Spartan 2012

We have completed the Spartan Sprint 5K today at Amesbury Sports Park. It was a great race and obstacle course. The first leg was to run up the ski hill into the woods. When we came out, we had to jump into 5 moats. They were filled with mud and cold water. With each moat, the water was deeper and deeper. There was no easing into this race. The next obstacle was to climb over a wall, then under the next and through the last. This was repeated twice. I was able to use my upper body strength to climb over. After the last wall, we picked up the pace and jogged until we hit the mud pit and swamp. Scott went right through it and almost lost his shoe. I went on the side of the trail which wasn't as deep. After trudging through even more mud and having to bend down under trees in the mud, we came upon the monkey bars. Our hands were wet and muddy. I climbed onto the first rung and started to swing to one bar and then the next until I ended on the other side. I was in awe. Most people fell off because it was slippery. If you fall off any obstacles, you have to do 30 burpees. I was able to rest my arms while I watched Scott and the Adairs do burpees. (Yes, I did have to do burpees on a horizontal wall climb that I slipped off of and they didn't)  I was thrilled. I couldn't believe I conquered this challenge. Continuing on through more mud and hills, we made it to walls. Each wall we had to climb over was taller and taller. The first few, I was able to run and jump and muscle over it. Once the walls became over my head, Scott boosted me up. But it was a long drop on the other side. I slowly lowered myself down then jumped the rest of the way.
One of the other challenging obstables was the rope climb. Fortunately there were knots every few feet. Of course, it was muddy and we started in a muddy water pool. It was all upper body strength again to pull myself up the rope. I climbed and climbed until I reached the cow bell, rang it, and cheered for joy. I never thought I could do a rope climb.
Next came more moats and then we dragged a cement block around a circle. The hardest part of the challenge beside walking up and down hill with a 20 pound weight, was the barred wire. We had to crawl on "mud" covered gravel under the wire for at least 50 yards which then turned to uphill crawling. My knees and shoulders were killing me. Fortunately, none of us were injured. After that we ran through the woods and uphill again, jumped over fire conquered one final obstacle, followed by being hit by the Spartans themselves.

We had a great time and even signed up again for next year. I don't think I could have completed this last year. I would have been doing quite a few more burpees instead of completing the obstacles. Because I have been weight lifting, my upper body strength has improved tremendously. It was a great accomplishment to get over those walls by myself, or rope climb, or monkey bars. I am pretty sure I wouldn't have done this last year.
Since September when I started to weight train, my trainer really pushed me to do pull-ups. She had me doing this at every workout. When I first started, I could not even do half of one. Now I am up to eight. Being able to do pull-ups is very empowering for a women. It shows my strength that I don't need to rely on anyone else, that I am powerful and I can accomplish anything. That's what the Spartan did for me as well. All the training led to this use of my running and strength abilities. I have conquered my fears and prove that "I AM WOMAN".
What are you afraid of? What do you want to do that you can't do now? How would it feel to be able to do pull-ups? Don't let that little devil on your shoulder get the better of you. If you want to accomplish something, then work hard to do it. No one can do the work for you. Transform your body, mind, and soul to be a better and empowered you.

Competition Season

I officially started training for another show. As I mentioned before, the first one is in October. I have cleaned up my diet and increased my weight training and cardio. I will be ready for this show.

Competition season is hard. It seems to be the only thing that I can focus on. I am constantly thinking about what my next meal is or when I can get to the gym. I know it is probably taking a tole on my husband. He is probably sick of hearing me talk about it. But that is my life right now. If I want to be competitive, I need to focus on me. This has been hard because I am a mother of four who homeschools, works, and is starting a new business as well as trying to get certified in personal training. So to find the time is important. Fortunately I have a great support system that helps me to reach my goal.

It is important as a mom and wife to focus on yourself. We are constantly doing things for others, and it's important to take time for ourselves. If we don't take the time to be healthy, we sure will have to take the time to be sick. Focus this week on changing something in your life that is not working. Is it your diet? Should you cut out that soda or alcohol? How about those sweets? What about those bad carbs?

Eating the right carbohydrates are important in your diet. Eat plenty of vegetables and some potatoes, rice, or oatmeal. Try to stay away from the fatty carbs and gluten. Some people have a misconception about carbs. Some think they make you gain weight. They will is eaten in the wrong combination or consumed to excess. However, they are needed in our diet. They give us the energy we need to fuel our day. Carbohydrates cause the release of insulin in your body. This insulin causes the cells to open up to absorb either fat or protein.  If you are consuming carbohydrates with fat, then the fat will get absorbed in the cells. If you are eating protein, then the protein will becomes absorbed. What do you want to fill up your cells? I know I want bigger muscles not fat, so I choose protein. What do you choose? Start making those changes that are right for your body.

12 Weeks till GSO

The last two weeks have being going great. I have stayed on my diet and increased my training. Last Thursday I started my German Volume Training to increase my muscle mass. This includes lifting 10 sets of 10 reps for the major body parts. This will help to keep my heart rate up and give my muscles  a great pump.  I should gain muscle size with this type of training.

Also, I bought the new Tapout Video Workout. This includes a mixture of Insanity and P90X but for Mixed Martial Arts.  This work out focuses on building strength and cardio through martial arts. It is a great work out. I have been performing this exercise in the morning and weight training at night. If I don't use the DVD, I have been running or biking. I have increased my running to 7 miles in 1 hour and 13 minutes. I still have a long way to go before the half marathon.

Today I did brick work with biking and running. I really pushed my bike routine which left me spent for the running. I definitely need to practice the transition or brick work more.A brick work out is when you finished bike riding and have to run after and your legs feel like "bricks". You know your legs are moving but they are so heavy that it hurts.  I have been completing a 12 mile bike ride, however I need to challenge myself on Great Hill. If you seen it, you would know why its called Great Hill. This hill is very intimidating for me. The incline is extreme and long. To conquer this task, I am on the lowest gear and pedaling maybe 5mph. I am pedaling so slow that I am afraid of falling over because I am clipped in. There is about six weeks left before the Pumkiman Triathlon, so eventually I need to ride that route. Maybe in a couple of weeks I will be ready.

So in the mean time, I am training for the half marathon. triathlon. and 3 Figure competitions. It's going to be a great fall. I will be in the best shape of my life or die trying.