Welcome to MY gym :)

Raven Rocks - AT

Stretch-In on the AT

I decided to take some PTO yesterday and head out to enjoy the beautiful day. Leave it to the BFF to take the day off with me and head out to the mountains. I love that I live so close to some of the stretches of the AT. In less than an hour I'm out and wonderfully lost on trails full of beauty! :)

What was special about this hike was that it was with this particular BFF. She is what you would call a gym rat. Straight body building. Works hard all day every day to achieve everything she can and more. She's not afraid to lift heavy and train with the guys. She has earned her right into the bro life. The reason I say this is because we both share a deep passion for what we do. I love running and she lifts, but at the end of the day we just love our active lifestyle. We've done a few obstacle races together and have killed it! We make a great team together. She trains at the gym for the most part. And well, those who know me know i only go to the gym if I have to. Please don't confuse that to mean, i don't strength train or that I hate the gym. I don't. I started there too once upon a time, but i just love being outside. I don't care if it's running, walking, biking, kayaking, paddling, basketball, soccer, hiking... the list goes on! If it's outside, I'm all for it! I love it and I have found several ways to get my strength training in without a gym. I still go when I can and during the colder months, i'm def spending more time there than outside. I mean you can understand why, right? lol i'm not an idiot either! The gym is a great place to train and focus more on specific areas. WELL yesterday I took my BFF out to MY gym. We made it to one of the overlooks and started working out. I only put a couple action shots in my pic here, but we did everything from push ups, dips to bicycle kicks, bridges, yoga, planks, etc. It's just fun for us and pretty neat to take gym life to the outdoors for a bit. On our way back we missed our turn off to head back and ended up roaming random parts of the AT for about 2 hours! *sigh* good times! haha All in all though it was really a great time. Great workout with the BFF and the weather could not have been anymore perfect. A little 10 mile hike on a Monday afternoon? Yea you know ...Just another day in the life  :)

Hero Rush - Obstacle Race

It's been a few days since I've posted. I know you have all been losing sleep wondering if i ran at all this past week! hahaha ok well it's been busy, but I did get my first obstacle race out of the way this past weekend. The Hero Rush out in Maryland. Just under 5 miles of over 17 obstacles and some running. It was the first of many obstacle races to come. I was blessed to get to do it with my body building BFF and a few others. She got me through the obstacles and I got her through all the running. I gotta say it was the MOST FUN I've had in a very long time! Sure we got tired at some point, but there were a few backups at a couple obstacles that allowed us catch our breath. 
It all began running up a few stairs and sliding down a fire pole. Not gonna lie, those stairs were pretty narrow and freaked me out a bit. As soon as we touched the ground we were off and the race began. First obstacle was hopping/climbing over a wooden wall, through a little jungle of doors where you had to find an open one to run through and finally climb through a window. Next was what they called Crowd Control, running through some tires on the ground and then a few hanging hoping not to bump any or they bumped you out or down to the ground. Those things are not lightweight! Most of the running was on a trail so it wasn't smooth pavement. Plenty of potholes and mud with hardly any flat surfaces. Definitely a lot of inclines(my favorite! haha). <I wont go through every obstacle as I can't even really remember them all myself, but i'll go through a few listed on their website. It's a lovely thing this thing they call the internet!>  I remember the entanglement obstacle. That's prob where i got most of the bruises on my knee. Picture large tubes meant to be crawled through and then picture random bungee cords spread out across it all the way through. Just one big mess that i had to somehow get myself through only to find another one just like it at the end. I definitely got stuck a few times! Hoarder's Hell was interesting... basically you climb a ladder into a "house" consumed in smoke. I remember getting towards the top and all i could hear is one girls calling out for help. I'm thinking she may have had a fear of heights. Got into the house, found her and helped her out the other side. Once on the other side, you had to climb down except there was no ladder. It was some kind of rope netting. not too bad, but def nice to finally get out of all that smoke! The Stretcher Evac is where my BFF and I were able to come together and put our skills to good use. Picture 2 heavy sandbags tied on a stretcher. You and a buddy had to carry this "person" over a wooden wall, crawl under some barbed wire dragging the person with you and back over another wooden wall finishing with going over more barbed wire. This person was not light! Nope, but we did it. There were a few other dead weight obstacles like carrying 2 tires over your back over and under a few walls/fences. There were times we had to run with fire hoses and drag a hose with a tire tied to the end. The Basement Entrapment was probably the most frightening for me out of all of them. There was no harness to ease my worries of falling face down to the ground after having climbed a tall ladder to the top. Imagine 3 wide ropes. 2 up top for your arms/hands and on in between that you WALK DOWN on. Those who know me, know that I have terrible coordination. I saw my life flash before my eyes with each step. A little dramatic you say? Truth is what I say! The water obstacles were more fun than obstacles really. A nice refresher to have throughout the run and the best part... jumping over fire just before the finish line! Seriously, I don't think I've ever jumped so high in my life, but i loved it. I practically sprinted to grab my medal. Much deserved and of course you know I was looking for my free banana before meeting the rest of our group  :)
I'm not gonna say i survived. I'm gonna say i thrived! i look like someone threw me in a bag and then kicked the crap out of me. So bruised up, but each one earned with pride! Here's a little collage i put together from the before and after shots. Website is supposed to post pics of the obstacles later this week. I'm dying to see if I made it into any action shots! Well the good news is, with that out of the way I am more than ready to take on the Warrior Dash in a couple weeks! BRING IT ON!!

off track and onto a trail

I had spent some time earlier today thinking about the upcoming weeks with all the runs and obstacle races I had signed up for. Sounds like a lot of fun... sure hope it proves to be the same! Good thing is, for the most part, I have friends doing it with me. At least the obstacle races. The runs I don't mind doing on my own, but the obstacle races... pretty sure I will need someone to pick me up along the way! haha
This Saturday is my first 10k. Right now, I'm not worried about placing first, I just want to make sure I finish with enough energy and strength to last until the next day. Would love to get a hike in on Sunday. Guess we'll see...
Speaking of hiking! This evening was pretty wonderful! Took a little spur of the moment mini hike out to watch the sunset with a buddy of mine. Sometimes it's just nice to sit back and appreciate nature's beauty. Nice, peaceful way to do some reflecting. I could definitely use some tranquil reflecting with my upcoming schedule. Seems every weekend i have some kind of run and obstacle race to complete. I'm especially looking forward to the Warrior Dash towards the end of May as it will be my first "fit event" with le boyfriend. We've been wanting to do it for some time, but have just never been able to decide on a date and time. Well we're all signed up for it now, but before that, I have the Hero Rush. 4-5 miles designed entirely by firefighters! May God have mercy on my soul! I wont bore you with my list of activities as you'll be hearing about every single one of them as they occur! Get excited! 
Tonight's mini trail run was to a beautiful sight in West Virginia. It was nice to sit back and think of where I was a year ago today and where I am now. So many things have changed and I cant be more thankful for good health, family and friends. I couldn't be in a better environment these days :)