I AM a Spartan! – or – What I knew at the finish line.

Okay. I am WAY late with this post. I would come up with a long list of “In my defense…” reasons, but really, there is no defense.  I can sum up the race very quickly for everyone: It. Was. AWESOME!

For those who want more details, continue reading!

I had spent weeks and months worrying about this race. Am I really ready for everything that the Spartans will throw at me? Do I have the upper body strength I know I’m going to need to complete these obstacles? Am I going to break something? Will I faceplant on the stump jump? What obstacles will they have? Aja is running for time, is she going to have to drag me around after I collapse?

I had thought I would be worried the day before and the day of the race, but amazingly, I spent the day before staying pretty calm. When I woke up the day of, rather than the race day jitters I was expecting, I was in what I shall call the “Spartan Mindset.” Instead of worrying, my brain kept repeating “I can do this. I can do this. I KNOW I can do this.” The repetition continued through the cloudy drive to the Sports Park, through check in, through my bouncing around like a crazed monkey waiting for my racing buddy, right up through the beginning of the race.

In what I have noticed is true Spartan fashion, the race began immediately with a steep hill.  As Vermonters who regularly run up hills,  Aja and I trooped up in a steady jog, slowing to  a walk only when we hit the bottleneck of people trying to fit through the woods path to the obstacles. Just beyond the woods there was a site to behold. A field filled with obstacles! Aja and I rand directly to the first obstacle where she promptly grabbed my hand and jumped into the trench of muddy water, taking me with her.  Thus, my initiation as a Spartan commenced! Jumping in and climbing out of three (or was it our?) trenches somehow left me with a bloody nose that I insisted I could run off. So we continued on! Under nets, over, under, and through walls, a short run. Then came the stump jump (there may have been another obstacle or two in there I’m missing).  The stump jump was one of my great fears. I had been hoping they wouldn’t have it. I have visions of missing a stump and faceplanting on the next one. Thankfully with help and encouragement from Aja I hopped, skipped, and jumped from stump to stump and made it through!

From here the order of things gets a little blurry. I know there was a swamp walk, pulling weights up a pulley (which Aja rocked by pulling up the dude weight!), monkey bars (penalty burpees for me, I didn’t realize how far apart they are!), and climbing up and down some steep mini-valleys. Somewhere after the steep mini-valleys I realized that I was tired. Very tired, but I knew that water was somewhere ahead and I had made it this far, there was no way I was going to drop out because of a little tiredness! I had been promised the best tasting banana of my life at the end, and I was going to get that banana! At this point I also decided the Spartan Race had discovered a way to control the weather. A day that had started out cool and overcast was now sunny without a cloud in the sky and blazingly hot and humid. Thankfully we soon turned a corner and found ourselves out of the woods and back at the top of the steep hill. Here the worlds best course volunteer and my favorite person of the day told us all we had to do was climb up one side of the cargo net, down the other, and then run down the hill and we would get water. YES!

At the bottom of the hill was also the traverse wall, which I OWNED. I felt like a crazy awesome monkey afterwards. Which was good, because then came the sandbag carry, up the hill, then down the hill. This left me feeling like a tired monkey. But still, we pressed on!

There were more obstacles after that, but they tend to blur together. I know there was a rope climb that I was able to complete successfully thanks to Aja holding the bottom of the rope still. Tragedy struck between the rope climb and the tall walls with Aja hurting her ankle pretty badly. She was taken off the course with a princess wave and a smile through the pain (this woman impresses me like no other!), and her (now mine too!) friend Jessica kindly took over escorting the newb duties vowing to help me as Aja would have. This involved helping me over tall walls and cheering me through the pet rock drag. There were some other obstacles in there, but then came the one I had been looking forward to! The barbed wire crawl! I had wanted to feel like a badass all day, and here was my chance! I began by rolling which seems to be the fastest and easiest way to get through. Then came the uphill portion of the crawl. There was no way to roll up the hill so I dug my hands into three inch deep mud and I dragged myself. I even dragged past a group of guys who were laying there looking like their male bonding weekend had gone terribly askew.

I stood at the top of the hill and surveyed all the obstacles that I could see and I felt fantastic! Jessica and I regrouped and headed into the woods again. After a short jaunt we discovered we were near the end, and got in line for the fire jump. We leaped, then ran down the hill to the slippery wall. I planted my feet and remembered all the advice Aja (and others) had given me, and I leaned back instead of forward and I walked right up that damn wall. Down the other side, then through the Spartans (who actually tried to hit me a little! Yay!), and we were done!

I could not stop beaming. I swear. All day (and even now when I think about it). I felt so proud and amazing. I can look back on those obstacles and while I didn’t complete all of them, I know I tried my absolute hardest and I surprised myself with what I could do. Maybe that’s what I knew at the finish line. That I am capable of more than I thought.

And that everyone was right: that banana at the end was the best damn banana I have ever eaten.

Girls (and me) on the Run

This week I managed a medium-length (about 3 miles) walk, and of course, Sprint Night! I am very happy to announce a new personal best for sprints.  I managed to finish one sprint (200 meters) in 39.1 seconds! Having never managed anything under 40, I am supremely happy. I’m also looking forward to sprints next week, because I apparently enjoy sprints.  They murder me, but I love them.  What can I say?  I’m odd.

It’s been raining a lot (thunderstorms) and tonight it hailed, so it hasn’t been the best running weather. I’m definitely going to have to get back into running soon though, I took a big jump and registered for my half marathon this weekend! It’s the Leaf Peepers Half Marathon on October 7th, and I know I’ll have at least one other friend running it with me. I can’t believe that it’s only been a year since I started running and I’m signed up for a half marathon. I really have to start training now!  I managed to find an easy to follow half-marathon training schedule here, and I’m going to start it tomorrow night.  It should get me ready to run 13.1 miles a couple weeks before the Leaf Peepers race.

Every time I think about (or actually do) going on long runs or signing up for races it feels a little surreal. I’m the girl who swore she would never run anywhere, that I was going to stroll entirely through life. Now I look forward to runs and enjoy crazy things like sprints. One of the reasons I avoided running was because it made my knees hurt. I’ve had bad knees since I was thirteen, but about three and a half years ago I started going to a hot yoga class once a week (and when I could afford it two or three times a week). Yoga improved not only my flexibility, but strengthened my knees A LOT. I will be forever grateful to the standing postures, even if I grumble about them sometimes 😛

On Saturday I volunteered at a 5k for the Girls on the Run program.  This is a program run during the school year that aims to improve the self esteen of girls in elementary and middle school by training them to run/walk a 5k.  It was inspiring to see the results.  There were about 2,000 girls and coaches registered, as well as about 500 family members and friends.  I was posted at one of the turns and my job was to tell people to turn left and to cheer for them.  I clapped until my hands hurt, and I think that (aside from those posted at the finish line) I had the best post in the place.  I could see the hill that everyone had to run down, and there is just something about seeing 2,500 people streaming down a hill (twice!) that makes you happy, and reminds you that running is awesome.  It was wonderful to see parents and coaches running with their kids also.  There were some groups that walked, but they still FINISHED.  And really, that’s what matters.  They spent weeks building up to this, and they did it!  There were so many happy faces after the race ended, and everyone walked away with a medal.  Hopefully someday when these girls think they can’t do something they’ll look at it and realize they can do anything.

I’m going to use that as motivation to get ready for my half-marathon.  A year ago I didn’t think I would ever run that far, but now I know I can!

Schadefreude Tuesdays and Running Rules

Hello again!  It’s been MONTHS!  I honestly have no idea how so much time managed to pass since my last post.  What awesome racing adventures have I been up to in all this time?  Well…none, really.  I’ve been going to my weekly Sprint night with friends (or as we call them: Schadenfreude Tuesdays) and having a fabulous time with those.  Apparently my competitive side bursts out during sprints and I absolutely CANNOT let my friends beat me.  Which of course Aja usually does.  Curses.  Someday….

Not only is sprint night full of fantastic sprints (seriously, I love them.  I think I have a sickness.), it’s a fun time to hang out with friends, try yoga poses, test out foam rollers, attempt handstand pushups (I managed one!), and laugh at each others expressions of pain and shrieks.  Real ladies bond over sprints, challenges, and pain.

While I haven’t been running a lot lately, I have been going on a lot of long walks. I love running. I love the connections I feel to my muscles as they work, focusing on my breathing, getting places faster, and just calming myself mentally.  That said, I also love long walks.  I always have.  I’m not talking strolling along and smelling roses, it’s still exercise.  But brisk walks of five miles or more with friends?  They are phenomenally refreshing.  I’ve been dragging my boyfriend on walks of 3-5 miles at least a couple nights a week, and we get to spend the time talking about our days, planning things, and in general treat it almost like a date.  It’s great!  A little over a week ago we walked the 7 or so miles to town, had dinner, and then walked back home.  It took forever, but it was a fantastic time!

This past Saturday I had a date with a friend who wants to learn to run.  I decided we would start with a mile run, that she could walk most of if she needed (everyone needs to start somewhere). Our mile run turned into a five mile walk.  We will attempt the mile run/five mile walk again this weekend!  I’ve never taught anyone to run, so this is as much a learning experience for me as it is for her.  The experience did remind me of one of my rules for running (I don’t know if this is a rule for anyone else or not): Don’t throw all your energy in at the beginning.  This is what you do for sprints.  Running/jogging is vastly different.  If you want to go the distance you MUST pace yourself or your energy will run out before you reach your distance goal.

So, to end this post, I’ll share the rules I have made up over the past year for running (I can’t believe I’ve been running for a year!):

1. Pace yourself.  You won’t get where you’re going if you have exhausted yourself halfway there. It’s good to push yourself some, but if you can’t speak a few words without gasping, you’re pushing too hard and you need to back off.

2. Focus on your breathing.  It took memonths to figure this out.  I once read that it’s best to breath in for two steps and then breath out for two steps.  This doesn’t work for me, but I did eventually find a rhythm that works really well.  This helps.  Really.

3. Stretch before.  Some people don’t need to.  They can just jump up and run.  Sometimes I can do that too, but more often than not I need to stretch out my leg muscles or they start to ache partway through a run.

4. Start small and build a base. When Anna and I started running a year ago we started with a mile.  However, we had also been running indoor on treadmills for years.  Running outdoors is very different, it was like starting all over again.  Everyone has to start somewhere, and by setting small goals at first you will build your confidence.  Then you can use your new confidence to push onto running further, or faster, or what ever goal you choose to set.

5. Don’t eat corn chips.  Or anything that high in sodium. High sodium = Queasiness = Walking. And just feeling pretty blech overall. I have a buddy I recruited to remind me not to each corn chips.  If I even think about corn chips I text her and she responds with “NOOOO! Don’t do it!” Maybe other people can eat corn chips and run. I’m not one of them. *le sigh*

That’s all I have for now!  What rules do other people have for running?  Or for exercise/being in motion in general?

I Ran a 10k and Grinned Like a Fool (A Lot)

My first step is to get this out of the way: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!  (Yes, that was a demonic sounding, high-pitched squeal of joy).

I did it!  I finished my first 10k!

Yesterday I (and my friends Aja and Anna) ran the RaceVermont.com Spring Fling 10k.  I spent the entire night before having running themed dreams, and woke up psyched and ready to go.  And very nervous.  I had all the normal race day thoughts running through my head: What if I fall down?  What if I end up in last place?  What if I have a terrible running time?  On and on went the questions, drowned out only by the one overarching thought of “Today I’m running a 10k!  This is going to be AWESOME!”  My joy was only encouraged by the perfect race day weather (overcast and somewhere in the low 50s I think – which sounds terrible until you realize that you’ll be running 6.2 miles and that will keep you from overheating).

The race officially began only a few minutes after we arrived, as a group all the racers walked up to the main road together and waited for the start.  I had a nice interaction with a lady wearing the same sneakers as me (though hers didn’t have the badass skull and crossbones shoelaces that mine do), and then we were off!  The race route was on the main road for a little less than half a mile, and then we all turned right and the rest was trail running.  It was a beautiful trail too!  I ran along with my friends talking about previous runs we had done while we were warming up.  Eventually we came to the 5k turnaround, at which point I realized that there were less people running the 10k than I had thought, here was where most people turned and I crossed the road to a new trail and ran some more.  After reading about the course I had been a little nervous about the route after this, there had been warnings of steep hills, and I didn’t know if this meant really steep hills, or hills that seem tiny in comparison to other hills I have run (see: Hills of Doom route in the previous post).  It turns out they were somewhere in the middle, and there were in fact only a couple of them.  The joy of running up these hills is that I got to run down them too!

Somewhere around mile 3 the trail leveled out a bit and ran next to the lake.  I passed a few people who had already turned around and who said encouraging things to me (runners on race day are some of the nicest, most supportive people I have ever met), I meanwhile said nice things back and mostly grinned like an idiot because the view of the lake was so pretty and I was so content to be running along next to it.  Then came the last hill: a short, steep hill of doom.  Halfway up I caught a glimpse of color and realized that was the turnaround point, all I had to do was make it up this last evil hill.  So I did.  I got to the top and caught up with one woman I had been chasing for the past two miles, grabbed some water, then turned and started back down the hill.  This is where I made a new friend.  It turns out the lady I had been chasing (whose name I still don’t know!) ran this race last year.  So we ran along chatting about previous races, what races we want to do, and how everytime someone tells us that we’re almost done they are lying to us.  Really, people told us this through the whole race.  It would give me a boost and then I’d realize I wasn’t really almost there, unless “almost there” means another mile or more.  It was very encouraging though.

After a while my new friend had a walk break and I ran on ahead.  On the way back, I realized that I was passing people!  Me!  I haven’t even been running for a year yet, and I managed to pass people?!  After I crossed the 4 mile marker I had another idiotic grin on my face realizing I only had a couple more miles to go, and that I may make it in my goal time (1 hour).  So I just kept running, I’m pretty sure my brain zoned out because all I did was look around at the nice scenery and keep on moving forward.  When there was only one mile left I saw a group of people cheering for me (I love strangers who stand at the sidelines and cheer for me!), and another photographer (when photos are posted in a couple weeks, I’ll make sure to put some up).  So I kicked up my speed a little bit, or at least as much as I could, and did my best to charge through the last mile.  I knew I was almost done when I reached the main road again.  I made it back down to the field we first met on and then ran through the final stretch of cones and tape they had set up.  I crossed the finish line at 1:01:08!  Not quite my goal of one hour, but it very close!

In all, it was a fantastic race!  It was a beautiful setting, perfect weather (although very cold once I stopped moving), and all of the people were wonderful.  I can’t wait to run another 10k and try to beat my time!

An added bonus is that there was a raffle afterwards and Anna won a fuel belt (a belt with two water bottles for medium length running distance) and gave it to me!  Now I have no excuse not to run another race, and to eventually run a half marathon!

Summary:

Race: Spring Fling 5k/10k
Distance: 10k (6.2 miles)
Time: 1:01:08
Experience: FANTASTIC!

Just Keep Running, Just Keep Running

I bet the question on everyone’s minds lately has been “where are all the updates on April’s awesome running adventures?!”

Or not.

In any case, there haven’t been any updates, because I’ve only been running once or twice a week for the past couple of weeks.  There may not have been much running, but I have been enjoying all of it!  I think that medium length runs (anywhere between three to eight miles) are my favorites.  I have run shorter runs, but it seems like once they’ve started they’re already done! Longer runs sometimes feel like they drag on forever.  I have done eight mile runs a couple times, and it seems like my limit both physically and attention span-wise.  I have also run ten miles, but partway through my joints are tired, my brain wanders, I’m beyond bored and just looking for the end.  I like runs that either give me time to listen to one really good music album, or to the best songs from a mediocre music album.

Now that everyone is aware of my running length preferences, I can actually talk about a fantastic run that I went on yesterday with a friend!  We went on a modified version of a route that I like to refer to as “The Hills of Doom Route.”  As you may have guessed from the title, there are in fact, many hills.  This run is a solid five miles of uphill, downhill, uphill, more uphill, and finally some more downhill.  There are some flats in there, but the hill distances vastly outweigh them.  The regular version includes one hill twice, but we skipped it the second time and added in some extra distance on a flat space.  In total it was a 4.5 mile run.  Also, I enjoyed it so much!  I think most of the enjoyment came from the fact that it was a beautiful day out.  Seriously, 77 degree days do not normally happen in March in Vermont.  It was a fantastic run on a beautiful day, and it just doesn’t get much better than that.

Something I learned after this run is that while running, I apparently use my arm muscles to move my arms back and forth!  This has probably occurred to people before, but I had never realized it until now because I have never done kickboxing before!  Yes, kickboxing.  I signed up for a kickboxing class that is taught by a co-worker twice a week and the first night was Tuesday.  In an effort to get my arms in shape for the Spartan Race in August she promised me lots of pushups and burpees, and she definitely delivered!  My arms are still tired two days later (I also have no upper body strength), and I’m going to be taking the second class tonight!  Hopefully by the end of this I’ll be in fantastic shape for the Spartan Race!

In other racing news: 10k on Saturday!!  I am SO EXCITED!  And so NERVOUS!  I think it will go well though.  Two friends signed up for it too, so we can all be nervous together during the car ride there, and all be ecstatic together during the car ride back!

For now I’m off to kickboxing, where I will learn to beat up potential muggers and bust through pushups like a champ!

5 Miles a Day Challenge Results!

Okay, I’ll get this over right off: I did not make it five miles everyday.  I missed ONE.  However, I’m still enormously proud because that means that I made it 30 miles one week!  More than I have ever done in a week.  Here is how the week went:

Sunday: Run 3 miles, later go back and run another 2
Monday: A solid 5 mile run
Tuesday: Another 5 mile run
Wednesday: Eye swollen and red, grump as heck, walk five miles with some jogging in there somewhere
Thursday: Another 5 miles at once!
Friday: Lazy, and my leg joints are all very tired, so no running
Saturday: One last five mile run!

I think this was an excellent challenge to finally bump my weekly totals up.  I am, in fact, debating doing this challenge every few weeks.  One week a month of promising myself five miles a day doesn’t seem so hard now that I’ve managed to (almost) accomplish it.

I haven’t figured out my schedule for running this week, so I’m probably just going to wing it.  I have tomorrow off from work, and my only plans are to go car shopping with my Dad (maybe I’ll come home with my first brand new car!!), so I think I can fit in a five or six mile run in the afternoon!

I think my next goal will have to be working upper body exercises into my life.  The closer I get to the Spartan race, the more nervous I get!

On an extremely positive note, I’ve found a quick and easy way to motivate myself: new shoelaces!  I feel pretty badass running with shoelaces that have a skull and crossbones pattern!

Motivation (and challenges for myself!)

I’ll admit it, I’m not always the most motivated runner.  I have days (sometimes weeks) where I feel incredibly lazy.  I don’t want to get out and run, I want to curl up with this book, or schlump here and eat these chips.  Some days I can make myself get up and go, and some days I can’t.  I rarely regret the days that I do make myself go running, I always feel fantastic afterwards.  Lately, however, I’ve found myself struggling with motivation.  I think part of the reason is because here in Vermont we’re currently in the dead of winter.  It’s cold, dark, and none too cheerful outside most of the time.  I love being outside in the summer, it’s sunny, warm, and just fantastic after being cooped up inside all day.  However, summer is months (and one mud filled spring season) away.  So, I have decided that I need to come up with new ways to motivate myself for the rest of this winter.  Spring should be a motivation filled season with all those lovely mud puddles tempting me to go splash through (at 27 I still find it nearly impossible to avoid the call of puddle jumping).

Some weeks I can get going by starting the week off with a long run.  These runs are usually 8-10 miles and usually involve dragging a friend (or two!) along with me.  I really enjoy these runs because having other people there motivates me like crazy!  Other weeks nobody is available for a run, or even the thought of a nice long run still doesn’t ge me off the couch.  This week I actually have access to a treadmill, so instead of dragging myself out running in snowstorms, or even in mildly chilly weather, I came up with a new challenge!  This week is going to be the week that I run five miles every single day.  If I follow this goal I will have run 35 miles in just one week, which would be a new weekly mileage total for me!  My goals are normally more along the lines of 15 miles in a week.  Two days in and so far I’m sticking to that challenge!  If I can do this on a treadmill in the winter, maybe I’ll use this challenge again this summer if I find myself unmotivated again.

Do you struggle with motivation to get out there and run?  How do you get yourself up and moving?  Also, does anyone have any suggestions for new challenges I could try?

In other news, I just registered for my first 10k!  It’s the Spring Fling 5k/10k put on by RaceVermont.com.  And it’s in less than one month! I am SO incredibly excited!  Having also convinced two friends to register, I now have a support group to cheer me on when they finish before me (and who I can cheer on as they fly by)!  I think that this race will be an excellent form of motivation for me to get out there and run for the next few weeks, but we’ll see where motivation (and weather) take me!

The Beginning

I was never able to understand how people could enjoy running. I mostly looked upon it as a neccessary evil that usually made my knees hurt, but had to be done to keep myself in somewhat decent shape, and limited it to treadmills in gyms. That all changed in June of 2011.

In June of 2011 one of my best friends and I decided that we needed to take up running outdoors. Running in the gym was beyond boring, and we needed a new challenge. We started out slowly, knowing that it’s tougher to run outdoors on varying terrain than it is on a nice smooth treadmill. One mile, twice a week. Then we bumped it up to two miles. Then three. Within a few months we were able to do a five mile loop that included what we like to call “The Hill of DOOM.” It was official. I had caught the running bug. I was thrilled to find my knees no longer hurt like they used to. I credit this with three years of hot yoga one to three times a week. There are a lot of knee strengthening postures in hot yoga, and lo and behold, they helped!

Another few months and we both ran our first 5k. I managed to finish in 29:43. Not bad for having been a runner for only 3 1/2 months!

I haven’t run another race since then, but I’ve still been putting in the miles (almost entirely outdoors since I no longer have a gym membership).   I have made longer runs since then.  We went from five miles to six, to seven, and then jumped to ten!  I’ve only done two ten mile runs so far, but I am planning on more!  I would eventually like to do a 15 mile run.

I do miss the atmosphere of the race though, so, this year will be the year of races. I want to complete a 10k, another 5k, and a half marathon! I thought this blog would be a great place to tell people about how my running is going, the races I will be running, and maybe even review fantastic running gear as I try it out.

Currently I only have one race scheduled for this year, and a link to it is posted in the sidebar.  I will be adding to this as I find and register for races that I want to run.

Welcome to my blog!