Acceptance

Female Leader  Board

Well, I think I blew my goal out of the water. I was the first female across the finish line and my time held to make me the top ranked female. So, why am I not glowing with pride? Simply put: I did not race well. It took until today (Wednesday) for me to accept the fact that I won and to be proud of my finish.











I felt like this guy on Saturday.
Not my usual self. (From Mudathlon)

To further explain: Every other OCR I have done this year, I have done with a big fat grin on my face. Smiling the entire race. Just happy to be challenging my entire body. Saturday, there was no smile. I was miserable. Now, I'm usually miserable for the first 1-2 miles. As I've told Jon, I run like a good Derby horse: Slow out the gates, but a strong finisher. After my body has warmed up and all of the kinks/lactic acid has found its way out, I feel amazing. I feel like a million bucks. I just have to fight that first mile or so. I never hit that point on Saturday. The first 2 miles or so, I pushed myself, waiting for that feeling to kick in. Never happened. So instead of feeling miserable for 1-2 miles, I felt crappy the whole time. My quads burned. My lungs burned. I had extreme flem build up. I wanted to walk.  I wanted to quit. Where the hell was the finish line? Mentally, I tried to snap out of it. I gave myself a pep talk. I clapped my hands, pumped my fists. "Here we go Nick." "You got this." "You eat hills for breakfast." Nothing. Nothing seemed to work. The only thing that kept me pushing was the occasional sighting of the female behind me. "Must beat her. Can't let her pass me."

Crossing the Bridge

So I've been reflecting on the race. I've been trying to make the case to myself as to why I should feel proud of my first place finish. I always imagined a first place finish would result in the race of my life, not a race where I didn't feel strong. I don't feel like I earned it. The next female came in 2 minutes behind me. Where were the competitors who would give me a run for my money? I shouldn't have been first. I'm part of a Spartan Chick community whose thousands of members are incredibly strong and athletic women. Where were they? I have to realize that I was the fastest female that showed up to race on Saturday. I beat every other female racer. I beat every other female racer who stayed away because of the chill and rain. I beat every other female who did not sign up. Despite not feeling good, the pain in my legs and lungs, the non-existent smile on my face, I was the fastest across the finish line.



On this morning's trail run I was finally able to find a reconciliation. I realized I am a Spartan Chick. Spartan Races want to push you past your comfort level. I was no where near close to comfortable on Saturday, but I pushed through it. I didn't quit. I didn't walk when I should be running. I kept going. I went beyond my comfort levels, and finished as the fastest female. I didn't run my best, but it was a test of my mental strength. A test I think I passed, and a grade I earned.

Personal Stats



Finisher's Photo

Mud on the Slopes

Woo Hoo! Tomorrow is the Mud Stash at Perfect North Sloes. Giggity! It will be OCR number 4 this year. I can't wait! Nothing like spending your Saturday morning sloshing through the mud, climbing ropes, running the trails, and just mucky madness.

Its a 5k, which is much shorter than the upcoming Super Spartan. The past 2 Supers have been between 10-11 miles, so I'm going to run this one twice. I then hope to climb Center Stage. Not sure if I'm allowed to do this, so I might have ask for forgiveness if I get in trouble. I'm attacking the course with the same mentality as the Mudathlon. Be Fearless and leave it all in the dirt. I am also running in the earliest heat which will help with bottle necking at obstacles and my time. My goal: Top ten female finish. Once again, I have no idea if I can actually do this, but that's my attitude. I'm hoping for a self fulfilling prophecy. If I believe it enough, it will happen.

As far as training, this week I've definitely gotten back on track. Tuesday, I worked my arms. I came up with 8 exercises that I really like. I have the list hanging in my basement. I've been maxing out on them, but they are also good for Interval training.

Squat Press

X

Side Lunge with Curls

X

Plank Walk Up with Dumb Bell Drag

X

Kettle Bell Snatch

X

Tri Rows

X

Medicine Ball Chest Throws

X

Pulls ups

X

Mountain Climb Push Ups

X

Dead Lifts





 

Last Saturday I went on the worst trail run ever. However, the good thing about trail runs is that even the worst runs are still a great hike. And with a great hike one gets to make more observations. So during my hike, I had an epiphany. Two of the obstacles almost guaranteed in a Spartan are some kind of object drag and a Hercules Pull (basically you pull on a rope that is up and over a pulley with some sort of weight on the other side). I realized, duh, we have a ton of cinder blocks and rope. All I need to do is tie rope to the cinder block, and Viola, Spartan obstacle. So Wednesday morning I headed to the park. First, 2 sets of 8 hill sprints with 30lb weight vest. And of course, cuss and shout at a deer. Then I got out my 50 lb. cinder block and carried it into the woods (this in itself, was one heck of a work out). Once on the trail, I dropped and dragged it. I made sure to switch sides so I would be 'even.' Eventually I made it to my most favorite tree in the woods. This is also the same tree that Jon and I climbed into for our engagement pics. I threw the rope up and over one of the branches and pulled. Ok. It did not budge. Basically, I was just hanging onto this rope with a cinder block laughing at me. But not all was lost. In Spartan Races, you also have to climb ropes. So I decided to make it a different obstacle and attempt to climb it. I'll go with: The diameter of the rope was too small to climb. This too was a fail. I was able to almost lock my feet into rope when I jumped up. Climbing a rope requires a ton of practice. Luckily, I ordered one on ebay and it arrived this week. Our neighbor, Kristen is letting me tie it in her tree. The plan is to hang it on Sunday. You bet there will be video!

 

Yesterday, I had an awesome work out. First, 1 mile jog to the park. Once there: 20 playground inverted pull ups, 30 burpees, 30 Tri dips across the picnic tables, 50 squats, 20 push ups, 1 minutish plank, 50 walking lunges.

 

Then, I headed up to the soccer field. Waved to my favorite Park Maintenance men. Full field bear crawl, 3/4 field crab walk (wrists not digging it), 1/2 field frog jumps, 1/2 field standing long jumps, full field high knees, full field butt kicks.

 

After my field work, I reversed my first set starting with the 50 walking lunges through the inverted pull ups. Finally, I tough jog home with very 't'-ed off legs.