I am Spartan! Aroo!

Last Saturday I completed my first Spartan. My brother, his son, my daughter and I all got free races for volunteering so we raced during the volunteer heat (the last one of the day). We were literally the very last people doing the race....and were the very last people on the course for a long time. We ended up passing quite a few people once we got past the dreaded hills.

I will be honest...I was scared of doing the race. I was scared I wouldn't be able to physically finish it. I figured I would end up doing many, many, many burpees (you have to do 30 burpees for each obstacle you don't finish). There were 23 obstacles and I only had to do burpees for one. The last obstacle before the finish line; the rope climb.

Here is me doing my burpees... haha



The race stared out going up a very steep hill. We decided that we would run up it because we figured one of our spouses was videoing us so wanted to look good. Once we were out of their sight I had to slow down because my tachycardia kicked in and so did my arrhythmia. The first part of the race (a huge part of the race) was a lot of steep hills. We went to the top of a small mountain. I slowed down, but kept going. I finally got my tachycardia to slow down, but then I started getting calf cramps. I had to stop and stretch my calves out, but kept going.

I kept pushing myself. It felt good. I was determined that no matter what, I was going to finish. Thankfully they encouraged team work. So on some obstacles we helped each other. The ones I needed help with were things like the monkey bars because I just didn't have the upper body strength to hold myself up that long.

We got to the barbed wire crawl. This race is done on a motocross course. The barbed wire crawl was done on the "whoops jumps" area. So was a series of mini hills in a row for about 50 yards. It is muddy and long. It wasn't easy to crawl/roll under the barbed wire. My arms are pretty bruised up from it! But what really made it hard for me was that both my calves seized up. The cramp in each calf went from my ankles up almost to my knees. Solid, hard as a rock, cramps. It was incredibly painful! I kept trying to crawl through the pain and it just kept getting worse.



I finally decided to try one of the honey energy gel packs I brought that happened to have some potassium. Thankfully that wiped out the cramp! I was able to finish the crawl and move on to carrying a bucket of rocks up a steep hill. (side note hint: one of the workers told me that to prevent calf cramps in a race like that to take a couple Midol pills before the race. He swears by it!)

My daughter hit her shoulder blade real hard during the barbed wire crawl so was struggling to do much. I had her take a bunch of her rocks and add them to my bucket. It was so heavy and hard to carry since there wasn't a handle. It took us a while, but we were able to complete that challenge (course on the way down the hill, I slipped and fell... hit my bum hard on a large rock and spilled my bucket everywhere. Had to pick up as many rocks as I could and continue on)



After we got done with carrying the buckets of rocks up and down a hill, we had to climb up an insanely muddy hill! It was hard, but pretty fun too. I don't know why, but I do love challenges like that.



Completing this race is a very proud moment for me. I get to check it off my bucket list! :) It was challenging and I didn't give up. I pushed through the pain, I pushed through the challenges, and I did it. It may have taken me 3 hours and 43 minutes to complete, but what matter is that I did finish! I may be bruised...

....But I came out feeling better about myself and my abilities.

It is worth it to push past fears and challenge yourself to complete something you never thought was possible!

3rd Race This Year

When I was a kid I did a race called the Spit Run up in Homer, Alaska. I barely made it. It was pretty long. I think I was around 10 when I did it. That was the only race I had ever done. Then this year happened.

I did a 5k in April with my husband and 4 kids. It was pretty fun and easy. I didn't run because I stayed with my husband (he has a pacemaker and cannot run because it could set off the pacemaker) and was pushing my 2 toddlers in the huge double stroller; also they would get out every once in a while and walk it. Honestly, I wouldn't have actually run though, I don't run... :)

Then in May I did my very first obstacle race. It was so fun! It made the plain ol' 5k seem very boring. I realized just how much I prefer the challenge.

Tomorrow is my first Spartan race.... My brother is on his way from Utah. He, his son, my oldest daughter, and I will be doing the race. My brother has done many (he has a trifecta!), but for the rest of us it is a first! It is a lot more intense than the Mud Stash that I did. The Spartan has harder obstacles and if you cannot complete them then you do 30 burpees. It is going to be a major challenge. I am excited!

But....

I am also terrified!!!

This is going to be the most physically difficult thing I have ever done. (and I have given birth 4 times! haha)

With my health problems comes muscle weakness and fatigue. So that worries me. My arm gets tired just from holding up the hair dryer, so I worry I will have big struggles with the challenges. BUT I also know my personality. When I am determined to finish something then I will force myself to finish it. I will find a way. I don't care how long this race takes me to complete, I just care that I do complete it!

Today I am resting up my body and hydrating as much as I can. Tomorrow is a big day.

I will hopefully be able to post early next week about how the race went! My husband will be taking pictures so I will add those also. Wish me luck!

My First Obstacle Race

I have been meaning to write about this for a month, but time slipped away from me. In the end of May, I flew out to Indiana to spend time with family. My parents (who actually live just a couple miles from me), my 4 brothers, my 2 sisters, and I got to spend several days together (also several nieces and nephews). One of the things we did together was participate in a race called the Mud Stash (click HERE to see the website about it). It was so much fun. As an adult, I had only done one race, which was a 5k blacklight run. Never have I done anything with mud and obstacles!

I had completed the BeachBody 21 Day Fix a few days before the race. Thank goodness I did that because it prepared me much better than I would have been. We had a group of 14 doing the race together (my dad, 3 of my brothers, my sisters, and nieces and nephews) which made it seem to go by real fast. Some of the obstacles were very difficult, but I tried almost every single one. I learned that my upper body strength isn't where I need it to be. The monkey bar style ones were too hard for me to get very far on, but at least I did try!

Toward the end, with the finish line in sight (but about 4 obstacles left) I slipped off one in the water and slammed my knees into gravel. They were bleeding and swelling up fast. The old me I think would've just stopped then, but my first thought was, "I HAVE to finish this!" So after I took a moment to compose myself and the rest of our group was ready, we went on to the next obstacle. Dragging my knees as I army crawled in mud under ropes... I just kept going. (below: my brother, Josh, and I)

I made it to the finish line and got my first medal!

I can't put into words how great it felt to accomplish something like this. Other than childbirth, this was the most physically wearing thing I have ever done.

I have spent the past month having to do physical therapy for my knee. I hurt one of them much worse than the other (the doctor thought for sure I had fractured my knee cap and was surprised to see on the xray that I hadn't. Just hurt the pattelar ligament and deeply bruised my knee) so I wasn't able to do much for a while. I was on crutches and wearing a leg brace, plus doing physical therapy twice a week. I am not 100% yet, but almost there. Tomorrow is my last physical therapy appointment and I just got the go ahead to do my intense leg workouts to test out my knee.

I have 32 days left before my brother and I will be doing the Spartan, so I have to get back to my training!

I have never been one who has much physical strength, but I have always been one who is quite determined to finish what I start. I am working hard to gain the physical strength to go along with my determination so I will be unstoppable! :)

What do you do for YOU? I have found that I absolutely love the feeling of finishing a race. I want to do as many as my finances will allow. It makes me feel good about myself, it gives me a goal to work toward... it is important to have something that is just for you. Especially as a mom. This is something I do for me, for my health, for my emotional well being. What will you do for you?