My fueling regimen for any race, from Marathon distance to 5K distance, is a bowl of oatmeal (with peanut butter and banana) and copious amounts of coffee and water precisely 3 hours before gun time. I stop all drinking 2 hours before gun time except for approximately 4oz of water 15 minutes beforehand to help aid digestion of the Gu I eat. The level of OCD of this routine has been fine tuned over the past couple of years and helps me get mentally prepared for any race.
So imagine my panic when I bolted out of bed at 5:30am for a 7:35am gun time. My original plan was to get up at 430am, immediately eat and caffeine up and then hydrate, get dressed and relax for an hour. Leaving the house at 530am would have given me ppplllleeennntttyyyy of time to meet up with Dave at chip pick-up at our planned time of 650am. Well, sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches my friends. I quickly jumped out of bed, got dressed and hit the road with some whole wheat cinnamon raison toast (peanut buttered), a banana, coffee and water. I knew the toast would settle faster than oatmeal and I prayed the coffee would do it’s *ahem* job in a timely fashion.
I still managed to get up to Madeira Beach, park, pick up our chips, use the port-o-potty (thank you coffee!!!) and meet up with Dave with time to spare. Then as it turned out we had even more time to kill, and another chance to use the potty, because of a snafu with the coast guard and the bridge that was on the race course (which turned out just fine, as it was down when we went to cross).
For my first half marathon my goal was to break 2 hours (achieved with a time of 1:58:11) and with my second I just wanted a sub-9 min/mile pace (achieved with a pace of 8:59 min/mile). So for this race the goal was to break 1:55. I knew this was a good chance to achieve that since the course was relatively flat (with the exception of two short overpasses and the bridge) and I had a pacer. Dave (my fellow co-worker and Tough Mudder) is training for his 3rd marathon and he had 15 miles on his schedule for Sunday, so he ran 2 miles before the race then paced me for 13.1 miles. We talked strategy beforehand and I told him I wanted to hold 8:45 for the first 10 miles then bring it down to 8:30 or lower for the last 3 miles.
Well take a look at these splits ya’ll:
Chip time: 1:53:39. 8:42 min/mile pace.
Dave has a fancy plug in on his Sport Tracks software (what he uses to upload his Garmin data) and told me that our very last mile from 12.1-13.1 was a 7:58 pace. The last mile of this race I held a sub-8 pace!!! That is just pure crazy!
The other deets:
I definitely worked for every second of this time, I never was comfortable even though my heart rate was low and I think a lot of that was mental. I told Dave afterwards as we munched on post-race cookies that I had already written off this race as a fail before we even started. Yet with his support and general Dave awesomeness I not only reached my goal, I blew it away and PR’ed by 4 minutes.
I know you want a close-up of that sweet medal (it’s sparkly and that makes me happy):
Plus I had a new race shirt to help boost my confidence (I promise my arms aren’t that fat, I was too fatigued to properly flex :-D):
Representing my CrossFit crew! 😉
So the next planned half marathon is the Clearwater Half Marathon, which Jena and I logically decided we should do even though the course is horrendous. You see, the Clearwater half is part of a series of 4 half marathons, Halloween, Holiday, Clearwater and Florida Beach. Since we have already done Halloween and Holiday and are planning on doing Florida Beach, we might as well do Clearwater right? Right! Plus, this series thus far has been incredibly well run with awesome swag, t-shirts and medals (which let’s be honest- that’s what we really run for!). So we plan to run together and just have fun with it since it certainly isn’t PR material!
As far as goals for my remaining 3 half marathons of the season… I’ve altered my goals again to include a sub-1:50 half. My trainers think I can do it and I think that with some dedicated training it might be possible! I won’t be terribly disappointed if it doesn’t happen though since I’ve already exceeded my personal expectations for this season.
Many months ago I was peer pressured into signing up for Tough Mudder. I was particularly vulnerable at the time as I was finally getting the hang of CrossFit and had developed a bit of confidence. So I signed up for the challenge with my CrossFit team and then shared the peer pressure love with my runner coworker, aka Dave. He had been signed up for a similar type of mud run that was cancelled at the last minute so it wasn’t hard to talk him into it. The husband would have been dragged along but he was scheduled to work and the event sold out before he could request off.
So on Saturday morning Dave and I made the trek up to Dade City, signed death waivers in hand, to join the masses in pursuit of the title ‘Tough Mudder.’ For the Saturday event there was something like 60,000 people at Little Everglades Ranch and that doesn’t include spectators. Luckily we had a relatively early start time (10am) so we didn’t have to fight any traffic and parking was a breeze (though we should have paid more attention to where we parked since we had to wander a little bit afterwards).
Before
We were taken through a very motivational speech, recited the Tough Mudder oath, listened to the National Anthem and then took off. Dave and I knew we were going to stick together but had an understanding with our team that we might split off from them since they weren’t runners (Dave and I are both marathoners and weren’t planning to walk). We didn’t have any time goals but kept in mind that the average completion time for the 11.5 mile, 26 obstacle course was 3 hours. Our ultimate goal was to survive without injury and have fun in the process.
Obstacle 1: Steeple Chase– The first obstacle we encountered had us jumping over several low walls. What you didn’t know on the first one was that there was a ditch between each wall that you had to jump over. If you jumped too far without looking you would have jumped into the ditch. A kind volunteer was attempting to warn us but we didn’t hear. I remember Dave turning to me and saying, ‘I feel like she just said something very important.’
Obstacle 2: Chernobyl Jacuzzi – This obstacle was the most shocking to the system. You jumped into a giant tub of dyed ice water (ours was green, there was blue and pink also) and then had to bob under some barbed wire halfway through the tub, which forced you under the ice water, then jump out. Once I crossed under the barbed wire is when I panicked. It was so cold and I couldn’t process anything, including breathing, so I just scrambled for the other side. Luckily no one was in front of me or else I would have body checked them out of my way!
I had begged Dave to be my Gu mule since I was wearing old crappy shorts that didn’t have pockets and refused to wear and subsequently ruin my Spi-belt (it’s seen me through 2 marathons!). So he stuck our Gu in his (unzippered) pockets and unfortunately lost them on this obstacle when his pockets turned inside out. Of course I badgered him throughout the course whenever I saw an empty Gu packet on the ground. 😀
Obstacle 3: Underwater Tunnels– The water on this obstacle wasn’t as cold as the ice bath, probably because it was a natural pond. You had to bob under several of those black plastic construction pipes. Only the first was a bit unnerving since it was difficult to judge how far to go underwater.
Obstacle 4: Kiss of Mud– Crawling on your belly through mud and under barbed wire. Not really horrible except it was hard to judge how big my butt was and thus how close to the ground I had to be. That and the girl next to Dave was flopping around like a fish and splashing mud everywhere.
Obstacle 5: Mystery Obstacle– The first mystery obstacle consisted of a bunch of tires hanging from a wooden structure at varying heights. You run through them hoping you don’t get slammed by a tire. This one wasn’t bad because the obstacle was basically empty, making it easier to navigate.
Obstacle 6: Spider’s Web– Climbing up and over a cargo net. Pretty easy, just don’t look down. And when it’s your turn to hold the net taught for your fellow Mudders, don’t look up. Mud flaking off their shoes will get in your eye.
Obstacle 7: Bale Bonds– This obstacle had hay bales on their side stacked 2 high that you had to go up and over. My first attempt at jumping on this obstacle was a fail and resulted in me face planting into the hay. Better than face planting in mud I suppose.
Obstacle 8: Ball Shrinker– Traverse a pit of coldish water by using a rope that was strung from one side to the other. I just jumped in and pulled myself across and the water wasn’t that cold.
Obstacle 9: Berlin Walls #1– Climbing up and over 12 foot walls. There was a little 2×4 attached at the bottom so you could get a step up. Dave helped me from below and some other guys helped me from above. Getting down was a straight drop. There was no step-down on the other side so take care when dropping from that height.
Obstacle 10: The Trenches– Probably the most hilarious obstacle of them all, there were man made pits of varying depths all throughout a mud pit. You had to go slow and feel your way along because at any moment you would find yourself chest deep in mud. We probably looked like a bunch of morons to spectators!
Obstacle 11: Twinkle Toes– A ‘log bridge’ consisting of a very long board over a water pit. The board was only supported on either end so the middle was very wobbly. It was also on its side so you only had maybe 3″ of room for your feet. The strategy here is to keep moving! I managed to make it all the way across but Dave paused to regain balance half-way in and fell in.
Proper form
Not proper form
Obstacle 12: Devil’s Beard– This was a cargo net that you had to crawl under, through mud. The more people in it, the tighter it got. I put my hand down on something sharp (I’m not sure what since I was wrist-deep in mud) and had a little puncture wound just below my pinky. I definitely showed it off to all my coworkers on Monday. 😉
Obstacle 13: Boa Constrictor– Two long black plastic construction tubes, one angled down and the other angled up. Where the two met was a muddy pit. Going down was easy, going back up was a little more difficult but since I’m smaller (you know, than the men) I was able to crawl.
Obstacle 14: Walk the Plank– Jump off a 15′ high platform into a pond then swim out. I was surprised at how hard I hit the water on this one!
Between obstacles 14 and 15 were a series of maybe 8 steep dirt hills. This was really challenging for me since I was already fatigued. Plus there was a pretty strong wind and with all the newly excavated dirt piles, we were practically running blind from the dirt storm.
Obstacle 15: Jumpin’ Bale– Several hay bales in a line that you had to jump from one to the other.
Obstacle 16: Gator Bait– This was just walking through a long stream. There may have been Gators in there at one point but they were long gone when we came through. I was never really worried about them, they most likely took off when the all the set up construction started.
Obstacle 17: Gauntlet– A high pressure hose spraying you down. Unfortunately (for the race organizers, good for us Mudders) the wind was blowing pretty strong in the wrong direction and we just got a light mist. Which actually felt pretty good.
Obstacle 18: Fire Walker– We were channeled in between two rows of straw that was burning. It was definitely hot in there but the worst was the smoke. I felt like I had just smoked a pack of cigs when I emerged.
Obstacle 19: Berlin Walls #2– Another set of 2 walls, but these were a tad higher and I think the step was a tad lower. I was sitting on the very top of the first one trying to swing one leg around when I had the first thought of ‘oh yeah, this could be very dangerous.’ When I dropped down the other side I banged both of my knees on the wall and now have some awkward bruises.
Obstacle 20: Hold Your Wood– (that’s what she said) Carry a log through a pond that got to about chest high. I carried it via the ‘baby holding’ method then threw it over one shoulder when the water got deeper. Some friends (that did the course the next day) told me they were yelled at to hold it up over their head but I wasn’t told that.
Obstacle 21: Funky Monkey– This was the obstacle I was dreading! Monkey Bars over a pit of water. I have a horrible grip so I was convinced I wouldn’t get very far but I actually made it all the way across! Whee!
Obstacle 22: Mystery Obstacle #2– This is what I called Gopher Holes. I had seen pictures of this obstacle in other Tough Mudder events and was really nervous about it. The holes looked so small and I was worried I might panic in them (though I don’t have claustrophobia). Fortunately the holes were actually pretty big and I wasn’t that worried with Dave right behind me. Though I bet he was worried I was going to fart. Trust me, if I had one in the que I would have! 😉
Obstacle 23: Turd’s Nest– This obstacle had technical difficulty. The concept was that you were supposed to belly crawl under barbed wire then climb up a ramp and crawl across cargo netting that was strung above the barbed wire. Well apparently the cargo netting sagged too much and was touching the barbed wire so the officials removed that part of the obstacle. Instead we just climbed across the netting which was easier said than done with all the people making it bounce.
Obstacle 24: Hay Bale Pyramid– This was a pyramid made out of hay bales stacked 6 high. At the very top I again thought about how dangerous that could be.
Obstacle 25: Everest– A quarter pipe that you had to run up and jump with arms outstretched, hoping someone would catch you. Dave promised he would never let go but so did Kate Winslet and we all know how that movie ended!
Obstacle 26: Electroshock Therapy– Live wires hanging down that you had to run through. Some of the wires carried a 10,000 Volt shock but don’t worry, it’s the Amps that kill you. 😉 For added fun they hose you down halfway through and there are little hills you have to navigate.
‘Haha! Getting electrocuted is fun!’
Between all the obstacles was all trail running with varying levels of difficulty in the terrain. There were often mud pits to run through and streams to cross. We had so much fun and Dave had me laughing the whole time. The views were amazing and we really lucked out with the weather. Dave and I crossed the finish line together in 2:48:28 with all of our limbs in-tact and without significant injury. We both had our fair share of bumps and bruises and my knees were so stiff I could hardly bend them but we survived!
At the finish line we were provided with protein drinks, my favorite Cliff Builder Bars (in various flavors), Clif shot blox, bananas, water and Dos Equis beer. We were also given t-shirts and our orange headbands. Along the course there was 4 water stops and 2 of them had bananas (which kinda made up for the lost Gu… kinda).
After
Overall this was a really fun event and was so well organized. It was incredibly challenging and really taught you the meaning of teamwork. I give this event an A++++ and am definitely planning on doing it again in the future.
I am exhausted ya’ll! I’ve gotten about 5 hours of sleep a night the past two nights and I definitely felt the effects today. I tend to average 6.5hrs on nights where I do CrossFit or a long run in the morning and 8ish on the other nights. The lack of sleep so soon after Tough Mudder (I know, I know, recap coming soon I promise- I’m just waiting on pictures!) has made me more whiney than usual. 😉
On Sunday night my Mom and I went to the Andrea Bocelli concert, the tickets were my birthday gift. First we stopped at the Columbia in Ybor City to stuff our faces (in a sophisticated manner of course- it is a fancy restaurant ya know) before heading downtown for the show. The concert started at 7:30pm and lasted until about 10pm.
Even though we scored an awesome parking spot right across the street from the St Pete Times Forum, I didn’t end up getting home and in bed until after 11. That’s pretty late considering I had a 4:20am wake-up call to go do CrossFit! I of course wore my Tough Mudder headband to the training session. 😉
Monday’s WOD:
45 minutes- how many rounds? I did 5 + Bear of the 6th.
They told me yesterday that they’ll be taking away my blankie resistance band on January 1st. So I’ll be forced into doing unassisted pull-ups. Scary.
Last night we had a Christmas party to attend and ended up being out until after 10pm. I didn’t get into bed until around 11pm and again had a 4:20am wake-up call for CrossFit.
Tuesday’s WOD:
15 minute stations, how many rounds?
Station 1 (I did 6 rounds):
10 bench press (65lbs first and last round, 75lbs on the middle rounds)
20 GHD situps
100 speed rope
Station 2 (I did 5 rounds):
5 handstand pushups (nearly impossible after all the bench press)
20 wall ball (12lb ball)
10 toe to bar
Station 3 (I did 6 1/3 rounds):
250 meter row
20 TRX skull crushers
10 burpees
I felt like I was out of gas after the first station. The rest of today I was a whiney, cranky zombie. I’ll be going to bed immediately after hitting publish!
I have a bunch of pictures and a couple videos from Tough Mudder, including the video of the Electroshock Therapy obstacle. I know ya’ll are anxious to see me get electrocuted but you’re just going to have to settle for this picture for now:
My kinda muddy legs. Clean was a relative term by this point and this I considered clean.
Now I’ve been to Vegas, but the only money I lost on the slots was $10 and that was only to be able to say I played. I’m not against gambling or casinos, it just isn’t for me. Generally I don’t like to make a bet if I don’t at least have a decent chance at winning, especially if it has high stakes (I’m super competitive). So when I heard the bet that one of my trainers made with one of the guys I train beside (trainee?), I cringed. The bet? Who can put on the most weight without going over 8% body fat. The loser has to do the WOD in a leopard speedo and zoro mask. It would be videotaped and posted on youtube of course.
Now who do you think has a better chance at winning? The guy who is at the gym all day 6 days a week and makes a living out of fitness? Or the guy who goes and trains for an hour/day, a few days a week? Well, apparently it was a close race but the trainer won! From what I’ve heard, the speedo was actually a woman’s bathing suit bottom and there wasn’t enough *ahem* coverage. So he did the WOD in the leopard print bottoms but on top of dri-fit boxers. I’m not sure if there is a video but even if there was, I’d spare you. 😉
Speaking of CrossFit, here are my workouts from the past Tuesday and Wednesday:
Tuesday- 50 minutes, how many rounds?
10 clean (65lbs)
10 butterfly pushup
20 air squat
400 meter run
10 push press (65lbs)
10 burpees <– yuck!
20 sit ups
400 meter run
10 back squat
10 rockers
20 bicycle jump
400 meter run
I did a total of 2.25 rounds. The first round we were in a group and took turns doing each exercise so we could critique each other’s form (with input from the trainers of course) and then we were set loose on our own.
Wednesday- 15 minute stations, how many rounds?
Station 1 (I did 3 rounds)-
500 meter row
20 pushup knee to elbow
20 reverse back extension
Station 2 (I did 5 rounds)-
10 bench press (85lbs)
20 GHD situps
100 air dyne
Station 3 (I did 4 rounds)-
100 speed rope
20 box jumps
30 ring push-up (with feet up on box)
I’m now officially on rest until ToughMudder on Saturday. I’ll probably run tomorrow but I haven’t run yet this week (except for at CrossFit) because of insane soreness from the ‘double nutts’ workout on Monday.
In other news: have you ever seen Elf On A Shelf? It’s an elf from the North Pole who watches over your children and reports back to Santa whether they are naughty or nice. It is usually brought out after Thanksgiving and parents move it around the house every night so that the children have to find it every morning. Of course when I heard about this I could only think of the inappropriate/compromising situations you could put the Elf in. Something like this goes right along with my sense of humor:
Of course that’s not appropriate for kids but since we don’t have any (yet) why can’t we have some adult fun? I might just buy one of these and challenge the husband to a pose-off.