A Woman and her Weight

This morning was the first time I can honestly say my teeth were cold. The temperature was 22 degrees plus it was windy with flurries. My nasal passage was frozen. My counting pennies were sticking to my bumper. But I couldn't resist getting out on my hill with my new weight vest. (Yeah, not a post about a woman obsessing over the scale. That's just silly).

Finally, I found a 30lb vest for women. Its small and doesn't squish the little bit of boobs that I have. It fits my torso and I have mobility in my shoulders. Best of all, its snug. My men's vest is way too big and is only good for running up hills. Not good for squats, burpees, push ups, and all that other good stuff. I fully anticipate a long, lasting relationship with my new vest. We'll clean the house together. Maybe even do some shopping? I can only imagine the stares I would get cruising through Costco outfitted in my weight vest. I'd probably get tackled by security as a matter of national security. Actually, now that I think about it, pushing a loaded cart with my weight vest on dodging security sounds like great Spartan training. Hmmm.....

So its a V-Max Women's 30lb vest. The individual weights are 2.5 lbs and can be removed. If your goal is to eventually tote around an extra 30 lbs without eating McDonalds everyday, you should get the 30lber. You can remove the weights to adjust to a lighter vest, and add them back as you build strength. I bought my vest from APT-Pro Lifting Gear. I found a discount code for 15% off which basically covered the cost of shipping. I also added the heavy duty hanger to store it. Of course, once it delivered I realized I'm going to have to find a place to actually hang a 30lb vest. Jon says I should be able to hang it in my closet near the wall support, but I'm scared to death of my closet falling apart. In the mean time, its being stored on the backseat of my car ready for action at any moment.

For reference: I am 5'8" and about 138 lbs.

The Men's vest

TOD:
8 hill sprints with snazzy, new vest
1/2 trail loop with Roclite 275 GTX including product testing (right foot remained dry despite going through the ice in the creek bed)

Total Distance: 2.6 miles
Total Time: 45 minutes

Quick Recap

I have slacking on my posts, so I'm going to recap super fast starting with last Saturday.

Saturday:

Spartan Obstacle?

Since Mt. Airy is mostly closed for deer hunting I've been researching new parks. I bought "60 Hikes within 60 Miles of Cincinnati" not too long ago. The author outlined a 8.1 mile hike at the Mounds State Park in Brookville, IN with decent elevation changes. So I drove the hour out there. I got lost a couple of times and had to dig the book out of my CamelBak. Her suggestion is a lollipop and I did the loop on it twice to gain more mileage. The trails are very well marked and well kept. The downsides are the travel and the $7 admission per car load. I highly recommend venturing out there and picking up the book.

The Indian Mound

Total Distance: 12.6 miles
Total Time: 2:34:17

Turtle Crossing

Perfect Spot to enjoy a Gu

Sunday: Rest day (but let's face it, I had too much wine the night before)

Monday: 1 arm circuit

Tuesday:

16 hill sprints with 30 lb vest
1 loop around usual trail with 3 pit stops for 30 burpees each time

Total Distance: 5.24 miles
Total Time: 1:22:47

Wednesday: 2 circuits of arms

Swing by Play it Again Sports after work to upgrade Dumb Bells to 20 lbs. Get mad at lady for offering to carry them not once, but two times. Come on lady.  I'm buying them, I better be able to carry them. Ironically, she looks a lot like the lady at Bob Ronkers I don't like.

Thursday:

10 Sprints up, jog back at Soccer field

Partial Barn Workout
30 Burpees
30 Burpees/Pull ups (Not great at them but they are really fun)
30 Pull ups
30 Box jumps (on stairs)
30 Med Ball Squat Throws
100 Jumping Jacks
300 Crunches
30 Body Weight Squats
30 Side Kicks (each leg)
30 Walking lunges

Friday:
Skinny to Spartacus Men's Health work out 3 rounds, 45s on, 15s off

That's it in a nut shell. Its my final big week before the TM and then the Super the following weekend. At this point I can just hope that I have trained hard enough, long enough, strong enough for the next 2 weekends. October is going to hurt.

Now, I literally have to go run.

Me Jane, You Tarzan

After several weeks of my manila rope hanging out on the floor in our living and not in a tree, we finally got it hung. Yippee! Special thanks to our amazing neighbor, Kristen, for letting me hang a rope in her tree. I approached the rope with trepidation. Kristen and I were actually talking prior to hanging the rope, and I told her I didn't think I'd be able to do it. If you recall, I tried to climb a rope attached to a cinder block in the woods a week or so ago and majorly failed.  It would just have to be one of those things I would have to work at steadily until I got it. Once hung, Jon climbed it first to test it out. He got about half way using only his arms. I, on the other hand, have been studying rope climbing on YouTube, watching videos of different techniques, and mentally going through it in my head. When it was my turn, I told Jon how I learned to create an 'S' with the rope around my feet and push up. I grabbed onto the rope, gave it a good tug, and then jumped up 'S-ing' the rope around my foot as close to my chest as possible. Aha! I was up. Okay. Push up and grab higher. Scissor kick to 'Re-S' around my foot. Repeat. It was glorious and also painful. In the future long socks or pants will be worn. I have a nice rope burn on the front of my left chin from coming down the rope. Yet this is one Spartan Obstacle I feel comfortable conquering.

This morning I decided to venture out into the cold. I checked the weather before dressing: a cool 43 degrees. Time to test out my new Under Armour Cold Compression tights that I scored at my favorite store, Marshalls. I also, got to try out my New Balance runner's cap I got from The Clymb for like $6. I also, wore my Nike+ SportWatch GPS to track my mileage. Once to the park, I did 8 hill sprints with my 30lbs weight vest counting with 4 rocks on my back bumper. I manage to do all 8 without stopping and zero water. I was also finally able to gauge how long my uphill was: .07 miles or about 112 meters. After my 8 sprints, I hit the trail for one loop around. At one point I had a cramp in my right side. My friend, Bridgid, had told me if you drop and do some quick oblique work you can squeeze out the lactic acid. I thought I would try it. I had nothing to lose. The verdict: It worked! So next time you cramp up, DROP AND GIVE ME 20!!

In other news, I will be starting an event page and team for the IN Spartan Sprint in April. I hope some, if not all of you, will join me. Below is a LivingSocial deal for a $30 registration fee. Trust me: This is a great deal. Having doubts? Don't think you can do it? Sign up!! You have 7 months to tell those doubts to Shut the Spartan Up! Aroo!

http://www.livingsocial.com/adventures/442024-spartan-race-obstacle-run?msdc_id=130-fort-wayne