RACE REPORT: Georgia Spartan Sprint 2014

I AM HOOKED.

I went into the Spartan Race thinking it would be a fun way to shake up the old running and racing routine.  My sister got me the entry as a Christmas present, and we were running it together, with her friend.  I was going to use it as a way to get a feel for the obstacles, to prepare for the Spartan Beast in November.  I trained through it, knowing that running-wise, I wouldn't have any issues.

Leading up to the race, I studied up a bit on the Spartan Race youtube channel, which has some how-to videos on obstacles like the 8-foot wall, the inverted wall, and the rope climb.  I visited my sister in Atlanta a couple of days early, so that we could hang out together and anticipate the race together.  We had a planning session where we printed out race docs and planned our schedule.  She tried her first burpee the night before, haha.

On race morning, her friend came over at 7:30am.  I made a kale +yogurt +soymilk +ginger +strawberry smoothie.  I had debated about whether or not I wanted to bring my GoPro.  I didn't want to ruin official race pics by wearing the GoPro, but this may be the only chance I have to do the race for fun, so now would be the time to wear it and get those shots.  I decided to go with it.  In the car, I realized that I hadn't brought the waterproof backdoor, but with some duct tape and an hour-long ride to the Conyers International Horse Park, I made the skeleton door waterproof.

We arrived at about 9am, just after the elites started.  We got our race numbers, chip bracelets, and headbands on.  There's a big festival area where you can practice the different disciplines, and as noobs, we played around with it.  It was a lot of fun just horsing around.  They had instructors there to help, too.  The atmosphere was very festive and fun. 

Because there were over 7,000 people finishing the race this weekend, they had waves being released every 15 min.  There were spectator areas where we could watch the first waves coming in.  They designed the course so that you could view a number of the obstacles from the festival area.  The most epic one was the long stretch of barbed wire and mud pits that led to the finish line.  We saw one guy roll on top of the barbed wire... it hurt to look at.  This was going to be epic.

As it neared time for us to go to the start, we dropped off our gear.  Before you could even get to the starting corral, you had to get over a wall.  One poor girl totally ate it when she fell off the top of it.

After some William Wallace words to pump us up, we were off!

 The first obstacles were just combinations of mud, hills, and fences, to ease us into things.

There was a good bit of normal running, so a runner may do well at this kind of race, I thought.

We started meeting progressively taller walls, though... like 6, 8, then 10 feet.  It helped to have buddies on this.  TT and I would help up my sister, then TT would help me, then TT, despite being the shortest, at under 5 feet tall, got herself up, by herself, like it was no big deal (she got some help on the 10 foot wall, but she did the 8 all by herself)!

There was some variety later on, with the Traverse Wall, a Cargo net, the Spear Throw, the tire pull, and a Sandbag carry.

My favorite was the inverted wall, since it looked hard but wasn't that hard to do.

I slipped off the Traverse Wall and missed the Spear Throw, so I did 60 burpees there.  By the time I got to the rope climb (and overestimated myself by picking one with very few knots), my arm and grip strength (which wasn't that much to begin with) was toast.  TT aced it, but you can see my shadow as I dangled for a few moments before dropping.  A dry rope at the beginning of the race would've been manageable, but this was not.

Fortunately, this was almost the end... after taking my 30 burpees in a big pit of mud, it was only the Slip wall, the barbed wire field, the fire, and the gladiators left.

We made it!

It was cold.  The showering area was cold. It was tons of fun, though.  We celebrated with a good Malaysian/Thai meal afterwards.  Immediately after the race, I was thinking how glad I was that the Spartan Beast wasn't for another 8 months.  But a couple of days later, I couldn't wait til I got my chance at redemption from those burpee-inducing obstacles, and a chance to see how fast I could push things.  I'm hooked!

RACE REPORT: Kings Mountain Gateway Trail 10K 2014

I've started to miss racing.  My last race was in November, the iRecycle HM that didn't go as well as I hoped.  For much of the past few months, doing any kind of exercise was considered a victory.  My apartment complex's treadmill has continued to have issues with its monitor, and it has gotten noisy, so I would take advantage of the weekends to run outside, and I'd try to force in a single day of treadmill running during one weeknight.  The weekend runs also afforded me the opportunity to rack up Zombies, Run! app's virtual supplies to build up my base camp.

The Zombie chase portions of the weekend runs actually helped to keep up my speed, even though I haven't done formal interval training sessions.  Cramming my outdoors runs on weekends also helped me get used to running on tired legs.

THE MONTH OF TRAINING LEADING UP TO THE 10K:

Monday Feb 3: 4.0 in 32:42, 8:10 ave.  Almost didn't make it out of lying in bed, but glad that I did it, post-run.  Practiced 2x25 burpees afterwards.  2 degrees of incline = 7:50 effort.

Tuesday, Feb 4: 50 min strength session.

Wednesday, Feb 5: 50 min recumbent bike session.

Saturday, Feb 8: 5.8 in 51:16, 8:48 ave, at the park.  My old Brooks Trance 8s felt stiff and uncushioned.

Sunday, Feb 9: 6.5 in 55:27, 8:26 ave, at the park.  Switched to a more cushioned but old pair of Saucony Kinvaras, which felt much better.

Tuesday, Feb 11: 55 min recumbent bike session.  Was going to try to run on the treadmill, but it was occupied.  I was just as fine biking, though.  Did 35 and 15 burpees afterwards.

Wednesday, Feb 12: 4.0 in 31:52, 7:58 ave.  2 degrees incline = 7:39 effort.  First run in the Brooks Pure Cadence shoes, which were very cushy in the forefoot, and overall light.  It's nice.

Thursday, Feb 13: 55 min strength session.

Saturday, Feb 15: 8.2 in 1:09:47, 8:30 ave, at the park.  This has been my longest run all year!  Slept 11 hours, then napped 3 more.  I have been feeling like my immune system has been down for the past few days.  The run felt easya nd good!  My knees always seem to get temporarily bangy at somewhere around the 3 mi mark, but it passes.  There were patches of leftover snow from this week's storm.  While watching the Olympics, I've been itching to try XC Skiing.  I love their outfits.  Biathalon, with the guns, looks really cool, too.  I like how running gives you the feeling of being spent.  With XC Skiing, it's not just your legs depleting you; it's your arms, too - a whole-body outpouring of effort.

Sunday, Feb 16: 6.7 in 59:12, 8:50 ave.  I did the Zombie chases (it's an option you can turn off/on), even though I felt like an easy run.   I felt like not doing it would be cheating.  I wasn't sure if my legs could take the chases, but they were fine.  I had nearly taken the day off as a rest day, though.

Monday, Feb 17: 45 min bike session, while watching the Olympics on TV.  35 burpees afterwards.

Tuesday, Feb 18: 5.0 in 39:58, 8:00 ave, 2 degree incline = 7:41 effort.  Considered taking a rest day, but body fairly awake, even though my spirit was not... so nearly rested.  But I went anyway.

Friday, Feb 21: 60s Strength session.

Saturday, Feb 22: 6.8 in 57:44, 8:25 ave, at the park.  Body and head felt hot in the afternoon... not feeling 100%... but I had to get in a run, and that actually somehow made it feel better.  I don't know what's up with my body.  I did some exercises on the playground equipment afterwards, to prep for the Spartan Sprint.

Sunday, Feb 23: 6.0 in 50:36, 8:26 ave, at the park.  Body (head, arms) hot again, so slept most of the day.  Considered a rest day because of it, but why not run.  It was fine.  Practiced pullups a lot today.  I was almost relieved that the Olympics were over, so that I no longer had to feel compelled to watch the entire primetime coverage (and as much of the weekend coverage) as I could every day.

Monday, Feb 24: 60 min recumbent bike session.

Tuesday, Feb 25: 4.0 in 33:14, 8:19 ave, 3 degree treadmill = 7:41 effort.

THE RACE
I was excited to race again.  I decided to go with matching Salomon SLab shorts, shirt (wore a shirt because it was upper 30s), Mizuno socks, and new SLab shoes.  We're not supposed to try gear for the first time on race-day, but I did that with both the shorts (which have built-in compression) and with the shoes (which have a unique lacing system).  I did have a backup for the shoes, in case they didn't feel like they'd stay on well or fit well during the warmup.  They were fine, though.  I've used Salomon Mission XR trail shoes in the past, and those didn't fit tightly enough, but these SLab shoes, which were a size down, were good, and the lacing system seemed to do better.  They held up just fine during a hilly and gravelly course with uneven footing.

I signed up, checked out the competition, and looked forward to the fun that is trail racing.  You never know what the course will bring you.  The race brochure said that it was an out-and-back course, so I pictured something flat.  It was not flat, but that's just fine.  I wanted a trail race, as opposed to a road race, because I wouldn't be pressured to try and PR.  It would just be about racing.  From the start, I was first out of the women, and 4th overall.  The first half-mile was downhill then flat, then it got hilly, then the turnaround portion was super-hilly, then back.  It was a road-width gravel trail, where the gravel was loose.  Some of the uphills and downhills were decently sloped, and I flew down the downhills, letting loose.  I did my usual energy conservation during the uphills.  I caught 1 guy, so I ended up 3rd overall, 1st female.  Prizes for all age-groupers and overall winners were these tiles with hand-made clay leaves on top.  It was cold, so I didn't need any hydration, and I didn't need any gels.  I had fairly fibrous foods for breakfast - refried beans on tortilla chips with salsa and fat-free cheese, and a Larabar (dates, nuts), but there were no issues.

It was very cold waiting around afterwards, but the fires were nice, and I liked smelling like campfire afterwards.  It was a nice race with nice people.  It was a good way to get out again.

Argentina, Again

Jan 18 - Flew out to Argentina, after squeezing in a run and a college interview.

Jan 19 - walked around a lot in the Tigre River Delta, carrying a very heavy souvenir.  It's a gaucho-style wine rack, which is heavy even without the full wine bottles.

Monday, Jan 20:
Body had to run today, after taking the previous day off.  I very nearly napped instead, though.  3.7 in 31:40, 8:29 AVE.  Kilometer splits> 5:34, 21, 17, 16, 14, 4:56.  1 degree treadmill.

Jan 21 - had dinner out both nights.  They eat dinner super-late in AR (8 is super-early), and the gym closes at 10pm.

Thursday, Jan 23:
Biked 35 min, although it felt much longer, because the room was so warm.  It was a non-recumbent bike.  Did 2x20 burpees afterwards.  Burpees are starting to feel second-nature to me, which is a good sign, for the Spartan races.

Jan 24 - dinner out

Saturday, Jan 25:
Gym didn't open until 9am, so I did 50 min of body weight strength on a towel in my hotel room, instead.

Then... to the ranch - Estancia Calendaria.  It was a perfect day.  After a 2-hr bus ride, we spent 11:45am->4:15pm touring a castle, riding horses, having a BBQ lunch, watching folk dancing, shopping for souvenirs, stopping by a chapel, watching a horse show, and trying yerba mate.  It was perfectly timed, and it gave us a nice sampling of Argentinian and gaucho culture.

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday, Jan 26:



Got in a run in the morning: 6.2 in 53:40, 8:39 ave.  K Splits> 5:44, 37, 27, 22, 23, 18, 15, 11, 4:51.  Breathed through my nose for the first 5K, to build up adaptations.  Felt good.  Walked around a lot, afterwards.  Visited El Zanjon, which was a dilapidated mansion some company bought, thinking they'd renovate it and turn it into a restaurant, when they realized that there was access to old tunnels underneath.  This is just the basement next to the tunnel, not the tunnel itself, although they look similar.

 

 

Also walked around the San Telmo antiques market:

 

 

 

And at night, I attended a tango show + dinner + class:

 

 

Monday, Jan 27:

4.3 mi in 36:37, 8:25 ave.

 

Wednesday, Jan 29:

40 min on the exercise bike.  Wish I had more time, but the gym was closing.

 

Thursday, Jan 30:

5 mi in 42:02, 8:27 ave.  Felt like I was finally adapting to the heat.  My knees got temporarily bangy at the 4K mark, same as the last run.  Felt pretty good overall, though!  Indulged in an all-natural mini-cheesecake, to celebrate my last full day there, and a good two weeks of work.

 

Jan 31 - flew back that night, arrived Feb 1.

 

Saturday, Feb 1:

I had a 7hr layover in Atlanta, so I visited my sister, and we made the most of the time, shopping, watching 2 episodes of Modern Family, and getting in 5.0 mi in 36:26, 7:17 ave, on an intervals workout.  1 mi warmup in 8:18, 5x[1/2 mi @ 9mph (3:20), 1/2 mi @ 7.5mph (1:53)], 0.25 cooldown in 1:39, at 2 degrees of incline!  It was a superb workout.

 

 

 

Zombies, Run!

There’s an app born from Kickstarter that takes running (and apps) to a new level of fun.  I used to spend way too much time clicking on icons of buildings or animals to collect fake money to buy new buildings and animals.  Now, I get to physically run to earn fake supplies to build my zombie-safehaven camp.  If you’ve ever wondered would it be like to be in some epic movie or epic adventure, you can use Zombies, Run! to immerse yourself in another world.

When you download the app, you get a series of missions to play through.  You plug in your headphones and start running.  Interspersed between the songs on your playlist are clips that take you through the storyline.  You earn virtual supplies as you run, and at random intervals, zombies are detected, forcing you to choose between running 20% faster for a minute or losing some supplies in the brush-up with the zombies.  The plot lines are interesting, and at the end, once you’ve run for the specified duration and gotten through the plot, you get to spend your supplies on building up your camp.

This is the first app that I’ve ever purchased, and it has been worth it.  You don’t think twice about spending $XX for a race or some equipment.  Compared to that, the price is small, and you get hours and hours of enjoyment.   You do have the option to buy additional missions, although I’m only at the start of the first season at the moment.

This app has made me want to go outside to run even more.  The app does have some treadmill options that I haven’t explored yet, but I’d rather experience the missions outside.  Unfortunately, I only get daylight during the weekends.

Here are my workouts since purchasing the app:

Dec 27: Morning run of 6.6mi on mixed surfaces (8:16/mi).  Ran immediately after eating pumpernickel bread with hummus, plus green tea, because I was too hungry to go fasted.  Felt good and pushed the pace a bit, but I feel like I don’t have the endurance that I used to have.  Held the iPhone in my hand the whole way, since I didn’t bring my Nathan Spibelt to Charleston.

Dec 28: Out for more Zombies!  8.9 mi on mixed surfaces (8:16/mi).  It was an easy-paced run, other than the all-out sprints during zombie chases.  Felt pretty good.  Left knee yoinked a few times, but switching to good form helps.  I had spent all day waiting for it to get cloudy enough to run outsisde without worrying about the sun.  I was a hungry, hungry hippo today.

Dec 29: 55 min recumbent bike session.

Dec 31: 4.4mi of Zombies (8:34 pace).  I lost the elastic cord of the shorts I was wearing, so the whole time, in addition to holding my iPhone, I was holding up my shorts… bother.  Felt strong.  A fasted morning run.

Jan 2: 65 min strength session.

Jan 3: 3.5 mi treadmill interval session (7:27 ave).

Jan 5: 5.0 mi on treadmill (8:06 pace).

Jan 6: 55 min bike session – pushed it.  Back in the office this week, and full force, too.  Valued sleep over workouts for much of the week.  

Jan 9: 4.1 mi on a treadmill that was 3-4 degrees, I estimate.  The treadmill in my apartment complex’s fitness room is getting progressively more broken.  Before, the monitor was slanted to the point where you couldn’t read half of the screen anymore, and now, on top of that, the incline button only goes up and down continuously, as opposed to step-wise, so I can’t really tell how steep the setting is.  

Jan 10: 65 min strength session.

Jan 11: Finally, another Zombies mission, after being relegated to the treadmill for quite a while.  It had just finished pouring rain, so I was swimming through puddles for much of the time.

Jan 12 – assembled a shelf (I’m quite proud of myself)

 

Jan 13: Didn’t feel like doing a standard run, and I was craving burpees (I’ve started doing some once a week, partially to get prepared for a Spartan race that I’ve signed up for).  The most I’ve done at one time is 40.  For this workout, I decided to really go Spartan-style, by doing a circuit… 1 mile run, 30 burpees, 1 mile run, 30 burpees, 1 mile run, 40 x 40lb lateral pulldowns, 1 mile run, 40 x 40 lb lateral pulldowns.  It was getting tough in the last mile and the last pulldown set.

Jan 14: 60 min bike session.  The rest of the week would be lots of work and tiredness.

Jan 17: 50 min strength session.

Jan 18: 5.2 mi of Zombies (8:57 pace)

2013 Year-In-Review

Highlights:- Business Trips to 5 Continents (South Africa, China, Netherlands, Mexico, Brazil/Argentina)
- First Boston Qualifier, earned at the St. George Marathon
- Family vacation out West
- New hobby: Beer
- Visited friends in DC and Princeton
- Foray into Trail Racing

Weekly Mileages/Training:

 

 

Key:

Purple = Week with no race

Yellow = 5K

Orange = 10K-ish

Green = Half Marathon

Red = Marathon-ish



 

The first part of the year was all about trail racing.  I built up from a 7K to a 12K to an 18 miler.  It was fun, but that last one left me tired going into the training cycle for the St. George Marathon, my 4th BQ attempt.  You can see that I didn't race at all between the 18 miler in week 20ish and the marathon in week 40.  Burned out from racing.  I wasn't expecting much from St. George, since I had a week where I was injured (refer to week 30), and I was tired.  I didn't get in very many long runs.  That ended up helping, though (the lack of racing and the lack of long runs and the lack of high expectations).  I took it easy, went my own pace, and did a negative split.  The downhill nature of the course helped, too, as did the perfect temps.  In the last quarter of the year, I tried a HM, but it didn't go too well.  I spent the rest of the year just relaxing, treating any sort of workout as an accomplishment.  Hopefully, it would be a good time for my body to recuperate, although my left knee continues to yoink periodically.

This is the breakdown of the types of runs that I did:

 

It still looks pretty good.

 

Shoe Updates:

 

In the past couple of years, the Saucony Kinvaras have been my favorite for long distance racing.  They're lightweight and cushioned.  This year, the Saucony Virattas came out.  They're even lighter.  They're my new favorite.  I wore them during the BQ race.  Another favorite is the Brooks PureGrit, which is a trail shoe, but it's very cushioned and lightweight.  I haven't tried any of the other models in the Pure* series, but I look forward to trying more of them in the future.  I initially purchased the PureGrit because it was mocha colored, and could pass for walking-around-town shoes when I went on business trips, but they're so nice for running, that I use them on the treadmill, too.

 

Stats:

Total Mileage: 921.5.... Since I accomplished the 1,000 mi goal last year, I didn't' feel the need to repeat it this year.  That's about 2.5 mi per day on average.

Total Time Spent Running: 5 days, 6 hours, 41 min, 51 s... about 20:45 per day on average.

Total Time Spent Cross-training: 2 days, 14 hours.  This consists mostly of body weight strength training and recumbent biking in the gym.  That's about 10 min per day on average.  This means that in all, I spend about 31 min per day working out.





Dec 14-26: ATL->GVL->CHS->FLA->ATL->CHS

Like a pinball machine...

Back from Buenos Aires, spent the night in Atlanta before heading back to Greenville.

Dec 15, Sunday:
Got in a 7 mi 2 degree incline run before the drive.  Went at an average 8:01 pace (7:42 effort), breathing through my nose the whole time.  I was light-headed by the end of it, but it wasn't excessively difficult.  Having no runs in the past 3 days helped.  Did some arm and ab exercises afterwards, felt so good.  Sore, the next 2 days, from the 35 burpees. 

Dec 18, Wednesday:
The treadmill in my apartment complex is getting progressively more broken.  Before, the monitor was slanted such that you could barely tell what distance you were going.  Now, the incline feature doesn't work, either, so I was relegated to a 0 degree, 4 mi run.  I was happy just to get in 4 miles, though.  I had to tear myself out of tiredness to get it in. 

Dec 19, Thursday:
1 hr strength session.  Foam rolling today felt really good.

Friday, drove to CHS after work.

Dec 21, Saturday:
Got in a run before our drive to Disney.  4.4 mi on mostly grass, with a bit of pavement, at 8:04 pace.  It was a bit tempo-y, because of the time crunch. 

Sunday:
Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom:

 

 

Favorite Rides:

Expedition Everest in the Asia section of Animal Kingdom is an awesome roller coaster.  The following pics are from the Kali River Rapids ride, but you can see Everest in the background.

 

 

 

 

The Safari ride in the Africa section is the next best thing to a real safari!

 

 

 

Another highlight of the Disney Theme Parks: The Smoked Turkey Legs:

 





 

 

Monday was a rest day, since we had gone from 8am->1am the previous day.

 

We went to Downtown Disney, where I got a vegan Cookie Crumble Donut and a vegan Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Loaf Slice at Babycakes NYC.  They were delicious.  I ate the two over the course of 3 days.

 

The resort where we stayed had resident peacocks.  Here are the girl peacocks:

 

 

We were back at it in the parks on Tuesday (Xmas eve), this time, with my mom:

Epcot->Hollywood Studios->Magic Kingdom

 

 

(Dad photobombing Paddington Bear)

 

The Tower of Terror was awesome, especially at night.

 

Got to dance with a Chipmunk, who was a surprisingly incredible dancer, even in the costume:

 

 

 

And at night, watched the fireworks again... very crowded, so get your spots early:

 



 



Drove to Atlanta the next day, where we spent the night.  My sister's apartment complex has free coffee.  I would like in the coffee room if I lived there.... there and the gym, which is much nicer than mine.

 

 

The next day, drove back to Charleston.  My butt was numb from all that driving.

 

Buenos Aires, My Second Home

Back in BA for 2 weeks.

Some insane workload (as usual)... work all day, and then more all night.  I slept on the 45 min bus rides to and from the office, though.  It's thanks to my Napsac, an ergonomically-designed backpack that lets you rest your chin and give you something to hug as you sleep, haha.  It looks kind of ridiculous, but it's extremely functional. 

Sunday was a recover-from-travel day.  Visited Recoleta, and the cemetery where Eva Peron was laid to rest.  When I had heard about a cemetery, I was thinking of a normal, grassy cemetery, with white tombstones.  This, however, was an above-ground forest of all kinds of mini-buildings. 

Got up close to the aluminum "generic flower", which closes during the night and opens during the day.  We were staying in a different hotel this time, so I was happy to get to explore that side of town. 

Got in a 7K run in 41:04, 9:26 ave pace.  It was warm, and my legs couldn't go very fast.  2 degrees of incline.

Tuesday, did a 6K run in 33:18, 8:56 pace, at 1 degree of incline.

Friday, a stationary bike session at level 5/12, for 45 min, while watching soccer on TV.  320cal.

Saturday, work.

The funny thing about the southern hemisphere is that you have Christmas in the middle of summer.  You'll see Christmas decorations next to palm trees, and it's warm out.

Sunday, 7K in 37:23, 8:36 ave.  2 degrees of incline.  Went faster this time.

Also went on an outing to the Tigre River Delta, where we did a super-quick turn around a market, followed by a catamaran tour and a trip to the largest mall in Latin America.

Tuesday, bike session, 50 min, Lev 6/12, warm and sweaty.  Read Running Times, with Spanish Harry Potter on in the background.  370cal.

Wed, 7K run in 37:20, 8:35 pace, 2 degrees of incline.  1 bottle of H2O.  After a warmup on the bike while waiting for the good treadmill.

Friday, bike session for 50 minutes, 370 cal, 1 bottle H2O, running magazine.

This is perhaps my 11th time entering the country?  This time, I felt something special about this city.  It was invigorating.  It's been comfortable in past trips, since I had been many times before.  But this time, once I was there (not necessarily leading up to the trip), it was less about going back to the city for meetings (even though every trip is still exciting to me).  Instead, it was like I was re-visiting an old friend.