2013: Year In Review

This year has been a wild ride to say the least. Ups, downs, and unexpected twists were rampant. Nothing I've ever experienced can compare to 2013 for the trials, tribulations, and triumphs. Before I look back on my best year of running yet I want to thank the people who made this all possible.

First off is obviously my friends and family. I could never have accomplished my first 100 miler without my crew and coach. I couldn't dream big if it weren't for my family backing me up. And I wouldn't laugh until I cry or get squeezed in bear hugs until I squirm if I didn't have friends like Jenn (both of them), Dan, Kelly, or Paul. I love you all!

FitFluential - I have taken my blogging to a new level and been introduced to opportunities I never would have had otherwise without FF's mentoring. I've also met a ton of wonderful bloggers and been inspired to improve my own. Look for lots of upgrades in 2014!

Representin' FF at the Pretty Muddy

INKnBURN - How could I have run 100 miles and had NO chafing or blisters or other issues without them? I made new friends because I always stand out in their gear. I get to be comfortable and stylish which is something that rarely happens in my 'normal' life. INB4Life! <3 p="">

INKnBURN went everywhere with me this year, even my first Strongman clinic

Altra Zero Drop - The base of all my running! No black toenails. No blisters. Total comfort. After just over 1,300 miles run this year my feet are still happy. I can never think the Altra crew enough for all they've done for me and always having my back!

Altra carried me for over 1,300 miles in 365 days

Okay, now onto the shameless bragging!

As of today I am at 1,322+ miles run for 2013. I ran 27 races totaling approximately 500 miles. These included 7 5k's, 2 5 milers, 1 10k, 1 10 miler, 3 30k's, 1 20 miler, 2 marathons, and 3 ultras (one 24 hour, my first 100M, and one 50 miler). There were also some odd distances like 4.3 miler, a 7 miler, and 24.5 miles during a relay. Overall I would say it was a very successful year!

Third woman, first in age group at the North Coast 24 Hour Endurance Run

 

 

My crew and I after my first 100 mile finish

On the personal side there were also lots of changes. My family dealt with stalkers and sabotage. My marriage ended. I found a job I loved and then was laid off almost immediately. But despite all the drama there was lots of good as well. I made a lot of new friends. I reconnected with old ones. I went to my 10 year high school reunion (what?!). I turned 29 and began to accept that I really am going grey (I blame the kids).

At my 10 year reunion

 

So here's to 2014 and even more adventures. Whatever the new year may bring I know it will be worth it because I have the best family and friends. We always work hard and play harder. We give blood, sweat, and tears. And we never, ever give up. Cheers!

Taper Time

I want to do that like MC Hammer would so I know the taper madness is setting in!

Baltimore Running Festival is in 10 short days! All most of my training is in the bag and all I can do now is short, easy runs while I wait and wonder if I will PR. September was a horrible month for my running with how much I've been working. And we all know from past experience that once I fall off the band wagon training plan that it's hard for me to get back on it.

So while I worry that I have completely screwed up my hopes and dreams for this race and then remind myself that I did just PR a 50 miler I have decided to stop the voices in my head for a moment while I overthink something else....

Pretty Muddy professional pics are here!

Dripping wet coming off the huge inflatable slide

 

Making my way out of the beachball tunnel

 

Climbing the cargo net

 

I did it!

 

Time to celebrate

 

So what do you think?! I'm pretty in love with the one of me exiting the mud pit! I can't wait to do another mud run ASAP!

Pretty Muddy

I could alternatively title this post 'Evolution of an Afro'. I knew there would be lots of photo ops at this event so I carefully straightened my unruly curls and even applied a little lipstick this morning. Of course, that was gone before I even arrived in Columbus, Ohio after a 4 hour plus drive! I was pretty proud of myself for trying though. It's not often that I attempt being feminine but how could I not for a race with Pretty in the name?!

Before

 

 

I left home sometime around 7:30am. I made the drive to Columbus in pretty good time with a quick stop for food and coffee. When I arrived at Mad River Mountain the first thing I realized was that all of the participants were running straight up the ski slopes! Being that I haven't run all week I wasn't sure I was up for that!

The view from the parking lot

 

I checked in and picked up my bib and shirt. Then I dropped my bag of 'after' clothes at the gear check. It was all broken down by alphabet and/or bib number so it was really smooth and didn't take long at all. I took some photos of the slopes and tents while I walked around. I also chatted with some of the volunteers and workers at the event. Everyone was super friendly and helpful! I had registered for the 1PM wave but I saw only a few people lined up for 12:15 (apparently not a popular time? The other waves were much busier!) so I decided to go ahead and jump in early.

 

Getting pumped up to start!

 

The announcer who started each wave was extremely funny. He kept joking with the DJ who was right next to the starting line and got all of the runners excited for the challenge ahead. I wish I would have asked his name but I did get a picture with him later! He did a really good job of entertaining the waiting runners for the next wave. It was only a few minutes and then we were off.... straight up the ski slope! I ran for maybe 100 yards and then I went into my ultra hike/walk.

 

The snow machines were being used as super soakers instead

 

Half way up the ski slope we hit the first obstacle. I took pictures of every obstacle except for a cargo net at mile 1, a slide at mile 2 and the last mud pit because they had professional photographers at each of those. I'm really excited to see the photos once they come up online! Anyway, the first obstacle was a tunnel of foam. It didn't look too bad until I actually went in and then I was quickly buried! Foam was literally over my head and I just held my breath, closed my eyes and pushed through the other side. That would have been a great obstacle for the end to clean off some mud!

 

Inside the foam tunnel

 



The next obstacle was four walls. You had to climb over the first one, under the next two, and then over the last one. Of course, there was mud under the middle two! Next was the tunnel crawl then the cargo net climb, high knees through a cargo net, a slip n slide across a tarp, a run through a tunnel full of beach balls, the huge slide, running around a loop carrying a board over your head, two more wall climbs, and then the final mud pit! Not to mention running up and down the mountain the whole time!

First wall

 

Fourth wall

 

View from the mountain top

 

Cargo net run

 

 

The foliage is just starting to turn around here and the views from the mountain top were stunning. I did my best to appreciate the colors while speed hiking the uphills. I was too busy trying not to turn an ankle on the downs to look around! There really was no flat to speak of.

 

Foliage

 

Attacking the summit for the second time

 

As I ran I could hear the announcer below getting the next wave ready. Being that each wave was 15 minutes after the last this gave me a method of keeping tabs on my time. This event isn't timed and there are no awards but I'm too competitive and number-focused not to worry about my performance. I didn't wear a Garmin or watch but I did check the time at the start and finish. My only goal was not to have the 1PM wave start before I finished!

 

Alley of beach balls

 

Taking on the board run

 

As you can see, my straight hair didn't last very long. I didn't care too much though because I was having a blast! Thankfully I think I'm still pretty cute with crazy curls! ;)

 

Last two walls!

 

As I headed for the finish a couple people yelled that I was too clean. So I took the opportunity to literally swim in the final mud pit! I crossed the finish line, checked the clock (39-ish minutes), and then asked the ladies if I was still too clean!  I took a minute to pose in all my muddy glory before I headed for the hoses to clean up.

 

Yep, Pretty Muddy!

 

Once I was semi-clean (I was too chicken to spray myself in the face with freezing hose water) I grabbed a beer and was greeted by Kevin S., the owner of Pretty Muddy. We chatted about the event and what I thought was good and what could be improved. He seems like a pretty good guy with a real vision for the future of these events. I hope they'll continue to grow because I saw smiles on the face of every lady out there today! Plus Kevin posed for a picture with me despite the fact he was wearing white!

 

Hanging out with Kevin

 

I had to stop and get a picture with the announcer too!

 

After getting hosed off and drinking a cold beer I was pretty frozen. I headed into the ski lodge to get cleaned up a little better and change into warmer (cleaner) clothes. I headed back out to take a few last pictures before heading home. I couldn't help but smile at some of the women that were out on the course with me today so I had to get pics!

 

Post-Pretty Muddy with the full blown curls!

 

Pretty, pretty princesses?

 

Trash the Dress?

 

It wasn't long before I was too cold to hang out any longer. I headed back to my Jeep and couldn't help but laugh at my sticker. I feel like I really deserve it now!

 

This race was really well done for a first year event. The few things that I hope to see next year: timing (because I'm a number freak), finisher medals (because a lot of the women were first time runners and deserve it!), and any color besides white shirts (because mine is already stained from wearing it home post-race). Other than that the course was awesome (tough but doable for all athletic levels), the obstacles were creative and fun, the beer and food afterwards was good, and the ski lodge was a comfortable place to clean up and relax after the run. I would definitely recommend it for any woman looking for a different experience or a 'girls day'!

Disclosure: FitFluential LLC compensated me for this campaign. All opinions are my own.

Gettin' Dirty

I just got some amazing news! As if all the awesome things in my life weren't enough, I get to do a new mud run event called the Pretty Muddy. If you've never heard of this (or done a mud run!) then you seriously have to check one out! It's a women-only (sorry dudes!) 5k obstacle course with a party at the end! What's not to love? (Although, if there's a huge wall or rope climb I might miss having some strong guys helping me over!)

Logo courtesy of Pretty Muddy FaceBook page

If this sounds like it's up you're alley (road? trail?) then you should definitely join me in Columbus, OH on September 29. If you're not local then it's okay because there's FIVE more of these awesome events happening all over the eastern United States. So what are you waiting for?! Sign up now and use the code FitFluentialPM12 to get $10 off.

My goal is to finish with more mud than I did here!

 

So join in the fun and then like Pretty Muddy on FaceBook or follow them on Twitter (@PRETTY_MUDDY) for all the latest info and lots of fun chatter! You'll find me and lots of other pretties using the hashtag #prettymuddy. It's going to be a blast!

 

Now I've got to go work on my upper body strength because I KNOW that cargo net climb is going to kick my muddy butt! :)

 

 

 

Obstacle photo courtesy of Pretty Muddy's FaceBook page

 

Have you done a mud run or obstacle course? Are you going to join me at the Pretty Muddy? (Please say yes!)

 

Disclosure: FitFluential LLC compensated me for this campaign. All opinions are my own.

 

 

 

I am a warrior!

I'm a little late getting this up but I was waiting for the amazing (and over priced!) photos to go up from the Warrior Dash in Logan, Ohio on June 4, 2011! My husband and I both took a stab at our first obstacle course race and both did pretty well (34:07 for him and 39:19 for me), coming out in the top 25% or so for our age groups. So on to the good stuff!

We made the four hour drive out to the race site in good time! Can I just say that I LOVE my new 2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara! It is a blast to drive and did pretty freakin' awesome on gas for a huge 6-cylinder sport wagon (averaged almost 22MPG)!

We ate Wendy's about an hour out from arrival but thankfully that not-so-bright idea didn't backfire on us! Thinking that signing up for the 2PM wave so we could drive there and home in the same day was another story!

Once in Logan we parked at some fairgrounds that looked like they were undergoing renovations. Thankfully they had buses running constantly to shuttle us from the parking to the race. The temperature was rising quickly and was close to 90*F by the time we checked our gear and did last minute potty stops. We found the starting line in time to watch the 1:30PM wave start with fanfare and flames!

We baked in the sun for another half hour and then it was our turn! Boy were those flames hot running underneath them! The first mile or so was all uphill. I wasn't brave enough to wear my Garmin so I don't know the exact distances or elevation gains but it was brutal trail. The 300 or so runners in my wave were all bottlenecked in and it was basically a nature hike. Not so warrior in my book! BOO!

Finally, we came to the first obstacle which was just tires swinging from ropes. According to the website the first obstacle was supposed to be Tornado Alley, a wind tunnel. Guess they wanted to surprise us? I dodged the tires pretty easily and managed to break away from some of the people slowing things down.

The next obstacle was an over-under. It was under barbed wire, over a wall, under more wire, over another wall, and under one more set of wire. I flew through that pretty easily as well. Thank you CrossFit! Next I believe was the lake! And that was HARD but mostly because I had 30 or 40 other people in front of me kicking me, splashing me, and dragging me down. Going over the four rolling logs in the lake was the easy part! For some reason the girl in front of me had on a rubber glove? Not sure if she had a broken hand or what but more power to her!

Next was the junk yard. Three sets of destroyed cars to climb over or through. I chose over to save time. Next was highstepping through tires which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I passed quite a few people who seemed afraid of the cars and tires.

Soon after was a crawl through mud under a black tarp. I was amazed at the number of people that refused this obstacle saying they would have a panic attack or whatever because it was dark and confined. It was advertised as part of the course so what gives with that? And if any of those people are ahead of me in the rankings I hope they feel ashamed! ;)

Finally nearing the end was a cargo net climb. I believe it was about 25-30 feet and a lot of people froze on this. I really didn't think it was that bad overall but I guess I'm not as afraid of heights as I think I am? I managed to pass a few more people here. Almost immediately after we made a sweeping right-hand turn and had to traverse several thin, angled planks. I really thought I was going to fall off and bust an ankle at a few points. Guess I need to do more balance work!

A VERY steep downhill run/slide/jump brought us to the last few obstacles. A wall you had to use a rope to climb up and a knee-high (thigh-high on me) creek we had to run down. I hit shin first into a rock sliding down the hill into the creek but the cool water soothed the burn almost instantly.

A quick pull up some ropes to get out of the creek and I could see the finish! However, there were two fire pits and a barb-wire covered mud pit to traverse first. I leaped the fire fairly easily and was happy that my skirt didn't catch fire! *Hint: Don't wear a running skirt to an obstacle run!*

The mud pit was fine at first. I slid in and got on hands and knees. It was relatively soupy at the start but got thicker and thicker as we went along until it was hard to move at all. Finally I clambered out the other side and made a dash for the finish where I happily collected my medal.

At the end there were guys with fire hoses to clean us off. It was refreshingly, shockingly cold but got the job done. However, my shoes, along with many others', were toast. Shane and I dropped our shoes in the growing pile and headed for the car. We even wore our warrior helmets the whole way home!

All in all it was a neat experience. Not sure if we'll do it again but it was definitely worth doing once!