2015 Little Rock Marathon!

Marathon #2 is in the books!

  My first marathon was over 6 years ago and it was one of those things that I got hyper focused on and instead of having fun, I let myself get upset about missing goals and ended up finishing the race really upset.  The weather was crazy, I made a ton of rookie mistakes and then at the 20 mile mark, I just mentally tapped out and walked the majority of the last 10K of the race.  Later I regrouped and remembered some fun stuff, reveled in the accomplishment of completing a marathon, and shook it off.  But I always wanted to do another one.  Not to beat my time or REALLY go hard this time, but just to finish a marathon with a smile on my face and feeling as strong (or stronger!) at the end as I did at the beginning.  I wanted a second chance at that mental wall.
  I've followed the Little Rock Marathon since I first started running back in 2004.  I would see them at race expos all the time and they were constantly being written up for their crazy medals and fun experience.  As a matter of fact, I almost ran it right after my 1st marathon, which was in December.  I was thinking I could go and run another one right away, since LR was only a few months later.  So I've had my eye on them for a while and it was always on my list.  Last year I LOVED their super hero theme and the medal and I remember telling a friend, "I'm doing it next year, I want that medal." So when registration opened up, I signed up immediately because I didn't want to procrastinate and then end up not training.  I knew if I signed up, I would do it.  I did have a little burn out around the holidays, but thankfully Shama gave me a quick kick in the butt (and the contact information for a great running coach!) and I got back in the game.
  So after weeks of training, it was finally marathon week!  I woke up 7 days before the race sick with a pretty nasty cold that kept me pretty miserable until about Wednesday of that week.  I didn't run because I was really afraid of making it worse and not making it to race day.  I got a few miles in Friday night, but mostly just to shake my legs out a little, which felt pretty good.  Of course we get hit with a big ice storm Friday, which threw our travel plans a little out of whack, but Shama and I were leaving Dallas on Saturday (with donuts in tow!) whether Mother Nature liked it or not.  We hit the road and made pretty good time, considering.  We got to the race expo with a couple of hours to spare and ended up having a lot of fun walking around and checking out all of the booths.

RACE EXPO:

  Little Rock is definitely a small race compared to Dallas.  The expo was the first sign that we were in for something a little bit different.  Every year, the CIC's (or Chicks in Charge) choose a theme for the race and all the decorating, costumes, medals, etc. are designed around that theme.  This year the theme was pirates!  The medal has a nautical theme, with mermaids, a compass, a pirate ship, etc. on it.  It's pretty awesome.  Now, we got word a couple of weeks before the race that a huge shipping strike had caused a bit of havoc and the medals were trapped on a cargo ship on the east coast.  Because they weren't going to make it for race day, the medal company designed a really fun replacement medal so that we would not be empty handed on race day.  I thought that was pretty awesome.  We are going to get our giant medals, but probably not until the end of March/early April. It was a bummer, but they handled it really well and it was obvious that they had done all they could.  I have since received a similar email from a 5K that I'm running in a couple of weeks, so this shipping problem has obviously been an issue.
  The expo was small, but fun!  We saw most of the usual booths - nutrition, clothes, recovery tools, running stores, other races, etc.  They had a big pirate ship with volunteers dressed up for pictures, which was fun.

The pirate on my left was trying to lick my face. 

I thought this cutout looked like Adam Levine.

  We did a little shopping, picked up some Bondi bands, some race merch and this bad ass new visor that I'm totally going to rock this summer! 

 Lots of skull/crossbones merchandise to go with the theme!

  We hit every square inch of that expo and grabbed the obligatory backdrop picture on the way out - 

  After the expo, we headed to the hotel to check in and then made some dinner plans.  We stopped at Target on the way and after confirming via the Weather Channel app that the rain wouldn't show up until AFTER the race, I decided against purchasing a poncho.  This would come back to haunt me later.  After Target there was pizza, followed by cupcakes, and then we were both asleep by 9p. Unfortunately my stupid cold turned into an annoying night cough that kept me up for a couple of hours.  Since we went to bed so early, it worked out okay, but I felt terrible about bothering Shama with what sounded like the plague.  Ha ha!  

RACE DAY:

  Usually I start getting nervous about a race several days before, but this one didn't get me worked up at all.  Even the night before, other than the coughing fits, I slept really well and felt totally cool.  I don't know, I just knew I had trained well and felt no pressure about it.  I got a little giddy when we got to the start line and there was some nervous energy, but overall, I felt pretty chill about the whole thing.  I will say that any time I set out to run more than 15 miles, I always have funny thoughts beforehand like, "Uh, yeah right, is this really happening?" or "I don't know, this doesn't seem like it can happen."  I think that's why finish lines make me so emotional, I really can't believe that it's real sometimes.  

  Let's talk about how awesome the morning went - we got up around 5:30a, got dressed and headed out.  We pulled right up on a cherry parking space (for free!) and watched as the lot filled up 2 minutes later.  We walked to the start line and managed to walk right into porta potties without having to wait, only to walk back out to crazy lines.  We walked over to the starting line, which they hadn't opened yet and we were going to try and take a picture through the fence with the starting line in the background.  Well just at that moment, Bart Yasso is walking through, since he's announcing the race.  I know him, so I say, "Hi Bart!" and he sneaks us through the fence and takes an awesome start line photo of us, which we never would have gotten otherwise.  We had about an hour before the start and quickly realized that the reports of no rain during the race were all LIES.  It was pretty cold and it was already raining a bit.  The rain was pretty light, but we didn't want to stand around in it, so we jumped under a covered rest area with everyone else running the race.  Right before we left for the start corral, a dude put a trash bag down in front of me that his wife didn't want to use.  I mean, HELLO?!  I threw that bad boy on and it was like everything was going my way!  Can you hear the music now?  I felt like Ice Cube, thinking to myself, "Today was a good day."

  

  The start line was pretty standard - Shama ran up to Corral C (really Corral B) because she was running the 10K and wanted to go for a PR.  I was back in Corral D with the silly folks!  There was music, an opera version of the Star Spangled Banner (which was awesome) and lots of fun ahead of the start.  It took about 8 minutes for me to hit the start line, which is pretty good - I've gone 30 minutes from gun to start at larger races.  Then we were off!  I started off at a pace that I was super happy with and then realized that I had obviously OVER hydrated the day before and was going to need to stop at the first porta potty - which is the kiss of death for time.  I didn't really have a finish time in mind, but I think I really got tied to a 5 hour finish, which would be tight at my normal pace.  Giving up 5 minutes to wait at the first stop pretty much sealed the deal for me on that goal.  I did try and make it up for a mile or 2, clocking some faster miles and doing way too much bobbing and weaving to pass people.  I ended up adding almost a quarter of a mile to my distance doing that, so I finally just dropped the pressure on that goal and decided to really focus on having a good time.  I settled in and rolled with that plan starting around Mile 5.  The crazy thing about the first 5-6 miles is that we were basically just zigzagging through downtown, which was pretty fun!  Every where you turned, there was a line of runners going down a street, it was nuts.  The 10K runners turned off around Mile 5 and then the half and full marathoners went on a wider circle of the city until about Mile 11, where the half marathoners turned off and us full marathoners were taking a wild ride out of downtown.  Shama popped up at Mile 6/7 and got a couple of pics of me, which was funny since I hadn't planned to see her until Mile 11. 

See my awesome trash bag/pancho!

  As we made the corner around Mile 8, I noticed we were running right past the Governor's Mansion.  THEN I noticed - the Governor and First Lady of Arkansas were standing outside their house!  They were taking pictures with runners and cheering us on, it was really amazing.  They were so nice and since I had settled into my "have fun" goal, I decided to stop and grab a picture, too!  It started to really rain as soon as I snapped this photo:

 When I got to the split at Mile 11, I didn't see Shama, so I figured we just missed each other.  It was also kind of confusing, because they were herding the half runners to the right and we were headed to the left.  This is the corner where we passed Couch Potato Mile, which I discovered has it's own Facebook page!  https://www.facebook.com/couchpotatomile  It was an entire block of old couches lined up on along the course and each couch had bags of Lays potato chips.  They were really funny and those couches were VERY tempting.  I really wanted some of those chips, but I didn't want them that second and I didn't want to carry them with me, so I passed on the treats.  

Photo Courtesy of: Little Rock Marathon FB page

  We made another couple of turns and we started coming up on Mile 12.  MILE 12.  Let me tell you about Miles 12-16.  I had been staring at this elevation map for months: 

  I knew that those miles were going to be tough.  I had mentally prepared myself for Miles 12-16.  I will go back for a moment and say that the early miles were mildly hilly - mostly just rolling hills, nothing too crazy - but hilly, nonetheless.  So my hips and my knees were already a little sore from those hills and then as we are coming up on the Mile 12 mile marker, I switched the music to a comedy album that I love to keep me distracted from what I knew was going to be a good 45 min-1 hour workout.  There was a cop standing at that mile marker and he was saying to all of us "good luck guys!"  Ha ha!  And so we began...the CLIMB.  Surprisingly enough, I settled in to the uphills pretty easily.  It was tough, but it was easy to just adjust and accept that it was tough.  What REALLY surprised me were those downhills.  You can see on that chart there were 3 hefty downhills and they were just as steep as they look on that chart.  I actually had to walk 2 of them just for fear of blowing my knees out getting down them.   I will say that while this was the hardest part of the course, it was also the most beautiful.  It was a street that climbed through a really nice neighborhood on the right, and the Allsop Forest on the left.  So it was almost like running a cliff that had a really beautiful, wooded valley on the left.  This picture doesn't really do it justice, but after spending most of the first 10 miles in the city, it was nice to have a little variety. 

  We get to the bottom of the hill at Mile 16 and a woman that had pulled up next to me looks at me and yells, "It's over!  That part is OVER!"  Ha ha!  I was cracking up.  Apparently I'm not the only one that studied that chart.  She obviously knew just as well as I did that Miles 16-23 were flat as a pancake and I was just as excited as she was to get there.  A quick aside for the volunteers during these miles - they were GREAT!  Everyone that we came across in those miles KNEW that we were in the hardest part and there was dancing, people sat in their yards and handed out tissues, jolly ranchers, GU, water, they played music, they cheered for us - and that was on top of the normal aid stations that the race put out.  The community was really helpful during those hills and made it so much easier.  So thank you to everyone in that part of the city that stood outside in the cold rain to encourage and help us.  

  Miles 17-22 are a long out and back on a trail that runs along the Arkansas River.  You turn to the trail around 16.5, turn back at Mile 19.5 and then finish that stretch around 22.5.  I am not a fan of the long out and back route - it makes me a little nuts.  However, it was flat and easy and I really appreciated the timing of it - it was exactly what I needed for those miles.  It was also pretty fun because for a lot of it, we were running past another line of runners coming back or going out, so there were a lot of high fives and fist bumps with perfect strangers on that section.  I did laugh to myself a few times because as I passed mile markers on my side, I could see the mile marker for like 3 miles ahead on my right and I thought, "Man, it would be so easy to just run over there real quick."  Ha ha!  I really started to pick up a second wind when we made that turn at 19.5.  It was mentally awesome to A) be headed back AND B) be that close to 20 miles.  

  MILE 20!  I was STOKED to hit the Mile 20 mat.  I was feeling really good and I knew I would see Shama at Mile 22.  It was perfect timing too, because I was starting to get too emotional and I didn't want to start blubbering with 10K to go.  I try to save that for AFTER the finish line.  Just knowing I was that close and feeling so good, I just started to get really flustered.  Being solo, it's harder to get your emotions in check sometimes, so a distraction is helpful.  I was looking forward to having something to talk to about ANYTHING else at that point.  Oh and I also made the decision to take my trash bag off at this point - it had been dry for a while - and then it immediately started raining again about 5 steps after I took this photo:

MILE 22 - I picked up Shama and she ran with me all the way to Mile 25.  I was so grateful because it was really raining at that point and she was already dry, so it was sweet of  her to keep me company.  I felt awesome, even stronger than I had felt in the first 6 miles, and it was a big confidence booster.  Shama is a lot faster than me and even though she ran at my pace, she definitely pulled me along and my pace actually picked up a bit during those miles.   

Picking me up - Mile 22!

  I was so excited to find out that Shama had placed 3rd in her age group for the 10K and to hear about her adventures that morning.  Again, I was ready to talk about ANYTHING except me and my race at that point.  I mean, 3rd place age group at the Little Rock Marathon 10K is a BIG DEAL.  Pretty awesome, man.  As we headed into town, there were more rolling hills, but I didn't even care - I powered up those bad boys (well it felt like powering, it probably looked more like shuffling) like it was nothing! 

I eat hills for breakfast!

    Every mile marker at this point just made me run faster - Mile 23, Mile 24, Mile 25 - I was just getting more and more excited and pumped up!  I think even on the Garmin my pace at the end was ridiculously faster than the early ones.  Shama jumped out at Mile 25 and headed over to the finish, which was a block away on the other side.  Little Rock Marathon has a "Lipstick Stop" around mile 25.5 where you can fix up your face for finish line pictures - ha ha!  They were actually handing out brand new, fancy pants Loreal lipstick to everyone.  It was pretty funny watching women trying to actually put some on while they ran - I shoved mine in my pocket and kept trucking.  I turned another corner and got a handful of beads to wear, then one more turn for the Mile 26 marker.  At this point, I could see the finish line straight ahead and I remember just feeling amazing.  I ran the entire race, I was finishing strong, I had fun...and it was almost over.  Bart Yasso was standing in the street with a mic and talking runners in as they came through.  I came through pretty much by myself, so I got a high five from him and he read my name from my bib to announce my finish.  I unzipped my jacket so that the photographers could see my bib number at the finish - I had devised my plan for a cute finish photo somewhere in that long out and back.  Lots of time to think out there.  Shama snapped this pic of me, which might be one of my favorite running pics ever: 

See that smile??

  Final finish time was somewhere in the 5:31 range, according to the Garmin - there has been an issue with my results on the website, but they are working on getting me uploaded.  I walked through the finish chute, picked up a banana, some goldfish and my medal - then right before the last volunteer wrapped the warming blanket around me, I finally had my blubbering moment.  Just a quick cry before I took a finisher photo!  A couple of volunteers hugged me, which was nice and then I was just excited!  The walk back to the car was painful - I promised Shama that I wouldn't moan and groan the entire drive home - but once I got some food and caffeine in me, I felt pretty good!  We promptly hopped in the car for the 5 hour drive home!

  Don't let my hill talk dissuade you from this race.  It is a GREAT race.  It is a high profile race, but feels very small town and fun.  It's well organized and supported, the whole town really gets behind the event and encourages everyone.  Yes, the course is tough, but they really take care of you in those later miles and plan it just perfectly for the finish.  Not to mention - the MEDAL IS AS BIG AS MY HEAD.  I can't wait until I have it - I'll post a picture as soon as it comes in.  We had a blast and I would definitely go back and do this one again.  They suffer from weather uncertainty and have had difficulty with that in the past, but even the colder temps and rain didn't ruin the experience.  I enjoyed every minute of it.  

WOO HOO!    Starting in April, it's obstacle course racing season!  I have several races scheduled April - June.  Here's my current race schedule for 2015:

2015 Races

April 11, 2015 – BattleFrog 15K

May 15, 2015 – Spartan Hurricane Heat

May 16, 2015 – Spartan Sprint

May 17, 2015 - Spartan Super

May 30, 2015 – Gladiator Rock N Run

June 7, 2015 - Merrell Down & Dirty

June 20, 2015 – Spartan Stadium Sprint

July 25, 2015 – Fossil Valley 3 Hour Trail Run

September 12, 2015 – Savage Race

October 3, 2015 – Tough Mudder

October 23-24, 2015 – Ragnar Trails Weekend

November 1, 2015 – Spartan Beast 

November 16, 2015 – Blue Red Run Half 

STAY TUNED FOR MORE RACE REVIEWS!

Blue Red Run Half Marathon

Race #16 for 2014 is in the books!

  I signed up for this race a few months ago when I was at a peak with mileage and my pace was doing really well.  My goal was to find a half with some lower temps so I could test these legs and see how close I could get to a 2 hour half marathon.  Then...life happened and I missed some long runs, my training got a little sporadic and my conditioning took a hit.  I had a couple of bad long runs, strained my hip flexor...on and on.  I still kept doing my races, did what I could when I could and kept moving, but I knew my 2 hour half probably wouldn't happen at this race.  I was disappointed, but I just readjusted my plans for as strong a finish as I could put together.  Fast forward to race week and the temperatures plummet and that adds a little special something to the day.  I ran with Shama earlier this week and I was telling her that I was nervous about the distance.  I knew I could finish it, but I was worried about it being a stretch, especially with the hip flexor pain I've been dealing with.  I told her I would just finish, give up any time goals and she made a great suggestion to just start with the 2:10 pace group.  I don't usually run with the pacers on purpose, but that made sense.  I wouldn't have to worry or think about my pace, I could just try to keep up with the group as best as possible and if I fell back, it would still give me a good chance at a good time.  So, I had a new plan.
  Fast forward to race day.  I had a LONG, busy week and the weather kind of sucked.  I got to the race, parked and started walking around.  I've definitely done colder, wetter races, so I wasn't TOTALLY freaked out about the weather, but my Vibrams don't do much for keeping the toes warm and they were getting a little painful waiting around for the race start.  I had one moment where I thought, "I could just go get back in my car, pick up some Starbucks and head home.", but thankfully I've learned how to ignore that voice.  I knew that once I got started things would even out and even if I had to walk, I was going to finish.  This is the inaugural event and it was to benefit police and firefighter charities.  They got up and said a few words and I was grateful, because it helps to remember sometimes that there are people out there that fight through worse.  I also thought about my buddy, Dana, who I run for, and she had surgery this week.  Pretty major surgery that requires a lot of recovery time.  After that, it seemed silly to go home just because it was cold.
  They started the race right at 8a and I parked myself behind the 2:10 pacer.  They took off a little fast, so I settled into a more relaxed pace and decided that I would just do my best to stay between the 2:10 and 2:20 groups, which would still be a nice time for me.  I felt like the 2:10 group got a good bit ahead of me, so imagine my surprise when my first mile clocked just under 10 minutes.  I couldn't believe it.  I felt pretty good and that was an excellent pace.  The good part of running in cold weather is that your body is so cold, you can fool it into pushing a little harder, since you really can't feel anything.  Ha ha!  So I just kept the same pace, nice and relaxed, and I clocked Mile 2 under 10 minutes.  What?  So I made a decision.  While it's not the smartest race plan, I decided to keep up that pace for as long as I could and if it meant 11 minute miles at the end, so be it.  I just decided not to save anything for the end, just spend it all and see what I could do.  I kept the sub 10 pace until Mile 7 and it was awesome because it was SO consistent - I kept it between 9:50-9:57 that whole time without having to work really hard at it.  When we hit the turnaround at Mile 6, I was still feeling pretty good and there's something about getting to that middle mile in a half that makes the rest of it go a little faster.  Miles 7, 8 & 9 were all at 10:05, which was still so awesome and I was starting to feel my legs getting tired, but I knew I was going to bring in a pretty nice time.   I still thought I had a chance for something close to 2:10.  THEN...we turned off of the trails and back into the streets with no cover, lower temps and a 15 MPH artic headwind.  Mile 11?  Sucked.  My legs started to stiffen up on me in a big way and I felt like I was turning them over at the same rate, but I could tell I wasn't moving as fast.  Looking at my splits later, Miles 11 & 12 both dipped to almost 11 min miles, but I was okay with it.  I did get a little cranky when, after each mile had been marked flawlessly and matched up with my GPS perfectly, Mile 13 was a block off and the final mileage ended up being 13.3.  Um, that makes a difference, guys!!  Oh well.  Even with my dip at the end, I had a GREAT run and it just reminded me of what I'm capable of and how much I love running.  Yes, it was cold and there was a steady drizzle/mist the ENTIRE time we ran, but it was fun.  These legs are pretty strong when I put them to the test.  I will admit that running that distance at that pace after some spotty training has left me pretty sore.  It's pretty rare that I am doing the "granny walk" after a race, but I'm totally working it today.  We'll see how it feels tomorrow.  Final time: 2:15:16, which is 15 minutes faster than every half I've done since Gage was born 4 years ago.  My overall PR is still a 2:06 and I'm planning on beating that next year - but knocking 15 minutes off of my most recent finish times felt GREAT.
  This race was done really well.  The price was excellent and I got a running hat, running socks and a really cute cotton blend, long sleeved shirt.  The medal was nice too:

  They were making pancakes after the race that looked delicious, but I didn't have time to hang out.  It was a pretty small race, less than 500 people, and I ended up right in the middle of every category with my pace.  The route was SUPER friendly, some street racing and then several miles on the Campion Trails.  It was flat, fast, and easy.  The trails were nice because the trees provided some protection from the cold and the wind - I was getting really warm and almost took my jacket off, but I'm glad I didn't.  The parking was easy and close to the start/finish.  I might keep this one on the schedule.  If they keep that same route, it's a prime candidate for a PR next year.  

  That pretty much wraps up my scheduled races for 2014.  I have a couple of small maybes on the calendar for December, but I really need to work on my legs and getting them primed for marathon training, which officially kicks off in a couple of weeks.  I've started a schedule for 2015 and it will include a full marathon, MORE Spartan races and maybe  even something new.  Stay tuned!  

Spartan Beast 2014

  This review feels like the FINAL, end of the year review, although I still have at least 2 races left.  But this is the cherry on top of my Spartan Trifecta sundae, so maybe that's why it feels like such a culmination of AWESOME.  Remember my Spartan Super and Sprint reviews back in May?  Well this is the Spartan Beast - the longest distance race in the Spartan Trifecta, which can be earned if all 3 distances are covered in a year.  The three medals fit together to make one larger medal and it feels amazing to have all 3 pieces for 2014.

   I've done this race at the same location the last 2 years, so I had some idea of what to expect going into it.  Now, it has traditionally been scheduled in December, which has led to some weather issues, so everyone was excited when it was bumped up to November 1st.  Of course, a huge cold front came through about 24 hours before the race, so we still got some low temps at the start - but overall it was a BEAUTIFUL day for racing.  I was signed up to head out there by myself, but had plenty of friends on the LSS team that I would see out there, so I wasn't too nervous about that.  As I mentioned in my last review though, Nana enjoyed Tough Mudder so much, she signed up without about 3 weeks to spare and made the trek with me!  I had another friend, Kelly, that I knew was going out there with a girlfriend of hers, but when we got there, turns out her friend was sick and she was solo - so we ended up with a nice little racing trio.  

  First, I just want to say that I LOVE Spartan race day.  I've made a lot of great friends this year through OCRs and on the LSS team and it feels like a big party when I line up at a Spartan race.  I got a couple of really great hugs that morning and got to put some faces with names for people I talk to on Facebook all the time.  Everyone is in a great mood and so excited to see each other.  I have friends that live several states away and it's a blast to touch base in person on race day.  I ran into several people ON the course and then afterward, and it's just a big love fest.

  I also want to say that this was the first race that I wore the long racing socks.  I'm not against them, it's just that all of my shoes are minimalist shoes that fit pretty snugly and don't require socks - so I usually am completely sockless.  I decided to go with long socks because of the temps and I was able to make it work with a pair of shoes I have with a little extra room.  I am officially converted!  I was so warm and usually after the water crossings and mud crossings I'm pretty miserable with cold toes, but no more!  I will rock the socks from now on - at least in the colder months, for sure!  Special shout out to Christina HB Armstrong, who is the reason I had already purchased some socks this year.  

     We headed down to the start line, which was in a completely different direction than the last 2 years.  This was the first indication that this year was going to be quite different from the last couple of years at Rough Creek.  There was a quick over under obstacle and then they led us straight to the grossest muddy bog I've ever walked through.  At first it looked just like a water crossing, but oh no - the ground was made of sinking mud.  We were wading through the water up to our waists and our feet were sinking in the mud to our knees.  Poor Nana is a little on the short side, so Kelly and I were holding her hands in between us to keep her as much above the water if possible.  That went on for a while and then we climbed out of that little ravine.  I didn't look around much, but we found out later that a lot of our friends picked up some dead fish in their clothes.  I'm glad that did not happen to me! Nothing like walking through a mud bog to wake those legs up!

  There was more running after that, followed by the usual course of obstacles.  It was pretty clear early on that this course was completely different from the GR Beast of the past.  Typically, they take us out toward the "Rusty Crown", which is a little mountain that we would climb up and down for a few miles.  Then just when you thought you couldn't handle it, they would make you carry a sandbag up the mountain followed by a bucket of gravel - then send you on your way to finish the rest of the race.  This year, it was much more of a runner's course for the first 9 miles or so.  I could have pretty easily run all of those miles, minus a quick climb out of a ravine here and there.  The obstacles were also not surprising - there were a few new things, but nothing unmanageable.  We flipped some logs, tires, climbed some walls, traverse wall, rope climb (only 1 this year), memory test, cargo climbs, barbed wire crawl, dunk wall, atlas carry, herculean hoist, rope traverse, mud trenches and on and on. Lots of running between them, of course. 

  Last year they cut the swim out because the temperatures were too low, but they threw it back in this year and it was LONG!  I wore a life jacket, because I'm not a great swimmer, but it was nice because I was able to flip on my back and just backstroke to the opposite bank. 

  We finished up the bulk of the course and THEN we headed toward the mountain.  This time, instead of traveling up and down around the entire thing, they took us straight to the bucket carry, then we ran over to the sandbag carry, then we did a small trek up and down the mountain for just a little while before heading back toward the festival area.  We had warned Nana all day about that mountain and at every hill she kept asking, "Is this it?  Is this it?" to which we replied - "Um no, you will KNOW when you are on the mountain."  Please note that I keep using the word mountain, but there should be quotation marks around it.  It's not giant, but it is really steep and difficult to navigate.  

Nana coming down the bucket carry

Kelly was having some knee trouble, but she was a trooper!

About to head up for the sandbag carry

I had to navigate some of this hill by bear crawling - those rocks were tricky. 

  Something that I always do at these races is pack extra fuel in my hydration pack for people that may need it.  I can't tell you how many times I've stumbled across people that brought zero nutrition or hydration out on the course and are suffering for it.  Kelly brought some extra GU and I will tell you that we were handing out snacks left and right.  There were a lot of people cramping and looking a little weak so we tried to check on people as we ran by, ask if they needed food or water.  A few people drank from my hydration pack.  Spartan did better with more water stations at this race, but there weren't any nutrition packs.  We had a little picnic at the bucket carry and shared a Clif bar with a guy that was having some trouble. We met a group of dudes after the swim that had zero food on them and were starving.  I introduced them to the magic of Shot Bloks.  Then we hit the sandbag carry and on our way up, Kelly and I stopped to help a girl that started to stumble.  She was with two friends and they helped her sit down. She was shivering, but her skin was completely dry and her temperature was a little high.  I was really worried about her condition, she was unable to stand steady and communicate very well.  We gave her a GU, half of a Clif Bar, I let her have some water from my pack and called the medic guy up.  Of course, his radio was dying and he was having trouble calling for more help, so we sat with her for a few minutes.  Nana had missed the scene, so she was already at the top of the hill.  I was really worried about her - one of her friends scolded her for not eating during the week in an effort to lose weight.  She told the medic she hadn't eaten anything that day.  We saw her friends later and they said that a medic had eventually shown up and taken care of her, which made us feel better.  

   After that, it was a pretty quick little run back toward the festival area - we had to recite our memorized word/numbers and do the spear throw, then it was a short little jog to the end where the inverted wall and slippery wall waited for us before the fire jump and VICTORY!  I did 2 sets of burpees after failing the rope climb and the spear throw - damn it, stupid spear throw - so that is a far cry from my previous performances.  I will say that this course was much easier than previous years at the same location.  There were a lot of obstacles missing and the change in course made the terrain a lot less challenging.  We had a great time though, and it was fun to spend the day with a bunch of cool people, help others and get dirty!

  It feels great to have my Spartan Trifecta - something that I never thought I could do 2 years ago.  I'm ready to go for a double next year!  

Tough Mudder 2014

  I will be honest and start this by saying that I lusted for this orange headband long before I even fully understood what obstacle course racing was all about.  Tough Mudder has definitely become a large brand name and can be more recognizable in civilian circles than some of the other races I've done.  But something about that headband - I really wanted one.   I registered for Tough Mudder last year and then my boy was in the hospital, so I had to miss out.  I signed up again this year and felt a little differently about it.  After kind of falling in love with a different kind of race, completing a Tough Mudder was more about a bucket list than anything.  A lot of the obstacles seemed more about conquering fears than a lot of technique and strength, so it had a different type of challenge.  I was signed up for this on my own, but had made some friends throughout the year that I knew would be out there, but another friend of mine decided to sign up and do it with me!  I was so glad too, because I was nursing some injuries in a bit of funk, so I'm not sure if I would have gone if it were just me.
  So we line up on race day and I am nursing a tender hip flexor that only gets more painful as I run and foot pain that was ridiculously bad, even just walking up to the start.  Luckily, Nana was so awesome and walked/limped along with me for the whole thing and didn't even fuss when I complained.  They have a pretty inspirational speaker at the start and I got all pumped up in the corral, getting excited to have some fun.  We take off and I realize that I was running well early, but the pain was not going to let me run the entire thing.  I got cranky about this later because this is a RUNNERS course.  Yes, it's hilly - but the terrain is so easy to run that I know I could have really killed that thing if I had been healthy.  I tried to just let it go though, and enjoy the race I was running that day.

So fresh and so clean...

   The obstacles early on were stretched out pretty far.  I felt like we ran a good 1/2 mile between the first few, which felt like a pretty good distance.  We hit a mud crawl first, followed by the inverted walls and then I think the ice bath was next.  Again, it felt like we ran a LOT before we got to that 3rd obstacle.   We still haven't figured out why there were beer bottles in the ice water?  

  Then we hit a lot of the standards - water crossings, monkey bars. climb over barrels in water, walls, couple of steep inclines that required climbing, nothing too crazy, we were having a really good time.  We ended up running a lot of the race with a couple of guys from Arkansas that helped us over some of the walls and stuff, which was awesome.  Then we hit the Miles of Mud obstacle, which was HILARIOUS.  

   It was basically 8 trenches full of water and mud and dug in a way that made it virtually IMPOSSIBLE to climb from one to the next on your own.  So we were basically like this big chain gang of people pulling and pushing to get through it.  I would boost a few people, then they would help pull me over while someone else boosted me, then I would stay and pull a few people - repeat 8 times.  This seems like it's all about the mud, but this WORE US OUT.  We were both ready to lay down after what felt like an HOUR in those trenches.  The side effect was that we were head to toe covered in mud.  Another funny part of this type of obstacle is that you get pretty up close and personal with strangers - all that pushing, pulling and mud leads to some accidental feels, for sure.  It was really fun, though - we were laughing about it for a while.  

  Not too long after that was Walk the Plank, which gives you a chance to clean off - it's a big climb to a platform and then a long jump into water.  I did this at Savage Race for the first time and because of my fear of heights, it's always a little tricky.  I used my tried and true technique, which is...don't look, just jump.  The water felt great and did help clean us off a little bit - but not much.  Up next was one of TM's signature obstacles, Everest.  This is a large warped wall with no ropes that is difficult to get up without a little help.  There were people up at the top and if you could get their hands on your jump, they would do everything they could to pull you up and over.  Bless their hearts, I can't even imagine what their arms looked like after that day. It took me 2 tries - the first time I didn't see a big hole in my path, which slowed me down too much for the jump.  

  At this point, we knew we were getting close to the end.  Final mile count on this one was a little over 10, I believe.  It was awesome because it was the furthest Nana had ever run/walked - believe me, we were walking a lot at the end.  My foot started to feel better, but my hip flexor was on FIRE.  I tried to jog a little, but I was overcompensating too much and didn't want to hurt something else.  Nana was great though, and just hobbled along with me.  I was so grateful. We were coming up back toward the festival and the last obstacle, which is Electroshock Therapy. 

  Here's the thing.  I don't get the point of this obstacle.  It seems like it's just there to inflict pain, which isn't really why I run these type of races.  I've done some shock obstacles before, but nothing like this.  It's a bunch of wires hanging from a wooden frame with water trenches underneath - water? really? - and the goal is to RUN THROUGH AS FAST AS YOU CAN.  But you see, there are these trenches!  I mean, come on.  You can skip it if you want, and I thought about it, especially after watching a big 250 lb dude run through and get knocked on his ass.  I decided to go for it and a big group of us just took off.  I slipped in a trench about 2 rows from the finish and took a jolt right to the face.  It felt like I got punched in the face.  Seriously.  I hit the ground with my head and rolled off to the side, out of the wires.  Someone came over and was asking me if I needed medical, which I didn't, but I was trying really hard not to cry.  It felt like my face was on fire and my mouth was bleeding.  I finally got up and walked to the finish line to get that damn headband.  I am not sure if I'll do TM again - but if I do, I will skip that effing "obstacle".  I managed a smile for the finish pic.

  

I'm orange because I just went face first into a mud trench.

  Final thoughts on TM:  I still prefer Spartan Races.  I had a good time, they definitely get points for organization, medial assistance/flagging, nutrition/water stops and swag, but there's something not quite there for me that I get at Spartan Races.  Not to mention, that I don't like that TM talks smack about Spartan and other races - literally, there are signs on the course that talk smack.  Something about sportsmanship that I prefer.  I might do another one.  I will say that if there are beginners out there that want to try a longer distance but aren't ready to commit to Spartan, this is a good place to see how you feel about the distance.  The noncompetitive nature of TM is something that would appeal to some people that I know, for sure.  I think that if I had friends sign up to try it, I would go out and do it with them for fun.  I will NOT do the shock therapy again.  Ever.

  The other awesome thing that came out of TM?  Nana liked it so much, she decided to sign up and do the Spartan Beast with me a month later....speaking of, that race review will be next!

H20 5K - Playing catch up!

  I knew I was behind on race posts, but didn't realize I had TWO to catch up on before this weekend's race.  This review is of the City of Garland's H20 5K, which is a part of a huge health and fitness fair they put on.  I had been working on my speed over the summer and I told my friend Shama to find us a small 5K where I could go and try to win an age group award.  I have been running for 10 years and I have NEVER won any awards for my time, so I was really excited about trying for this one.  Fast forward about a month and by the time the 5K was here, I'd missed some mileage and hadn't been able to focus on my speed as much, so I wasn't sure what was going to happen.  I tried just just relax about it and enjoy myself.  That morning it was really humid, which I know Shama hates, so I decided to just talk her up because I knew she would be talking herself out of it.  We went out for a couple of warm up miles and realized there were going to be a couple of large hills on this course - one of which was right at the end, in that last corner before the finish line.  I could see Shama getting nervous about it, so I just tried to talk her up and keep her focused to take my mind off of my silly little goals.  I will say that the warm up miles we clocked were pretty fast and I felt good, so I was getting hopeful again that maybe I could keep that pace for at least 3 miles.

   We all line up at the start and this race was pretty small.  Shama and I had been looking around and trying to guess people's ages so we could keep our eyes on the competition, but we were really just cracking ourselves up acting like stalkers. This was the first time that I ever purposefully lined myself up close to the front, so I was really starting to get nervous.  Shama was going for a PR that was definitely a little faster than me, so she was right on the line.  We take off and I was keeping a really good pace, but I wasn't sure exactly how good until I hit the first mile and my running app clocked me at 8:56.  Sub-9 is RARE for me.  I felt great, so I thought "Well I'm just going to do this until I can't, it's only 3 miles, right?"  There were a couple of women that I went back and forth with and I wasn't sure if they were in my age group, so I just tried to stay in front of as many of them as I could.  We started coming up on the turn around and I saw Shama coming back toward me.  I yelled at her that she looked great and to keep it up and then decided to try and just keep her in my eyeline the rest of the race.  We hit mile 2 at the top of the first hill and I had done about 9:04 on that one, so at 2 miles, I was right at 18 minutes, which was incredible.  I figured at that point that even if I didn't get age group, I was going to set a hell of a PR for the 5K.  We were coming around the corner and I knew we were coming up on the last big hill.  I also knew that Shama was about 30 seconds ahead of me and right on track for the PR that she wanted.  Right as I turned the corner, I saw her halfway up that hill and she had started to walk a little - I promptly yelled "NO SHAMA!  KEEP RUNNING!  YOU'RE ALMOST THERE!"  Ha ha!  She jumped, looked back and started running.  The guy next to me jumped and started running.  I probably sounded like a crazy person.  We came up on that last stretch and I passed a couple of women I had been battling and turned in an 8:40 for my last mile, which is my fastest mile in at least 4 years.  I saw Shama cross and I knew she hit her PR.  Then I crossed at 27:30, which is a full 2 minutes faster than my 5K PR, which I set back in 2009, I think - PRE Gage.  I was SO excited about those splits and I was so excited that Shama hit her goal.  It was also awesome that I felt great!  It was hard, but completely manageable for that distance.  

  We still weren't sure if we would hit age group, they only did top 2 in each and there were some wild cards that had finished before us.  The woman I passed right at the end came in right behind me and I later found out that she WAS in my age group, so I'm glad I didn't let up on that last mile.  We walked around for a while until the awards and then got settled in our seats.  It was fun to see everyone getting their awards, I've never really paid attention to that portion of a race.  It was especially cool because you'd see familiar faces from the race that passed you or you passed and everyone was like, "Oh yeah, I was chasing you!"  We were both trying to be cool, but Shama and I were both so nervous.  They get to hers first and of course she won in her age group!!  I was so excited and I took some pictures.  We go sit back down and my age group was next.  They call out 2nd place and then MY NAME!  I won't even lie, I cried a little.  Silliest thing, I know, but it was so exciting!

  I got up there and I squealed, "I NEVER win anything!" and the woman said that it meant I needed to come back next year.  Oh I WILL.  Overall I will say that this little 5K is a lot of fun.  I don't want to hype it up too much because I need everyone to stay home so I can win again next year.  Seriously though. the health expo was fun, it was really well organized, the race swag was ridiculously generous and the race was SO cheap.  The course was exactly 3.1 and just challenging enough to feel like a REAL PR.  We had a blast!  I will be following Shama around to more small races so I can rack up a few more awards.  Luckily she'll let me tag along since we aren't in the same age group.  

Next up: Tough Mudder

    

Savage Race!!

  Man.  Savage Race was so awesome, I'm afraid that this post will just go on and on and on.  If you are here and reading this, prepare yourself.
  This was the 2nd Savage Race here in Texas.  I was signed up for last year, but when my training fell by the wayside last summer and then the temps on race day ended up being around 28, I decided to skip it.  As we all remember, last Fall did not go exactly as I had planned.  So to redeem myself, I signed up for Savage Race again as well as Tough Mudder, which I also missed last year.  That one is coming up in a couple of weeks.
  Imagine my disappointment when after a few setbacks in August, I was feeling a little unprepared for race day.  I knew I could do it, but I had planned on being further ahead this time around.  Not only that, but essentially I was running solo.  I knew there would be people there that I knew, but most of them were running competitive and are WAY ahead of me, so I fully expected to run it on my own.  The bright spot showed up a day or two before the race in the form of a massive cold front and storm.  I know that there was some complaining out there at the start - 60 degrees did feel a little chilly after the temps we've had - but I was STOKED.  I thought it felt awesome.  Personally, I continued to keep my miles up and train in the crazy heat this summer, so I felt like this shift was just what I needed to keep some of that edge I'd built up.
  I have talked about Lone Star Spartans before, it's a team that I ran with during the Spartan weekend in Burnet.  I bought a tech race shirt right after that race and decided to throw it on for this race.  I figured I may run into some other LSS out there and then at least I would have a few people out there who would have my back.  I get out there, get checked in and when I head down to the start corral, I see a group of about 10 LSS hanging out, waiting for our start time, at 9:20a.  Everyone was super nice and ready to race.  I was excited that I at least knew a few people in my wave.  We move up after the competitive heat left and the dude in the front does a great job of getting everyone hyped up!  They are taping a lot of it - Savage puts out a pretty badass race video - and everyone was having a great time.  There seemed to be a lot of teams in our wave, I think they had put most of the team entries into the same wave, which was fun.
  BOOM!  We take off and start to separate a little bit.  After a quick dirt hill climb, we get to the barn doors, which are just big walls with spaced out slats that you climb, and realize that there are about 4 of us that are hanging together.  There's a couple, Lindsay and Travis and then another guy named Jason and me.  We were all laughing and having fun, even though we knew that the ice bath was the 3rd obstacle and coming up quickly.  The thing about the ice bath - dubbed Shriveled Richard by Savage Race - is that there is a wall in the middle of the tub, which FORCES you to go all the way under the water.  I jumped out as far as I could and intended to just swim right under the wall to get out as quickly as possible.  Well that wall was further down than I thought and I bumped my head a little and had to come up first.  Big mistake.  I got stuck for a second, unable to catch my breath - that ice is NO joke.  I came around and got under the wall and out of the tub but OMG, that was insane.  Ice bucket challenge, my ass.  Fortunately the organizers of the Savage Race aren't complete sadists and we immediately got into a mud crawl under barbed wire.  The mud was nice and warm, so we warmed right back up.  I seriously considered sending the race directors cookies for that wonderfully timed respite.
  Next up was Davy Jones Locker, which is essentially a 15' (maybe higher) climb up to a platform where you then jump off straight into a big pool of water.  This is designed to be fun, but since I'm afraid of heights, I was shaking.  Everyone with me was super nice, encouraging me and yelling for me.  I stayed back from the edge until it was my turn, then I just ran and jumped without looking.  It was AWESOME.  Next was Missionary Impossible, which is hard to describe, but looks like this:

You essentially pull yourself on your back uphill, using the net.  It's not super hard, but it takes a lot of pull and will wear you out a little. After that, we hit a lot of the standard OCR fare: climb walls, go under walls in muddy water, slippery incline wall, dredge through a muddy bog.  This muddy bog was where I was finally able to clean my camera off enough to take a few pictures.  Before that, we had been in a lot of mud and I just wasn't able to use it as much.  Here are some pics from the bog: 

  Next up was the Colon Blow 5000, which sounds gross, but it's basically climbing up a small tube to a covered platform and then sliding down the same size tube on the way out.  I attempted this and had a minor panic attack on the way up and slid back out.  I was disappointed that I didn't complete this and I won't let it beat me again, but I really started to freak out.  MUST CONQUER THE CLAUSTROPHOBIA.    Another quick low barbed wire crawl, then Sawtooth!

  I like to call this "monkey bars from hell".  There's a lot of up and down transitions and it's tough to get across them, even for the guys that are in great shape.  You can see here that a lot of women were using hands and legs to crawl across.  Jason got further than all of us - Lindsay, Travis and I all made it about 2 rungs.  Those things were really slick with mud!  

  More standard OCR far after that: balance beam, over/under walls, big ass cargo net, steep mud hills, barbed wire maze.  The last few obstacles were a lot of fun - there was a log carry, which wasn't too bad, and then we hit Colossus.  This is an obstacle that Savage is pretty proud of and it was my biggest fear going into this race.  You have to climb a slick warped wall to the top and then there's a monster slide on the way down.  It's REALLY tough to get up that thing, most people need a lot of help.  I tried to get up that thing twice and on my second try I slammed my hip bone pretty badly as I fell down the wall, and after that, I was done.  I have a really nice bruise to show for that one.  Looking back, I wish I had used a rope where the knots were a little closer together.  I could hold on to the knots, but the ropes were so slick with mud, I had trouble getting to the next knot at the top. I think if I could have gotten to that, I could have gotten close enough to the top to transition over.  More work to be done!

    My very favorite part of the race was next - Pipe Dreams!  I've never done an obstacle like this, but you have to basically hang from a pipe and work your way from one platform to the other.  When we came up to it, I immediately thought "Oh well I'm going to fall in the water on that one."  and then...then....I did it!  I was SO stoked!

  After this, it was pretty simple - Tazed was the last obstacle right before the finish.  You have to crawl (seriously low crawl) through a bunch of live wires that will shock the *%#@ of you.  I was almost through and hadn't been tagged, thinking I would get lucky, and then just as my torso pulls through, I hit one on my lower back.  WOO!  That definitely stung. After that, it was a nice jog to the finish line!  

  Our little rag tag group ran the whole thing together and we were handing out high fives and hugs as we got our medals and t-shirts.  

I haven't run an OCR since May and at the end of that race, I realized how much I had missed it.  Playing in the mud, making new friends, challenging myself, some fun bruises (race kisses)...I am so glad that OCR season is back!  This totally reignited a fire in me that had died down a little over the last month or so and now I'm ready to hit the gym even harder!  I have 2 big races coming up - Tough Mudder in 2 weeks and then the Spartan Beast (and final piece of my trifecta) in November.  Tough Mudder will be more about having fun - kind of like Savage - but it is 13ish miles.  The Beast will be a real test.  My first year I completed in 5 hours (in relatively good shape), last year in 6 hours (in TERRIBLE shape) and then year I plan to kill those times.  I am working to minimize burpees and keep a steady pace and I think I can do it.  AROO!  The rest of the year looks like:

October 5, 2014 - Tough Mudder

November 1, 2014 - Spartan Beast

November 16, 2014 - Blue Red Run Half (trying to get as close to 2 hours as possible)

  I've signed up for a full marathon in March, which I'm excited about!  I've been keeping my mileage in the 13-15 range all summer, so I won't have to kill myself training for this race if I keep that up through the winter.  I won't really have to get serious until after Christmas.  I want to do more trail running next year and may do the Captain Karl's summer series - I need to compare some dates, etc.  Spartan is looking to bring 4-5 more Texas races next year, so I'm really stoked about that.  That may or may not include a stadium sprint at the Death Star, which would be AWESOME.  I still plan to conquer pull-ups, the rope climb and take more time off of my average speed.  2015 - I see you!