It's Log, Log, Log!

Yesterday morning I set out for Mt. Airy Forest for a nice, long 8+ mile trail run including the climb up the 200 Stone Steps. I was really looking forward to climbing those stairs. I love hills and steps. I printed the course from the Dirt Trail Series. I also printed the trail map from the City's park website. I highlighted the Dirt Trail course since the City's map was easier to read. I parked my car at the big oval, and into the woods I went. Mt. Airy is a great place for trail running. I will admit, I was a little nervous to run alone since its not on the best section of Colerain Ave. However, there were a ton of people on the trails. I saw hikers, dog walkers, and other trail runners. On the way in, I saw what looked like a men's running camp. So fear not Cincinnatians, Mt. Airy seems pretty safe on a Saturday morning. The city's trail map, not so great. Yes, it laid out all of the trails, but the map does not mark them. There were many forks in the trails that were marked with letters and arrows but my map did not mark the trails in the same manner. Needless to say there was a ton of back tracking. I definitely did not follow the course I had laid out. This was apparent when I reached the Stone Steps, but at the wrong end. I was at the top. Four Letter word expletive. Then I look down. Ahh...I believe a Spartan had been here before. There, next to the trail marker, was a log. A guaranteed obstacle in a Spartan Race is to carry something, whether its a log or a Spartan Pancake, up and down a gigantic hill. Here I was at the top of really steep stairs staring at a log. I knew what to do.

The rock was a little too heavy to carry, so the Log it was



View from the top. Notice that the stairs magically disappear. 

 I started marching down the stairs. Not the best constructed stairs and no handrails, so this was actually a little scary. I told myself this is great balance training, now don't fall down. If you do, all of your appendages will be bent in right angles in the wrong direction. Oh, and you won't be found for days. As I was going down, two ladies were going up. I stepped aside so they could pass. As they did, the second lady asked, "Why are you carrying that?" "Cause I'm a beast," is what I thought. "I'm training for a Spartan Race and they make you do this," is what I really said. How dare her question my training? Yeah, I'm carrying a log down steep stairs. Why not? I want to be strong, not skinny and dainty. In real life I'm more likely to have to carry something of awkward shape up a hill or up stairs, than have to lift a perfectly balanced metal bar using only my arms. Its called functional fitness. Whatever lady. Don't hate, cause you ain't.

Once at the bottom, I paused for a short photo shoot. This was my second balance work out of the day. Trying to pick up the log while holding my iTouch and getting it up on my shoulder. The result is below. Not pretty, but as I said before, if you look good, then you're not doing it right.

You can see the stairs in the background to give it some perspective.

The view from the bottom.



I marched up. It hurt so good. My legs burned the entire way up. Awesome. When I struggle or it hurts, I always remind myself that its pain now, but it will pay off on the Spartan course. One step at a time. As I approached the top, two young, strong trail runners ran by. The one saw me and tapped his buddy. I think they were shocked to see me climbing these stairs with a log. I wish I could better describe this moment. The one guy gave me a "Good work." Wow. That was a sign of respect and that felt good. In fact that made the rest of the run so much better.

I continued my run, checking my map, and back tracking from time to time. The top of my right foot started to hurt. Trail running causes more stress on your feet and ankles since you're running over roots and rocks. You are constantly maneuvering around obstacles on the trail. I tightened my shoes. That helped some. Then it started hurting more. Tightened my shoe again. And it started again. I laid off and did more walking. I made my way out of the woods and back to the oval. At my car, I chugged water and ate a Cliff bar. After evaluating the situation, I decided to end my run. I still had another 3 miles to go, but I didn't want to push my foot. Once on the road, I called my sister-in-law, Becky, who is the best physical therapist in the world. I told her about my foot. I made the right decision to stop. We figured its only a strain, however continued work on it can lead to a stress fracture. Basically, rest a little now or rest a whole lot later if it becomes a stress fracture. Once home, I iced it and took some ibuprofen for the inflammation.

Earlier this week I ordered a CamelBak LUXE, which is a hydration backpack. They are great when covering longer distances. I had hoped that it would arrive on Friday in time for my trail run, but it of course came Saturday afternoon as I was icing my foot. I bought it since my runs are getting longer and many of the racers recommend them for the longer Spartans. It has a low profile so I don't have to worry about it getting in the way. Plus, it has pockets for Goo's and Cliff Bars or whatever else I may need on the course. And, its Brown! Mud is brown, CamelBak is brown. Not too worried about discoloration. I got it from Rock Creek for $55. Its an older model so it was relatively cheap. This year's models run about $100, so I got a great deal.

Chest and waist straps so stays in place when running.

Its compact with a low profile. Bonus: Pretty sure that's Ryan Lochte on TV!

Its pretty with lots of pockets. The blue tube is the nozzle.

The hydration pack. Its a long bag, so its not bulky.

Sing-Along time!

WOD 7/27/212

Today's post is short and sweet. Just sharing my WOD (workout of the day). Its from memory because I can't find my note with my list of exercises on it. Pretty sure it may have disintegrated from all of my sweat. So the list may not be in the exact order actually performed.I did my 3.5 mile route with a pit stop at the park (1 mile point) for 2 bouts of the following.

Inverted Pull ups (20)

Sprint to top of the hill

Crunches (50)

Mountain Climbers (50)

Tri-dips between picnic tables (25)

Leg Lifts (25)

Burpees (30)

Push Ups (10)

Spider Planks (20)

Walking Lunges (50)

One legged wall jumps (15 each leg)

Run along border of playground and slip 2 times (for balance)

Hump Day

Wednesday morning I woke with a plan to do the Spartan Race WOD from Tuesday which was designed by Hobie Call. I had everything set up and ready to go. I started, and I really just was not feeling it. Ugghh... Instead, I decided to refocus my efforts on my Big Girl Push ups. I went upstairs, pushed the coffee table out of the way, and grabbed a pen and note pad. Pyramid push ups it was. With rests at the dashes it looks like this:

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

I made it through the back nine. Jon, my husband and apparently my technique coach, pointed out to me that I was positioning my palms too wide. I told him that I knew my palms should be aligned with my shoulders but if I did that I would land on my face. So, of course, I told him to do some so I could watch the pro. Ah ha, moment. Your elbows go out to the sides, not back behind you next to your body. No wonder I thought I was going to fall on my face. With my form corrected I proceeded through my pyramid, well the back nine. These are extremely hard, and I was feeling very discouraged. I mean, come on. I was struggling with stinking push ups. How the hell was going to complete 13-14 miles Spartan Insanity in December. What did I get myself into? I may really die in TX. On my gravestone have them etch:

Nicki Green

Aug 28, 1982 - Dec 8, 2012

Bit of more than she could chew

Feeling discouraged, I went downstairs to my pull up bar. It only makes sense, that if I'm sucking at one thing to move on to the other thing I suck at. I proceeded to practice my pull ups with my chair. Feeling even more crappy about myself. No way am I going to make it over walls or up ropes if I can't do a pull up or a push up. Am I really up for it? Some of the girls in my Spartan Chick group do Crossfit, Insanity, P90X, work with trainers, etc. They have their pics of them with super buff arms and doing the Crossfit games, and posting how they only ran 8 miles that day. Am I good enough for this? Here I am, doing it by myself. Making stuff up as I go. Doing the Spartan Race WOD's they put out. Making my own equipment. Slowly collecting new stuff as I go. I have those thoughts often, but yesterday morning was different. It wasn't a passing thought, it stuck with me all day. It affected my whole day. I have put everything I have in my training over the past few months, and thinking all of this is leading up to a huge failure, really put a damper on my day. 

On the way home from work, I did some serious thinking about that morning's work out. Maybe it was seeing the sun (my office is windowless), that brightened my thoughts. I did the math and added up the total number of push ups I did that morning: 60. And that made me feel pretty damn good. 60 push ups. That's a lot. Good job Nicki. Maybe you can do this after all. Then I double checked my math and added it up again: 64. Even better. You actually did 64 push ups. Way to cheat yourself, you accountant major, you. Yeah, I took breaks, and broke them up into a more manageable reps, but I did sixty-freakin-four push ups. And, boy do my arm pits hurt today.

Once home, I separated the laundry and tossed in a load. On the way out of the laundry room I heard my pull up bar beckoning me. I stood underneath it, put my hands on the 2 parallel bars on the side and heaved. Up I went. No jump, just pure strength pulling my badonkadonk off the floor and all the way up. Simultaneous clap and "Bam", "In your face pull up bar", "You can suck it", karate kick. Smiles ear to ear. Did it. Then did it again. Smaller, less dramatic victory dance. Then did 1/2 of one. Alright. Nicki can do 2.5 parallel pull ups. Oh, and I made over that dreaded emotional hump. Back to feeling confident and good about my self.



Re-enactment

Jon makes it look easy

Yep, we're those guys! Post pull up flex!

She's going the distance

She's going for speed.

And that's where Cake stops being applicable. I guess technically I am all alone when I train, but I have Jon and others offering their full support.

Anyways, I did go the distance on Friday. I set a personal record of 8.4 miles. I started my run Friday morning with the intentions of going on my 5.5 mile route. However, I was feeling pretty good. There was a lady at a bus stop, and I asked her for the time. It was only 7:50. I had time to kill, so I made like Forrest and kept running. I did have to walk some, but I basically covered the distance of a Super Spartan. Woo hoo. Now I just need to be able to scale walls, climb ropes, pull cement buckets, drag concrete blocks, crawl under barbed wire, etc, for those 8 + miles. At one point during my run, there was a couple of tires sitting next to a curb. I had to resist the urge to pick them up one by one and hurl them as far as possible. The problem with being an OCR addict is that everything around you becomes an obstacle, like junk tires.

Going into the weekend I had great intentions. We were supposed to go to our lake house Friday night so we could wake up early. I planned to swim and then bike a few times around the lake. Sunday, I planned to do Hobie Call's rock intervals. Well, none of this happened. We got to the lake on Saturday morning. Jon's nipple got bit by a Blue Gill while chillakin' in a cove. And it was really just a long, lazy weekend. Lots of junk food and sheer laziness. Well, this carried over to Monday and no exercising then either. I think all of the crappy food I ate and the alcohol gave me a bit of a food hangover.

Tuesday, I woke with a vengeance. Unfortunately, so did Mother Nature. I had planned on doing Hobie Call's rock work out with my hot pink brick, but it was storming outside. Drizzle, no problemo. Thunder and lightning and I'm staying indoors. Can't OCR if I'm dead. I also had limited time. So into the basement I went. I did one round of intervals based on the rock work but modified for the indoors. Also, my medicine ball is only 10 lbs. and my pink brick is 20, so less weight.

Chest throws against the wall (10 lbs medicine ball) - 2 minutes. 

10 Push ups

(Break through: Decided to ban little girl push ups and put on my big girl panties. To summarize: Quantity decreased drastically and quality increased.)

Kettle Bell swings (25 lbs) - 2 minutes

10 Burpees

Slams with medicine ball (my fav anger management exercise) - 2 minutes

10 Push ups (Why did I ban little girl push ups..Arggghhh)

Squat to Shoulder Press (20 lb. pink brick) - 2 minutes

Link to Hobie Call's work out. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/down-dirty-fit-obstacle-race-training-for-strength-endurance.html  FYI: He has won the most Spartan Races ever. Can't remember his record, but its remarkable. You should Google him.

Tuesday evening I went to my brother's house to pick up my weighted vest. He works at a sporting goods store and got one for me over the weekend. Now I'm going to cry sexism. I have looked everywhere, and the women's vests are only available in 20 lbs. I call bull shit. The men's come in 40 lbs. To 'weight' the vest, you stuff 1 lb sand bags in pockets sewn all over the vest, so I can have a 30 lb vest. The issue is, I'm not a barrel chested man with broad shoulders. So I have a vest that is too wide and I have difficulty lifting my arms since the shoulders are so broad. But since product designers think women are weak, I'll have to deal with it and they can suck it.

With my vest in tow, I went over to White Oak Middle School. This is where every kid in the area goes on a snow day. Why? Because its a big, steep, fast hill. Why did I go? Because its a big, steep hill and I want to be fast. If you want to get faster, run up a hill. If you want to get faster running up a hill, add a weighted vest. I donned my vest, and ran up the hill 10 times. I got lots of stares from people walking on the school grounds, but I'm pretty sure they were thinking, "Wish I could do that." I then ran 10-15 times (lost count) without the vest. Then finished up with 3 sets of 12 Tri-dips on a wall and bench. Once home, I did some very assisted pull ups.  On the link above there is also a weighted vest work out that maybe you'll read about next week.



Rock the Rock

Last night, Jon and I tried rock climbing. I bought a deal from Amazon Local for $25 at Blue Ash Climb Time. It included the Belaying lesson, shoes, harness, and all the climbing we wanted. I've been looking forward to it since its good for grip and upper body strength. For those who have never done this, basically the person on the ground works the belay. You have to keep pulling the rope through the device so there is no slack. For me this was the work out. My right bicep was burning. Once to the top, the climber makes sure the belayer is ready, and just lets go. This was the scariest part. I hesitated before letting go. Yet, after a couple of times, this became my favorite part. What can I say? I enjoy falling. Explains my love of roller coasters and sky diving. This is also a great trust test. Don't go with your worst enemy, unless of course you plan on being their belayer. We tried different walls, including the ones that are slanted. At one point I ran over to the guide and asked if he had scissors. My middle finger nails were long and getting in my way. Pretty sure this earned me some street cred. Turns out this is a common problem, and he had some nail clippers handy. Jon is a natural. I think in a former life he may have been a monkey. He thinks he's good because of his survival instinct. Meaning, "Don't let go." This is definitely something we will be doing again. I hope to do it pretty regularly (maybe every couple of weeks) as part of my training.

Jon bouldering - climbing without the rope

This morning I took out my old buddy, Kingsford. He is a 20lb charcoal bag wrapped in 2 contractor bags taped up with hot pink duck tape. Then stuffed in a military laundry bag purchased from the military surplus store in Northside for $1.99. He's tied up with rope I bought from Lowes for $10. I have no idea how I tied it up. I just conjured up my Christmas wrapping skills and made it so it had a handle. Jon was actually pretty impressed with it. He even asked where I learned how to do that. Shoot, I got mad skillz. The finishing touch is my spray painted, hot pink Spartan helmet. I made a stencil out of cardboard by printing it on paper, cutting it out, tracing it on said cardboard, and then cutting out the stencil with a box cutter. My stencil scares Jon. Its stored in the basement and he's worried about what else will be Spartanized.

I left the house with Kingsford on my shoulder, iTouch on my right arm, and my GymBoss on my left. Its a mile walk to the park. I jogged from time to time and always jog up the hills. I also switched Kingsford between shoulders and different holds. Once to the park I did my interval training. Not only was my usual maintenance man there, but also 3 other city workers. All of them watching me as I tossed Kingsford over my head, planked, ran around picnic tables, burpeed, etc. I mean, literally watching me like you would watch a TV or the Reds game. After three bouts of 8 count intervals, I made the mile march back home.

Below are my intervals. 60 seconds on, 15 second rest. I unintentionally focused on my shoulders. Yesterday, I caught the Insanity Work Out infomercial on TV, so I watched Shaun T a bit. Mostly because I wanted to see what kind of exercises he was doing. I mean, if Shaun T is doing it, then Nicki G should be doing it. I added Mountain Climbers and side step push ups to my intervals this morning. Wow. Mountain climbers are a doozy. Perhaps I was still a little sore from rock climbing but those will definitely find their way into my rotation.

Squat to Shoulder press with Kingsford

x

Push Up side steps (both directions)

x

Chest Press with Kingsford

x

Mountain Climbers

x

Burpees

x

High Knees

x

Rows with Kingsford

x

Plank

100 Crunches, 25 Leg Lifts, 25 Bicycles

Lap around the picnic tables

(The picnic tables are set so that they make a nice round lap around the bottom of the park. I run to each, jump up on the bench, run across, and go to the next)

Water and short rest

5 before 30

Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.

-George Edward Woodberry

I find this quote to be fitting for this post. On August 28th, I turn the big 3-0. When I started training back at the beginning of April, I immediately noticed pull-ups were a big part of the Spartan WOD's. Almost all WOD's include pull-ups. They are the ultimate body weight excerise. If you can do a pull-up, then you are in shape. You are a Beastly Haus! One day I randomly decided that I will do 5 unassisted pull-ups by my 30th birthday. Wow. That was ambitious. Haus Status at 30. Sure, I can do that. Plus I posted it on Facebook, so I have to put my money where my mouth is.

Jon found a doorway pull-up bar on clearance at TJ Maxx, and bought it for me. He likes his ladies with rippling muscles. :)  He got it out of the box, and we decided we were going to put it up on our second bedroom door frame. Its right next to the bathroom, so the strategy was to attempt a pull-up every time we head to the bathroom. Well, apparently our Sear's catalog home did not come with standard door frames. It fit nowhere. So, the pull up bar did not go up that night. Jon is amazing at rigging stuff. He can fix, rig, assemble, and build anything. After a trip to Lowes, he hung the pull up bar last night. Ironically, its on the way to our bathroom downstairs.

I've been doing Tricep training in lieu of not having a pull up bar. I also hung one of my bands over an I-beam and have been pulling on those. All of this in the hopes of doing at least one pull once the bar got installed. Fail. That bar put me in my place: on the ground with both feet planted. I wasn't going down withouth a fight though. I pulled up a chair. I hung a band to put my knee on for assistance. I climbed back up there. Ouch. The band was hurting my shin. Yelled upstairs to Jon to toss me down a kitchen towel. Alright, now I can do a pull up. Still hard, even with my right knee in the sling and my left foot on the chair. Jon came downstairs to check on me. "Let's see it." I showed him my greatly assisted pull up. "Well, you're doing the hardest one. Why don't you start with the side ones. You have to learn to crawl before you walk." My husband is a genius. So I switched to the bars that stick out to the sides, and that was definitely easier. Not easy enough to do unassisted, but easier. I hung out downstairs and kept at it. I vow to do this at least once a day. I had to tell myself, it will get easier, just like everything else. Just like the stupid planks. Chances are I won't be doing 5 unassisted pull ups by August 28th, but at least I will have tried and that counts for something. Just ask my rippling muscles when they're 30.


Frenemy

Oh, and if you noticed I added my Spartan Badges to the right. Instantly upped my Blog's BA factor.



Beast or Bust, Baby

Its official. I am signed up to race the Spartan Beast in Glen Rose, TX on December 8th at 12:30pm. Scared? Hell, yes. I get nervous just thinking about it. But it will complete my Trifecta (if I manage to complete the Super in Chicago), so I'll crawl across the damn finish line if I have to or if they make me due to an obstacle. As I've said before, I'm part of a FB group of Spartan Chicks. I've managed to figure out that two of them will be lining up with me at 12:30. Even though I will be racing as an individual and so will they, we'll be able to offer some mental support and reassurance at the start.

As far as my work out this morning, it went well with only 1 major mishap. Can you spot it?

3.3 mile Trail run

100 body weight squats
30 push ups
43 walking lunges
Step in dog poop
1 minute plank
100 crunches

3.3 mile Trail run

Today was a long work out. I definitely ran out of gas my second time around the trail. My current morning routine is to make coffee, assemble my lunch for the day, and then work out. So, the only thing in my tummy is coffee. For short sessions, this works. However, I am definitely going to need to add some sort of breakfast for the longer hauls. I'm thinking of trying a rice cake with almond butter (I can't eat peanut butter). Today also reaffirmed my need to invest in a CamelBak sooner than later. I planned on getting one anyways for the Super and the Beast, but now is the time. Not only will I have water with me, but I will also be able to stash goo, wipes, or anything else I may need. Finally, I'm a sweaty mess. I believe if you look good when working out, then you're not doing it right. After my work out, I took off my shirt and I was able to wring sweat out of it. Our laundry hamper hates Spartan Chicks. I have to bring an old towel to put on my driver's seat so I don't soak it. Learned that lesson not that long ago when I sat at work with a wet hiney. Nasty. My socks were an issue today. They are thick and padded which is nice, but by the end, they were just squishy with sweat. Everytime I stepped, it felt like I was running on a gym mat. I need to get better socks that wick moisture. Blisters and/or soggy feet are no good.

A Few Firsts

Does a Spartan Chick poop in the woods? Luckily, no. Not this time. This weekend was full of personal firsts. Fortunately, going number two in the woods was not one of them.

Saturday afternoon was spent at our family's lake house with family friends. Between the boating, floating, and Chillakin, I managed to get a short swim in. My crowning achievement was getting up on the wake board! Woot Woot! It was very exciting and I cannot wait to go again. On my third try, I was up and apparently my facial expression was of sheer intensity. No fancy tricks for this girl. All of my focus was on staying up and keeping the board from wiggling back and forth. Everyone on the boat was giving me the signal to go outside the wake, but I had no idea how to steer the damn thing. Was it not enough that I got my butt out of the water? Sheesh. Tough crowd.

Following dinner, I headed home. I was meeting up with friends downtown to celebrate my friend Jenny's Dirty Thirty. I met them at the Holy Grail, then we cabbed it over to Righteous Room. Before I knew it, it was after 1am. The plan was to get home earlier since I was racing Sunday morning, but we were having too much fun dancing our pants off under the stars.

Sunday morning was rough. The alarm went off at 6:30, and I tried my darnest to think of a reason to skip the race. Between the day at the lake and 5 hours of sleep, I was whooped. I dragged my butt out of bed and put on some coffee. I got my stuff together and headed out the door. Made a couple of pit stops at the gas station, Brueggers bagels, and Biggs for water. I totally forgot to grab water at the house, that's how out of it I was. On the way to East Fork, I had my plain bagel with cream cheese, chocolate milk, coconut water, coffee, and water. Looking back, I realize this was a little much and a bad combo.

When I pulled up to the beach and saw my fellow racers, every ounce of courage I had mustered immediately disappeared. As I said in a previous post, its a small circuit. Only about 200 people registered, and probably 90% of them looked to be in ultra-marathon shape. So not only did I feel like crap, I was intimidated.  I went up to the tent to collect my bib, and it turned out I registered for the 10.6 mile race. Crap. Luckily, it was a 2 loop course and the 5.8 mile was just once around the loop. The day was not going well. I saw everyone warming up, so I tried warming up with a jog along the shore. I felt like I was going to puke, and I had some serious indigestion. No bueno. Eventually, it was time to line up. One woman complimented my shirt. That made me feel better. And she also signed up too late, and was doing only 1 loop of the 10.6 course. I was not alone.

The race started and up the hill we went. That was probably the best part of the race for me. I can climb hills. Once to the top, we hooked a left and into the woods we went. One by one, inching along. Eventually, we thinned out. However, the running jumbled and loosened everything in my tummy, and I had to go the bathroom. Crap. Literally. I was miserable. There was no more running for me. I would run some, then walk. At one point, I pulled over to let other racers pass, and another racer stopped with me. She was struggling due to food poisoning the week prior and was having hydration issues. I explained to her my situation, and she said, "Trail racers go in the woods." Say, what? I thanked her for the tip, and told her I was going to walk a little to build up some bravado and formulate a strategy. Thank God, I did. Low and behold, not even 5 minutes later I crossed a street to a parking lot with a Port-a-Potty. I have never been so happy to see a nasty Port-a-Potty in my life. My trail buddy was standing next to the water station pointing to it, and I gave her two thumbs up and the biggest smile in the entire world. After my pit stop, it was back on the trail. I still wasn't feeling 100%, but I was certainly a lot better. I finished the race, not at the pace I wanted, but I did finish. It took me 1 hour, 8 minutes.

It was my first trail race and my first race with stomach issues. I've heard horror stories about digestion problems, but man, not fun to experience first hand. I will say I am happy it happened during a 5.6 mile race than during one of my upcoming Spartans. Overall, it was hardly my best performance, but I don't believe in bad races. I try to learn at least something new about myself each time. Take aways from this race: Always wear my bandanna. I was having problems with sweat dripping in my face. Better diet the day before and day of the race. Cheese ball and chip dip are not good ways to carbo load the day before a race. My friend suggested before my longer races, to have a test run with my meals. Brilliant! Also, no more Sunday races. I put my body through the gauntlet on Friday and Saturday, which does not make for a good race on Sunday. Finally, don't lose your courage. Run your own race. No one will judge you.
  

Three bibs for the year. Two for Jon.

This morning, I didn't have much time to work out. I warmed up with a jump rope to 2 songs. Then I did 2 rounds of 8 count interval training concentrating on my arms. I did 60 seconds on, with a 15 second rest. I bought a hot pink Gym Boss interval timer. It was $20 and the arm band was $3. I use it at least once a week and I highly recommend them. I know there are also phone app's that are interval timers. I don't have a fancy phone so I bought an actual timer. Plus I use my iPod Touch for my music, and I needed a separate device. My list is below.

Kettle Bell Swing (20 lbs)

x

Kettle Bell Snatch Right (20 lbs)

x

Kettle Bell Snatch Left (20 lbs)

x

Pull Ups on my Bands

x

Farmers Walk (2 Lowes buckets with 20 lbs. of gravel in each)

x

Tri Rows (20 lbs. kettle bell, 30 seconds each arm)

x

Plank

x

Shoulder Raises (8 lb, alternating with one arm front and one arm side)

Flip the Switch

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

First Trail Race

As I was looking for new parks for trail running, I came across the Dirt Days Trail Series. Its 7 dates with 9 events that are scored with the Dirtiest Dozen receiving awards at the end of the season. I wish I would have found out about this series earlier. Its all trail running, which I love. And the races are about $10 each. That's super cheap for an organized, chip timed event. Three of the events have already passed, and the future races are on weekends I'm already competing or busy. However, this Sunday, I am free!  Its at East Fork Park on Sunday at 9am. There are 2 distances 5.6 and 10.8 miles. I really struggled deciding which race to run. The most I have run is 6.6 miles, which I did last week at French Park. Going from 6.6 miles to 10.8 miles is a really big jump. My concern is injury. Over-exerting my feet, ankles, and knees instead of a more gradual increase. This is especially true with trail runs since you're running over roots and rocks. However, I wanted to do the 10.8 to get a feel for the mileage since the Super is 8-9 miles.This decision would have been much easier if they had an 8 mile option. After a night to sleep on it and input from my fellow Spartan Chicks (an FB group), I decided to race the 5.6 miles. In sports there is a fine line between being tough and being smart. Risking injury is not an option right now. If I have anything left after the 5.6 on Sunday, I figured I can go again on my own to gain the mileage or do some power sets to squeeze out the last little bit. Most importantly, I don't want to needlessly push myself and end up with an injury that hinders my training. Better to run 5.6 this week, and be able to tackle 9 miles at Mt. Airy in the very near future.

The link for the Dirt Trail Series is below. This website also has a schedule of many other local races.

http://www.runningtime.net/Races/Dirt%20Trail/home.htm

My final concern is my outfit. I have my Brooks Cascadia trail shoes, my Nike combat shorts, and my Under Armour Undies. I can't decide if I want to wear my Spartan Chick Tank. My brother screened the dri-fit tank I wore in the IN Spartan Race for me. On the front it says "Spartan Chick". On the back it says, "You got Chicked." With it being my first trail race and going alone, I don't want to be presumptuous. Am I beastly enough to wear it? Last year only about 200 people raced , so I will certainly stick out. But then again, I may need my inner Spartan to tackle the race. Decisions, decisions....

Mud, Sweat, and Tears

It all started in April when my brother called to see if me and Jon (my husband) wanted to do the Spartan Race. It was a 5k obstacle course race about 20 minutes from our lake house. I quickly agreed, thinking its only 3.1 miles. I can run that, no problem. April 21st changed my life. It was the toughest 4+ miles I have ever traversed (Spartan likes to give you extra miles for free.) Never mind the 3 log carries, the 200 yards of barbed wire crawls, the steep, rocky slopes, or the endless mud pits. We were up against Mother Nature. It was billed a Founder's Race, which meant the course was constructed from elements from the surroundings. I don't think the Founder's expected Mother Nature to put up the challenge she did. It was a cold 45 degrees with overcast. It was windy. It was miserable. My sister-in-law wore a winter coat. All we could think was, "What the hell did we get ourselves into?" I was literally scared out of my wits. The course was set-up so spectators could watch some of the obstacles. Sure there was a rope climb and giant log hurdles that required a buddy to act as a foot stool to get you up and over, but there was a swim. Yes, a swim. Full bodied swim. Better kick your feet or you'll drown swim. Across a lake. Later we learned that the lake was a cool 50 degrees. Less than 70% who took the field, finished.

Well, we did it. Jon and Jason finished together. I let them pull ahead since they were faster. I met many people along the course. Although I did the course alone, I never felt alone. There was an amazing Spartan Team spirit. Perfect strangers would hold the cargo net down to provide a tighter climb so I could get up and over it. At a rope climb, me and 2 Navy guys helped each other to the top cheerleader style. I helped a woman navigate the barbed wire by making sure her butt was clear as she crawled through. My dad said at the finish there was a racer who was struggling to get out and over one of the mud pits. A volunteer on a bull horn announced, "Attention Spartans, a fellow Spartan needs your help." He said about 10 racers came over and literally threw her ass up and over the mound. That is the essence of the Spartan Spirit. Following the race, their Facebook page was flooded with similar stories. Everyone commented on the team-like spirit that existed on the course. Mother Nature dealt us all a doozy, but we weren't letting her take us down.

Runners talk about the runner's high. After finishing the Spartan Race, I had a Superman High. It consumed me. I could do anything. There were no limits. Its all I could think about. Its all I could talk about. You feel like a badass after finishing. As someone who sits in an office for 8 hours a day, it was the primal, gritty, challenge that I needed. It made me feel human. It made me feel strong. And I wanted more.

I'm going for the Spartan Race Trifecta. In October I will be racing the Super Spartan which is 8-9 miles, and in December we'll be headed to Texas for the Spartan Beast (13-14 miles). Finishing three races earns a very special Trifecta medal. I have also completed the MS Muckruckus, and will be doing the Cincy Mudathlon and Lake Santee Triathlon. This is it. My mud, sweat, and tears.