Weekend Warrior

I kicked ass this weekend. No other way to say it. Over 20 miles logged. My longest run ever on Saturday, followed by 2,600 stairs on Sunday. It was an amazing training weekend. The weather was perfect, the dirt was soft from the recent rain, and my body carried me through.

Friday evening I had to get in a work out since I over slept that morning. I got home and put on my road shoes and Nike+ SportWatch GPS. I ran the 1.13 miles over to the park, which was also my fastest mile to date (8:43). At the park I proceeded to do:

20 Inverted Pull ups
30 Burpees
30 Tri Dips
50 Squats
20 Push ups
1 Minute plank
Soccer field walking lunges (79)

10 bear crawls, 5 push ups (quickly becomes girl push ups) (full field)
Frog Jumps (full field)
Long Jumps (full field)
High Knees (full field)
Butt Kicks (full field)

Soccer field walking lunges
1 Minute Plank
20 Push ups
50 Squats
20 Tri Dips
30 Burpees
20 Inverted Pull ups

Then I continued on my run. It was a tough run. I need to get new road shoes, and my knees reminded me of this the whole way. So, definitely a bit of walking.

Total Distance: 5.98 miles
Time: 1:30:22

Saturday, I ran at Mt. Airy. I had been looking forward to this run all week. Nothing beats a few hours in the forest where its just your shoes hitting the dirt. I absolutely love trail running. I wish I had known this was a real sport years ago. Its so much more fun than road running and much easier on the body. I went twice as far on Saturday than Friday, but with zero knee pain afterwards. This is the difference between pounding pavement and running trails.

With my Nike+ SportWatch and CamelBak, I headed into the woods. Forgot my iTouch and headphones. Hike back to the car. Okay, let's try this again. Ran my usual trail. Once to the Stone Steps, I went up the first time with nothing. At the top, low and behold, my log and rock were still there. So, I picked up Log for a lap. Then, Rocky Balboa, Log again, and Rocky Balboa. A total of 5 times up and down those sketchy stairs. I had also bought some Gu's and Bloks to practice eating on my long runs. I planned to eat one every hour so I don't wear out before eating. The Gu's always freaked me out. But I've heard great things about them, and I had a free sample so I tried it. Let me tell you, it was so good. Do you remember those Squeeze Pops you used to eat as a kid? That's what they taste like but packed with potassium, sodium, protein, and all the other stuff you need to fuel your body. My other gu thingy wasn't Gu brand. I can't remember what brand it was, but I do remember it tasted like the inside of a Lindor Truffle. So good. I think the reward of eating Gu's may be a new motivator in my training. I wasn't a fan of the Blok chews. They were way too sugary. I did my first lap which was about 6 miles and I had about an hour left of training (plan was to roam for three hours). The Tough Mudder is 12 miles, so I decided to do another lap and let my body feel 12 miles. Never have I ever gone this far. My PR is 8.43 miles earlier this summer. This was a huge jump in mileage, but I had my mind set and I went. It was tough. I experienced chafing for the first time. That sucked. I fell 3 or 4 times. Got attacked by a little dog. Scared the Bejeezus out of a woman. There were several times when I wanted to quit, but I had to tell that part of me to STFU. I would walk from time to time, but I did it. And as I was finishing that last stretch of grass to the car, my pace quickened and I got goose bumps. I pushed myself farther than I've ever been, and it felt amazing afterwards.

Total Distance: 12:06 miles
Total Time: 3:23:32

Today, the plan was to climb Nippert Stadium. But my first stop was Bob Ronker's Running Spot for new road shoes and calf sleeves. I had the guy refit me, and I ended up in a different shoe. My past 2 road shoes have been Brooks Adrenaline. He had me try on those and also the New Balance 860V2. I actually preferred the NB. To me they felt lighter, so I went with those. My calf sleeves are fun. He said I had to get funky ones since I do crazy races. Hot Pink Tie Dyed it is!

Perfect day for climbing 2600 stairs

From there I headed over to Nippert Stadium. By that time, my bladder was full. I crossed my fingers as I tried the doors to the College of Business. Open! Women's bathroom? Open! 2 for 2. Once at the stadium, I got to work. The first lap was pretty easy. I got it done in under 30 minutes. After getting through the horse shoe with little problem, I had decided to add another lap. I really wanted to push myself today since tomorrow is a rest day. My second lap, not so fun. It was rough. More rests at the top of the stairs. On the drive home, my leg would shake when I hit the brake. As I'm typing this, I have my new Zenash Compression calf sleeves on to help with recovery. Last time we did this, I was sore until Thursday. I'm hoping for a faster recovery this time.

Total Distance: 2.4 miles
Total Time: 1:09:22

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

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)