I am a SPARTAN!!!! Aroo Aroo Aroo

Well I survived.  It wasn't pretty, and it was way too damn hot, but I struggled through and I made it.  My final time was 3:05 and change, which given the heat I am ok with.  Today I am significantly more sore than I was yesterday but most of the pain is more stiffness than anything else.
I survived the barbed wire, but the rocks we were crawling/rolling over tore my knees up so I have some beautiful cuts and bruises from that, but no cuts from the actual barbed wire, which is a bit disappointing.

Now to decide how I feel about the idea of putting myself through this torture every again....

Not at all ready

I am so not ready for Saturday.   They posted the map and I am counting on burpees for the monkey bars, multi rig, and twister, since I can't do monkey bars to save my life.   I also realized last night I have never even attempted a rope climb, so there is that.   Other than those 4 I believe I will be able to muscle my way/get help to complete the other 18.

Wish me luck! :)

OMG 9 Days!!!!

I'm moderately freaking out.   I don't feel like I'm ready but I have faith that I will be able to finish and not die.   Last weekend I over did it and ended up with a migraine from the heat/dehydration so I've been taking it a little easier this week.   I've still been doing my burpees and am going to continue my training schedule next week but more importantly I have plans to up my hydration.  I'm going to add 1 extra Advocare Rehydrate to my day starting Sunday (or more if I feel like it) and I'm going to up my general H20 intake, wether with rehydrate or just straight water by 20-40 ounces through Wednesday and doubling my normal intake on Thursday and Friday.
I'm SOOOOOOO excited :) Wish me luck.

Seasons of life

Does anyone else ever look back at different seasons in their lives and wonder about specific pieces of them? I understand how over time we might grown and change.  Make new friends, loose touch with old ones.  Develop new hobbies or habits, get new jobs etc.  but sometimes I wonder what would be different if I still do X or never started doing Y.  If I had never met my husband or if I would have still met him even if I hadn’t been friends with the friend who introduced us.  

What parts of our lives are fixed points and which parts are timely-whimey-wibbley-wobbley as the Doctor is known to say.  

Just some random thoughts when I can’t sleep at 4am.  

The struggle is real

it is 4:00 am and I am wide awake.  I have no clue why I’m awake but I’ve laid in bed for the better part of 30 minutes before I even picked up my phone trying to fall back asleep.
This is just one reason Spartan training has been difficult for me.  I’m sticking with it and continuing to try but when you don’t get enough sleep it’s hard to get out of bed to train in the morning.
My alarm goes off in an hour and a half.  Maybe I’ll be able to get some more sleep tonight so I can kick tail this morning.
What do you do when you’re awake in the middle of the night?

One day at a time

Well I'm five days in.  It's been rough but I have stuck to my meal plan 98% (my period started yesterday, I had a dark chocolate bar).
I'm taking it one day at a time in hopes that I can follow my plan until we leave to head to Kentucky for the Fort Knox Spartan Sprint.  I know I'll have to waiver some while we are traveling since we will have to eat on the road and won't always have control but if I can take it one day at a time and eat according to my plan then it will be easier to stick to healthy choices while we travel.
Wish me luck :)

Well that was scary

Recently I received the opportunity to have a plethora of functional –medicine style tests ran courtesy of BLUEPRINT fit by Quest Diagnostics.   BluePrint Fit was the daily sponsor for Charity miles about a month ago and I received a promo code to get these tests ran for free.  I figured knowing more about your body is always a good thing and these tests would be a great way for me to get a baseline for various things like nutrient levels, how my metabolism works, my hormones and other magical numbers.  I didn’t anticipate any numbers coming back outside of the normal range with the exception of a few hormones (I was diagnosed with PCOS about 3 years ago so my hormones can be all over the place sometimes)

Surprisingly my hormone numbers were all within the normal range, but a few other numbers came back that were a bit concerning.  

When I was in my mid-20’s my doctor ran a routine blood screening to test things like cholesterol and my triglycerides were extremely high.  The assumption was made given my name and fitness level at the time that this was related to recent diet decisions so the doctor brushed it of even though I have a family history of heart disease.   The next year when she re-ran the tests my numbers were even higher and I was informed that I needed to take steps to lower my triglycerides otherwise I would probably need to be put on medication (statins) within the next few years.  

Shortly after that conversation my husband and I started using Advocare products and learning more about the differences between healthy foods and “Health” foods (I was living on lean cuisines and other high-sodium convenient diet meals for lunch during the week).  With these changes my triglyceride levels returned to the normal range where they have remained for the past few years.

Unfortunately it looks like I’m starting to lose my battle with genetics and am going to need to be more cognizant than ever about the types of fat and the amount of sugars I consume in the future.   My Blueprint fit results showed that I was borderline high not only for triglycerides but also for LDL (bad) cholesterol, and c-reactive protein (a measure of chronic inflammation that generally correlates to risk of heart disease).

I may have been motivated to do my 30 burpees most days, and to take steps towards being prepared for my first Spartan race before getting these results, but now at less than 4 weeks out I’m not only upping my training game but my diet is going to be on point.  

Wish me luck!

PS- I'm considering starting an instagram account...what do you think?