Baby, I was born this way.

I wonder if Lady Gaga will find out she has hip dysplasia when she's 41.  I did - and yes, I was born with it.  Maybe writing about it will help someone else who gets diagnosed with it as an adult, or maybe it will help me keep my sanity by getting off my chest.

This is not my x-ray, but you'll see the dysplasia on the right side.

I've been an athlete my whole life, it's just who I am.  I race, I compete, I win.  And right now, I kind of feel like my body is turning against me.  I've been an emotional roller coaster for me since February 2012, when this all kind of came to a head, and I'm ready to get the hell off.

You see, I had a bad fall where I landed on a cement floor and on my right butt cheek.  That fall left me in enough pain to be laid out on the ground in tears, and to take time off from training.  About a week to be more specific....I was heading out to Park City, Utah to snowboard and didn't want to take any chances.  I felt ok while I was out there, but definitely knew something was off.  I didn't attribute the way I felt to the fall, because I had kinda been complaining of tight hip flexors for years.  After the trip, it was business as usual with my workouts - CrossFit classes 4 or 5 times/week, running, some swimming, and a little yoga.  I was hurting, but stupidly pushed through the pain.  I did however, schedule an MRI, which was done April 5th.

Easter Sunday was a gorgeous morning, so I took advantage of it by going for a run.  By mile 2, I was feeling pain, and it was weird, the pain was moving all around my right side - my glute, my hamstrings, my inner thigh, and my hip flexors.  The pain was deep though, and by the end of the run I was walking backwards up the hill to my house because it was too painful to walk forward.  My appointment with the doctor to go over the MRI was on April 11th, and when I read that report, I knew I was a mess.  I had a torn labrum, torn glute, and torn hamstring.  He sent me to the city to see a "specialist", who without looking up from his chart when he walked into the exam room, literally said to me "so, I do surgeries on Wednesdays & Fridays; when would you like to come?".  Uh, yeah....see ya later asshole.  (Dr Robert J Meislin, NYU)  Then began the quest to find the doctor who was going to tell me what I wanted to hear...

In the meantime, I had started PT, and was working on getting the muscles around the hip stronger to support the joint (I thought I WAS strong...).  My activity was pretty much limited to swimming, and I had to stay away from anything involving deep or repetitive hip flexion, as that would aggravate the torn labrum.

Fast forward to a couple more doctors, and finally I'm referred to Dr Bryan Kelly, Hospital for Special Surgery.  His first available appointment wasn't until August 21st, so I just continued to do what I was doing, but tested my body every now and then by seeing how it felt to bike, run, or row.  Ouch - it was not good.

I did a lot of research on Dr Kelly, and this whole torn labrum thing, so, I was pretty excited for my appointment with him.  He's pretty much THE guy in New York to deal with this type of injury.  After that appointment, I knew I finally found the right doctor.  Although he didn't tell me what I wanted to hear, he was patient, honest, thorough, and most importantly, told me he would "fix" me.

As we were going over my x-rays, MRI, and CT Scan, he suggested I had a mild case of hip dysplasia, which no one had mentioned before, and I had only heard of in dogs.  WTF?!?  After some strength and mobility tests, he decides we should inject the labrum with cortisone, to determine if that's really where the pain is coming from.  I keep a pain log over the next couple of weeks, and we discuss on September 18th.  It was great - I felt immediate relief, and almost no pain.  I "worked out" with a therapist at HSS who gave me different, and more challenging exercises to do, and under the orders of Dr Kelly, had me try to run a few times - I'm talking like a 5 minute run here - nothing crazy, but man did it feel good to do it.  All was well and good until November 26th, when I started feeling pain again, and a lot of it.

Thankfully, I had a phone call scheduled with Dr Kelly on November 30th.  After telling him how I was feeling and what was going on, he suggested that I schedule an appointment to see his colleague, Dr Sink, a hip dysplasia specialist, to discuss the option of fixing not only the torn labrum, but the dysplasia as well.  He's thinking the dysplasia is the real issue here, and it could be just a band-aid to fix only the labrum.

My appointment with Dr Sink was on December 11th.  His job was to determine the likelihood of re-tearing the labrum if I don't address the dysplasia.  At this point, I was having surgery one way or the other.  It's either Dr Kelly fixing just the labrum - an arthroscopic surgery, three weeks on crutches; or fixing the dysplasia and the labrum - a much bigger surgery, and six weeks on crutches.  Unfortunately, Dr Sink thinks I need the latter.  And if I decide to only fix the labrum, the joint will develop arthritis, and I will need a complete hip replacement in five years.

The surgery is called Peri-Acetabular Osteotomy (PAO), and it's a doozie.  if you're interested, check out this video:  (scroll halfway down the screen, click on the box that says Peri-acetabular Osteotomy)

http://www.hipdysplasia.org/adult-hip-dysplasia/adult-treatments/hip-preservation-surgery-for-adult-hip-dysplasia/

I'm ready though....I want the surgery, I want this to be done with.  Problem is, the earliest they can do the surgery is April 10th, which is a really bad time for me, so I'm looking at the end of July.  The thought of having to deal with this for another seven to eight months though is hard, but it is what it is.  I have a phone call scheduled with Dr Kelly on the 18th to discuss.  Perhaps they'll give me more cortisone to help with the pain until the surgery.

Now that you know the deal, in the future I will keep these posts (hopefully) short and sweet, and keep you updated on my progress.  I'm not the person who likes to go to the gym just a couple of times a week to workout - this is my life, so you can bet your ass I'm going to do what it takes to get my life back.

XO 

My First CrossFit Competition

I'm competitive by nature, and really enjoy throwing weights around (with complete control, of course), so a CrossFit Competition is right up my ally.  This was a three week, online competition where you submit videos of your workouts.  My final placing -which believe it or not was not important to me - was 23rd out of 46.  This was for the Masters Division, which was women 40+.  I feel like I could have done better had I done the workout another time or two before filming,  but I just didn't have the time.  The video links are below each workout description.

Workout #1:  Cindy Was A Nice Girl
Done on 1/6/12

10 minute AMRAP (as many rounds/reps as possible), every rep counts

Buy in:  50 KB swings (35#KB)
Rounds of:
5 Pull Ups
10 HR Push Ups
15 Front Squats (65#)

I completed 127 reps total, and finished 45th out of 46.  My Pull Ups totally sucked, but I'm already better at them because I've been practicing.    :)  Watch the video...you'll see how frustrated I get.  However, I also included a video at the bottom of the page where you'll see how my Pull Ups have improved.  Watch the video:  Cindy Was A Nice Girl

Workout #2:  Bear Trap
Done on 1/11/12

2 minutes.  Reps for total pounds moved.  Each round is 6 reps, score is multiplied by the weight in pounds.

1 Deadlift
1 Clean
1 Front Squat
1 Push Press
1 Back Squat
1 Press

I did 11 rounds + 4 reps with 75#.  My total score was 5250, putting me 16th out of 41.  This was definitely a better workout for me, but I feel like my flow could have been a little smoother and a little faster.  Click here to watch the video:  Bear Trap

Workout #3:  Open Chipper
Done 1/19/12

For time.

50 Abmat Sit Ups
40 Box Jumps (20" box)
30 Bar Facing Burpees
20 Sumo Deadlift High Pull (55# bar)
10 Overhead Squats (55#bar)

My time was 7:07, which placed me 13th out of 37.  This is one of my favorite types of workouts, and the weight for the bars wasn't anything crazy, so I was able to push pretty hard.  Here's the video:  Open Chipper

Here's my Pull Up video.  I'm able to get out 6 1/2.  This is with a taped hand from a broken blister, and after the Open Chipper workout.  :)

Quinoa & Turkey Stuffed Peppers

We're all busy, right?  That's exactly why I love to share healthy recipes with you that are fast, and easy to prepare.  Not only will these stuffed peppers be delicious when you first make them, but if you have leftovers like I did, they're easy to reheat and are just as tasty as when they first came out of the oven.  ENJOY!

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 red peppers, insides cleaned out (cut off top and part of bottom, and chop)
• 1 pound lean ground turkey
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1/2 large sweet onion, chopped
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 2 tsp tabasco
• 2.5 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp thyme
• 1/3 cup feta cheese, 1 tbsp to sprinkle on top
• 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
• fresh parsley for garnish

PREPARATION: 

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2.  Cook quinoa according to directions

3.  Crumble turkey meat with wooden spoon over medium heat

4.  Saute peppers, onion and garlic over medium heat.  As everything begins to soften, add remaining ingredients, except feta and pine nuts.

5.  Combine turkey with above ingredients, then add feta and pine nuts.

6.  Spoon mixture into peppers and place on a baking sheet.  Top with remaining feta cheese and bake for 30 minutes.  Garnish with parsley when cooked.

Healthy, Delicious Supper Salad

Every so often I like to share a healthy recipe, and this one is delicious!!!  Try it, I think you'll like it.

Southwestern Grilled Chicken Salad

Serves 4

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (6 to 7 oz), trimmed & butterflied

½ Tbs. chili powder

1 tsp. light or dark brown sugar

½ tsp. ground coriander

½ tsp. ground cumin

Kosher salt

6 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil; more for the grill

2 Tbs. plus 2 tsp. fresh lime juice

1 Tbs. plus 2 tsp. chopped fresh cilantro, plus leaves for garnish

2 tsp. honey

Freshly ground black pepper

Green Tobasco (optional)

1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained

4 oz. small cherry (or grape) tomatoes, quartered or halved (about ¾ cup)

1 large scallion, thinly sliced

2 small heads Bibb lettuce, torn into bite size pieces (about 9 cups)

1 medium firm-ripe avocado

¼ cup toasted pine nuts

Prepare a medium-high grill. 

In a small bowl, combine the chili powder, brown sugar, coriander, cumin, and ¾ tsp. salt.  Rub some of the spice mix over both sides of the chicken breast and let it sit while the grill heats.

Clean and oil the grill grate.  Grill the breast until the edges of the top side are white, about 3 minutes.  Flip and cook until just done, another 1 to 2 minutes.  Let the chicken rest 7 to 8 minutes.

In a small bowl, or glass jar with a tight lid, combing the olive oil, lime juice, 1 Tbs. of the cilantro, the honey, ½ tsp. salt, a few grind of pepper, and a few shakes of the green Tabasco (if using).  Whisk or shake well to combine.
Combine the black beans, tomatoes, scallion, the remaining 2 tsp. cilantro, and a pinch of salt in a small bowl.  Add 2 Tbs. of the dressing and toss gently.

Put the lettuce in a bowl, season with a little salt, and toss with just enough of the dressing to lightly coat.  Slice the chicken breast thinly.  Pit and slice the avocado.  Arrange the chicken, avocado and bean mixture on the lettuce.  Drizzle a little of the remaining dressing over the chicken and avocado.  Garnish with pine nuts and cilantro leaves.

My 9/11 Experience. 10 Years Later

Do you remember that day?  It was a spectacular day - perfect weather.  Most of my memories of that day are as clear as the skies were blue.  I will NEVER forget.

I taught an early morning spin class at New York Athletic Club on 57th St, then headed downtown on the subway to New York Health & Racquet Club, where I worked full time as a personal trainer and group fitness instructor.  I was making a phone call in the office, when one of my co-workers came in and said "Holy shit, a plane just hit the World Trade Center".  I, and three of my co-workers headed out to see what was going on.

The club was just a few blocks south of the WTC, so we didn't have to go to far to see what was happening.  I remember looking up at the building and thinking I was watching some sort of james Bond movie or something.  And just like everyone else thinking "What an idiot!  How the heck could someone make a mistake like that?".  There wasn't anyone on the street - this street anyway - that thought this was an act of terror.  What nobody realized is that because we were standing on the south side of the building, we were actually looking at the side with less damage, where the plane "came out" of the building - if you remember correctly, the first plane hit the building from the north.

As we're standing there watching in disbelief, suddenly I hear the loudest buzzing sound I've ever heard, and feel a vibration all through my body.  I swear, it felt like the bottom of that plane was just above my head.  Then it was gone, just like that.  Gone.  Now I don't know if it were just me, or what, but I didn't hear any loud noise, no crash, bang, no boom.  All I heard was a loud pop - like a balloon popping.  Then screaming.  Now I know this was intentional.  I ran as fast as I could back to the club, the whole time thinking we're all going to die.  That this was it.

Nobody knows what to do - do we stay in the building?  Do we get the heck out of here?  If we leave, where do we go, and how do we get there?  This is downtown Manhattan, the end of a thirteen and a half mile long island, and the options are somewhat limited, especially under the circumstances.  A million thoughts are going through my head - I really don't want to be down here right now, but getting on the subway probably isn't a good idea..  If they're are more planes out there, other targets in NYC could be the Empire State Building, Times Square, Penn Station, or the United Nations.  Who the heck knows.  I call my boyfriend at the time, who also works downtown, and we decide we're going to meet in front of the Staten Island Ferry Terminal and figure out what to do.  I've got a gym bag with me that we fill with waters and candy bars from a newsstand, because who knows how long we're going to be out here.  It's pure chaos.

Black smoke is pouring from shattered windows on floor after floor, I'm seeing bodies falling from the sky, people are running all over the place with really nowhere to go, while others are frantically trying to use their cell phones to no avail.  It's very chaotic, and I'm starting to freak out a little bit.  We just stand there and watch the buildings burn, because we don't know what else to do.

Fifty six minutes and ten seconds later, we saw the top of the South Tower tilting horribly, then watched in utter amazement as it fell to the ground.  We ran as fast as we could away from the smoke, but it was moving so fast that we were quickly consumed by it and had a hard time breathing.  That gym bag I had with me came in quite handy at this point because of the extra gym clothes in it.  I wrapped a pair of my pants around my face so that I wasn't breathing in God only knows what.  We settled in Battery Park for a bit, and then at 10:28 AM watched the North Tower collapse.

After what seemed to be an eternity, we decide it's time to leave the downtown area - we're walking through soot and dust, and over unrecognizable debris - I just can't believe this is going on right now.  We were directed to get on the FDR and walk north.  We were covered in soot, as many people on that walk were, and the walk was chillingly silent.  Most were walking slowly and with their heads down.  How do you wrap your head around what just happened?

We stayed on the FDR until about 14th street, because I had to (of course) go to the bathroom.  As we made our way back into the city streets, it was a whole different world.  Of course people knew what had happened, but I don't think many realized how bad it was until they saw us covered in the gray dust the way we were.  Now, I lived in New York City for about 10 years, and I've never used the bathroom at Duane Reade until that day.  I'm pretty sure if I ever did ask before that day I would have been told no.  But NYC was already a changed city.  We continued walking, and as were were, people asked us questions, handed us bottles of water, and asked if we needed anything.  Everything just felt so surreal.

We finally made it home to 96th & 3rd, put on the TV, made some calls, and took showers.  I cannot describe how disgusting the bottom of the tub was after those showers.  It was scary.  At this point we really had no idea what to do, and after staring out the window of the twenty third floor apartment watching floods of people walk north,  we head down to a restaurant to drink.  Apparently this was a popular plan, because not only was that place packed, but so was every other place in sight.  All the TV's were on, and when the President came on to speak, everyone became silent.  We all listened intently, and when he declared war the place went nuts chanting USA, USA!!

The days that followed were scary - we really didn't know what to do, how to help.  People were coming in from all over the country to help, and they didn't want us "regular folk" going downtown.  We pretty much watched television and cried.

About a week later, NYH&RC opened back up for business, and we tried to get back on some sort of normal schedule.  It was definitely a challenge...what was normal going to be now?  The gym became a triage center for guys working at the site.  It was a five story gym with squash and racquetball courts, so I'd come in at any given time and see fifteen/twenty guys asleep on the floors.  They were taking showers and brushing their teeth in the locker rooms; the lobby of the gym was stocked with donated clothes and food, and the workers were around all the time.  It was amazing and heartbreaking all at the same time.

In the weeks and months that followed, NYC was as I'd never seen it.  People were actually making eye contact on the streets, smiling at each other on the subway, and holding doors open for others.  Every time a police or fire truck would go by on the street, loud cheers would erupt.  There were American Flags flying everywhere you looked.  I went to the first Yankee game after 9/11, and words can't even describe how emotional everyone in that stadium was.  It was all pretty freakin' amazing.

I've probably told this story one hundred times, and I've always thought mine doesn't even compare to so many other stories out there.  The devastation this caused to so many thousands of people is beyond comprehension and I truly hope we never forget.

Thanks for listening...

Warrior Dash 2011

When I woke up Saturday morning, one of the first things I did was check my finishing time from last year's dash.  32:18...that's what I had to beat.  The top female did it in 26:54.  Holy fast!

We were on the bus at 6:30, ready for the trip.  We made it to Windham with little time to spare before our heat we got out bib numbers, checked our bags, and lined up at the start.  We only had about 4 minutes until the horn blew and we were off.  It was a slow walk until I heard the chirp, indicating my clock had started and it was go time.  Just like last year, it was about a one mile trek uphill.  I ran as much as I could, and walked fast when I needed to catch my breath.  There were twists and turns on the way up, and not many flats for a break.  I lived in New York City for 10 years, and know if you want to make any headway in a large crowd, you need to stay on the outside of the crowd - so that's what I did. As I was coming up behind people, I would say "coming through please"...a nice way to say "get out of my way!", right?

The first couple of obstacles came and went pretty quickly - the Barricade Breakdown, where I jumped over and crawled under about six or so walls, then Road Rage - hopping through tires, and climbing over broken down, beat up cars.  After Road Rage, there was a little more of a climb up the mountain, but then a short downhill run to Tetering Traverse, where my balance skills were tested on boards that I ran up, down, across, and up and down again until I was off and running to the next obstacle.

The timing of Deadweight Drifter was perfect - this was a waist deep water obstacle with logs in the way.  The choice here was to climb over the log, or dunk my head into the muddy water and go under them.  Although I was sweating, and the cold water felt great, my choice was to stay as clean as possible for as long as possible, so over the logs I went.  Off again, up and down some trails, maneuvering through the woods, and if my memory serves me right, another water obstacle, this one called Cliff Hanger.  The water here was only knee deep so I ran through it as much as I could.  At the other end of the "pond" there was a rope which I used to pull myself up a slanted wall.  More running through the narrow trails in the woods, trying to go fast, but being careful as there are rocks and boulders and tree roots all over the ground.  Any misstep, and my ankle could roll, so I was moving cautiously fast.  "On your left, on your right, coming through"  Get out of my way!!!!

As I approach Deadmans Drop,  there are people standing around...I have no idea why, maybe they need a break, maybe they're trying to figure out how to get up and over this wall.  It's nothing crazy, really.   You just have to take some steps up several two-by-fours, to get to the top and slide down the wall to the other side.  When I get to the bottom of the wall, I turn around and see a big hill - going DOWN!  Yeah, it's certainly more challenging to run uphill, but it's a lot harder on the body going down, so you have to be careful.  I saw some people that looked wildly out of control, so I did my best to steer clear of them as I ran down, looking forward to whatever obstacle was coming my way next.

It was called Rubber Ricochet.  Warrior Dash describes it as a rubber jungle...tires hanging from ropes that swing around when you run through them.  It could definitely get a little tricky if there were a big crowd of people all going through it at the same time, but I was fortunate enough to only have one other person in there with me, so I got through it pretty quickly.  This reminded me of the Electroshock Therapy at the end of Tough Mudder, only without the electroshock, thank God.

The course continued downward to the Cargo Climb, then the Chaotic Crossover.  The climb was about twenty to thirty feet up, then back down the cargo net, and the crossover was traversing across the same type of net.  You move a little faster through both of these obstacles with a little hand/eye coordination.  The trick here is to also pick a path that seems to be moving quickly - otherwise you're stuck behind someone who could really slow your pace.

I was a little disappointed with the Petrifying Plunge this year - this is a water slide obstacle where you dive head first to get down.  Last year it was much steeper, and you FLEW down.  I'm thinking they may have had a few incidents last year with crashing, so they may have had to make it less steep.  My own experience last year sent me flying into the girl who was ahead of me - if I didn't grab onto her feet and push her the rest of the way down, my head would have ended up where the sun don't shine.  Probably would not have been a good time for either one of us.

Anyway.... after getting up from the slide, I'm really in the home stretch of the race, spectators are on the side line cheering everyone on as we pass.  I happen to notice a photographer taking pictures, so I do the old "Rocky"pose and hold my hands up over my head for a victory shot.  Then, like a giant ass, I trip!  It was epic, but thankfully it was quick.  After gathering my pride, I run to the Warrior Roast, where I leaped over fire as gracefully as I could, then right away on my hands and knees for the final obstacle, Muddy Mayhem - the low crawl under barbed wire.

I crossed the finish line with a time of 32:08, ten seconds faster than my time last year.  The rumor was there were more hills incorporated this year, and the obstacles were more challenging.  I concur.  I took first place in my age group, beating out 746 other women.  I was the tenth female finisher out of 4532 women overall.   I'm certainly happy with those results, and look forward to competing next year!

 

I Love Getting Dirty!

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?!?!