I'm a Warrior, I'm a Tough Mudder, I'm a Spartan. I just can't get enough of these mud runs! The most recent one I did was the Spartan Sprint, in Tuxedo NY on June 5th. The Sartan Sprint is a 3 mile course with some challenging obstacles. It was kind of a last minute decision to do it - I had done the Pawling Triathlon the previous day, but I figured what the heck. The only person I could drag along with me on this one was my good friend Chris. When I asked her if she wanted to do it, I also asked her if she'd be ok doing it by herself, because I wanted to race it. Being the good sport she is, she signed on for it. The morning of the race, I went online to check the top female finishing times from the day before to see what I was up against. 58 minutes. No problem....I can beat that. :)
Unfortunately, things didn't turn out exactly how I had planned. Long story short, we were 20 minutes late to the race. We were in the last heat of the day, scheduled to run at 12:30. When we finally arrived at Tuxedo Ridge, I ran as fast as I could - uphill through the parking lot, and leaving poor Chris behind (she caught up, don't worry) - to find the race director to beg him to let us run it anyway. He was kind enough to let us do it, but we couldn't get a timer chip or our bib numbers because registration was closed. So much for racing it...oh well, at least we could do it. I asked him what time it was, and we were off. Start time: 12:47
There was no easing into this race, it was balls to the wall from the get go. It began with going UP a ski slope, which seems to be a common denominator in these types of races. I started out with a light jog, dodging rocks, boulders, and crevices. We made it through the first few obstacles - the over-under-and through walls, the boulder pull, and the balance beam with very little difficulty and were loving each and every minute of it. Then the eight foot wall appeared in front of us, along with a photographer. We definitely played the sympathy card with every photographer we saw throughout the race... "Can you take our picture please...we were late and couldn't get bib numbers" (this is how they identify you for pictures). I figured if we weren't going to have official finishing times, we might as well try to get a lot of pictures!
Back to the course....my strategy for the monster wall was to have Chris sit in a wall squat while I stood on her legs, and pulled myself up over the wall. I strattled the top of the wall while she put her foot on the tiny foothold that was about three feet off the ground. She grabbed my hand and I pulled her up until she could get both of her hands on top of the wall to pull herself over. Mission complete!
It seemed we were doing pretty well as far as time was concerned...we started "chicking" plenty of people. Chicking is a term the Spartan people came up with to describe a girl passing a guy on the course. We started the race 23 minutes late - it didn't matter to me who we were chicking - guys, girls, whatever....I was totally psyched to be catching up to, and passing people!
One of the most challenging obstacles on the course at this race was the Bucket Brigade. We were instructed to fill a Home Depot five gallon bucket 3/4 full with stones and carry it up what at that point seemed to be a giant incline, then back down. Total distance was probably a quarter mile, but it was pretty torturous. I started out by carrying the bucket like I was hugging a tree, with both arms wrapped around it, thinking that having the weight evenly disributed would help. It didn't. So I decided to switch back and forth between my arms for a bit. That didn't help either - this is just a HARD obstacle. Now my legs are starting scream, and I have to stop for a few seconds. As I muster up the energy to get up that damn hill, I decide putting the bucket over my head and holding it with both arms is now the best option, and it's working for me. I lift my head up to see where I'm going and now my view is not only this giant mountain, but a girls who's ass cheeks are hanging out of her shorts. God bless. I have to pass her....it's too distracting, and not really what I'm interested in looking at, especially as sweat is pouring into my eyeballs. I make it to the top only to start my descent with caution. There were a couple of missteps and slips because of rocks and stones that were scattered all over the ground from what I'm sure was from people dumping stones out of their buckets. Cheaters!!
We didn't have too far to go to get to the next obstacle - the Sleigh Pull. This was straight out of Medieval times, and I was cracking up as we approached it. Someone, or several someones, had the brilliant idea to put a milk crate filled with sand bags on top of two rickety old wooden skis, attach a rope to it, and have the competitors pull it around in a giant circle. Just before reaching the end of this circle that went uphill for a minute, you went through a path of fire. Just in case you weren't hot enough.
Time to trek back up hill, through the woods, back down and up again only to conquer the Zig-zagging Balance Beam and the Soapy Wall. I quickly scaled up the soapy wall without using the rope to pull myself, only to be yelled at by a 20 something year old girl for not going right up the middle of the wall. Obviously she didn't realize how smart I was by not running up the soapiest part of the wall. With age comes wisdom! Onward and upward to the Wall Scale - where we were again more concerned with pictures than time - and the Spear Throw. Yes, I do live in the suburbs of NYC, but no, I don't get much practice throwing spears up here. You're only given one chance, and if you fail, you do 20 burpees. Once again though, we played the sympathy card and begged for another shot, only to suck again and have to do those burpees. As much as I love burpees, I was glad on this day that this was my only burpee obstacle.
Next up was the longest mud crawl I'd ever seen - and it was UPHILL!! This was unlike any other mud crawl I've ever done. It was the muddiest, wettest, rockiest, mud crawl to date. I felt like porky the pig as I rolled and crawled around in this muck. Oh, and don't let me forget to mention the barbed wire that was floating just above your body. Big asses beware - keep it low! You know the saying though, right? "happier than a pig in shit" - it was a blast! And we even got to pose for a couple more mug shots as we went through. Finally making it to the top, I stood proud, pulled up my capris and marched on through a trail of boulders that were to be navigated through carefully because of wet, muddy, heavy feet. After clearing the trail and coming out the other side, I stopped dead in my tracks to see another crawl - only this time it was through ice. "Are you kidding me?" was my first thought, then, "ok, I'm feeling a bit warm, so this might even feel good". Yep, it did...for about 2 seconds! Good thing this crawl was down hill and not up, because I literally rolled through it as fast as I possibly could, which if I do say so myself, was pretty fast.
All that was left was a quick down hill run, a Fire Jump and the Spartan Gladiator Pit! Ah, the Galdiator Pit.... handsome, six-pack-ab, shirtless twenty-something boys holding on to pugil sticks...I'm thinking this was a better way to end the race rather than the empty calorie free beer!
It turned out to be a great experience to share with Chris. It took us 1 hour, 12 minutes, but we stayed together and posed for pics every chance we got. Hey, if I wasn't placing, I may as well get some good pictures, right?
Next mud run, the Warrior Dash in August (also 3 miles). Then, the Spartan Beast on Staten Island (8 miles). I plan on redeeming myself - first by leaving extra early to get there on time. Then by kicking ass on the course! Anyone care to join?!?!
Monday, June 27, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Off to the Races!
The 2011 triathlon season has officially begun for me, and I'm off to a good start with two races under my belt. The excitement of taking 1st place in my age group (and 7th female overall) for the first race of the season was quickly replaced by taking 3rd overall female in the next race exactly one week later. My forte is competing in the sprint distances - usually a 1/4 to 1/2 mile swim, a 10 to 20 mile bike, and a 3.1 mile run. This year though, in August, I will take on an Olympic distance - a 1 mile swim, 24.9 mile bike, and a 6.2 mile run. People ask me all the time about doing an Ironman; it's just not something I see in my future, but you never say never, right? An Ironman is the ultimate endurance challenge - a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mile bike, then a 26.2 mile run. As crazy as that sounds, what's most daunting to me about the Ironman is running a marathon after doing the other two disciplines. The women's world record time for an Ironman was set in 2009 by Chrissie Wellington, with a time of 8:54:02. The cut off time for the event is 17 hours. That's a pretty long time to be swimming, biking, and running, no?
The butterflies are always bustling in my stomach while I'm standing on waters edge waiting for the horn to go off. Most races start at 8...I'm usually up at 5 - water, a little coffee, some breakfast, and about 37 trips to the bathroom. The swim is my weakest, and it's really because I just don't get in the water enough. It's much easier to hope on the bike and go for a ride, and even easier to strap on a pair of sneakers and go for a run than it is to get into a pool, or preferably a lake. And a lot of times when I finish a race, my mind wanders to the bike, and I think about how I could have pushed myself even more than I did. Then I look at my transition times and wonder what the heck I'm doing that takes me so long to get out of there. Always something to work at, I suppose.
Here's a breakdown of my races, thus far:
Saturday, June 4th, Pawling Sprint Triathlon (1st in AG, 7th overall)
Swim: 1/3 mile. Time: 11:54
Transition 1: 1:37
Bike: 11.5 miles. Time: 35:17
Transition 2: 1:31
Run: 3.1. Time: 23:22
Total time: 1:13:41
Saturday, June 11th, SBR Series Sprint Triathlon (3rd overall)
Swim: 1/2 mile. Time: 15:25
T1: 2:31
Bike: 15 miles. Time: 56:45
T2: 1:13
Run: 3.1 miles. Time: 23:19
Total time: 1:39:11
The butterflies are always bustling in my stomach while I'm standing on waters edge waiting for the horn to go off. Most races start at 8...I'm usually up at 5 - water, a little coffee, some breakfast, and about 37 trips to the bathroom. The swim is my weakest, and it's really because I just don't get in the water enough. It's much easier to hope on the bike and go for a ride, and even easier to strap on a pair of sneakers and go for a run than it is to get into a pool, or preferably a lake. And a lot of times when I finish a race, my mind wanders to the bike, and I think about how I could have pushed myself even more than I did. Then I look at my transition times and wonder what the heck I'm doing that takes me so long to get out of there. Always something to work at, I suppose.
Here's a breakdown of my races, thus far:
Saturday, June 4th, Pawling Sprint Triathlon (1st in AG, 7th overall)
Swim: 1/3 mile. Time: 11:54
Transition 1: 1:37
Bike: 11.5 miles. Time: 35:17
Transition 2: 1:31
Run: 3.1. Time: 23:22
Total time: 1:13:41
Saturday, June 11th, SBR Series Sprint Triathlon (3rd overall)
Swim: 1/2 mile. Time: 15:25
T1: 2:31
Bike: 15 miles. Time: 56:45
T2: 1:13
Run: 3.1 miles. Time: 23:19
Total time: 1:39:11
Monday, June 6, 2011
Metro Dash
On May 14th, 16 girls from Westchester Adventure Boot Camp drove out to the Meadowlands to compete in an obstacle course race called the Metro Dash. We had such a blast, from the drive out there - caravaning in four SUV's and getting lost in the parking lot. to the competition, where my team took 2nd place of female teams, to tailgating in the parking lot after the competition. A great opportunity for some female bonding and competition. Two of my favorite things!
This was my first time competing in something like this - a competition based mostly on strength. Not to pat myself on the back or anything, but I am "strong like bull". LOL! The sixteen girls were broken up into teams of four, and as long as you got through the obstacle, you were allowed to go back to help the rest of your team - this was useful for the monkey bars, for sure! If you weren't able to complete an obstacle, your punishment was 5 burpess. No burpees for me, however, I did have a couple of teammates (I won't name names....!!) who had to do them. Only two times though, which I think was pretty good. One at the 15 foot cargo net climb (she's afraid of heights), and another at the 24" box jumps.
The horn blew and we were off to climb up Moving Ladders. Once you got to the top and tapped the high bar, you climbed back down to grab a 20 pound medicine ball to sprint back and forth once with. You then dropped that ball and ran a short distance to climb over two consecutive 5 foot walls. After that we were on our elbow and knees for a Low Tunnel Crawl, then over to climb up and down a Cargo Net that was 15 feet high. On to Box Jumps we went, where you jumped up onto 12'", 18", 24", 18", 12" inch boxes consecutively. Next was the Tire Flip - flipping a tire that probably weighed about 75/80 pounds from one point to another. This one I got to do this one twice as I was helping a teammate who got there late because of those darn box jumps! We then had to make our way up and over an 8 foot wall, which had very little room for feet or hands; then on to what I would consider to be one of the hardest ones - the sled. First you had to pull it with a rope, probably about 20 feet or so, then you had to push it back to the beginning. The sled had a 45 pound plate on it, plus the sled itself, which had to weigh at least 75 pounds. Another on I was lucky enough to do twice. :) Then we made our way to the over/unders - I think this was the obstacle where most of the girls got their bruises. There were 2x4's that were 3 feet high that you had to go over, then under three times. I avoided the bruising by hoisting myself over those 2x4's instead of climbing them. More bruising to be had at the next obstacle, which was high hurdles - 3/3 1/2 feet high. Again, hoisting was my choice here. The next one was called a Hill Run...a man made wood hill that you had to run up, then down. Then you were off to the Balance Beam, which was similar to the "hill" in that it went up, then down. Obviously balancing on a beam made it more challenging. The most challenging obstacle for most, and the obstacle that was front and center for most spectators to watch you succeed or fail was the Monkey Bars. As long as one person from your team made it across, they could then go back and "carry" teammates across. Everyone did their best here, not giving up and going for it the maximun of two times before being assisted. We had four out of sixteen make it all the way across with no help (time to get these girls using heavier weights for their pulling exercises in boot camp, no?). We were then off to an obstacle they called the Log Climb, where we had to climb up and over a structure made of wood that was about 15 feet high. Then over to the Low Wall, where you had to get yourself over two 4 foot walls, and quickly make your way over to the Farmers Walk; carrying two kettlebells from one point to another. Next was Sand Bag Carry. I would say a 25/30 pound sand bag that you had to carry any way you could from one point to another. I chose to put it on my right shoulder and move as fast as I could. The next two obstacles were pretty easy, one was called Low Hurdles - going over three 3 foot high pieses of wood without touching them, then the Low Crawl, which is very similar to the Tunnel Crawl, where you crawl on your hands and knees. The difference here is that there were wires just above you that you couldn't touch while you were going through. That means you have to keep your butt down nice and low. They called the next one the Strongman - carrying two heavy objects back and forth. The first object was a tire, the second a sledge hammer. Over to the Wall Traverse, where you move your way across a wall that was 5 or so feet long that had pegs sticking out of it for your hands and feet. Then the Window Jump...climbing through a small square cut out of a piece of wood, basically. Another favorite of mine was the Rope Wall - using a rope, you had to pull yourself up and over a vertical wall that was 12 feet high. Then the Ramp Jump - kind of silly, just a slanted piec of wood to go up and over. The Black Hole, another Low Crawl, which was made very dark because it was covered with a big piece of tarp. Onto the Log Carry we went, where we had to each pick up heavy pieces of log that were attached to each other by a chain and carry it from one point to another. Finally, the Rope Swing. Grab onto the rope and swing yourself over a 3 foot wall, then run to the finish line.
Your teams time ended when the last person crossed the finish line. My team finished in 17:21, and took 2nd place for female teams. Such a blast!
This was my first time competing in something like this - a competition based mostly on strength. Not to pat myself on the back or anything, but I am "strong like bull". LOL! The sixteen girls were broken up into teams of four, and as long as you got through the obstacle, you were allowed to go back to help the rest of your team - this was useful for the monkey bars, for sure! If you weren't able to complete an obstacle, your punishment was 5 burpess. No burpees for me, however, I did have a couple of teammates (I won't name names....!!) who had to do them. Only two times though, which I think was pretty good. One at the 15 foot cargo net climb (she's afraid of heights), and another at the 24" box jumps.
The horn blew and we were off to climb up Moving Ladders. Once you got to the top and tapped the high bar, you climbed back down to grab a 20 pound medicine ball to sprint back and forth once with. You then dropped that ball and ran a short distance to climb over two consecutive 5 foot walls. After that we were on our elbow and knees for a Low Tunnel Crawl, then over to climb up and down a Cargo Net that was 15 feet high. On to Box Jumps we went, where you jumped up onto 12'", 18", 24", 18", 12" inch boxes consecutively. Next was the Tire Flip - flipping a tire that probably weighed about 75/80 pounds from one point to another. This one I got to do this one twice as I was helping a teammate who got there late because of those darn box jumps! We then had to make our way up and over an 8 foot wall, which had very little room for feet or hands; then on to what I would consider to be one of the hardest ones - the sled. First you had to pull it with a rope, probably about 20 feet or so, then you had to push it back to the beginning. The sled had a 45 pound plate on it, plus the sled itself, which had to weigh at least 75 pounds. Another on I was lucky enough to do twice. :) Then we made our way to the over/unders - I think this was the obstacle where most of the girls got their bruises. There were 2x4's that were 3 feet high that you had to go over, then under three times. I avoided the bruising by hoisting myself over those 2x4's instead of climbing them. More bruising to be had at the next obstacle, which was high hurdles - 3/3 1/2 feet high. Again, hoisting was my choice here. The next one was called a Hill Run...a man made wood hill that you had to run up, then down. Then you were off to the Balance Beam, which was similar to the "hill" in that it went up, then down. Obviously balancing on a beam made it more challenging. The most challenging obstacle for most, and the obstacle that was front and center for most spectators to watch you succeed or fail was the Monkey Bars. As long as one person from your team made it across, they could then go back and "carry" teammates across. Everyone did their best here, not giving up and going for it the maximun of two times before being assisted. We had four out of sixteen make it all the way across with no help (time to get these girls using heavier weights for their pulling exercises in boot camp, no?). We were then off to an obstacle they called the Log Climb, where we had to climb up and over a structure made of wood that was about 15 feet high. Then over to the Low Wall, where you had to get yourself over two 4 foot walls, and quickly make your way over to the Farmers Walk; carrying two kettlebells from one point to another. Next was Sand Bag Carry. I would say a 25/30 pound sand bag that you had to carry any way you could from one point to another. I chose to put it on my right shoulder and move as fast as I could. The next two obstacles were pretty easy, one was called Low Hurdles - going over three 3 foot high pieses of wood without touching them, then the Low Crawl, which is very similar to the Tunnel Crawl, where you crawl on your hands and knees. The difference here is that there were wires just above you that you couldn't touch while you were going through. That means you have to keep your butt down nice and low. They called the next one the Strongman - carrying two heavy objects back and forth. The first object was a tire, the second a sledge hammer. Over to the Wall Traverse, where you move your way across a wall that was 5 or so feet long that had pegs sticking out of it for your hands and feet. Then the Window Jump...climbing through a small square cut out of a piece of wood, basically. Another favorite of mine was the Rope Wall - using a rope, you had to pull yourself up and over a vertical wall that was 12 feet high. Then the Ramp Jump - kind of silly, just a slanted piec of wood to go up and over. The Black Hole, another Low Crawl, which was made very dark because it was covered with a big piece of tarp. Onto the Log Carry we went, where we had to each pick up heavy pieces of log that were attached to each other by a chain and carry it from one point to another. Finally, the Rope Swing. Grab onto the rope and swing yourself over a 3 foot wall, then run to the finish line.
Your teams time ended when the last person crossed the finish line. My team finished in 17:21, and took 2nd place for female teams. Such a blast!
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