Training Plan...sort of

15 weeks and 15 obstacles

So I had this great idea to dedicate each week of training to one of the obstacles of the Tough Mudder. There are actually more than 15 obstacles, but a few of them can't really be trained for like jumping off a 15 foot platform into ice-cold water or yelling at the top of your lungs when you reach the summit. A few others simply involve endurance (running!) and I am already running three times a week.

My hope is that focusing on each obstacle will not only help me train better but also help me prepare mentally. The Tough Mudder will be as psychologically challenging as it is physically challenging.

This week I will focus on preparing for the Berlin Walls, a series of 12-foot high walls I'll have to climb over.

I see lots up pull-ups in my future. And core strengthening!

98 days left...

(And I don't know why it is doing this funky font thing but whatever...you get the point.)
~Rachel

Tough Mudder

So Kasey talked me into the Tough Mudder.

I'm a little nervous.  Okay, a lot nervous.  It is going to be a challenge (by challenge I mean the hardest thing I've done since giving birth without medication) but it won't kill me.  One way or another I will cross the finish line.  I am committed to that much.

It does feel good to train for something though instead of just exercise.  I look like a crazy person jumping around the YMCA weight room doing scissor squats and mountain climbers and hanging on the pull up bar for as long as I can.  But I don't even care.  I'm on a mission. Twice this week I worked out so hard I felt nauseous.  Ugh!  It reminds me of track practice and I hated track practice.  But I am loving working out with a goal, and a lofty one at that. 

I have also really felt my body turn a corner.  Six months post c-section feels like a new me.  I can push myself harder and I don't suffer in pain for days after a work out.  I am sore but not in that injured kind of way as before. My wrist doesn't hurt anymore either. I am getting stronger and I feel it.  Getting stronger is like a drug, an addictive drug. I still have a long way to go to be ready for the Tough Mudder but I have four months to get there and I'm giving it my best shot.

I am excited to post the process!

~Rachel

Still Here

I'm still here.

I haven't posted in a while for two reasons.  One, I have been super busy with my tea company and posting here sort of fell to the bottom of my priority list (temporarily) and two, I had some issues with the password to sign in here (by issues I mean I was retarded) but I will spare you the ridiculous details...the point is, I'm still here, still working out, and still committed.

January has been a blur to say the least.  And it went out with a bang!  I spent the last two days of the month so sick with the flu I had to go to the emergency room.  I've been recuperating the last few days but I feel almost 100%. 

I have not jumped on the Insanity bandwagon just yet.  I am torn between another round of P90X before I do Insanity or maybe I should do Insanity first?  I am still laser focused on my pull-up goal and am excited to say I am making strength gains.  I took my son to the park the other day and tested myself on the monkey bars just to see and hurray! Improvement! Honestly though, I am enjoying a more flexible workout schedule.  The YMCA is my best friend these days and it allows me a very consistent routine.  I don't have to worry about my little one waking up from a nap during my workout and my 5 year old can play there also.  He is too big to put in a double jogger with his brother so unless my husband is home I can't get out for runs, only walks, and I have to walk at the pace of a five year old. The YMCA solves all my work-out challenges.  I am not sure I want to give it up just yet. 

Aside from my pull-up goal, I also have 10 lbs left to lose (truth be told I have not been trying all that hard to loose them...yet) and I signed up for the Camp Pendleton Mud Run on June 18th.  Since June is still pretty far away I'd like to do something, a half marathon maybe, in April to keep me focused, but I haven't decided what yet.  Summer will be here before I know it and I want to be ready.

I really liked Kasey's post on setting the example for our children.  I was in Trader Joe's last week with my boys and my older son was pointing at all the vegetables saying "Broccoli!  I love broccoli! Carrots!  I love carrots! Can we get tomatoes? Tomatoes are my favorite!" The employees were shocked to see a pre-schooler proclaiming his love for vegetables, but I was so proud.  As parents we hold so much power in our childrens' lives.  It really is up to us to instill in them the important things; faith, service, work-ethic, morals and values, and a healthy and active lifestyle.  Our health is such a gift.  It is not to be taken for granted and it is important to teach our children that as well.

Once I figure out if I'm going to do Insanity or not I'll post "before" photos if I need to.  My P90X "after" photos might suffice. Hopefully I'll post a video of me doing a pull-up soon. That would be way cooler than any after photo to me anyway.

~Rachel