In the early months I was also counting calories, cooking most of my own meals and exercising a whole lot of will power to say no to treats most of the time.

Now in late 2014 I got more serious about weight lifting. I hadn't done much of it up until now, but I knew it was key to preventing injury and being better at obstacle racing. I also did 5 Crossfit classes last year with Team RWB. This was all so new to me and so much fun. Then we unexpectedly moved to Maryland and I took like 2 months off. Around the new year I started running again, signed up with Gold's up here and that's where things exploded. I began to lift heavy 3x a week and it's been a game changer. I have muscles now. Back then I could maybe bench 40, squat 50, and deadlift 60. Now I can do 100+, 165, and 185 respectively. I am so much better at obstacles now too.

Recently I've lapsed in running, partly because of the summer weather. It's been hard to motivate myself to get up at 6am and run in a bunch of 80 degree humidity. Also lately I've found that lifting is giving me the awesome feeling that running did back when I was new to it. But - the past week I've gotten back out there a few times and I'm resolving to make it a regular part of my life again. I did 6 miles the other day and felt awesome. I need it for cardio fitness, future races, and also to help keep my weight down. I am by no means skinny, as I still like food just a little bit too much, but I'm damn better off than where I was 3 years ago.

Spring 2015, Savage Race finish

I'm stronger and more confident. Stuff bothers me less because I know I can go smash some weights around in the gym or go on a nice long run. Everyday physical tasks are easier as well. I've taken on some tough challenges in distance running and obstacle racing, completed things I'd never dreamed of attempting. In the future I'm going to continue on with what I have been doing, but possibly branch out into Crossfit and weightlifting competitions. Being active has been a whole new crazy adventure in my life. It's something I never thought I would be doing, but I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.

Weight Loss - 3 years later

As I'm approaching the 3 year anniversary of beginning my weight loss, I find that I have slipped backwards a bit. I'm still doing great - exercising, doing new things, getting stronger... but my eating habits are utter shit right now. Lately I've been eating whatever the hell I want, and I've succumbed to eating fast/convenience foods almost all the time because I am too lazy to cook after a long day at work. I dunno why this happened. But I need to do something to fix it. I don't feel good and I have gained fat.

I've been hovering between 163-170 depending on the day. Which isn't bad, considering I struggled to get below this weight in 2013, barely reaching my goal of 155 and maintaining that for a very short time. And I have way more muscle than I did back then. So this time I think I can get to 155.

This picture was taken last night. Yeah I'm in my underwear and I don't give a shit, no different from a sports bra or bathing suit. But really, I don't look bad. I have definitely looked worse. As you can see I continue to fight the arm fat and stomach fat - I call it my battle of the bulge. It's hard to tell but my legs are mostly muscle now.
But really this is more about trying to get back on track with eating healthy and cooking my own meals. And who knows, maybe I can lose some pudge along the way.

167 lbs of me (and a cat)

I'm gonna do just what I did before - count calories, weigh in once a week, and just try to exercise some moderation and not eat every damn thing in sight. Lifting 3x a week which I'm already there. But...

Running - We kind of took a break from each other for a little while. I dunno what it is. I know I've fallen in love with lifting a whole lot more. Maybe it's made my running kind of fall by the wayside. And don't get me wrong, I want to run. I really do feel great afterwards when I'm all sweaty and out of breath. I've just had the hardest time motivating myself to get out of bed early and go run. Well now I'm making myself do it 3x a week. This morning was a success, but it also taught me how much running fitness I've lost in the last month. Around mile 2 the soreness from yesterday's workout really kicked in, I was running out of steam, and my pace dropped to 10:22. Yuck. But I got it done in just over 30 minutes.

I am going to visit the parents in VA this weekend. I'm not going to be counting calories, but I'm also not going to go overboard and eat everything in sight because "I deserve it"

So that's my news.

(Also, benching with 40's now and PR'ed my cable row at 120lbs x1!)

DC Sprint Pics

I'm just absolutely flooding my blog with Spartan pics this summer.

 First we have this pic where my face pretty much sums up how I feel about this obstacle. Seriously though, that bucket carry wasn't so bad compared to what I've suffered through in the past! Note the clever use of the tree as a bucket rester by the gent behind me :)

Then a nice post- dunk wall picture for ya. Ptthhhbbbhh!

I love this one!

A nice sideways view of the fire crossing

DC Spartan Sprint

Once again the Trifecta is mine!

I got my third and final medal to make my 2015 Trifecta complete. This year the red medal came last, I got the hard stuff out of the way first I guess. Yesterday I was in southern MD for the DC Sprint. My heat was at 9:45, so I had plenty of time to check out the course map and find my buddy Leon who was volunteering in the morning and running in the afternoon.

He needs to work on his selfie

They warned us that there were bees all over the place. I immediately had flashbacks of getting stung at the Wildwood Games. But no bees stung me this time! My heat started with the announcer taking requests for the opening speech. He rallied us with the Mighty Ducks speech and it was amazing. Ducks Fly Together! This course was 4 ish miles, 23 obstacles. Elevation wouldn't be an issue compared to the other 2 races I did this year, but it was still pretty darn hilly! I power walked the hills and jogged the flat areas. This course reminded me alot of the SC Beast, and that's a good thing! The first obstacle was some log hurdles, then the 6 and 7 foot walls. I needed a boost over the 6 because it had no foothold. The 7 had a foothold, and just like I did in PA I got up it all by myself. Within that first mile we were assaulted by obstacles. The inverted wall - this time I got up it by myself, which I have done before but the last 2-3 times I needed a boost. Then the Stairway to Sparta, a wall with a ladder on top. I got up the wall by myself, but somehow found myself wedged underneath the first rung of the ladder. I had to drop back down and I ended up getting a boost from somebody. Once I figure out a good technique for it I'll be able to climb it by myself. Water station next, also fueled up here because I did not want this race to turn out like PA where I started having blood sugar crashes. I stayed on top of my nutrition yesterday. We had an Atlas carry here, this thing is just getting too damn easy for me. I owe it all to my deadlifting. Next, the 8 foot wall. Victory of the day - I climbed it all by myself! This wall has 2 footholds. I stepped on the first, put my left hand on the outer edge of the wall, put my foot on the second hold, then reached my right hand to the top of the wall, pulled myself up and moved my left hand to the top. So now I was hanging off the top with my feet on the higher foothold. I pushed myself up from hanging position. It was hard, I was shaking and my muscles almost gave out on me. I remember the volunteer cheering me on. I hung my arms over the wall and pushed. And then I was at the top. I'm proud, not many women make it over that wall without help. Immediately after the wall were the monkey bars. Did alot of pausing and swinging here to maintain momentum because their bars are so freaking far apart, but this was easy peasy. I can see how my grip strength has imrpoved because I wasn't struggling to hang on at any point. Not too far after the monkey bars... there was the bucket carry. As much as I hate this obstacle, I was pleasantly surprised because it was really not that bad! There were some hills, but it wasn't up a damn mountain and also it was in the shade. I only stopped 3 times. Maybe I just hate carrying objects up black diamond ski hills. But next, the sadistic course designer placed the Z walls in our way. First burpees of the day for me. 

And so ended the first onslaught of obstacles! All within the first mile! More hills in the woods, then a very easy wooded sandbag carry. We exited the woods again to find a water station, an A frame cargo which was a very slow climb because of all the people, then a slippery wall. As I was climbing it the girl next to me slipped and instantly screamed for help. A guy appeared at the top of my lane to help her, which was nice of him except for the fact that I couldn't climb up because he was in my way, and I was gripping the chain at the top and it was hard to hold on to. Asking for help is fine, but this girl didn't even TRY to get herself over the wall, just instantly screamed for help. I remember fighting for dear life when I slipped on this obstacle at my first Spartan 2 years ago. Anyway. Back in the woods for more trails. The hills were pretty relentless. But we were in the shade, I was having fun laughing with some other 9:45'ers (because Ducks Fly Together) and then before you knew it we were exiting the woods for the mud hills. These things were steep (look at how small the guy on the hill is in the picture) and they had no ropes. The hills got very slippery. I picked what looked like the driest section, got about halfway up, then I just slid down really slowly and splashed back into the water. There was just nothing to grab onto. I exited the pool on the side and climbed the hill from the side. It was still within bounds :) Later in the day I saw they put ropes up so it must have been pretty bad. Next - rope climb. The mud hills actually tired me out quite a bit. My upper body strength was sapped from all the obstacles early on. I got into the pit ready to rock but I realized there was no knot at the bottom. The first knot was like face level! I pulled myself up as high as I could with my arms and scrunched my legs up, but could not get my feet on the knot. I tried 3 times and it just wasn't gonna work. Bummer. I'll get it one of these days.

Back into the woods for a long stretch of running. The trails were flatter so I ran here, but eventually we encountered several pits of crazy thick mud. This was like Neverending Story level mud. Many shoes lost, people slipping all over the place. I slipped and fell on my ass, totally played it off and everyone around me just laughed. My left butt cheek hurt after that and I know the bruise will be colossal. After an eternity of trudging through the peanut butter mud, we found a cargo climb in the woods. One of the ones that's between 2 trees so it moves around on you. There was bottlenecking because the net was extremely slippery from the mud we had all just been through. Right as I was about to go, a girl fell off the top and landed on her head/neck!!! She lay there silent for a bit, eventually said she was ok but the medics were called and she was most likely pulled off the course. The girl in front of me screamed as she almost slipped off the top. I said nope, screw this and walked on past. I'm sorry, but my health isn't worth a silly obstacle. If that thick mud wasn't all over it I'd have no problem, I have done obstacles like that many times. That just seemed borderline unsafe to me so I made a judgement call. I did see alot of people sidelined, one ankle injury at the inverted wall, tons of people with cramps, and a guy throwing up on the side of a hill. My take on it is, yes you do sign a waiver but you should also use your judgement and walk away from anything that looks unsafe beyond reason. But back to the race - many more hills were climbed, then we faced an easy plate drag, the final water station which was much appreciated, and the multi bars - rings, then a softball??? then a pipe. More burpees for me, yay! Followed by a very slippery Herc Hoist, but still conquered with amazing swiftness by yours truly. I guided a fellow chick through it, ready to help out if needed because she was struggling pretty badly. It took her awhile but she did it. Spear throw next, barely missed it! At least I'm getting better at it though. 

Then at long last we entered the barb wire crawl. This was a good old muddy, watery, fun crawl. I felt like I was back home in GA again with that orange clay like mud. I took a few breaks but got through it in 8-10 minutes, even faster than some of the boys. Caked in glorious mud, I emerged from the crawl, jumped the fire, and crossed the finish. I received my red medal, and therefore my 2015 Trifecta. 

I went and found Leon who wanted to get a picture of me all muddy. I wished him well and then he headed off to go run his race. 

I had a freaking blast. I forgot how much fun the Sprints were, having not done one in over a year. I need to move back south, because I'm learning that I love Spartans just like this one, and the Carolina Super/Beast. They are challenging, muddy, and fun. The mountain races were just too difficult to the point where it wasn't fun anymore. I have no problem climbing hills, they're a good challenge and serve their purpose in creating a good race, but climbing mountains just for the sake of climbing isn't really what I want to do. If I wanna do nothing but hike then I'll go hiking. The mud is also considerably absent in the mountain races, and that's a huge part of what makes it fun for me. So with any luck we'll be back down south for the 2016 season and I'll be happy running the GA/SC races. 

I also said farewell to my Inov8's. They got me through a year of trail running, a half marathon, and like 8 OCR's. 

And my results - I did pretty damn good considering the fact I didn't even try to go fast whatsoever! I didn't run much at all and spent a lot of time bottlenecked at obstacles and helping other people out. It'll be interesting when I get really really good and actually try to go fast.

• Overall
  2,374th
  of 7,472
• Female
  510th
  of 2,630
• F25-29
  121st
  of 642

Spartan Super Aftermath

I have my pictures from PA!

Sandbag carry, obviously not even aware of the camera

Exiting the swim, not aware of this camera either

At the top of the slippery wall

At the time I didn't realize 3 other people were climbing this at the same time as me

"Calm down yall, it's just a fire"

...And I look like I'm eating something. Typical me, forever hungry!

Some of them I really love, others not so much. I do wish Spartan would start photographing different obstacles because I feel like I have 8 million fire jump pictures.

This race really was an ass kicker. After talking to my friend Ashleigh, and then Spartan Leon who came into my work, I don't feel quite so defeated by that mountain. It's not just me, it was definitely harder than the Beast I did a few months ago.

I have some of the nastiest bruises I've ever had. Giant red bruise on my inner thigh among the noteables.

Went for a 5 mile run yesterday, it felt great to get back out there after being so lazy the last few weeks. Unfortunately my alarm went off at the wrong time this morning, and rather than rush to get to the gym I opted to stay home and do some things around the house/just relax before heading to work. Aint nothin wrong with that :) Plus I'll be at the gym with my husband this weekend!

PA Spartan Super

I'm trying to find the words to describe the brutality that was the 2015 PA Spartan Super.

Put simply, this was the hardest Spartan I have ever done.

I'm not sure what exactly happened, but I was clearly not ready for it. Blame my lack of trail running in 2015? Either way, I don't have any mountains to train on. And the mountain itself is what did me in I think.

A shot of the mountain from the parking lot

Let's start from the beginning. I arrived bright and early to Blue Mountain ski resort to meet my team for our 9am start. It was my neighbor and 2 of his friends - Andrew and Chris. The course was 8 miles, 32 obstacles, and 3200 feet of elevation gain. Shortly after a nice uphill start we found some log hurdles which were easy to get over, then it was straight up for our first ascent. A cargo net climb was somewhere in there. It didn't take long for me to realize my team was in way better shape than me. They were running up the mountain and I just couldn't. They said they were going to take it slow, but their definition of slow was clearly different than mine. I said they could go on ahead if they wanted, but I didn't actually expect them to leave me behind. Most folks I've run with have been pretty team oriented. Ah well. Around mile 2 we reached the summit of the mountain. The Hercules Hoist awaited us. It was refreshingly heavy. The women's bags used to be heavy, then they made them lighter, and now they're heavy again. You're allowed to have help if you need it, but I am a champ at this obstacle so I'm glad they made it heavy enough to be a challenge again. Right after it was mountain top monkey bar. Again with the really far apart monkey bars. Aced this one as usual! 

The sandbag carry. Usually not a very intimidating obstacle, hell even in NJ it was easy. This was ridiculous. Straight down and then back up a double black diamond slope. I swear some bastard hosed them down too because mine was soaking wet. The downhill wasn't fun, and I knew just what kind of special hell I was in for on the uphill because I could see it. I stopped several times - but I refused to put my bag on the ground once. I dunno, some weird challenge I made for myself. At the top of the hill I met up with the guys again and we all took on the spear throw together. That was the last time I saw them as a group. For the first time ever I was really close to hitting the target! It went exactly where it needed to go, just didn't go far enough. Back into some woods, very slippery rocks and soft ground so treaded carefully here. We hit a regular wall followed by an inverted wall. I think they made the inverted walls higher this year cause I've been having trouble getting over them without a boost. But the boost was received and the wall climbed. Next they had this thing called "Stairway to Sparta" which was a wall with a ladder on top. Not really a big deal. After this we had a pretty crazy descent. All wooded, rocky, extremely slippery trails. It took alot of muscular coordination in my feet and legs to navigate it. My feet were killing me already and we were only in the 3rd mile. It was also very mentally tiring because I had to calculate every single move and step. It felt like forever but eventually I found myself at the bottom of the mountain with an Atlas stone to carry. This thing keeps getting easier. 75 lbs isn't a huge deal to me anymore, just the roundness of the weight is awkward. A few more obstacles - a plate drag and farmer's log carry. A couple smaller uphills here and there, then the set of 2 walls. Badass moment of the day - I climbed my first wall by myself! This was either 7 or 8 feet and it had a tiny foothold just big enough to get your toe on. I put one toe on it, jumped up to get my hands on the top, and not really expecting to get anywhere I pushed myself up. I found I had the strength to push myself all the way up and over the wall. Finally! The next wall proved to be too much for me to climb on my own simply because it was taller and I couldn't reach the top by myself. But it was still a victory for me. 

There's a barb wire crawl right before this slip wall

And so began the most miserable climb ever. Uphill in the hot sun, just a never ending climb from hell. I stopped for so many breaks - we all did - and it just felt like there were hot coals in my shoes. I had a splitting headache by this point. I really think this is where things started to turn south for me. I just couldn't get my energy back because the hills were so taxing. The worst part about it was, immediately after we reached the summit we turned a corner and went all the way back down. At least put an obstacle or some distance up there to make it feel less pointless! There was some sort of obstacle at the bottom, more walls or something. And then there was more climbing of course. We exited the woods onto the slope and all I heard was "LOG!!!!" The log carry was above us uphill and a stray log was tumbling full speed down the hill. Racers scrambled to get out of the way and no one was hurt. We moved on, now knowing what awaited us at the summit. Yes, a 50lb log carry down (and up) hill. Thre was a very steep tiny hill to get down at the beginning, the kind where you should get on all fours and scooch down on your butt. While holding a log. I slid mine down the hill on the cut side because I know I would have fallen and dropped it if I tried to walk down. The downhill sucked. The uphill was a nightmare. I was stopping, sitting on my log, just absolutely exhausted. Logs were rolling left and right as people lost them. Whoever thought of this obstacle is a bastard. After an eternity I dropped that son of a bitch log back at it's station and moved on with my life. Then down the mountain again. I was trying to keep my mind from going to a dark place, chatting with people and listening to their conversations just to keep my mind occupied. I couldn't help but feel abandoned because my team had left me behind. We found some mud hills and pits next, I normally love them but was too exhausted to even care. A Tyrolean was next. Nothing new, I still can't cross it. A refreshing swim shortly followed, there was an option to swim in 8ft water and go underneath floats, but I was so tired I just waded through the chest deep part just so I could cool off and recouperate for a bit. It felt amazing. After we got out I was dismayed to see the traverse wall, an obstacle I'm not good at. I didn't make it far before my hip started to cramp up and I was down for the count. I turned a corner to see them. Buckets. Rocks. The goddamn bucket carry. The third uphill loaded carry of the day. I looked at this thing and said Fuck This. I don't usually skip obstacles but I was literally feeling sick at this point. So I moved on to the rope climb. I have never made it. And knowing how tired I was my chances were definitely low, but I went for it to see what would happen. I ALMOST MADE IT. For the first time ever. I was one more segment away from reaching the bell, but I could feel my foot slipping off the last knot. I went back down to retry. Still slipping. My strength was failing and I knew it wasn't going to happen. I guided myself back down 2 knots, then dropped and fell the last 2. My whole body was shaking from the effort and I was almost in tears because I was so close. My first Spartan I couldn't even MOVE on the rope, not one inch. And now I'm almost at the top despite being in a state of complete exhaustion. 

The Rig and the fire pit right before the finish line

The final stretch - I was close to the festival now, and thus the finish line. I saw Chris here, I guess the team had left him behind too. So it was 2 very long barb wire crawls. 1 crawl in the grass, then a slippery wall, then another barb wire crawl in the dirt. Think of it like a U shape. This did me in. By the time I was in the second barb wire pit I was about to throw up and pass out. I had nothing left in me to even attempt "The Rig". I walked right on past. All I wanted to do is be done. I jumped the fire and it was over. 8 miles of pure insanity. Finished. 

All I did was get my bag, mumble something in response when the volunteer asked me a question, sit in the shade and eat a banana. I felt better about 20 minutes after eating it. 

And about 30 minutes later I was already looking forward to doing the Sprint next month.

Isn't that so messed up? I just stumbled through this sadistic ass course and now I'm looking forward to doing a 5 mile one of these in a month?

I don't feel good about how I did. Yes, I have strengthened in some areas which is new and exciting, but I did not have the endurance to tackle this mountain like I wanted. I don't feel good about skipping obstacles, but trust me when I say I literally felt like I was going to collapse. I made some judgement calls where necessary.

That being said, I clearly need to get my ass in gear for future races so I can continue to do better.

The Lazy Spartan

Pffffh.

I've been so lazy. Not sure if it's cause I have been feeling super busy and like I've got no time on my hands... or if I'm not keen on running in this disgusting heat... or if I'm just downright lazy.

And I'm running Spartan this weekend.

I dunno. I just haven't been super motivated lately.

But you know what... next weekend I'm gonna change that and force my ass back into gear. Get running regularly again. I want to run. It's just been so hard to overcome my urge to sleep in lately.

There's a guy who always comes in to my work, I call him "Spartan Leon". This guy is 60+ and runs a Spartan pretty much every weekend. He volunteers then runs for free and travels all over the place. Today he came in and having the chance to see and talk to him really stepped up my enthusiasm for this weekend. Plus I'll be there with my neighbor and his friends, so I'll have people there to socialize/endure with. I'm excited to be challenged, but also glad it's not 14 miles like NJ was. 9 miles is much more manageable. I'm excited to challenge myself by picking up those men's sandbags and hoisting that men's weight at Hercules. These are my strong points Nervous of the rope climb and traverse wall as always, they are my weak points.

All in all, maybe this Super will be the kick in the ass I need to get myself un-lazyfied again.

STFU, Aroo.

8 miles from hell

Uh. So I did my long run today...

Here's what I usually do. Legs at the gym on Monday, 2 short runs during the week, and a long run on Saturday so my legs are fully recovered by then. Circumstances changed this week because I was asked to help out at work on Saturday, leaving me Thursday to do a long run. My legs are still sore from Monday.

But I had to do it. This is my last chance to get a long run in before Tough Mudder. This weekend I work and next weekend I'll be in VA because my mother in law is getting married. So - had no choice but to STFU and go do it.

That being said, today's run was far from ideal.

Bad things
Slept in, woke up way too late
Took way too long to get moving today
Almost walked out the door forgetting keys and sunglasses
Forgot to put body glide on my thighs
Added a bunch of new songs to my playlist yet shuffle didn't play a single one, so it was all songs I was kind of tired of.
The heat.
The heat.
The motherf'n HEAT.

Things I did right
Brought my Camelback instead of my Nathan belt which means lots of water
Uh, I did it?


I knew sleeping in and not getting out the door until 10 was a bad idea because of the heat.

It. Was. RIDICULOUS.

I've said it many times before - I'm not made to run long distances in any weather over 70. I sweat uncontrollably, turn fire engine red all over, can't breathe, my head hurts, my pace is slow, and I just feel like I'm gonna die.

It was 83 and rising by the time I got out. By mile 2 I had regrets. My legs were already hurting. Here it was still pretty shady from the trees, but by the time I got to the lake which was around mile 3 I was struggling. There is a wide open field with a bunch of hills. Running hills in the sun sucks a big one. I began to question why the hell I was out here doing this. I was the only person crazy enough to. Yes there were other runners but surely none doing 8 miles in this mess, they would have had water with them. There was a girl wearing tights - really bitch? My skin is on fire and you're out here running in tights? Please go die. My legs felt like cinder blocks. I must have looked like I was near death because almost everyone I passed spoke to me (Couldn't hear exactly what with my headphones on) and usually they might just wave or not do anything at all.

I felt like I was in hell. I really did. There were so many moments where I thought about turning around. I actually started to at mile 3.5 but I made myself keep going to make 4. So many times I wanted to walk. But I refused to do it. I knew that moments like these is what it means to be an endurance athlete. Part of my training is learning how to "embrace the suck" so that when I am facing something like a Spartan Beast on a mountain, I have the mental toughness to push through it. The moments when I am suffering through a run, workout, or endurance race are the moments that make me better.

I have no regrets. Well maybe some, but do I regret doing it at all? No. I'm glad I got through it and I am in a good mood now, feeling good except for a mild headache. After my run I got some Chipotle, looked around at Dick's but didn't buy anything, went to Target for snacks, and had a really nice and funny conversation with my dad. Speaking of which, I must get my dislike for running in the heat from him because he was a cold weather runner himself. Or maybe I get it from my mom's side and I'm just a reincarnated Viking? Either way I guess I was doomed to suffer in the heat.

Now to finish out my week with a back workout, 1 more short run, and a rest day! And lots of work.

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!