I am a Tough mudder! Pics

This past weekend I did a Tough Mudder. A 12 mile obstacle course here in NJ. It's one of the best mud events out there. Also something that I truly never thought I could do. About 2 years ago I remember watching friends complete this and thinking to myself I could NEVER. Really. I was still so very overweight and couldn't imagine running 12 miles, let alone doing the obstacle that there were doing.

Yet this past weekend, there I was, doing my very own tough mudder! It was so surreal the whole time I was doing it. I kept thinking to myself how impossible I used to think this would be. Yet there I was, with four friend, totally rocking it. We finished in about 3 and a half hours! Unlike the Spartan Race I did a few weeks ago, this was so much FUN!!! It was hard and I am very bruised, but the whole time we were just laughing and having a great time.

This is such a wonderful event because everyone is helping you. Not just your friends, but strangers helping you up hills and facing your fears. There was a part where I totally freaked out. The part were you have to run through electric wires. I was standing there freaking out. A girl came up to me, grabbed my hand, and we ran through it together. And then shared a giant hug afterwards. I didn't know who she was and yet she was there for me. That's what these events are all about. Teamwork.

There are signs posted everywhere about how tough you are and how this isn't a race but a challenge. And that is exactly what it is. It's not even timed officially. It's all about completing it to the best of your ability. I will absolutely do this race again next year! It was a blast and I only hope to do that much better next year.

Here is my team and I about to start. We are so nice and clean!

Not so muddy yet!

Lots and lots of mud!!! But still smiling! Oh and if you notice I'm bleeding down my leg. lol. It didn't hurt though! Promise

Finishers!!!!!!

Love my gym family. We killed it!



I'm back!! (Pictures of my trip!)

I had the best time in Florida. It was a much much needed break and really helped me destress. I got to do and see so much!!! This is only a handful of pictures I took from my phone. I have way more on my camera. I was able to go to Seaworld, Aquatica (water park), Universal, Disney (Epcot and Magic Kingdom!). It was great. All that walking around was rough though. I just hope it helped counter all the yummy foods I ate!!

The best day I had was the day we went to Epcot. Which I have no pictures from. I was way too busy eating. Word of advice, if your going to Disney, go during the Epcot food and wine festival. It was the best experience ever. There are 29 countries/types of foods that you were able to sample from. I ended up hitting 14 of them that day. lol. They are small plates that cost about $3-5 a plate.

I had a Margarita in Mexico, Ravioli in Italy, Karaage Hand Roll (crispy chicken in a sushi roll) in Japan, Waffle in Belgium, a creme brulee in France, a lava cake in Ireland, Cheese soup from Canada, and something called a griddled greek cheese with pistachios and honey from Greece. Which was so amazing I got it twice. That is just a few things of what I ate that day. I had to be rolled out of Disney basically. It's a great experience and something I think people need to experience at least once!

The day we went to Magic Kingdom I was a total kid. I bought a Tiara and tried to take pictures with characters!!! I even did a character breakfast that morning with Minnie, Goofy and Donald Duck! It was so fun acting like a kid. It was great to escape reality for the day.

Me with Cinderella! I also posed with Sleepy Beauty and Rapunzel!

My friend and I on Dumbo!

At Epcot I got to meet Mary Poppins

Universal I met the Grinch! He loved me.

Best part of Universal is Harry Potter world!! I am a huge huge fan of the books and movies. This place is incredible! I had a butterbeer, pumpkin juice (delicious). I got to see Hogwarts up close. Went shopping at Ollivanders, Honeydukes (great candy) and Zonkos. It you love Harry Potter this is a must see!!! Absolutely amazing. I want to go back when they expand the place.

At Seaworld I got to see the whale show and the dolphin show. I am slightly obsessed with Whales and Dolphins so this was great. I love love Orcas!

The last day, we both were exhausted. So we stuck by the pool all day. The perfect ending to my trip. Getting sun and going into the pools and hot tubs all day long. Paradise.

This was a great trip. One that felt long enough to enjoy and where I was actually looking forward to going home at the end. I'm happy to be back home, and oddly I am loving the cold weather after a week in Florida. lol.

Much needed vacation coming!

On Sunday I am leaving for a week to go to Sunny WARM Florida!

It really can't come at a better time. My life is in a tailspin and I need a time out. I need to be able to relax and unwind. I haven't been able to for weeks, maybe even months if I'm being honest with myself.

These past two weeks have been a nightmare for me. On all ends. I can't wait to escape for a week and hopefully get some clarity on what my next steps should be. Ever have that feeling, where you standing on a cliff about to take a leap into the unknown.

That's where I feel like I am right now. On the verge of something big. But I don't know what that something is yet. I can feel change coming at me and fast, but I just don't know what it is yet. I hate this uneasy feeling I have 24/7. I haven't been able to lose any weight for months, and I know it's because of this stress. My eating and workouts are on point. But my sleep and stress is threw the roof.

Either way in exactly 48 hours from now I'll be laying by a pool soaking up the sun. I cannot wait! I've never needed a vacation more than I do right now.

Time is Flying

Things have been crazy lately. I haven't had a moment to myself. Work is crazy busy, and my outside life is crazy busy as well. My gym is having their annual team challenge and I somehow became a captain again! I really didn't want to, its a lot of work, but I was voted in!

Thankfully my co-captains are awesome and are a huge help! We've already had a shirts made, and a team picture done. Now it's just time to concentrate on the daily challenges we have to do. I'm hoping this challenge will help me get back on track and lose this last 20 pounds that just doesn't want to go away!

Other things in my life are brewing. Hopefully new opportunties on the horizon. I can't say anything yet, but keep your fingers crossed for me!!

I am a Spartan (aka the most difficult event I have EVER accomplished)

This past weekend I did a Spartan Race. A super spartan race to be exact. It is a mud run type obstacle course. Only this was in an actual mountain and Spartan races are considered the hardest events in the whole mud racing world. It puts Tough Mudder to shame apparently.

Going into the race, it was supposed to be 8 miles long. I knew it would be difficult but I felt prepared. I was running up to 7 miles at a clip so I felt confident. I was hoping to finish around 2 hours. We get there and I knew this wasn't going to be like the other races. You are going up the mountain almost the entire time. 3000 feet elevations. There was no running, it was way too steep for that. My anxiety kicked in. I was freaking out. Then the worse news, the race was actually 11 miles long!! I was not prepared for that distance!!!

I got to meet the owner of Spartan Races right beforehand. One of the girls from the gym is actually really good friends with him. As soon as I shake his hand, he says "You know your gonna get hurt right?". W T F. Even on the papers when we get our bibs it says, there is a very real possibility you will die today.....

I shake it off. Figure he's just trying to scare me. We all line up and start to get fired up about the race. Then it begins. And you start literally running up the mountain. For about a mile. Maybe longer. I started running but soon me and everyone else was walking. I was already hurting but then I found out that this is just the first of many inclines we will be doing that day.

The first 3 miles I felt good, I was killing the obstacles and even with the inclines I felt fine. Then all hell broke loose. It got insanely hard. We were going back down the mountain. Which is just as hard as going up hill. It kills your knees and hips. We go to this cliff where we are supposed to jump from 24 feet into a pool. I get there and looked down and decided to skip it. I was way too scared. It was the first obstacle of the day I wouldn't be able to complete. Which meant I had to do 30 burpees. Oh yeah, with this race any obstacle you can't complete you have a penalty and have to do burpees. Awesome.

After the cliff jump there was the highest incline we would be doing. It was at least 2 miles and at some points was crazy steep. It took forever and I was starting to hurt really badly. We do that and then do some obstacles including flipping tires and carrying a sandbag up a quarter mile hill and back down. And then it was back to climbing the mountain. We get to what I think is the top, and was sadly mistaken. There is a huge cliffs that I have to climb up.

That was just the beginning. The top you see in the picture? Well it's lying to you. It just keeps on going!!! This was the most difficult part of the race. It never ended. I got to what I thought would be the top and saw how much more there was to go and I lost it. I completely broke down and started to cry hysterically. I was in so much pain and this was the most mentally difficult thing I have ever done. There were people scattered all over just laying there not being able to move anymore. It wasn't just me. Everyone was hurting. I was crying so badly and finally the nicest man came over to me and helped me up the rest of the way.

He never left me and if it wasn't for him. I would probably still be on the mountain. When we finally actually got to the top, we still had another 4 miles to go. It really just never wanted to end. I started to get upset again, but I just kept on pushing. Thankfully one of my gym friends was with me almost the entire time. If it wasn't for her I would have quit. I know it.

Finally after more horrible obstacles we were in the mile stretch. That's when the obstacles really started to pile up. I was completely delirious at this point. I was mentally broken. And then the final obstacle was a barb wire that you had to crawl/roll under for almost a quarter mile. And it was mostly rocks and mud. It took what felt like forever and it hurt so bad. I pushed through though. I was so close I could taste it.

I saw the finish line. There were two guys there with those giant qtip thingys that you can beat people with? Ready to pummel me. I walked right up to them, and screamed NO! I think they knew I was serious cause they stepped aside and let me pass. I crossed the finish line, saw my trainer smile and I started to cry again. I actually finished.

It took me 4 and half hours but I completed it. Only 1/3 of the people that day actually finished it. That says a lot about how difficult this actually was. It really took a toll on me though. Not only was I crazy sore, but mentally I was out of it. For days. I never wanted to work out again, I felt broken. No one can truly understand what I went through that day, besides the people that were there. I am finally starting to feel back to normal again and starting to grasp at what exactly I accomplished. I not only was able to finish, but I finished in the top 50% overall and 30% in my age group.

As difficult as it was, it really showed me how much I am capable of. Even when I was breaking down, quiting never even crossed my mind. I pushed through and finished it. I am no quitter and I know that better now than I have ever before!

Here is my gym crew before hand. All smiles and ready to go!

Me and my trainer after the race. Exhausted but happy to have finished.

I really am crazy, because I went out that night. I think I was on a high still because I went crazy that night. But paid dearly for it the next day! I couldn't move. I was so out of it, I felt like I was drunk. But this was a weekend I will never ever forget!

Color Run Chaos (Pics)

I did my first and last color this weekend. I have to say I'm pretty disappointed in how unorganized the event was. It put a damper on the whole event for me. The traffic to get there was so bad. It took over 2 hours for me to get there(when it should have only been a half hour) and we had to park over a mile away from the event. Once we actually got there, there was no one there to tell you where to go, where the start was, where to get bibs. Anything. We wandered forever just looking for the start.


We were supposed to start at 9, but because of the traffic and confusion, we didn't get on the course until after 10. I know this is considered a fun run and not for timing, but I was really surprised at how little people were running. Everyone was walking it seemed, and I saw dozens of people cutting across the grass. I don't understand, why would you sign up for a 5K only to cheat yourself?

The color stations were fun though. The very last station though had run out of color though, but I was already covered so it was fine. I wish I had more fun, but it was so chaotic it was hard for me to enjoy it. Not to mention I was starving! I only had a protein bar beforehand at like 7am and it was now almost 11 when we finished. I do a lot of races, almost all of them give you some kind of food for free. Whether it be fruit or a bagel. They give you something. Here if you wanted to eat, you had to pay.

So be warned. If you want to do a color run, be prepared for traffic and chaos. While the photos are fun and the color part was fun, it wasn't worth it for me. Especially considering the cost of the event. Also it took me another 2 hours to get home. Which compared to my friends was fast. I was happy I didn't park in the parking lot. I had friends who sat trying to leave the parking area for over 2 hours, and then had another 2 hours to get home after that!

Before the color run. All nice and clean

After

My crew for the day. They made the car ride a lot of fun and the traffic bearable. They are the best!

They gave us a packet of color to throw at the end in a big group. That didn't happen, so I just threw it on myself. lol.