Spartan Race Photos

Sorry it took so long to post the pics, I was waiting to gather as many as i could.. which isn't much since the Spartans kicked my Dad off of the mountain lol.. So here a few pics he was able to capture until they hauled him off to the lions.

 It was crazy insane fun, and it really tested my resolve. In the months leading up to my event, in Tuxedo NY, I spent a lot of time on their website trying to get a feel for what to expect. Well I EXPECTED a lot of water, carrying buckets of water, mud... MUD they definitely delivered in the form of an uphill mudcrawl as you can see from the picture above. What i did NOT expect was to do most of my journey UP a ski slope and climbing up and over and down boulders for 3 miles. The only water i saw was in the shower pit at the end.

All-in-all it was good dirty fun for a great cause: Homes for our Troops

The Tough Mudder Tri-State in November is for the Wounded Warrior Project. After this, not sure if I want to do that.. being as it's 12 miles in cold weather and THAT has a lot of water and mud.. Who am i trying to impress?! lol We'll see how that goes.

This Spartan came home WITH her shield!

(and a lot of mud!)

The purpose of the blog was to mark the journey with Panic & Anxiety to the Spartan and Tough Mudder events. 1 challenge is complete; I competed in and completed the Spartan Race in Tuxedo NY.

I did have pre-race jitters... hard core... it was the waiting that was killing me. Once I was at the starting line I was honed in on the objective of going up an extremely steep hill for an extremely long distance not knowing what was to come after that.

I had to climb, crawl, and strategically maneuver my way through rocks and boulders on the side of a ski resort; I saw spiders i never knew existed! OH and I'm sure poison ivy is just a short way away  from showing it's ugly wrath as well.

I had to crawl through a make-shift mine which had brush, bugs, reptiles, cramped space, and barbed wire just above my head for about 100 feet... with no way out.. You had no choice but to go forward. I got stuck on barbed wire 1/4 of the way through, hind-sight my heart flutters, but at the time i was determined to get through that obstacle, and I did and made friends with a frog too!

I had to climb through and over boulders with a car tire, climb a 20 foot high net and come back down, climb walls, crawl under walls, pull cinder-blocks attached to a rope the height of a 2-story house, cross monkey bars ( I fell 2 bars from the end because my shoulder gave out, and they wanted me to do 30 burpees but I told them to go scratch and went back to the bars and did 4 more for good measure).

I had to carry an orange Home Depot bucket 3/4 full of gravel up a hill for .25 a mile, then back down dump my gravel on TOP of the pile and bring back my bucket. At this point I was exhausted, I was in near tears because I was so mad because I wanted to be done! So I chucked the bucket on top of the gravel pile, flipped it over and off (yes, I gave an inanimate object the double bird) and tossed it to the pile of other buckets and flipped it off again. THEN I had to pull a boulder on skis up-hill and around a small course which ended on hot coals, then back uphill and hike over and through boulders AGAIN. This was where I was on E. I started to get light-headed, and had to stop for a break. 

Back down the hill to a soap soaked wall that I had to climb over. I was smart and used my upper body and pulled myself up with the ropes... Flipping off the bottle of soap as I was going to the next obstacle... totally owned that one!

I fell 1/2 way across the Spiderman wall and had to do 30 burpees... thank goodness that I do those a lot in bootcamp! I totally failed on the spear throw and had to do another 30 burpees. I won't be doing burpees for a while needless-to-say!

I had to crawl through cold mud on my belly under barbed wire going uphill for the length of a football field. Admittedly, the mud crawl was the best part of the event. Though gross as heck seeing worms, grubs, ants, spiders, the blood of other Spartans, and getting cut up by rocks and other sharp objects, the camaraderie with the other Spartans through this obstacle was beyond reproach. My hair and shirt got stuck on barbs on the last string; everyone stopped so as not to tug further or spring it back to the Spartans coming up the rear while 2 other Spartans untangled me from the mess. Then for a long boulder hike before a steep downhill trek full of loose rock and dirt.

That ended us up at the ice crawl; yes, the name implies the same as the mud crawl, but it was downhill for about 50 feet under barbed wire and over ice cubes... TONS of ice cubes... it was cold... very cold... but at the bottom of the hill from that we had to jump through a much appreciated firewall! It ended with the gladiators at the end that I, and my awesome sense of humor, made them and the spectators laugh! lol

When I arrived at my first gladiator (that wanted to pummel me with these huge padded paddles) I stopped short, looked him in the eye and said like a mouse "really? Do i have to? Can i just get into the fetal position?" lol so we bumped to make it look good. The next guy was busy with someone else, but the very last guy wanted to kick my butt so as I ran really fast passed him shouting "please, please, please don't hit me!" everyone erupted in laughter!

Then i got my banana, water, free beer and shower lol...

I'm sure I missed an obstacle here or there, but those are the ones that I remember.

Minus the scraped up elbows and knees, twisted ankle, bruises, and that it took me 3 hours to go 3 miles... it was a blast!!!

I have a new found appreciation and utmost respect for the men and women of our armed forces. While i had 3+ miles of torture, they do this in foreign countries carrying tons of gear in not-so-forgiving clothing and conditions. I was able to carry a camelbak (backpack filled with water) and wear anti-skid socks so i didn't get blisters, and wear gloves to protect my little hands from blisters, in order to get me through this. I was able to quit if i wanted and go home. They get to have some of those things, but I was able to shower after my event, they usually have to stay all yucky for days on end, and they can't just say "F this" and go home whenever they want.  They have to do it on the side of a mountain, in a desert or jungle with heavy equipment, sometimes being shot at, and even worse- not knowing where the enemy is. Not to mention the spiders!

If they are lucky though, they will find a frog to hang with.

I hope to post pictures or video in the future so stay tuned!

On an Ebb

Thankfully, I was beginning to wonder if i was ever going to see it again.

Since my last update, i have since stopped taking Sam-e. It really wasn't doing anything for the anxiety, and since I'm not depressed, i really didn't see the sense in taking it. I'll keep it in the nutritional section of my pantry for now.

I have managed to only have 1 mild flutter of anxiety this week prior to going to my client. I managed to get through the brief annoyance. The 2nd mild flutter was with the younger client on a walk on the first extremely hot day this week. We did 2 miles, 3/4 of which where up-hill at mostly a 45º incline. It was a scorcher, and I wasn't prepared for a walk that day, but she wanted to walk as opposed to doing her training so walk we did.. I'm going to have to start charging more for that stuff lol. I don't mind though, good training for my Spartan Sprint on June 4th!  Less than 2 weeks away!!

So anyway, we were about .75 of a mile from her home when i just started feeling weird.. i let it go, then i actually had a heart palp, and then i got nervous, trying to shut down an anxiety ridden mind is like trying to shut off a fire hydrant with a toothbrush. My greatest fear was her being in a situation where i fell ill and she needed to go for help or something.. i know, i know.. stupid, but that is what people with anxiety like mine worry about. However, i kept on trucking up those damn hills lol, and started REALLY dumb conversations just to keep my mind off of it. Oh and i also found a nail at the end of someone's driveway and picked it up and disposed of it properly, would want them to get a flat tire lol. See! it's stupid stuff like that! 

Between the bootcamps and the hill training I'm getting here i think I'll be good in a week-and-a-half! At least i hope so anyway!

The reason for this post.. silly me.. i noticed now that I'm exercising extensively with the 0530 bootcamps and some client workouts at the end of some days, I'm too tired to have anxiety. I mean I'm exhausted. I was sitting in traffic on my way home from my "up-hill" client the other day and i literally wanted to close my eyes and sleep. NORMALLY i would be a frantic mess trying to find the path of least resistance home. I'm just too tired to care anymore, even though the brain is subconsciously controlling those attacks, my conscious self is like "Would you cut the crap already, I'm tired.. my body weary"...

Hopefully, now that the system is calmed down from the last major attack, that this will be more the norm.. I like riding on the Ebb

Finally, on my way

My game plan changed. I'm now doing the TurboFire prep schedule instead of the Chalean/TurboFire hybrid.

After reviewing the program, it was simply to easy, and it focused more on Chalean than TurboFire. I need TurboFire to increase my cardio endurance since the Spartan is now less than 2 months away.

Last night i started TurboFire, the day 1 schedule is Fire 30 and stretch 10. It wasn't easy, but i didn't feel light-headed and want to pass out either. There were a couple of times that i had to bring my intensity down just a tad, but it was short-lived and i hopped right back on the train with them.

I am kind of disappointed that the day 2 schedule is just stretch 40. I might sub it for another fire 30 and use stretch 40 as my rest-day workout (tomorrow)

I will also be starting my C25K training today. My plan, once I finish with my business work, is to drive around the neighborhood to mark out 1 mile. 

I am also going to incorporate weight training 3 days per week, with the hubby, using the 5x5 method. Being that the spartan is less than 2 months away, i need a proven system to build strength, and the 5x5 will do that for me in the minimal amount of time i have to work with.

Diet is going to be a crucial part of the equation. With all of the cardio/running and weight training I'm going to need a large amount of calories. The biggest obstacle i have, personally with the diets, is variety. I get tired of eating the same things over and over, chicken is great, but i can only handle so much of it!! I can eat endless salads forever, but they do not provide enough calories and protein to sustain me to my next snack or meal.

Reassessment

I want to preface before i get into the thick of it by saying that weaning from an anti-depressant is serious business, and you really have to take care of yourself and listen to your body.

I say this because yesterday was a particularly hard day (day #3 of the wean). Bad headaches, tired is barely a word to describe the lethargic feeling, no appetite, and that is to mention just a few.

I had to skip the workout yesterday, and had planned on working out today, but I'm keeping it at a yard-work only work-out, as my anxiety levels are a bit high, and my symptoms today are worse than yesterday.

I AM afraid of a repeat of Monday, I will not deny it. IT was scary. I am however, grateful for the experience because if one of my boot campers experiences light headed-ness i know what to do while waiting for an ambulance to come. I always say "everything happens for a reason", and whether that is the reason, or it's something that has to do with my physical state, it happened and it happened for a reason. I don't look at it as a set-back, I look at it as a learning experience.

While i was scheduling out my to-do list last night i decided that i am going to forgo the full Insanity jump in and continue with my Chalean weight training and after a week i will switch to the Chalean/TurboFire hybrid. That will allow me to have the weight training i need (and want) as well as bring up my cardio levels.

When I started P90X, i didn't just buy the program and jump in. I knew my body was not physically able to do it. What i did do, is purchased 10 minute trainer then worked up to turbo jam, then Chalean Extreme, THEN i did P90X. And because of that gradual increase, i was able to kick major doopah with P90X! I never felt like a failure or discouraged, and i didn't have any physical side effects, other than soreness, which is what i love because it tells me I'm getting somewhere.

Thinking ahead to the Spartan coming up in June, my decision to register was to give my own brother a push, and to also use this to gauge my own physical capabilities for the Tough Mudder in November. That being the case, I'm clearly not ready for Insanity. I need to take the same "marathon vs. sprint" approach and work my way up.

Game Plan: Chalean/TurboFire Hybrid and Couch to 5k training. Couch to 5k training is a 30 day plan, so even if i start in May i will be OK. In the meantime I'm going to do the hybrid to get started.

TD10

Woke up with the sun and had a lot of energy, so after I created my to-do list, had a few sips of my morning java, I decided to have a cardio party.

 

DH was at a law enforcement event so I had to go it alone. I decided on Turbo Jam Cardio Party! I love that routine! It's been quite a long time since I popped that workout in, and I'm glad I did! Chalene always makes it fun, and it never feels like work until the next day! My upper body, and abs are definitely feeling it today!

I had every intention on doing strength training at night, but a bad headache and nausea set in. Not sure what that was all about, but this stomach thing has been plaguing me for most of the week, and I haven't been able to workout the way I wanted or scheduled.

Stepping up my A Game

TD9

Staying in-line with ChaLean's schedule it was Burn 3 today. I took a few rest days in a row, headaches and other obligations, no excuses - i know.

I had the chance to have a conversation today with a friend of mine that ran in the Super Spartan over the weekend in SoCal. I received a lot of good information in regards to training, even though I'm only running the 5k version.

His advice was to train with running. Running, as you know, is already my weakness, so i have to step up my game now.

One of the goals on my dream board is to do couch to 5k, and that is what i am going to use to train, initially.

After DH left for work i pulled my new toy out of my proverbial toy box. The TRX Suspension Training System. I spent part of my day watching the set-up video; the video also includes basic moves and a basic workout.


There was nothing "basic" about it. I broke a sweat during the first move! I will say that I am IN LOVE with the suspended crunches! This is definitely going to be the equipment that will finally allow me to do pull-ups! and climb over walls lol.

Here is a running list of what i need to improve on:
Running
Endurance
Cardio Endurance
Strength
Strength Endurance.

That's pretty much everything associated with fitness! If i had a pool, swimming would also be on the list!

My TRX is HERE!

TD8W2

Great workout last night! I was especially proud of DH for keeping up with the insanity of ChaLean's Burn Intervals & Ab Burner. He only had to flip Chalene off 2ce this time hee hee, but he did it.

I noticed some strength endurance changes in myself last night during the workout. I kept the weight the same as the week prior, but I was able to get to the end of each workout. I'm not going to deny i teared up a few times, but i did it and i am so proud of myself for pushing myself to the end of each move. I'm sore today, but it feels delicious!

Yesterday was a particularly odd day of sorts. I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed, but within about 1.5 hours this exhaustive feeling came over me. I was blogging, and catching up with my clients on Sharecare and i literally could not go on a minute longer. I had to put my feet up on the couch and just lay there for a little while. I wasn't mentally tired, meaning i didn't fall asleep, it was my physical self that was dead, like my batteries literally ran out of juice or there was a power outage! Where's that bunny when you need him?! lol

I remained on the couch for about 20 minutes, then as quickly as I stopped I started back up again! Then it was ON! Mt. Laundry was being tackled, I vacuumed the entire house, including the stairs, dusted everything, cleaned the kitchen and bathroom.. it was an all out assault on the house!

Later on that night was when DH and I crushed our workouts, then we were both in bed by 11:30! Unheard of, especially for him!  

My TRX Suspension Kit arrived that afternoon too! I cannot WAIT to get going with that! Check it out:

TD6W2

Last night was a stretch night, and DH and I used TurboFire Stretch 40.

I'm very proud of my DH, 2 days in a row he has willingly worked out with me, takes my proper form corrections without arguing and has thanked me for another great workout.

Families that play together stay together! SO TRUE!

Now, if I can only get him to compete in the Spartan Sprint.... 

I'm still working on a hybrid for me, but for now I'm going to continue with ChaLean as-is since I have the kettlebells and the TRX enroute to my home. I'm really excited for the TRX!!

"Good habits are as addictive as bad habits, and a lot more rewarding." -Harvey Mackay