Today's Challenge

I ran 4 miles today and dare I say, it was easy? Ok, maybe not easy, but definitely easier. After Wednesday's workout of only 3 miles, where my legs felt like they were being pulled out of their sockets and roasted over an open fire, this was a breeze. No problems with warm up, no problems with breathing (a recurring problem I have been dealing with) and no problem with my back. Nice way to start the day.

On top of that, I went faster and ran part of it at a 1% incline. It's amazing how the body can do so poorly one day, and so well the next. I like the "doing well" days much better.

Later today I'll probably hit a trail close to work and do a nice walk at lunch - a good way to get a break in during the day.

Tomorrow is a long day where I plan to be outside ALL DAY!! The weather is suppose to be gorgeous and I fully intend to enjoy every little moment of sunshine. I have a fun partner (Hi Tori!) who is planning on joining me for the hike in the afternoon, the company will be nice.

Have a great day everyone!

Training, or lack of

'Life' has this funny way of getting in the way of what you really want to do. Funerals (way too many the past 5 months, 1 just this past week), school, moving and family obligations just keep piling on. It's a challenge for me to balance all of it and I wonder how someone who has kids can do all they do - I salute all of you who are parents and spouses!

I created a pretty strenuous workout schedule to prepare for camp. I have yet to follow it. I'm still working out, just doing my usual 'fly by the seat of my pants' type of schedule. Actually, I'm not even that spontaneous, I just do what I feel my body can handle that day. I've been trying to train for not only the Adventure Race camp but running the Bolder Boulder in May. One of them has to give on certain days and lately the Bolder Boulder has been winning out. Probably because I am not enjoying my bike riding but love my running. I'm hoping I get motivated to bike more after the camp.

My typical schedule is this: Workout 6 days a week in the mornings from 5:30-7:00. The workouts vary from a Strength Training class once a week, weight training 2 other days, then running 4 miles (or an hour) and biking for at least 30 minutes for the other 4 days. On weekends I'll spend a day snowshoeing or hiking.

I've got to admit that I have been a little stressed about my inability to stick with my rather ambitious workout schedule. I have never been athletic, ever. And here I am, planning to spend 3 days with many world class athletes who will leave me in the dust. Am I crazy to be doing this? My fear of heights could seriously freak me out during the rope training; I have never mountain biked in my life and yet I will be biking on a trail that most expert riders say is difficult. What if I can't keep up or even worse, can't do it at all? Geesh, I think I'm crazy to be doing this.


To help me ease these fears I plan on doing some huge workouts during the next two weekends. This Saturday I will be going trail running in the morning for 4 miles, then hike 7 miles up Carpenter Peak in the afternoon. Sunday will be a long workout in the gym, running 4 miles, 30 minutes on the bike and weight training for 30 minutes. I have only 2 weeks left and I don't want to get to camp and think "If I had only done more."

3 weeks, 2 days, 12 hours, 30 minutes...

That's how long I have to wait until I embark on my first adventure!

I will be heading to Moab for a 3 day Adventure Race camp and what may be obvious from the title, I have already begun to count the days and hours until I arrive.

For years I have wanted to do an Adventure Race. I use to watch the Eco Challenge on television and was fascinated with how these people could spend days, sometimes weeks, challenging themselves in every way imaginable. I longed to be one of them, to experience what they experienced, pushing myself the way they pushed themselves.

Yet I never believed I could compete in one of those races. Hell, I could barely walk to my mailbox. I weighed over 350 pounds and was in a miserable state, unable to do basic daily tasks, let alone run a 300 mile race. Running an adventure race was a far off dream that seemed impossible to accomplish.

Fast forward 5 years and 200 pounds... 200 pounds gone forever and a whole new life that I never imagined! I have begun to do things I never believed I could: run 4-5 miles a day; climbed a 14er (and plan on hiking many more!); learned to rock climb (despite a nasty fear of heights) ; and now I plan on doing the one thing I never thought I could... run an adventure race!

The entire reason I began this blog was to document my training and participation in the Adventure Race camp and hopefully the many races I want to compete in this summer. But I began to realize that I have so much more that I want to accomplish and I shouldn't limit myself to just one of my dreams of adventure.


And so this blog will be about all that my life has become and is becoming - the dreams, the goals, the challenges. If there is one thing I have learned it's not so much the idea of finishing first and going higher than anyone else, it's what you learn in the process that matters. This blog is all about the process, about MY process. It's been a hell of a ride and it's just gonna get even wilder!