Well, my fuzzy little alarm clock woke me up at 5:52am this morning. Being the parents of a domestic lioness, we often get woken at dawn so she can get a jump on her hunting. So I rolled out of bed and started my morning (Read: immediately made coffee). After finishing some cooking for Ladies Night tonight and taste testing some of the broken Nutella cookies, I went for a Smash Run. I call it a Smash because its not simply a run. In OCR, one does not simply run. You have to climb, leap, crawl, scale, hang on for dear life, thus on a Smash I mix in a bunch of other stuff.
I decided to do a 3+ mile run. My first stop is a park at the 1 mile point. There I did 10 body weight pull ups on a low pull-up bar on the playground. Basically, I got under the bar with my feet stretched out on the ground in front of me, and pulled up. These are still awkward for me, so I only did 10. Then I jogged over to a couple of picnic tables and did 25 tri-dips with my arms on one bench and my feet up on the other. Next, I hit the grass and did 50 leg lifts, 50 crunches, 50 bicycles, and a 30 second plank. I hate planks, but I'm forcing myself to do them. I know they're good for the abs and the back muscles. I just feel like my torso is too long and my back just caves in, but they are getting easier. Unfortunately, this also means I need to increase my time. From there I waved to the maintenance guy. He's there every morning. I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm a crazy white chick. I did walking lunges down the driveway. I didn't count them. I just focused on getting to the finish. It was definitely more than 50. Then I went over to a little wall and did one-legged power jump offs? Not sure what to call them. But basically, I put one leg up on the wall and push off and up, focusing on pushing through my heel. I found these very helpful in the Muckruckus when we had to climb over some gigantic piping. I would put one leg on the previous pipe and push off to put me over the next one. I did 15 on each leg. Then it was back to running.
This is where I flipped the switch. I took notice at one point I was just trotting along at a pace old, 'out of shape', 'just trying to finish' Nicki would run. I literally thought to myself, "This is not beast mode." So, I picked up the pace and it felt good. Not too long ago, I had to walk this part after doing walking lunges in the park. Not any more. I can run it, no walking for this Spartan Chick! My next stop was at a corner stoop where I knocked out 50 calf raises while admiring them in the window (I can't help myself. They're looking good). From there it was back to a run. No trotting. I was at beast pace. I had to look down to make sure that the legs carrying me weren't the legs of a gazelle. I was honestly a little worried that my legs were moving faster than my eyes. There was a small fear that I might trip and fall on my face in all my glory! Holy Mackerel! Who the hell was this chick? I felt amazing!! Never have I ran that fast. And then, some guy had to turn into a gas station and totally wreck my groove. Argh... I continued my run, with a short stint of jumping jacks while waiting for the crosswalk (Yep, I'm that girl). The next stop was a surprise. Due to summer camps, one of our parks has been flooded with little heathens in the morning so I have been avoiding it. But today, it was empty. So I did a couple of rounds on the monkey bars and a few times up the 'Kids sized' climbing wall. Its short, so at one point I just climbed up half way and held it. Afterwards, I headed home with a full out sprint down our street. I did a clock check when I got in, and I actually had some extra time. This never happens. So I went down to the Green gym and did some kettle bell snatches, faux pull ups with my bands, and a nice long stretch.
With my first Trail race this Sunday, this gave me the confidence I need. I will proudly wear my Spartan Chick shirt, and I fully anticipate doing some serious 'chicking'. And maybe start eating Nutella cookies pre-work outs.
Also, had to share this article about the uselessness of Gym Rat Hamster Wheels.
http://gawker.com/5925224/kill-your-treadmill?utm_campaign=socialflow_gawker_facebook&utm_source=gawker_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow#13421956077823&%7B"type":"iframeUpdated","height":717
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