Blubber To Runner

It’s the worst kept secret in my life right now… seriously.  People have been asking about it left and right.  They see it in the pictures.  I’ve tried to stay away from talking about it for a while, but I wanna take this time to finally address the new relationship in my life.

I knew as my running got more and more intense I was going to need to find a partner that understood the importance of my running, how I was going to continue down the path I am on and, if they were going to be part of my life, they would have to welcome and embrace it.  It’s so fantastic to know that I have found that partner, and I’m excited to tell you about how we got here.

It was hard at first… I was nervous and reluctant because Lord knows I’m not good at this. So, this time, I went EXTRA slow.  I really took my time because I didn’t want to get hurt.  Slowly things started to get easier, so I got more comfortable with it.  It’s a process, and I needed to trust it – can’t be a hypocrite and ignore my own advice!

And, sure enough, it was working.  ‘Slow and steady wins the race’ was the perfect mantra for this relationship and it was paying off in spades.  Things were so much easier as we continued down this path – and it made me realize how much more I wanted to make this relationship a permanent part of my life.

It was the piece that’s been missing – and I finally found it.

So the Warrior Dash comes and, although I completed it, there were some areas I struggled in – and it bothered me.  It was such a fantastic event, and I am ecstatic I was able to compete in it, but it was in this moment I realized that I needed to take this partnership to the next level… we’ve completed a few races together already – with good results – but I needed to lock this down and make sure I never lost it.

It was time to take my relationship with Strength Training to the next level.

Strength Training for me meant one thing – less running – for a very long time.  I was so reluctant to get involved in it because I have been concerned with miles, miles, miles… gotta get the miles in.  However, after Warrior Dash, I realized I’m at a point in my transformation where I need to change it up a little bit to maximize my full potential in both running AND weight loss.  I am weak when it comes to upper body strength and changing that will help my running.  It will also help the pounds come off more quickly because weight training eats fat more than just running does – and that’s a fact.  Losing weight = lighter for when I run.  Can’t make my running any easier than that.

I started with more strength training several weeks before the Warrior Dash but nothing consistent.  Just a day or two here and there with positive, if not mixed, results.  Ran a few 5K’s and a 4-miler and felt great, which I somewhat attributed to the increased focus on it… but was still convinced the mileage is why I was doing well.  


So, for the next 6 weeks AT LEAST I am changing my focus to a 50/ 50 split of strength training and running – 3 days of each.  I have a half marathon in less than a month and I am going to gauge the change in both my training (and my diet – more to come on that) to help maximize myself to my fullest potential.


Am I going to be running less?  Yes.  Does it make me less of a runner?  ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!  🙂

I’m terrified about taking this next step… it’s, in a way, starting all over again.  However, in any relationship, you HAVE to be willing to ‘trust the process’ and know that, if it’s meant to work out… it’s gonna work out.  So, for now, less running, more weights/ boot camps/ intervals/ etc.  


Can’t wait to let y’all know how things are going… and no, I won’t be changing my relationship status on Facebook or anything.


Although…

: )

So… Jennifer and I stepped our game up a little.  We’ve been doing 5K’s.  We did the ‘2 5K’s in 1 Day Challenge’.  However… this wasn’t just a 5K.

It was the Warrior Dash.

What is that you ask?  It’s a 5K that makes you do this:

and this:

oh, and this too:

Now normally I like to put up times, if I set a PR, how everyone else did, etc. but suffice to say that both Jennifer and and I survived… which is an accomplishment in itself.

OK… so the race itself.  First of all… who the the HELL knew you could fit a 3 mile obstacle race in Morristown?!?!  I thought they only had FroYo places and coffee shops!  Seriously though, let me clarify something REALLY quick.  There wasn’t really a ‘race’ aspect to this.  Unless you were a professional trail runner/ obstacle course runner, you couldn’t ‘run’ this course.  You simply completed it.  I was actually disappointed that I had to do so much walking, not because I was so exhausted or anything… simply because you couldn’t navigate the course without doing so because there were so many people and the course was so narrow.  It starts out and there’s maybe 500 of us starting down a course thats as wide as 2 sidewalks side-to-side.  It widens, then narrows, then widens and narrows again.  Unfortunately the narrow parts forced you to to walk because the amount of people bottlenecked the path.  Not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but just something I wasn’t expecting.

The obstacles are a bit of everything; from climbing to crawling to swimming to jumping, and they were spread out across the 3.2 mile course unevenly – maybe 4 of the obstacles were in the 1st 2 miles, with the rest in the last 1.2 miles.  Personally I would have liked them a bit more evenly spaced, but it honestly wasn’t possible with the way the course had to be.  It was definitley the biggest physical challenge I have had since the half marathon… and I honestly can’t wait to do another one of these in the future!!!

When you finish… you get free beer.  The way they do it is actually brilliant – you get a tracking chip so they can do your time and, when you turn it in, you get your free beer!  What a great way to get most of them back… I love clever ideas, and this definitely qualifies.  Plus, I could actually put it on my shoes – well done, Warrior Dash… well done.

OK – now one of the biggest questions you hear from ANYONE is “Can I do this?”  The easy answer is YES, YOU CAN.  That’s not me being all rah-rah… it’s the truth.  It’s REALLY difficult, but they don’t FORCE you to do any of the obstacles – you can skip them if you’d like.  Clearly you signed up to do some, if not all, but if you don’t know how to swim?  Skip the swimming one.  Can’t make it up the 20-foot wall (*raises hand*)?  Walk around it.  IT’S OK.  Just go out and have a ton of fun.  I saw people of all shapes and sizes doing this – and completing it – so if you’re wondering “can I?” don’t wonder anymore… you most certainly can.

Now… before I wrap up I gotta touch on a few people:

* Jennifer, my PIC (partner-in-crime) for not only this challenge but for many others past – and future.  You know how I talked about “I am a runner“???  Well, she’s a straight-up beast… in the most loving way possible :).  Seriously, where I train to run long distances, she strength trains and literally owned all 12 obstacles on the course.  No hesitations, no indecisions, just took them all out like a Boss.  It was awesome to watch.  I, on the other hand, did not do all 12 obstacles… I could not climb over the 20 foot wall.  I wasn’t strong enough to hold my own body weight, but she was.  She’s truly an inspiration… and, by 9/30, I’m gonna whup her ass at the Merrell Down & Dirty 10K Mud Run… in the most loving way possible :).

*  Team Mancy, for giving up pretty much their entire Saturday to watch us slop around in the mud and be our own personal paparazzi getting some great action shots – and even better candids.  Thank you both SO SO much… I can’t begin to tell you how much your support means to me!


Warrior Dash?  Mission Accomplished.  Now, onto what’s next!

(If you’d like to know what’s next, here’s the schedule… if you’re in the Metro area, sign up and join us – the links are there as well!)

Ladies… you know what I’m talkin’ about.

It hangs on the back of your bedroom door or side of your dresser… you put it there around late December (AKA – Resolution season) to help you get motivated for beach season.  You say to yourself “I’m gonna fit into this on Memorial Day weekend if it KILLS me!”, then you stare at it day in and day out when you wake up, get home and go to bed – and it either motivates you or makes you feel guilty for not doing something about it.  


Some make it through… they do the work, and proudly display themselves on the beach by the water with their hands on their hips, huge grin on their face with a caption something to the affect of:

“Hard work pays off! #MDW2K_ _!!!”

Well, I got myself a summer bikini… metaphorically speaking of course.  🙂


I was in Dick’s Sporting Goods the a few weeks back shopping for gear for the New York Giants race.  As I’m perusing around the store I kept coming back to this ONE ITEM over and over again and kept saying the same thing:


“One day… I’m gonna rock that.”


It’s awesome.  It’s badass.  Its my favorite color.  And I knew ONE DAY I’d actually fit into it… because it’s tight and hugs EVERYTHING – and Lord knows I don’t wanna scare anyone like that just yet.  So Jennifer comes out of the fitting room and I show it to her… to kinda say the same thing I was saying to myself – just out loud to someone.  Without hesitating, she shrugs and says matter-of-factly: 


“So get it.”

Wait… wha???  I’m sorry, did you say get it?!?!  It doesn’t FIT.  It’s months away from fitting.  You’re supposed to say “Someday!” or “I’m sure you will!”… not “So get it.”  I’m not gonna…


“You think?”


See – she got the mind working.  And it immediately went to the ‘summer bikini’ mentality.  Why not just buy it, hang it up in my room so I remember what I want to accomplish then rock it on a specific day when I want to accomplish my goal?!?!  


“F**k it… I’m gettin’ it.”


And I did.  And, when I run The Wild Half on August 26th, I’m gonna wear it.  I gotta lot of work to do to get into it so I’m comfortable wearing it in front of people.  But, I’m gonna put the work in and, when y’all see pics from that race, you’re gonna see me rockin’ this:

Wait… no.  Not that.  It’s a little different.