Gettin' a fix

In less than 24 hours, this OCR addict finally gets a fix. At 10am tomorrow, the gun will go off for the start of the Mudathlon. I am so pumped!

Its a 3 mile course with 40 obstacles. I feel really comfortable running 3 miles with obstacles. I finished the 4.5 mile Muckruckus with no problem and no pain. For this race, I'm running competitively. I want to run a sub 40. I want a top 15 finish. I've been training like crazy, plus I have 2 notches in my belt. Hell, I got new kicks so I can float like a muddy butterfly across the course. I say this knowing I will most likely fail. I don't even know if its physically possible for me to run that fast. But I'm going into the race with that mentality. Last year the fastest female ran about 36 minutes, and the 15th ran about 42 minutes. I can do this. Maybe. We'll see. What I definitely will not do is cross the finish line knowing I have more to give. No way, Jose. Neidermann Farms will get every ounce that I got.

Rockin' It

This morning's work out was to be a 6.8 mile trail run. Plus, I was finally going to be able to use my new Camelbak. Not to mention another run in my new kicks which I love. I hit the trails, and immediately started adjusting my Camelbak. It bounced and swished and just got on my nerves. My hair goes in a french braid because I can't stand when a pony tail bounces from side to side. So you can imagine how much the pack was definitely throwing me off. I went about half way through my first loop when I ditched it at my car. I told myself I'll get used, but to no avail. I still plan to wear it in my Super and Beast plus on my longer trail runs. It really wasn't necessary since I pass the water fountain 4 times.

After my first loop, I decided to move to some strength training. The top of my right foot was still a little sore, and I didn't want to push it especially with the Mudathlon on Saturday. I got to work doing a whopping 20 push-ups with 12 in a row. Woo Hoo! Then lunges to the creek bed and back. Followed by a plank to collapse. Then 25 straight leg lifts, 25 tuck leg lifts, and 50 crunches. And then I had a stroke of genious. Here I was doing these exercises next to a creek bed. A creek bed filled with heavy rocks. So, I went and fished me out a nice rock. I didn't really count but I performed the following with my new equipment:

Squat Presses

20 push ups

Chest Throws (Sprint to pick it back up)

Slams

Throw over my head backwards

Run up a hill 5 times

Afterwards, I released my new buddy back into the wild.

Flipping Tires

Finally, I got to use the tractor tire that has been sitting on our back patio for a few weeks now. It all started with a Facebook post stating I needed a tire for exercise purposes. My parent's best friends just switched out their tractor tires and offered to drop one off. This agreement went down on a Saturday afternoon at the lake house in which Jon was not present. The following evening, Mr. Becker comes driving down our street with the tire loaded into the back of his truck. Again, Jon had no idea. He looks out the window and sees this truck with a tire and screams, "Hey Nicki!" I thought something was wrong. Maybe a fire. Perhaps Riley Kitty got hit be a car. Nope. He was just so excited that someone had a tire in the back of a truck, and they were slowing down. I truly appreciated his excitement and support of my insanity. He wanted to chase down a truck to get me a tire. Love him. I then told him it was Mr. Becker dropping it off for me.

The reason for waiting before using it is that they had to cut it off the tractor wheel. Basically, instead of a full circle, it has a slit in it. If you stretched it apart, it would be a "U". So for the past few weeks, Jon and I have been trying to figure out a way to patch it. We tried drilling holes and lacing it up. Took way too long. Then we thought to hold it together with a few metal bars. We never got to that. I finally, decided to hell with it, I can at least beat it with a sledge hammer. And beat I did!

This morning I did Tire interval training. 3 bouts with 60 seconds on, and 15 second rest. First, I did a jump rope warm up to 2 songs (very technical).

Side Sledge Hammer Swing

x

Other Side Sledge Hammer Swing

x

Over Head Sledge Hammer Swing

x

Other Side Over Head Hammer Swing

x

Push ups

x

Dead Lifts (25 lb. free weight)

x

Mountain Climbers

x

Walking Lunges

Afterwards, I flipped the tire up and down the yard. When I first started, Jon spied on me from the kitchen window. After admiring my terrible form, he came outside and taught me how to swing a sledge hammer. Apparently, swinging a sledge hammer is not the same as swinging a bat. Coach Jon is the best.



WOD 8/3/12

The alarm went off at 6am. I got out of bed and hit the snooze. 9 minutes later the alarm went off again. This time I turned it off. My legs were killing and I was exhausted. I convinced myself that my body was telling me to sleep this one off and take a rest day. Well, I'm a big fat liar. Luckily, Jon woke up at 7:30 which also woke me up. I climbed out of bed, put on the coffee, and dressed in my work out clothes. Grabbed a towel, headphones, jump rope, weight vest, bandana, and I was out the door headed to the park.

I warmed up with a song and a half of jump roping. Then I donned my weight vest for 10 sprints up the front hill. After my first sprint, a lady walking her dogs decided to play 21 questions with me. I'm a nice person so I humored her for a few minutes but I really wanted to tell her to STHU, "Can't you see I'm in the midst of an intense workout? This vest isn't filled with fairy dust, lady."  After I answered all of her questions about my vest and then my shoes, I was finally able to get back to work. Nine more times up the hill. On my 2nd or 3rd time down the hill I collected some rocks. You see, I am a terrible counter. I may have mentioned this before. My mind gets sidetracked and then I have no idea what rep I'm on. So I used the rocks to keep track of my laps. I lined them up on the back of the car, and moved them one by one each time I got to the bottom of the hill. I then did a whopping 16 push ups. I know, that's terrible. I have got to work on those more. Then I walked some to cool down. While watching the Olympics last night, I learned something from Ryan Lochte. After one of his races he headed to the dive pool to do some leisurely laps. The announcers explained he was warming down to rid his body of any excess Lactic acid that may have been left after his first race. Well, if Ryan Lochte is doing it, then I better do it. May help in the future with my sore muscles. Should've warmed down after my 300 burpees. So I walked some and then finished with a nice, long stretch in the shade under a tree.

The Aftermath

Doing the Spartan 300 Buck Furpee challenge is one thing. Walking the next day, getting up out of a chair, and going down stairs the next day is another thing. I am sore. My back, my shoulders, my abs, my armpits, my quads, etc; all sore. At least I know Burpees work.

This morning my foot finally felt well enough to go for a run. Giggity!! Yes, I am excited as Quagmire getting laid by a hot lady to try out my new Brooks Pure Grits on the trail. They are purdy! And my first pair of minimalist shoes.

Getting to this point was a bit of a journey. In my first OCR, the IN Sprint, I just wore a pair of old gym shoes. I had no idea what to expect or how to prepare. We had never done anything like this, so we figured we'd wear running shoes that we wouldn't mind sacrificing to the Indiana Mud if necessary. Lesson Learned: Traction is muy importante. Mud is slippery. Shoes with good grip will get you up the hilly terrain. At the Sprint, I was climbing up a steep hill in the woods. My shoes were caked in mud with zero traction. About half way up, I realized I wasn't going any further. Behind me was a line of racers. Oi. Only one way back down. I turned and told them to spread 'em. I slid down the muddy hill on my butt going between legs. The other lesson is the importance of drainage. Water logged shoes are no fun and will cause blisters. Luckily, I didn't get any blisters but I did get some chafing.

For my second OCR, the MS Muckruckus, I decided to buy trail shoes. I bought the Brooks Cascadia 7 in lime green. I'm a Brooks girl. I have wide feet, and Brooks are a wider shoe. The shoes performed well on the trail. I tried them on pavement, with no success. The sole is too soft for the the pavement. Best in the woods. They have amazing traction. They were recommended to me from some of my fellow Spartan Chicks. Okay, I thought. These are my OCR racing shoes. Well, nope. Lessons learned: Shoe weight matters. These weigh over 10 ounces, plus they are absorbent. On the course I felt as if I had 5 lbs weights on each foot. On an OCR on a flat farm, there is a lot of running. It was brutal. I had the traction right, but the drainage and weight were wrong.

Now, I shall try my Brooks Pure Grit. They are a minimalist shoe. As a former Basketball player, I have been conditioned to run on the forefront of my foot. In basketball, you are either sprinting or playing defense on the balls of your feet. Minimalist shoes have a heel drop forcing you to strike mid-foot or at the forefront of your foot. Perfect for me. They are also 3 ounces lighter. Yippee!! Also, you can see in the picture, they have drainage holes with a mesh covering to aid in drainage. I'm hoping I won't be bogged down by excess mud and water this time around. They aren't completely flat, so I will have some cushion for longer runs like the Super and the Beast. Plus, there is a good amount of protection over the toes. Other highlights include the knotted laces to help keep them locked. The toe is split to force the big toe to do more work and keep the blood circulating. Oh, and the grip. This morning I did my first run in them. I love them!! Many reviewers mentioned the ability to feel the trail with their feet. This sounded crazy to me. But once I hit the trail, there it was. I felt everything. Man, it was great. I really look forward to running more trails in these shoes and taking them out for their first OCR next Saturday at the Mudathlon.

Oh, and I did fall on my face in the woods. I will blame leg fatigue from the 300 burpees I did last night.

You can see the holes for drainage.

Lumpy laces to keep them locked.

Already dir-tay!

Spartan Goat!

I love goaties! They are just so freakin cute. Plus they make the best cheese. This video cracked me up, so I had to share. Enjoy!

The Spartan 300

Today's Spartan WOD was simple. It was Buck Furpee Day-2nd edition. Quite simply: Do 300 burpees. Doesn't matter how you do them or how long it takes you. Just get it done. And yes, they pick 300 because of the 300 soldiers that defended Sparta. I did mine in 10 rounds of 30. The penalty for not completing an obstacle in a race is 30 burpees, so I figured it would be good practice. It took me about an hour. I pushed aside the coffee table, turned on the Olympics and got to work. Its not easy. Its not supposed to be. My wrists were hurting. My quads were tight. But I fought through it and conquered the Second Edition of Buck Furpee Day. I linked to the Spartan Blog that details the challenge and technique. A Spartan burpee is only 4 count so no push-up or jump. Only squat to plank and back up. No equipment required, so no excuses. Go get your 300!