Spartan TX Beast Recap - Pursuit of Trifecta

Note: I started this blog in the Domincan on Dec 15th and I'm just finishing it now.

Where to start? Jon and I left from Texas to the Dominican Republic on Monday and I haven't really thought much about the race or analyzed it. I've just been living in the moment here in DR and focusing on relaxing, clearing my mind. (Even though I couldn't resist 2 days of hill repeats going up the mountain we're staying on). Today, Saturday, I've finally allowed myself to think about it.

And I still don't know what to think. I didn't meet my goal. My mantra going through my head during the entire race was simply, "10 percent." It got me through the pain. It got me up the hills. It got me across the Tyrolean Traverse. It's what I wanted, it was my goal. I was passing people the whole time. Yet, I fell short. Sure, there's reasons. My training slacked off after the Tough Mudder in October. I struggled with shin splints and a funky foot. I now realize it was my PureGrits which I will never wear again. The soles are too squishy. Anyone need a pair of shoes? Because of my shin splints I wasn't running as much. I think my longest run post TM may have been 8.5 miles. Prior to TM, I wanted to have a 20 miler in. Overall, my training slumped. I was still in great shape, just not where I wanted to be. Honestly, I was in better shape for the TM than I was for the Beast. Talking with Jon, my voice of reason, he reminded me that I did stop to help fellow racers, I did stop to quickly chat with TeamTX members, and I did all 30 burpees when I failed an obstacle. I also know that I attempted each and every obstacle and ran the course honestly. They said fill the bucket half way, I filled it half way. They said carry this cement block over there and do 10 burpees, I did 10 burpees. I know that I did not run the Elite Heat, but the Open heat. I understand that people are at different athletic levels, and this race dished out more than some could handle. I realize some people could not do 30 burpees and carry on. I realize this may have hurt my percentage. I also realize, I did more than I ever imagined. I can now put a 13.1 sticker on my car, although I would have to find a '+' sticker to put next to it (13.5 miles with physically demanding obstacles deserves a + sign).

Now for the actual recap. As with other races, I have can't remember all the obstacles. At the bottom of the post I shared 2 videos put together by a fellow TeamTX member, Rodrigo Ortiz, who wore a head cam. Keep in mind he just shared the obstacles and not all of the running between. Race day started with me getting up to the front of the packet pick up line and realizing, duh, I don't have my ID with me. I was redirected to a different volunteer who asked if I had any other type of ID or credit card with me. I said, "I have my husband who has the same address as me." She approved of my additional ID and I picked up my packet. We wandered around the festival grounds, and quickly learned that Hobie Call was approaching the finish line. We got there at about 9:15. The Elite Heat started at 8am. Holy cow, that man was fast. Hobie is the present day Leonidas, King of the Spartan Races. So, we hung around the finish line and waited for Hobie to finish. That was the perfect way to start race day. Watching a Spartan Champion cross the finish line and win the race. Very cool. Afterwards, I jumped into the 10am heat starting corral.

The Rusty Crown

Okay, so the race started. First, the terrain is completely different than anything I have ever seen in the Midwest. In the MW, we have soft, dark soil. In Texas where it never rains, the ground was very dry with loose soil and rocks. Oh, and there were cacti all over the course and cattle paddies. When I would pass someone, I would have to go off the trail and into the weeds and cacti, thus the cut up right shin. And I was constantly dodging poop. That was a first. When we left the starting line we immediately headed over to the Rusty Crown. The Rusty Crown is a Mesa in the middle of nowhere. Running towards it, I could see people with orange buckets and sandbags going up the mountain. But before actually getting to do that the directors decided to wear out our legs first. They had us run up and down, and up and down, and then up and down some more. It was awesome. My favorite part. Up and down hills. At first it was a little scary because of the ground being so loose and sliding and slipping happened. But as I got used to it and trusted my shoes and technique, my downhill speed increased. After doing this for I don't even how many times, they decided it was time for us to carry a sandbag up the steepest part yet. People were falling all over the place. There were racers sitting halfway up the hill. I grabbed a pink, 20lb pancake and headed uphill. One foot in front of the other. The incline was straight up, but it was the loose dirt that made the ascent difficult. I lost my footing a couple of times going up that hill. It was definitely challenging and one of my favorite parts of the race.

Once at the bottom I returned my pancake to the station. Now, for the highlight of my day. A girl approached the station to grab a pancake to go uphill.

Girl to Volunteer: "What happens if I get half way up and can't do it?"
Me who butted into the conversation and was pumped full of adrenaline after completing the obstacle: "You Spartan the F Up and get your ass up the other half of the hill."
Girl: Death stare

I did not apologize to that racer. I just got on my way. She signed up for a Beast, not her local 5k. I hope she completed the obstacle and is a stronger person for it. Spartan pushes athletes to their limits, and I really hope she found hers and pushed them farther. I also decided post race that I earned myself the STFU t-shirt after this little interaction on the course. I wear it proudly. :)

Right after the Pancake carry, we grabbed Home Depot buckets and filled them with gravel. Ladies halfway, men to the top. I started with a bear hug, but once I got passed a few people I heaved it up on my right shoulder. The ascent was much shorter, and I found this carry to be pretty easy. I think from carrying Log up the Stone Steps, and my sandbags around the neighborhood, and rocks at the park, I had perfected the art, if you will, of carrying random crap on my shoulder.

After conquering the Rusty Crown, we basically ran around doing obstacles until we got to the lake. They had us run along the "Beach" of the lake. Me to random racer, "Hi, my name's Nicki and I love long runs on the beach." Finally, we get to the lake crossing. Rumors were all over Facebook about this. It was between 100-150 yards. Doesn't seem like much, but with shoes, clothes, and CamelBak its tough. Into the really freaking cold water I went. There were ropes along the sides, so I basically pulled myself across while kicking. I passed one guy and witnessed a lot of struggling people hanging onto the sides of the boats or catching life preservers. There was lots of random chatter and I'm pretty sure some singing during the swim. My forearms were spent after that. But those Evil Geniuses, I mean, race directors decided to run us immediately into the Herculean Hoist. I first tried barehanded, but quickly realized I left my grip strength in the lake. So, I put on gloves and heaved that concrete block to the top. But wait, there's more.

Right after that, they had set up the Tyrolean Traverse. Touche, Directors, Touche. I knew I wasn't going to be able to pull myself across the top after the lake, so on the bottom it was. Luckily, there was a line, so I could watch other people do it and talk strategy with the chicks on either side of me. My strategy was to channel my inner Spider Monkey and go underneath the rope, hand over hand, leg over leg. My Spider Monkey was more like a Sloth. It took me forever to get across the damn thing. I was so slow that the Nuvision photographer got 6 photos of me. I cursed the whole way. Every muscle in my body burned. Between cuss words I tried to recollect some of the strategies I had read: tighten your core, don't drag your legs, blah, blah, blah. The only thing that really got me across was sheer determination. Just don't let go. Evil Nicki would tease me from time to time, "Its only 30 burpees if you fall off. Just drop. Who cares? You didn't think you could do it anyways." Beast Mode Nicki would scream, "STFU and ring that bell." I would tilt my head back every so often to see how far I had to go. Ugh. That was a mistake, the bell never seemed to get any closer. Just writing about it now, I'm thinking of how much that sucked. But I eventually looked back to see that the bell was close enough for me to stretch and ring it. Then I dropped. Best feeling in the world. I looked up to see Jon waiting for me on the other side. I gave him the big thumbs down as I waded through the lake because I hated it. I reached the shore and dug out a Gu. I was spent. I went a little further, and pulled over to dump rocks out of my shoes.

2nd Best moment of the Race

After this, there were a variety of more obstacles. We went out to do the tractor pull, Hobie Hop, and tire flip. I got the nick name 'Tex' from a group of guys on the course. I saw them after the race walking in the parking lot and we exchanged congratulations. We eventually made it back towards to the festival grounds for a cargo net climb and rope climb. Then back out. I nailed the Traverse Wall this time. All of the pegs were clean. I went the opposite direction since I'm a lefty, and made sure to only move one appendage at a time. Slow and steady, I made it across. Somewhere after this, I started to feel it. My hamstrings and butt hurt. I passed people on the ground with cramps. I was handing out salt tabs and Gu's like candy. I just pressed forward. "The only way out, is through." - Robert Frost. I knew I was finishing, it was just a matter of time. One leg in front of the other. The last 3 miles were actually pretty lonely. The racers really thinned out. It was at this time, the spectators really came through. At random spots on the course, there were people looking for their friends and family but cheering for everyone. I remember, one woman hooting and hollering for me as I chicked a guy. "Woo Hoo. You go girl." I just loved it. So, thanks to all the spectators who were cheering us all on, even though we were perfect strangers. Eventually, I could hear the music and MC. I was getting close. First, the spear throw. Fail. 30 burpees. I did all 30. Two guys next to me, they did 10. Wussies. Then under barbed wire to the slippery wall. My legs were done. I got about two steps in and that was it. 30 more burpees. Very slow burpees. Very painful burpees. I kept telling myself, "This is it. Get 'em done and jump the fire." Once to the fire, I was honestly, scared to death that I wouldn't clear it. At this point, I couldn't feel my legs. I just ran 13.5 miles in over 4 hours with back to back burpee penalties. I stood for a minute gathering strength and went for it. Ran at the Gladiators (Yay, they hit me!), and crossed the finished line. Time to get my Trifecta Medal.

Race Summary:
13.5 miles
Time: 4:18:26
Pace: 19:43/mile
Burpees: 180 - Log Hop #1, Rope Climb 1&2, Monkey Bars (Grrr...), Spear Throw, Slippery Wall
Overall: 775/2435; 32%
Gender: 89/485; 18%
Age: 28/135; 21%

Spartan Races	IN Sprint	MW Super	TX Beast
Pace	31:24:00	20:44	19:43
Overall	61%	30%	32%
Gender	33%	12%	18%
Age	31%	12%	21%

http://spartanrace.tv/?v=glenrose

TeamTX

BA Profile Pic

The formal name of our very informal team for the Beast. When did I join a team? Apparently, months ago. A group page was started for the race, and a funny thing happened: A little virtual community sprouted. We talked hotels, start times, training, anything Spartan Beast related. All week this group page has been buzzing. Everytime I check my Facebook, I have at least 3 updates, mostly all from the TX page. We're getting excited, nervous, scared, pumped, and occasionally confused on rules. We're looking to each other for support whether its courage come race day or even a hand on the course. Naturally, we wanted to meet in person. And more importantly we wanted to Spar-tay post race with Spar-garitas, Spar-tinis, and too far? Profile pictures are not always the best way to identify someone. Case in point myself. Believe or not, I don't always look like a Bad Ass hurdling fire. So, we had to come up with another way to identify ourselves. After tossing out a few ideas, we decided to write TeamTX as under eye markings. Thus, our unofficial team which unknowingly existed for months finally had a name. Go TeamTx!

Yep, I stole it too!

Giggity

Tyrolean Traverse. Yikes!

Yep, that describes me right about now. Really, Giggity. I get to race in the Spartan Beast in T-4 days. I am was strangely calm. Not nervous, at least not yet. (Spartan sent out an email about what to expect. Gulp) Right now, I'm just really thinking about the logistics of getting to and prepping for the race. Thoughts include: Can I fit all of my Gu's plus my necessary liquid toiletries in a one-quart bag to carry on the plane? How am I going to make my smoothie Saturday morning? I need to stop at The Walmart in TX to pick up supplies including sweet potatoes and probably a really cheap blender. Can I pack some protein powder in a zip loc bag without the drug dogs sniffing me out? Shorts or Capri's? The weather will reach a high of 80. Shorts = cooler, but very scraped up legs. Capris = less scrapes, but much hotter. How the hell am I getting across the Tyrolean Traverse? On top or under? How to protect my ankles and the back of my knees? Are we there yet?

Which shoe to wear? Yep, back to picking out shoes to race in. My Brooks PureGrits have been my go to, but I've also been struggling with shin splints and a funky soreness on the top of my right foot. It was really bad after the Tough Mudder. I recently purchased yet another pair of trail shoes from The Clymb. With the colder, wetter weather approaching I started researching weather proof trail shoes. I learned about Gortex. I thought it was some brand new technology and proceeded to tell Jon all about this magic fabric that is breathable but water proof. He then informed me that it has been around forever, first developed for skiers. My brother then tells me they make trail shoes from this material. Well, gotta get me some of these winter wonderland magic shoes. One of Spartan Race's sponsors is Innov8. Everyone swears by them, but I'm not one to drink the Kool-aid (unless its grape). Plus no one carries them locally so I have no idea what size to get or if they're wide enough. So, The Clymb had Innov8's on sale one day, and included in the sale were their Roclite 275 GTX. Basically, a minimalist trail shoe made with Gortex. Perfect. Not having ever tried them on, I went with my average size and ordered an 8. They showed up last Saturday, and I couldn't be more happy. They are a wide shoe, so my Flintstone feet fit in them comfortably. I've since trail tested them, and they are a great ride. I've worked out in them on my soccer field and on grassy hills. My feet stayed dry both times. I like them much more than my Brooks Cascadia (not a minimalist). Yesterday, I wore my PureGrits to work just to stretch them out since I haven't worn them since cleaning them after the Super. I could immediately tell the difference between the two. My PureGrits are squishy and I could feel tenderness/soreness in the areas of my feet/legs that have been a bother. My calves and feet were super sore last night. So there you have it. Two shoes, one tough decision. The PureGrits are proven, but I will be hurting after the Beast. My Roclites are new and haven't been over 5 miles or tested in an OCR. Decisions, decisions.....

Yesterday the weather was unusually warm for December in Cincy. The high reached the upper 60's. I drove home from work with windows and sun roof open. Perfect weather for playing in the backyard. It was, of course, dark when I got home so I got to play in my headlamp. You can see our backyard from a side street and at one point a car stopped for an extended period of time. I presume to figure out what was driving the beam of light up and down our backyard in the pitch dark.

TOD 12/3/2012

Warm up: Jump Rope to a song

Flip tire across yard (about 5-6 flips)

x

Sledge hammer - 30 times

x

Flip tire back across yard

x

Sledge hammer with other side - 30 times

Repeat above 5 times = 55 flips, 300 sledge hammers, 2 blisters

2.5 rope climbs

10 push ups

100 bicycle crunches
 

Beauty and the Beast

The past couple of days I have been working out a very important, crucial detail: My hair.

Typically, I wear just your standard french braid. Its what I work out in and what I competed in for the Sprint and all of my local races. For the Super, I decided to spruce up the locks a bit, and sported the pig tail french braids. But, the Beast. The Beast is a race of epic proportions. I've spent months training to wage war against the Hell that will cover 14 miles of Glen Rose, TX. I will be dressed in my best compression from my feet up, my CamelBak will be strapped to my back, and my laces will be tied extra tight. When I step up to the starting pit, I will be ready to conquer whatever the directors have laid out. My hair, well its gotta be battle worthy.

I started experimenting last night. I knew I wanted the Mohawk look, but without chopping off all of my hair. In the past I've braided a section right down the top, middle part of my head and into a pony tail. This gave the right look, but I'm not a fan of pony tails. They sway back and forth when running and totally through off my groove (hence the braids). So I tried after finishing the top braid, pulling in the sides really tight, and then continuing down the back. Ah, it worked out okay. The problem was the top didn't poof up enough. Wasn't drastic enough to look like a faux hawk. I tried sticking my rat tail comb through it and loosening it, but to no dice.

Tonight, I had much better luck. First, we watched Snow White and the Huntsman. Surprisingly, a really good movie. Plus, I love Charlize Thernon. In the final battle scene, Snow White has a mohawk type do. Her mohawk is just a back combed poof with the sides braided. The poof would not fare too well under barbed wire. I've decided that I'm sticking with the braid. Luckily, I had a stroke of genius tonight which led to late night braiding. I decided to braid the top section in the anti-gravity chamber aka with my head upside down. Bingo. Mohawk is poofy. This is my first attempt, so definitely needs cleaned up, practiced, and smaller hair thingies but I'm digging it. Basically, I parted my hair into 4 sections: Top, 2 sides, and back. I braided the top upside down and tied it off. Then braided each of the sides as far out as they would go. Then I wrapped them around the pony from the top braid. Finally tying it all together with a second hair thingy. On race day I think I'm going to braid the big pony into several smaller braids. Strictly, functional (well and a tad bad @$$). It'll help with keeping knots to a minimum.

I give you Battle Braids. Well, what do you think?

Why?

Why am I willingly subjecting myself to miles of hurt and pain to walk away with a speckling of bruises and scrapes? Why do I jump into freezing cold ponds only to fall off of a slippery rope? Why do I climb a sketchy wooden plank tower with legs shaking from sheer fear? Why do I spend countless hours running through the woods stopping every so often to do a set of 30 burpees on my weekends? Why do I crawl around a soccer field on all fours getting weird stares from maintenance men? Why do I spend hundreds of dollars on trail shoes, CamelBaks, registration fees, hotels, socks, all things compression, spandex, ropes, kettle bells, free weights, pull up bars, weight vests, bandannas, Body Glide, Gu's, sand, buckets, etc? Why don't I just run 5k's, Half Mary's, or Triathlons? Why don't I just go to the gym like normal people? Why do I cherish like gold all of the cheap medals that get draped around my muddy neck at the finish line? Why the hell am I running down the street in urban Cincinnati with a military bag packed with charcoal? Why?

I know the answer from my inner child, through my nonsensical reasoning, and in my heart, but its often hard to explain. More than once, me, my training or my races have been called crazy. I accept that. It is crazy when we live in the 21st century with all of our luxuries. But that's the point. I tried to explain in my first blog post. Below is an excerpt by Jason Jaksetic from the Spartan eBook. He answers perfectly the "Why?"

In the middle of a race, in the thick of things, when your mind and body start to unravel around you, there is a revelatory wonder and sense of ‘now’ that goes beyond what we can rationally express. And thus the irrational act of racing through mud and fire becomes rational—an insane behavior transforms itself into a very sane demonstration of human will. Spartan Race orchestrates for its racers the sense of wonder that is found in a kind of self-reliance that we seldom need in this society, where we have far more than we could ever use. Spartan Race forces you to awaken your senses, and it is through the acuity of our senses that we feel human. 

This is what we mean when we say, "You'll Know at the Finish Line.".

The Duke couldn't have said it better.

 

Thanksgiving Eve Musings and Goals

I can do 4 pull ups as of this morning!!! Yee haw! Maybe, just maybe, I'll be up to 5 by the time I leave for Texas. That gives me just over 2 weeks, with a hefty Thanksgiving dinner and lots of apple pie tossed in there (by 'there' I mean my tummy which means more weight to heave to the high heavens).

Monday night, I was for once really happy to have ridiculously wide feet. I went to Dick's to buy some B-ball shoes. All two pairs of women's basketball shoes were too narrow. The men's were too big. But the Boy's were just right. And, $45 cheaper.Yippee! Chalk one up for my Flintstone feet. Now if only they made strappy heels in Boy's sizes.

I've realized that I never wrote about any of the Post Super Spartan festivities, so here it goes. A Spartan chick who lives in Morgan, IL hosted a post race party aka The After Spar-Tay. I met Ami and her husband, Jim at the party. Ami and I discovered we were both Cincy local on the Spartan Chick page. Finally, nice to meet someone as crazy as me who lives local. And kudos to Ami for finishing 7th for the women in the Elite Heat. Quite an accomplishment! I also had the privilege of meeting Chris Davis of the Chris Davis Project. Basically, with sheer determination and the help of Spartan he has gone from 696 lbs. to 272 lbs and he ain't stopping. He is truly an inspiration and a lot of fun to chat with. Hi Chris!, if you happen to read this. So to all of you naysayers who say I can't, I'm out of shape, I don't have time, I could never do that, blah, blah, blah... Its time to Spartan the F up.

My finish at the Super Spartan was slower than I hoped, but I am certainly proud of my finish. My goal was a 10 percentile finish. I didn't get it. There were areas where I killed my time (stopping to ditch my CamelBak, waiting in a line and then opting for burpees, etc), but I'm not mad about it. When I signed up, 8 miles was unfathomable to me. The distance seemed impossible. When race day approached, I had a 13.6 mile run under my belt plus big girl push ups, rope climbs, pull ups, experience, etc. All things I could not do when I signed up. On race day, I was scared shitless, but confident in my ability to finish. The day I signed up for that race, I gave myself a goal. I don't know that I've ever really had goals in my life. I've accomplished stuff, but I've always thought of them of as things I just had to get done or else. Getting my degree - an item on the list. Plan a wedding - item on the list. Quit smoking - or die a slow, painful death. But Spartan has given me goals, and I've shared them with you. Pull ups were a goal. For all of my races I have had goals, even if just to finish. I wake up and train with the goal of finishing/surviving my upcoming Beast. I set these goals by my own free will, and work to accomplish them. And I must say it feels good. For once, I feel like I'm doing the things I want to do to which is making my goals easier to come by.

I put a little chart together comparing my IN Sprint Finish with my Super and you can really see the difference. Training has paid off.



	IN Sprint	MW Super
Mileage	4.5	7
Time	2:05:39	2:45:53
Age	43/140 31%	23/127 12%
Gender	202/615 33%	102/881 12%
Overall	1499/2450 61%	969/3257 30%

 

Good luck to those running in the Thanksgiving Day Race!

Eats: Thanksgiving Stuffed Peppers

Saturday evening our friends had a Thanksgiving dinner, Pot luck style. It was quite a feast. We had turkey three ways: Turduckin, Bacon Smoked turkey, and Deep Fried Turkey. We had 2 types of mashed potatoes, 3 kinds of stuffing, corn, macaroni and cheese, pies, cookies, and all sorts of Thanksgiving goodness. Needless, to say we were sent home with leftovers. On some cooking show Jon and I were watching, one of the hostesses used left overs in stuffed peppers. Genius! So tonight I made my version. Envision a KFC bowl but in a bell pepper.

Ingredients: 

• 2 Bell Peppers - I used green
• Thanksgiving leftovers - Ours was Turduckin and Stuffing
• Gravy - I used store bought since it wasn't included in our doggy bag
• Cheese - Freshly grated Parmesan for us 

Directions:

1. Bring your leftovers to room temperature so everything cooks evenly. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut off caps of peppers and scrape seeds. Boil for a few minutes to soften them.
3. In a bowl mix together leftovers with gravy. Stuff the peppers and place in a casserole dish. Fill bottom of casserole with about 1/4 inch of water. Cook for 20-25 minutes until peppers are tender and ingredients are heated through.
4. Top with cheese and return to oven for about 5 minutes until cheese is melted and slightly browned.

Bon Apetit!

Sunday Funday

Let me start by saying, "Wow." Over 2,000 hits on the blog. Pretty sure 20% of them are mine. You do the math. Yes, I do read my own blog. A lot. Mostly, as a way to stay motivated and remind myself of my accomplishments, or fun workouts, or bad work outs, or major fails.

Today, really was a Funday Sunday. Jake, Gina, and I met at the Devou Park Mountain Bike trails to go on a little hike. The catch? We carried DIY sand bags. That's it. We just carried our bags up, around, and down the mountain. From shoulder to shoulder, to bear hugs, to curl holds, to behind the neck. We just carried our bags. It was simply long, slow distance (LSD) training. We chatted. We answered the questions of fellow hikers. "Ah, campers. Carrying your sleeping bags?" "Nope, its sand." "Why are you carrying sand?" "To work out." "Oh, well I'm old and need to get down the hill. You can carry me down." "Hop on." And so we marched. Stopping here and there for breaks. Telling Jake to stay on the trail and not to roll down the side of the mountain. Gina and I weren't sure if we would be able to pull him up. Luckily, when he did finally fall, it was literally at the very end of the trail and bottom of the mountain. In total we climbed about 380 feet and traveled 4.5 miles in about 2 hours. Not a bad way to start out a beautiful November Sunday.

Spartan Race has also started updating the Texas Event page. Probably shouldn't have read it with almost 3 weeks to go.

Race Day Information

What You Need to Know

Spartan Beast - 10-12 mile Obstacle Race from Hell. If you have done any race anywhere in the world: whether a mud run, fun run, olympic run, bike race, death march or any kind of event claiming to be the "toughest race on the planet" you will be happy to know that this is where it ends..THIS IS THE SPARTAN BEAST...Step up and get out of your comfort zone, many will arrive, but few will leave!

NOTE: If you are unsure as to if you can do The Beast we are allowing you a 'dignified exit' if you need it at mile 3. This will also serve as the ultimate test of resolve for those who plan on doing the full event. Each racer will have to confront choice between luxury and relaxation or facing 9 more miles of HELL. You are welcome to plan on only doing 3 mile section of course but price remains the same and you will not receive official time or medal.

Mandatory Headlamps - All racers who are still on the course at 5pm will be required to have a headlamp. We expect it will take most people longer than 3 hours to complete this course, some up to 7 hours. If you don’t have a headlamp you will not be able to continue. Please plan accordingly.

Key word: Hell - used 2 times. First, to inform of me its orgins. Then again, to remind me that the course has transcended from the depths and now exists here on Earth, specifically, Glen Rose, TX.

Let the urges to vomit due to nerves commence.

Beast Mode Laundry

I hate laundry. I would be willing to move to a nudist colony if it meant no more laundry. I hate sorting. I hate waiting around for it to switch it over. I really hate separating and folding it. I only do it every other week and it usually ends up taking a week to do it since I hate it so much. But we as a society have decided to wear clothing to hide all of our parts and keep us warm in the winter. Thus, I must continue to do laundry to forgo weird stares and time in the slammer for indecent exposure.

Last night I came up with a game to make laundry a little less miserable. I named the game Beast Mode Laundry. Spartan has recently decided to change the Burpee penalty to include the push up. Since I haven't been training with the push up, Burpees and I must become really close Frenemies over the next few weeks. Beast Mode Laundry is my Two Birds, One Stone solution. Every load of laundry that went into the washer earned me 30 burpee/pull ups (my pull up bar is in the laundry room doorway, so I thought it only appropriate to add the pull up). One would think that this plan might back fire and I would just do less laundry. On the contrary, I got all of it washed and dried (not folded, but hey, this is an improvement). In a crazy way, it made laundry much more fun. Jon even joined in and we took turns at the pull up bar and counting for each other. Yep, pretty crazy. I realize this. But it was multi-tasking at its finest. Working out, getting chores done, and all without stepping into a gym.

In other news I joined a co-ed basketball team. I am super excited about this. Rhonda, a former AAU and High School teammate, contacted me Monday night via Facebook to see if I'd be interested in playing. Heck yes! I've been wanting to play, but its really hard to find women basketball players. Jon inflated our basketball last night, so we practiced our dribbling and passing in the basement between burpee/pull up sets until I almost broke some stuff. Looking forward to getting out there and practicing so my first shot in a game isn't a glorious airball.

Midwest Super Spartan Recap

FINALLY! Here is my race weekend recap.

Jon and I hit the road about 11am on Friday. He even let me write on the windows as long as I didn't use shoe polish or put "Chick" anywhere. Even though I really wanted to put "You Got Chicked" on the rear, I understood he was driving and he didn't want any confusion. Marriage, its all about compromise.

Five hours later we found ourselves checked into the Hampton Inn in Ottawa, IL. Jon changed to run around The Wal-mart a few times for his marathon training, and I went down to the pool. Since I had completely rested, soaked in Epson Salt, and massaged to allow my foot/shin to heal, I was a little worried about lactic acid build up and just overall stiffness. Post-swim I headed back up to the room to get ready for dinner. Jon returned from his run with the most marvelous treat ever: Freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. I'm talking light and crispy on the outside, but really chewy on the inside. Jon is a Hilton man, and informed me that all Hampton Inns bake them around 5pm and serve them free in the lobby. They earned themselves a very loyal customer. Vacations will be built around these cookies. FYI: We have since found out they are Otis Spunkmeyer brand. Go getcha some. Dinner was eaten at Bianchi's, a local pizza pub that makes their own sausage.Yummy. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing, enjoying cable television (no cable in our home), and going back and forth between feeling like vomiting and excitement.

The next morning, I woke still feeling like vomiting from my nerves. Its much harder to calm yourself in a hotel room versus at home since there aren't as many distractions. Plus, Jon wasn't running so I really didn't have anyone to exchange race day fears with. This was a first for me, and it proved a little tough. I've always had friends racing with me to share angst and excitement, but this time I had to rely on myself to generate calming, reassuring, you're not going to die thoughts. So I did what I always do, and I turned to food. I did my usual race morning ritual of a sweet potato and fruit smoothie. Yes, I brought all of that with me. I do not want to have to poop in the woods. I have a good ritual finally figured out. During 'breakfast' I watched the IN Sprint episode on Spartan TV. This too is a a pre-race ritual/motivator. Its a reminder of how hard that race was, and I finished it. I can finish the next one.


Chicago Spartan Team

We eventually made it to the festival grounds. We got ourselves checked in. Pee'ed about a million times. Found the Chicago Spartan team tent. Didn't know anybody, but still kind of hung around the tent like a couple of Creepers. Talked to a pair of racers about shoes. Got our team photo taken. Still didn't know anyone. Really, it was just awkward. I'm not the most social of people when sober, so it was just a little uncomfortable. After meandering and observing some of the obstacles, Jon told me it was finally time to head over to the start line. The MC made some speech I couldn't understand, but I "Aroo'ed" when everyone else did. They played Drop Kick Murphys over the speakers to get us all amped up like crazy, drunk Irishmen ready for a bar brawl. A smile crossed my face and all race fears vanished, replaced by excitement and adrenaline. And then we were off through the Greek columns and smoke.

The first half of the race, we ran. We ran about 4 miles through the woods and creek beds. I can only remember 3 obstacles. The first was to shimmy down a culvert from the top of an embankment down to the creek. The second was a super muddy barbed wire crawl. I had to take off my CamelBak to get under. I simply chucked it ahead of me, and then moved forward. This made for an extremely muddy pack at the end. Not an inch of it was clean and I had mud and pebbles jammed in the clips. Using stick I cleaned it out, and threw it back on. At one point we had to cross a creek and climb up an embankment. They had ropes to assist in the climb, but I have been finding my shoes sufficient enough to climb without slipping. Other than that, we ran. The terrain was pretty calm in comparison to IN and the TM the weekend before.

Eventually we came out of the woods to an aid station and a spectator obstacle. I asked the volunteers how far we had come. She said we're about 4 miles; half way. She also said they added aid stations because of the cold and the directors were concerned about people cramping. I decided I was feeling really good, and could go without my Camelbak. I spotted Jon, shoved a Gu in my back pocket, left my Camelbak with Jon, and parted with a muddy kiss. I headed up the cargo net climb. Then we had 2 slanted walls to get over. Except, we had to go over them backwards. I used the supports on the side to help me climb up and also a wonderful stranger's cupped hands. This is what is great about Spartan races. Someone, even a perfect stranger, will help another racer out. After those 2 walls, we had to climb this ridiculously high structure. By far, my least favorite obstacle. The slats were muddy. I hate heights and ladders. Some A$$hole asked if anyone had fallen off. I not so politely told him to STFU until I had both feet planted safely on the ground on the other side. I bear hugged my way up. At the top, the damn thing was swaying. I wanted to cry. I wanted my mommy. I wanted a cherry picker machine to come pluck me off this thing. A guy next to me gave me good advice onto how to go over the top. With shaking legs, I listened to every word, and eventually found the ground. I was alive, now back to business.

This is where it gets really fuzzy. The last half of the race had a bunch of obstacles crammed together. So less running and more physical exertion. I'm pretty much going to name the obstacles that I can remember and promise them to not be in race order. There was the Hercules Hoist which I rocked. I was a little worried about this one. In an older post I mention how I tried to haul a Cinder block up and over a tree branch, and I failed miserably. Apparently, pulleys are key. From there we had to climb over walls. This one I nailed too. TM prepped me for this one. I got up and over 2 walls, and helped a fellow racer over them as well. After that we did more walls; under, over and through. We had to do the tractor pull, which I really enjoyed. Basically, have your pick of concrete blocks attached to chains and drag it around a short course. There were hills, the last one was particularly steep and they didn't slide very well. We had a tire flip. Simply flip it two times off the block, and two times back onto it. I managed to pick a tire that still had the wheel inside of it, so it was HEAVY. But I stuck with it. My tire also did not start on the block. So flipping it back, I had to go 3 times. On the third flip, I actually ringed the block and had to shuffle and scoot it back up onto the starting block. Water station and Gu.

After a bit of running we had another bunch of obstacles. And its really fuzzy. There were log over, unders which the volunteer told us to just go under all of them. Somewhere in there was the Pancake Carry. Then there was a log obstacle that you were supposed to run across, but it had turned into a scoot train. I took my first set of burpees. I didn't care to wait in line, nor did I feel it very challenging. There was a crazy obstacle that had logs stretched perpendicular across a water ditch. You had to climb across 4 wet, muddy, slippery logs onto a really wet, muddy, slippery hill. They were pretty far apart and I have no idea how I actually made it across. Jon says I must have busted out my Ninja moves. I like it, and I'm sticking with it. Of course I only made it across three, but it was farther than others. This was my second set of 30 penalty burpees. From there I think we had to just go up and down mud hills and into mud-water ditches. These water ditches were really freaking cold and hard to get out of. In the first one I jumped into, there was a larger man struggling to get out. I shoulder pressed him out. He was shocked to turn around to see that I was the one responsible for helping him out. "Sorry for getting fresh. It was really cold." His buddy remarked, "That was like when people get Superman strength to move cars to save kids." Yep. That sums it up. Don't come between a girl not built like a walrus and getting out of freezing water. I came across these two later at the monkey bars, and 'The Buddy' gave me a "Great job." He witnessed me talking to myself as I crossed. At this point everyone's hands were numb. Standing in line we all shoved them under our armpits or were blowing on them. Once it was my turn, I had to jump to get on them. Then I proceeded to talk to myself out loud for everyone to hear. "You got this Nick. Come on. Hands don't fail me now." You know, just stuff that a crazy girl says to herself. But it made my day for 'The Buddy' to acknowledge my small success.

There was also a log hop which I got across. The logs were spaced a fair distance apart with one log actually under water. It required balance and just confidence in your footing. The volunteer working the log hop, used the sun and shadow pointed to us where the hidden log was. You could also see it if you disturbed the water. The rippling water outlined it. I used both techniques to make sure I landed it. I think the really tall climb with a log-over was after that. It was a stretch to get to the top log and then you dropped about 8 feet. Little scary and probably dangerous. Then there was another log balance turn scoot. I started to wait in line, but decided I would just take the burpees. So up to 90 burpees on the day.

I made sure to run whenever possible. More than once I came upon a guy walking who I would Chick, only to have him all of a sudden sprint by me. I found it very amusing. Some men just can't stand being beaten by a girl.

I eventually saw Jon as we came upon trenches we had to go in and out of. I knew we were near the finish. First, the Traverse wall. Fail. Looking at my pictures my mom noticed I was going the wrong way. She reminded me that I am left handed which explained why I was going sideways and not against the wall. In Texas, I'll be sure to lead with my right foot. So my fourth set of burpees. I think I'm better at burpees with an audience because that was the first time I did 30 in a row. Right afterwards I had to throw a spear. Robby that I work with had given me some lessons with one of our inflatable lite sword toys and it had paid off, sort of. My spear throw was actually really good. It went the distance, it was the right height, but my aim was off. Next time....  Up to 150 burpees. Then the Fire Jump, which resulted in the best picture of me In the Entire World.

I'm in the middle

Next up, was the rope climb. In the middle of ice cold water. A majority of people skipped and took the penalty. However, I trained on my rope and was going to give it a whirl. I chatted with a man in a very lovely kilt. We both agreed, we're at the end, WTH, might as well freeze our butts off. The pond dropped off, so we had to swim to get out to the ropes. Once out there I got my feet on the first knot and pushed up. Then holding on, I pulled up my feet to the next knot visually checking to see if they were on since I really couldn't feel them. I continued this a couple more times until I just couldn't go any longer. I dropped. I froze. I swam as fast as I could. I literally clawed at the giant hill we had to climb up to get out of the pond. Yeah, it sucked, but it was my favorite part of the race. After that, it was one long, muddy, barbed wire crawl and climb up another giant hill. I skipped climbing up the logs that were there because it simply looked really dangerous. I slid down the hill to the Gladiator pit. Biggest disappointment ever. They were in La La land, oblivious to a blood thirsty Spartan Chick headed their way. They didn't come at me, but I hit one of their puggles to wake them up. Gladiators, step up your game. Then the finish line.

Final Barbed Wire Crawl

 

The finish line

 

Best Pic EVER!

Spartan Race video is HERE.

 

 

 

Eats: Der Chili

Last winter, Jon brought home some ground deer meat. What does one do with a meat they have no idea what to do with? Easy. They make chili. I found a really easy, basic recipe and embellished it. I know everyone has their own version of chili. Well, here's mine. Perfect for a cold, freezing rain type of day like today. Quick and easy enough for a workday.

 Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Deer Meat cooked and drained (I cook the night before for easy morning assembly)
• 1 Green Pepper diced (do the night before)
• 1/2 Onion diced (again, do the night before)
• 2 Cans Diced tomatoes
• 1 8oz can of tomato sauce
• 1 Can Chili Beans 
• 1 Packet of Top secret ingredient, Taco Seasoning
• 4 oz Chicken broth or more to thin it out some (freeze any leftover broths in little Tupperwares for future use) 
• Frozen Corn (eyeball it)

Directions:

 Put it all in a crock pot. Pull a Bob Marley and "Stir it up". Cook on low for 8 hours. Devour.

Bon Apetit!

TOD:

Arm Circuit - 3 rounds, 45s on, 15s off

Kettle Bell Snatch 1 (25lbs)

x

Kettle Bell Snatch 2 (25lbs)

x

Tri Row 1 (25lbs)

x

Tri Row 2 (25lbs)

x

Rows with band around basement support pole

x

Mountain climber with Push up

x

Deadlifts (20lb dumb bells)

x

Squat Cleans (20lbs)

x

Curls (20lbs)

x

Plank Walk up with dumb bell drag (25lbs)

 

 

Tough Mudder Recap - James's Updated Version

Below is James's updated and more detailed version:



After the ICE



Hi, my name is James and I'm an electrician, which is why I was so excited about the Tough Mudder Challenge. I was having a pretty good time right about 0.4 miles in where I was introduced to ICE. Who in the hell wants to actually pay to jump in freezing water when it is already 15 degrees away from freezing outside. At mile 7 is where a lot of cramping took over my legs and I did not want to keep on going. My body is telling me F*ck Tough Mudder and quit, and on the other hand 3 things were telling me to keep going. 1: It was 7 miles to turn around. 2: Electroshock Therapy was at the finish line, and didn't want to be that guy that just ran into it for the hell of it. 3: I paid way to much money to participate and train for it. I've done more squats and lunges in the past 5 months then I've done my entire life. I've come to acknowledge that every hill I climbed had made me wished that I drank more water and brought a potassium IV with me for cramping because bananas weren't cutting it. Nevertheless I am very proud that I finished the course and I helped my fellow mudder, and put teamwork before my course time, and last but not least I did not whine, (on the course) kids whine. Also I do appreciate Tough Mudder for a hard, challenging course. I will now keep all OCR courses under a strict 9 mile length only because I already paid for the Indiana Spartan which may change my mind when that time comes too. Big thanks to Nicki and NickiFit for the inspiration to cause me to become a Mudder, just don't know if I want to hug you or kill you.

 

The electrician at work

Big thanks to James for being such a great friend throughout the years. Its been so much fun this summer doing all (MS Muckruckus, Mudathlon, MudStash) of the OCR's with you. We're going to have a blast next spring at the Spartan Sprint and again at the Super :) (Yes, more than 9 miles). I am so proud of you!!!

Tough Mudder Recap

I asked James if he wanted to write the race recap. His response/recap:

Hi, I'm James.
F*ck Tough Mudder.
The End.

Short, sweet, succinct. A true expression of how he was feeling the Monday (2 days) after the race. My recap is going to be a bit longer, but with just the highlights. It took us between 4-5 hours to conquer all 12 miles. Obviously, that would be a really long post if I covered all 5 hours. So here's the important stuff.

The Who Dey Crew: Brendan, Me, James, Taylor, TJ, Dave

I went in with very low expectations. I have heard the horror stories of TM, their parking debacles, their poor safety standards, etc. I was proven wrong. We did have to park off site and take a shuttle to the course, but there was no shortage of shuttles. They were constantly running and we didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes before or after the race. When the bus came to pick us up after the race, the driver had the heat cranked. Super, duper bonus points to that driver. As far as before the race, packet pick up and bag check was a breeze. Everything was well marked. To pick up your bib, we just had to find the area of the tent where we fit alphabetically. There must have been 25 sections, so no long line to wait in. Once through the packet pick up, there were volunteers ready to mark our foreheads and arms with our bib numbers. Once we bibbed up, the boys dropped their bags at bag check. Again, very organized. They were divided by bib number. They gave you a "bracelet" that you stuck on your bag that had your bib number on it. You simply found your bib area and gave the volunteers your bag. And it was included in the registration.

Now the fun stuff. I don't remember the order of the obstacles, nor am I going to go through them one by one. This is simply the highlights and what I remember. I included the course map here if you're curious. First, to get to the start line, you had to go up and over an 8 foot wall. Gotta love a race that makes you work to even start. Once we were all up and over, off we went on our adventure. Jon was able to watch the first few obstacles, hence the pictures. We crawled under some barbed wire. Then had to march through mud, which was more like clay so our feet didn't sink.



Catching my breath



Shortly after was the Arctic Enema. Keep in mind, the weather hovered around 45 degrees the whole time we were out there. This obstacle consisted of a tub filled with ice cubes with a wall in the middle you had to go under. You had to go under because they put barbed wire above the wall. When it was my turn, I noticed there were quite a few people waiting on the other side of the wall to get out, including my teammate Brendan. So I waited till a few people actually clamored out. While I waited I got yelled at by the volunteers and I also told people behind me they were more than welcome to go around, but I was waiting until it cleared out some. There is strategy in OCR. The whole smarter, not harder mentality comes in play. Either way I was waiting. The question was, was I standing in ice or not. Nobody went by me. Finally, I hopped in and made it to the wall. Hesitation. Again, the volunteers were yelling at me to go under and I shook my head no. The wall went down to my knees. I tried to think of every possible way to avoid this, but the race directors apparently thought this one through. Eventually, I mustered up the courage and went under. Feet first, grabbing the bottom of the wall and pulling myself through. Brendan said my face once up was priceless. I'm sure it was. Pretty sure, the breath was knocked out of me. I now have a new found sympathy for all of those aboard the Titanic. An Alaskan cruise is out for the foreseeable future.

This was the last time we'd see Jon for a while. I can remember bits and parts. The terrain was tough or awesome depending on who you ask. It was hilly and steep. Any course that is on an Off Road facility is going to be hilly. Also, courses on Ski Resorts will be mountainous. Courses on Farms are flat. Race directors will use the terrain to their advantage or your disadvantage. You've been informed. Train accordingly. So I was happy. We went through woods and up and down hills. Perfect Saturday for me. Early on, we did the Dirty Ballerina which was jumping over trenches filled with water. I learned a sweet Super Hero pose from a fellow racer. Taylor fell, a lot. In fact Taylor fell the entire course. It was his thing. There were more walls to go up and over. These were higher, so we had to help each other over. We had to go over a hay pyramid. This again required team help to pull each other up. There was a Lincoln Log looking obstacles where we had to go over and under logs. That was fun.

The biggest mental obstacle was one the directors did not map out. We did the fire obstacle, which was smokey and wet. It ended with a jump over fire into a 10 foot deep muddy water pit. I did a sweet Can Opener with a Tarzan holler or something remotely like that. All was good and gravy. Then we had to stand in line. For what? We had no idea. But we waited, and waited, and waited. We were wet and cold. There was nothing we could do, but wait. There were people in front of us and behind us. We speculated what the next obstacle could be since the line was so long. This is where the brain gets tested. Do you whine and bitch, or do you suck it up and embrace the suck? Well, we all embraced it. With our hands tucked under our arm pits, we waited. Our estimate was about 30 minutes of this. The obstacle? Just a really steep hill where people descended at a worm's pace trying to not break their tail bones. The course was slippery and wet. People did not have the best shoes for this terrain. And it was dangerous. So we inched down until finally at the bottom. This was only one of many of these steep hills descents. This one just sticks out in my mind since there was such a long line to get down it. There were lots of ripped pants from them (including mine, just a couple of holes) and I saw a lot of crack.

And we were cold. Rest stops became shorter because standing around allowed the cold to set in. We also started to get more distance between each other. Cramps were running rampant amongst our team and well, all racers. Each aid station had mylar blankets so when at the top of the hill, all you saw were flecks of silver across the course. Not all the rest stops had bananas. At one particular rest stop, one of the boys said, "I could really use a banana." (or something along those lines). Sure enough, a guy dressed in a banana costume turns around "I'm right here." Classic. Timing/Irony was impeccable.

Happy Girl

Aside from the hills, my favorite obstacle was the log carry. You had the choice of a long log that you and a buddy carried or a round cross section of a trunk. I searched for the biggest cross section I could find. They were all pretty light, nothing compared to Log who resides at Mt. Airy. We carried our logs along a 1/2 mile motor cross course. So up and down little hills. I was happy. If I wasn't so stiff and cold, I would have skipped. I breezed right through switching my log from one arm to the other. This is in contrast to the IN Spartan when I searched for the smallest log for the first 2 carries and my dad had saved me a small one for the final carry. I was only 3 weeks into training then. Now, I'm a weirdo who loves carrying logs. I mean, seriously. Invite me over for your next bonfire. I've got a headlamp. I'll fetch logs all night. :)

Post Log Carry is where we started to really split up. We had been out there for hours. Did I mention it was cold? It was Brendan, Dave, and I for a while. We hit the Electric Eel. I skipped it, but planned on skipping it anyways. Long story short, I do not believe getting tazed proves your tough. Being electrocuted simply means you are an electrician, in trouble with the law, or a top secret agent being tortured for information. I am none of those things. Or am I? Hee Hee. So I watched Brendan and Dave belly slide through that thing and did not regret skipping it. Judging from their expressions and twitching bodies, it hurt like hell.

Onward and upward we went. Until, I saw the most wonderful vision ever. My husband!!! Pretty sure there may have been light radiating from him as I climbed the hill and saw him along the sidelines. He had my gloves!! He had Gu's, Salt Tabs, and Nuun for the boys and their cramps. We refueled. I got kissies. And then we were off again. This happened maybe around mile 7 or 8. It was right by the 10 foot Berlin Walls. Poor Brendan. As if he wasn't already beaten and bruised. He got knocked in the jewels a couple of times helping folks over the walls. Again, another obstacle the directors had not planned.

At this point Taylor had caught back up with us. We came upon the Boa Constrictor. Seriously, the worst obstacle in the history of OCR. You had to go down a black tube into water. Above the water was boards and barbed wire, so there was only enough room to stick your head out of the water. Already, this is suffocating. Then to get out of the water, you had to go back up a black tube. The scary part? You were forced to go under water to get out of the tube. In other words, the bottom part of the tube was completely submerged. Freaky. Some hesitation, again. Taylor literally shoved my butt up the tube. Then it was only a matter of crawling out and hoping your shoes had enough traction to get you out of the tube. It was intense to say the least. Oh, and Taylor is claustrophobic. Go Taylor! He did it!

James an I post race

After this, we really became segmented. The cold was bad. We finally grabbed mylar blankets. I eventually broke from group and ran the rest of the course skipping obstacles along the way. Every obstacle had water, and I was done with the water. Since I skipped obstacles, I told myself I had to run the rest. So I did. And it was great. I was never so happy to just be running and keeping my body temp up. I repeated the triple D's in my head to keep my mind occupied. Discipline, Determination, Drive. I passed people and kept on trucking until I was eventually at the end. Then I searched for Jon and my warm clothes for about 15 minutes. A shower was out of the question. Water was the enemy. We headed over to the Port-a-Potties. Jon unpinned my bib since I couldn't feel my hands. And I changed. In a Port-a-Potty. Took me forever. My tights are really tight around my ankles so with my numb hands it took about 10 minutes just to get those off. It was a slow process, but eventually I was in dry, warm clothes.

After 4-5 hours, we reconnected, hopped on the bus, walked to our cars, they passed around a bottle of Jack, and we went to McDonald's. Mmmmm....cheeseburgers. Yes, plural.

Overall, it was a great course. Although, too much water for me in the cold weather. It was 12 miles, and I think this fact escaped some people who signed up. Jon said the medics were pulling people of the course left and right. Its not easy. In fact, it lives up to its name. It was tough. TM definitely makes it a point to test racers mentally and reinforces the team aspect of its courses. I needed my team at several points during the course. I was scared/fearful when in the Boa Constrictor and Arctic Enema. I'm happy to be able to say I've done a TM, but I really don't think I will do another one. The price was steep and I'm not down with torture.

Now, time to prepare for the Super Spartan....