With my shield or on it

Beginning with the IN Spartan race, I chose to race each course for fun. Every warm up was intended to find my smile before entering the starting corral. And it worked like a charm. My body thanked me. It's amazing how much stress can drain your legs. I figured that out in Georgia at the Spartan Sprint. Following GA I raced being thankful for the opportunity to spend the day outdoors with my Island of Misfits comrades sharing war stories and beers. For this reason, 2014 has been my best season yet. Perhaps, not my fastest, but my strongest and most rewarding.

And then came Vermont. Simply, Vermont broke me. I'm not sure what it broke. Maybe my human spirit. Mayby my silver linings attitude. I don't know. But I remain broken after that course. Ulrike and I spent 9 hours on that 16+ mile course with 6,600ish feet of elevation gain, insane, dangerous terrain, and obstacles that are seemingly easy when standing alone, but hell on Earth when strewn together in perfect order that only a sadist could visualize. In all honestly, the inverted wall served as the Gates of Hell. Once we climbed over it, shit hit the fan. Perhaps, that was intended by Norm. Who knows? I slowly transformed into a very ugly person. Every other word out of my mouth started with an "F." I felt hatred towards people who were truly innocent or meaning the best. I flicked off another racer at the Tyrolean Traverse. After falling into the water and doing my 30 burpees, a guy had the audacity to ask me if this was the burpee station if you skipped the obstacle. What. I did not provide an answer, but gave him the death stare. He turned to ask someone else and up my middle left finger went. The barbed wire crawl was painstakingly long. Glancing at it when not already being on the course, it would be super easy. But, after being on the course for so long, it hurt. Every minute pebble, grain of sand, dug into my palms and knees. Rolling was impossible. The weather was cold. Worst of all, there was an innocent, cheery volunteer in a Moose hat who I truly wanted to throat punch. I am ashamed to say this. This is absolutely not like me. I am always the happiest person on the course screaming the names of the folks I know as I see them and thanking all of the volunteers. Earlier in the day, I was screaming, "I'm alive. I'm human," while swimming across a pond because I was my typical race self. But this self, was fucked up Vermont self. I transformed into a Vermonster.

And I still have no idea. No amount of analyzing has revealed the answers. I just don't know. I know I'm broken. I know I am not the same person that I was when I started that course. I can honestly say you had to be there. I advocate for a 2014 Vermont Beast Support Group. Luckily, I have had Ulrike to share the experience with. I am grateful we can laugh at our absurd behavior and also not feel crazy when we realize we have both suffered spontaneous crying and lack of motivation. We joke we became OCR wives on that course calling each other babe and being the strong one when the other was faltering. I cannot imagine not being able to share in the experience with someone. So, that was Vermont. Not the glorified experience that I imagined. It was a beat down without success or satisfaction. Simply an ass kicking.

Now I go to the Ohio Spartan. After VT I decided to downgrade to only the Super. Spartan never returned my email, so I have decided today to stick with the Trifecta heat. Why? In some sick, masochistic way, I need to feel the pain. I need to know that Vermont did not defeat me. I am giving myself a 10% chance of completion. In exchange, I will leave 100% on the course. I will feel the pain of the struggle. I will be ripped off the course fighting. After Vermont, I just have this weird need to fight back. To go 10 rounds with Spartan. This is completely insane I realize, but to the racer, to the athlete, to the achiever, to the fighter, it is a fight that must be fought. It must be fought with bravery and courage. It will hurt and I will struggle, but I will leave satisfied. The odds are in my favor this time as I will have my team scattered all over the course. This is a team that has been with me through it all and has given me strength. I am proud to call myself a Crazy Mudder Mucker and cannot wait to line up next to them this weekend. I am ready to give myself to the Spartan Ohio Trifecta; heart, body and soul. So bring it Spartan.With my shield or on it.

But Baby Its Cold Outside

Now that summer is over and I can pack away my bikinis for the summer, my abs have finally started to take form. Awesome. There's a reason nobody ever trains for sweater season. 'Tis the season for over indulgence and Christmas Cookies, because we can hide it all under a giant wool sweater. If we get a warm day in December, I might just have strut around in my bikini top.

The Happiest Person in the World!

Saturday night, Jon and I were attending Diner en Blanc. I was hardly prepared, so I spent Saturday shopping for White Linens, wine glasses, and food. Then I spent time preparing all of said food. When all was said and done, I had about 1.5 hours before I had to start getting ready. I went to the park to get some trail running in. No, it wasn't a few hours lost in the wood, but it was important trail time. I got started, and sure enough pain in my left foot. Not too long ago I was having pain in my right foot. Its seems it simply jumped over to my left. Woo hoo. Absolutely aggravated and not wanting to chance a serious injury, I headed home. I was only struggling with running. Walking felt fine. Basically, putting pounding pressure on it hurt. Once home, I went to the backyard.

Yelling at Jon 'cause I thought my booty was hanging out.

     Jon: "Stand up straight."
     Me: "I can't. I'm sulking."

After telling him my aggravations, I got back to work. I still had time and I needed to get a good work out/sweat in. So I started flipping my tire. Jon went in and grabbed the camera, so I finally have pictures of me being a BA Tire Flipper!!!  I did push ups off my tire and jumped in and out of it. I also did some walking lunges with a log Jon had saved for me when he cut down a tree in the back. Plus some ab work.

 

 

 

Sunday was spent at the Bengals game. Who Dey!!! So it became a rest day, aside from 16oz. bicep curls.

Monday, I did my arm work. Set my Gym Boss to 11 intervals (got it right this time), 1 minute active, 20 seconds rest.

• Medicine Ball Chest Throws (10 lbs.)
• Pull Ups
• Mountain Climber Push ups
• Dead Lifts (15 lbs. each)
• Squat Press (15 lbs each)
• Curls (15 lbs)
• Plank walk up with drag (25 lbs)
• Kettle Bell Snatch (20 lbs)
• Other arm Kettle Bell Snatch
• Tri Row (25 lbs)
• Other arm

Tuesday, I scaled down and modified the Spartan 1500. Basically, I bumped everything down to 30 and did the jumping jacks and side kicks first so I could get a good warm up in.

1. 30 Jumping Jacks
2. 30 Side Kicks
3. 30 Burpees
4. 30 Pull ups (10, 6, 5, 5, 4) - All assisted
5. 30 Box Jumps (or stair jumps)
6. 30 Medicine ball squat throw against wall
7. 30 Brazilian Ab twists
8. 30 Jumping Lunges
9. 30 Curls (30 each side)
10. 30 Tri Rows (15x2 each side)
11. 30 Frog Jumps
12. 30 Squat Jumps
13. 100 Crunches