After spending all of last week deliberating whether to train for the Tough Mudder in June, I finally bit the bullet yesterday and registered. I have been reading through fitness blogs/ reviews from others who have done the race so far this year, talking to a few people who have done it, and watching an embarrassing amount of YouTube videos of both people doing the race with Go Pro's and the Mudder organization itself showing details of the obstacles.
This week of training went pretty well. We just finished week 2 of March Madness at bodyco, and though I spent the first half of this week battling a cold, I made it a point to work as hard as I could to see if this race was something I'd be able to handle. In Monday's training Jody put me through the ringer. From pull ups to farmer carries it was non stop. I am pretty sure I sweat out 75% of my germs. I felt really good post workout, but it was Saturday Slaughter yesterday that solidified my choice to register. One of the exercises we had to do were towel pull ups. Right out of the gun my response was "those towels won't hold me" and "I won't even be able to get one of these, nevermind 50." For the first half hour I kept staring at the pull up bar, then going onto something else. I finally jumped up, did two, and got off. As I was doing so, I remembered my first slaughter class I had ever taken at bodyco, to which I left in tears. We had to do 50 pull ups and I couldn't even do one. Yesterday I told myself to suck it up and get it done. I busted out the 50, then after class had 15 minutes to kill and did another 15. Before I could mentally talk myself out of it, I came home and registered.
I have spent time today at work researching key exercises that will prepare me best for the race, as well as local hiking trails that I can start running over the next few weeks (if the snow ever melts). I would love to really focus on a goal and train properly for it...so here it goes! If I can get solid training under my belt for this, I will feel much more confident going into my Spartan race two weeks later. That last wall from October still haunts me. :)
I have been making an effort over the last few weeks to eat and train better and I definitely feel stronger. I am not one to take "before and after" photos, but I wanted to see if there would be a change in my body if I focused on making better choices. In the last two weeks, I am beginning to see that. It's motivating me to stay on the path and get it done!
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Sunday, March 15, 2015
The Stronger I Get, the More I Think I'm Losing My Mind
So it's been a few weeks since Gasparilla. I felt pretty good through both races, so there was no real "recovery" to have to deal with, but I took a little time off from running. The week following Tampa Gina and I took mom on a last minute mother/ daughter weekend trip to Disney. Friday would be the one year anniversary of when our lives got flipped upside down and I owed it to mom to get her away for a bit after her staying back from the Jacksonville trip. We literally decided on Wednesday that we were going to surprise her and leave Friday. I guess this is one of our great free fly benefits. :-) I brought my running stuff, but only ended up getting in a short run on Sunday. I worked overnight Thursday, so was completely exhausted when we arrived on Friday, and it rained all day Saturday, so opt to skip that run. Sunday was absolutely beautiful and though of course it was the day we had to leave, we still were able to get in a great day of swimming and lazy river riding! It was worth every penny that Gina and I spent, as mom was like a child all weekend, and happier than we have seen her in quite a while. This photo does little justice, but was one of my favorites from the weekend...
The following week was a bit of a mess with nutrition with my birthday looming and being taken out by family/ friends and being super busy with work. I spent Friday drinking copious amounts of wine and eating some amazing Mediterranean food with my two best friends and rang in 31 with them. I did get in a few solid workouts, but as we all know, you can't out train a bad diet.
Bodyco started a March Madness challenge and I hopped back on the wagon this week, completing it's first week. I have been eating a bit better and got in 6 solid workouts Monday through Saturday. They also created a team for the upcoming Tough Mudder at Mt. Snow in June...and therein lies my dilemma. To Mudder or not to Mudder? My initial reaction was a straight no. Yes, I said the same thing about doing a Spartan, but that was all physical. I knew I wasn't going to be able to complete all the obstacles, but I knew I was comfortable (I use that term loosely) with doing burpees, so would be able to complete the race. I was also going to be part of the Biggest Loser team, where I would have the opportunity to opt out of whatever I was not comfortable with and there were volunteers who would be with us through the whole race (until I got brave and ran ahead on my own). Tough Mudder however, challenges your mental grit, something that I struggle with more than any physical challenge I am handed to me. I hate anything that drops me from a distance, or has my feet higher than my height. I don't do water slides, spinning rides and stay clear of jumping up/down from anything more than a few steps.
I've realized lately in bodyco that I can do more than I think I can if I only let my mind get out of my body's way, but it is a huge struggle for me. Because I am sort of crazy, I have been spending countless hours researching everything Tough Mudder related from obstacles to tips. If you know me well, you know I take no risks. As my grandmother said when I recently talked to her "you were afraid of the merry go round, how could you ever think of doing this race?" That would be completely true and I keep going back and forth as to whether to do it, but deep down I think it's something I need to overcome. I talked to a few of my closest friends and both stated that it would certainly be a stretch for me, but something they would love to see me do. I recently stumbled upon this quote someone posted to facebook and it struck me pretty hard...
"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do." Eleanor Roosevelt
With that, one question lies- go for it?
The following week was a bit of a mess with nutrition with my birthday looming and being taken out by family/ friends and being super busy with work. I spent Friday drinking copious amounts of wine and eating some amazing Mediterranean food with my two best friends and rang in 31 with them. I did get in a few solid workouts, but as we all know, you can't out train a bad diet.
Bodyco started a March Madness challenge and I hopped back on the wagon this week, completing it's first week. I have been eating a bit better and got in 6 solid workouts Monday through Saturday. They also created a team for the upcoming Tough Mudder at Mt. Snow in June...and therein lies my dilemma. To Mudder or not to Mudder? My initial reaction was a straight no. Yes, I said the same thing about doing a Spartan, but that was all physical. I knew I wasn't going to be able to complete all the obstacles, but I knew I was comfortable (I use that term loosely) with doing burpees, so would be able to complete the race. I was also going to be part of the Biggest Loser team, where I would have the opportunity to opt out of whatever I was not comfortable with and there were volunteers who would be with us through the whole race (until I got brave and ran ahead on my own). Tough Mudder however, challenges your mental grit, something that I struggle with more than any physical challenge I am handed to me. I hate anything that drops me from a distance, or has my feet higher than my height. I don't do water slides, spinning rides and stay clear of jumping up/down from anything more than a few steps.
I've realized lately in bodyco that I can do more than I think I can if I only let my mind get out of my body's way, but it is a huge struggle for me. Because I am sort of crazy, I have been spending countless hours researching everything Tough Mudder related from obstacles to tips. If you know me well, you know I take no risks. As my grandmother said when I recently talked to her "you were afraid of the merry go round, how could you ever think of doing this race?" That would be completely true and I keep going back and forth as to whether to do it, but deep down I think it's something I need to overcome. I talked to a few of my closest friends and both stated that it would certainly be a stretch for me, but something they would love to see me do. I recently stumbled upon this quote someone posted to facebook and it struck me pretty hard...
"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do." Eleanor Roosevelt
With that, one question lies- go for it?
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