Week 6 September 5 — September 11

Monday: Labor Day marks the unofficial end to summer. I wanted to take a yoga class because it is a great form of active recovery and it would allow me to reflect on my summer. I thought classes may have been cancelled for the holiday, but according to the app I use to schedule my classes they appeared to be on! I signed up for an evening class; I was super excited to go since I had a long day mourning the end of summer with lot of studying. However, my day took a turn for the worse when I arrived at the studio only to be locked out. Apparently the studio decided to cancel evening classes, but they did not update their app. To make things even worse I had to wait for 45 minutes to catch a bus to take me home. I may have cried to my parents at the bus stop, but eventually they were able to talk some sense into me. Everyone has bad days! Your plans may fall through, but that doesn't mean you have to go down with them!! By the time the bus came I had been able to reschedule my yoga class for a later date free of charge and my parents decided to come watch me run my first half marathon!! Although I did not have a great day everything seemed to work out in the end.

Tuesday: 5k at 80% and 45 minutes of cross training. Yesterday was rough, but I was able to pull myself together so that I would not have another bad days this week. I had gym class in the afternoon, which consisted of a ladder workout. We did a bunch of body weight exercises including sit ups, planks, push ups, squats, lunges, and my personal favorite… BURPEES!!! After my gym class I decided to run a 5k at 80% effort. I was a little disappointed to have run positive splits (8:48, 9:06, 9:06) since I thought I was running a lot faster each mile, but on a more encouraging note I was able to keep my pace consistent.

Wednesday: Dance class and 4.12 miles in 35:30 (splits: 9:13, 7:47, 8:38, 8:44). I was supposed to do a tempo run today, but I had so much energy and so little focus I just kind of ran my own little run. I clearly was not paying attention to my pacing which can be seen in my inconsistent splits. Although it was not a perfect run, I have learned that I need to remain focused during my shorter workouts, so that I do not get in the habit of going out too fast and burning out before my workout is over. I know that I need to train hard so that I can race harder.

Thursday: Cross training. I woke up this morning feeling a whole new kind of hurt; clearly I worked muscles in dance class yesterday that I normally do not use. I was dreading my gym class this afternoon because I was so sore. I cried a little bit on the inside when my trainer told the class we were doing a deck of cards workout. You may get lucky and only draw low cards, but you have just as good of a shot of drawing all high cards. Our workout was surprisingly varied with both high and low cards being picked except for one exercise… pushups. I have never had to do so many pushups in one workout in my entire life!!! While I was surprised to wake up sore from dance, I know for a fact I will be feeling it from all the pushups.

Friday: 5.35 miles in 46:44 (splits: 9:19, 8:20, 8:53, 8:23, 9:04). Another Friday, another run on the treadmill. I do not have much to say about this run other than the fact that I was feeling faster than I was actually going. I am so excited for the game tomorrow that I was not very focused on my training.

Saturday: Rest Day. After sixteen long years, the in-state rivalry between Pitt and Penn State was reignited today. Pitt vs Penn State, the Keystone Classic, is a game I have been waiting for since they announced it last year. This game would be the biggest game I would get to attend at Pitt, and I was going to make the best of it. My roommate, Alison, and I headed down to Heinz Field around 8:00 am to wait in line with all the other students wanting good seats for the game. We were pretty far back in line, but I was able to drag Alison along as I weaved our way towards the front of the line. After 2 hours of waiting we finally were allowed into the stadium, which turned into a mad dash for the student section. We sprinted as fast as we could (I am counting this as my active recovery!) and got amazing seats 1 row behind the end zone! We couldn't have asked for better seats and a better game. Pitt held on to win the game in the last minutes when it was looking like Penn State would take home the victory!! Hail to Pitt!!

             *Alison is famous she is in the Pitt News!!

Sunday: 7.57 miles in 1:08:03 (splits: 10:14, 9:16, 8:53, 8:40, 8:48, 8:57, 8:18). I have one more week till race day! For my last long run I did not set any mileage goals, rather I wanted to see how far I could go in 1 hour. I was feeling great today and was able to run an 8:59 min/mile pace, which is 31 seconds faster than the pace I plan to run on race day. I am looking forward to racing and hanging out with my parents next weekend!

My Spartan Story

In the beginning of March of last year my brother texted my family group chat asking about doing a Spartan race with his friends. I did not know much about Spartan other than watching a little bit of the Spartan World Championships on NBC a few years ago; from what I saw on TV the race took athletes up and down a mountain filled with crazy obstacles designed to defeat even the toughest competitors. Although I thought my brother was crazy for even entertaining one of these races I also thought it might be a fun way to begin my journey to run a marathon in November. Road running can become monotonous and boring very quickly, but I needed to build a strong base mileage this summer before my marathon training kicked into high gear. I decided it was time for me to learn learn why someone would be tempted to run in a race specifically designed to defeat them.

When I began researching Spartan race I found that obstacle course racing (OCR) was a new emerging sport with many different types of races to choose from. OCR is a diverse sport and I believe EVERYONE can find the right type of race to suit their personal goals. I found that the two biggest names in OCR are Tough Mudder and Spartan Race. Tough Mudder is not necessarily a race, rather it is a challenge that invites athletes to team up and conquer a 10 to12 mile course littered with obstacles reminiscent of those found on reality shows like Fear Factor, Wipeout, and American Ninja Warrior. There are three main types of Spartan races: The Sprint 3 + miles with 20 + obstacles, the Super 8 + miles with 25 + obstacles, and the Beast is 12 + miles with 30 + obstacles. If you fail to complete an obstacle Spartan throws another one your way in the form of the mandatory 30-burpee penalty for unsuccessfully completing the obstacle. While I think the Tough Mudder provides a physical and mental challenge I did not want to participate in a race in which I would be electrocuted (I was and am still not ready to conquer my fear of electrocution!) This made my decision to sign up for a Spartan even easier since my brother was already running a Spartan race this July and I knew that there were no electrocution obstacles on the Spartan circuit.

When I went to register for the race on my brother’s team I found out he never actually did anything further with Spartan other than asking my parents to do it. Like many people my brother likes to talk about doing things, but he never seems to actually do what he says he is going to do. For about 2 weeks I was begging my Pitt friends and I was on my brother’s case to rally his friends to sign up so we would have a team—I read a lot of blog posts recommending to run your first Spartan race with a team. After all, if you are going to suffer it might as well be with friends who can help lighten the mood and motivate you to end the suffering by conquering the course! Eventually my best friend Taylor and Elliot’s best friend Aidan registered and we officially had a team! We originally planned to do the sprint, but since I was using this race to build my base mileage I thought the Super would be better bang for my buck. I know it might have been a little selfish of me, but I convinced my teammates that the super would be more of an accomplishment. If we were going to actually do this we might as well go for the gold and do the longest most grueling course that Spartan was offering that weekend. If there was a beast offered that weekend I probably would have been crazy enough to try that!

It might have taken some time to get registered, but by the beginning of May I was ready to begin training my body and mind for the Palmerton Spartan Super on July 16^th. I decided that I would try to run at least four days a week so that I would be consistently building my base mileage and maintain my cardio endurance. I also tried to follow the free Spartan workouts that were emailed to me everyday. I sprinkled in some hiking and biking and by the time race day came I felt ready.

The morning of my race was very exciting and nerve-racking. My teams start time was at 10:15 am, but we arrived at Blue Mountain well over an hour beforehand in order to park, check in, and hopefully see the elite men jump the fire and cross the finish line! We

Might not be the perfect picture, but meeting 

Hunter was something I will never forget

made perfect time and were able to check in, take pre-race pictures, and be one of the first groups of people to line up at the finish line to cheer on first wave of elite finishers! Ryan Atkins proved once again that he is one of the best in the business claiming another first place finish in the NBC Spartan Championship series. Current Spartan Race world champion Robert Killian took second and my favorite Spartan racer Hunter McIntyre took third. I admire all three of these men, especially Hunter. I am a huge fan of his TV series Boundless and was really inspired by his story, so when he walked by me I froze and was unable to congratulate him on all his success. Thank god my mom was there because she called Hunter over; because of her outgoing personality I got to meet and talk to him about Boundless, The Spartan Ultimate Team Challenge, and I got to thank him for inspiring me to realize my full potential as an athlete and person with ADHD (I will elaborate more on my ADHD and athletics story in a future post). Seeing the elite men finish and meeting Hunter made me even more hype to actually get out on the course and Spartan Up!

At 10:15 sharp our heat was called over the start wall to begin our Spartan journey. My heat happened to be a special heat because defending Palmerton Spartan Super champ and Spartan Pro Team member Amelia Boone would be racing on crutches alongside Spartan Race Pro Team Adaptive Athlete Amanda Sullivan Love. Both of these women are amazing athletes and knowing they were running in my heat made the day even more special; if these women could do it on crutches I sure as heck had no excuses to complain about what obstacles and terrain I would be facing! We yelled the Spartan pre-race chant and then we were off and climbing our first hill of the day!

After four hours and forty minutes of tortuous fun my teammates and I jumped the fire and finished our first Spartan Race. When I crossed the finish line I finally understood Spartans moto “You’ll know at the finish line.” I did not run the Palmerton Spartan Super to compete with the elite athletes that I saw on TV a few years ago, I ran to compete against myself. I ran to show myself that I was capable of conquering any challenge put in my way. I may have missed the spear throw, the monkey bars, the ape hang, and the rig (I clearly need to work more on my grip strength), but I did not shy away from completing my 30

Looking strong and falling in style!

burpees every time I may have failed. When I crossed the finish line after 8.2 miles and 32 obstacles with a smile on my face I knew that this would be the first of many finishes to come in this OCR journey that I call life! I now know that I am capable of running up and down a mountain that I am used to snowboarding, I am capable of pushing myself to keep going even when my mind is telling me to stop, I am capable of motivating not only myself but my friends and strangers to be the best they can be, I am capable of putting together and following a plan to reach my goals. I might not be an elite athlete standing on top of the podium, but that doesn’t change the fact that I AM SPARTAN! 
I plan on continuing my Spartan journey next year with the goal of completing my first  trifecta. My first race of the 2017 season will be the Ohio Beast on May 20th! I hope to return to Palmerton next year with my teammates and maybe even add a few new Spartans to our team (I am looking at you Dad)!! AROO! AROO! AROO!

   

Week 5 August 29 — September 4

Monday: First day of senior year!! Today I started my senior year at the University of Pittsburgh. I had Afro-Caribbean dance and one of my museum studies classes today. Last year I took West African dance and loved it; I really enjoyed studying the historical significance of each dance and then learning how to perform the dance we just studied. I am excited to learn about dances from a different region in the world and eventually perform them for our class recital! Catch me at my recital on December 10^th!!

Tuesday: 4.10 miles on the elliptical at a 9:25 min/mile pace. After my 10 miler I was feeling a very sharp shooting pain in my left foot, plus my calves were still very tight and swollen; I decided to take it easy today by running on the elliptical. I tried to make the workout more intense by running with resistance and switching up the incline every once and a while. Overall it was a great workout that did not further aggravate the pain in my feet and calves.

Wednesday: Dance class and 3.75 mile HIIT workout on the treadmill. Ice and rest truly work miracles when you sustain overuse injuries; when I woke up today I noticed that my calves were no longer swollen and the sharp pain in my foot was subsiding. I was super happy to finally be feeling better because there is nothing in the world I love more than letting my inner goofball out and dancing to the beat of my own drum. Every Monday and Wednesday I literally get to dance to the beat of a drum in my Afro-Caribbean dance class!  Later in the day I did some cardio on the treadmill because I still wanted to actually RUN, but not exacerbate my injuries.

Thursday: Rest Day.

Friday: 5.2 miles on the treadmill at an 8:46 min/mile pace (splits: 8:51, 9:28, 7:50, 8:50, 8:03). The weather in Pittsburgh is very unpredictable. I swore the weather man said it was going to be nice all day, but it stormed in the afternoon when I was supposed to be running. I guess the storms were a blessing in disguise because I was able to do one last workout on a soft surface before my 11 mile run this weekend.

Saturday: Rest Day.

Sunday: 11 miles in 1:48:27 (splits: 11:31, 10:10, 10:02, 9:40, 9:53, 9:45, 9:13, 9:05, 9:40, 9:34, 9:19). All day I put off running. I knew I needed to run 11 miles, but after my 10 miler last weekend I was not looking forward to doing it all over again with an added mile. I am happy to say I ran 11 miles and actually enjoyed every minute of it! The weather was beautiful and I had no pain in my calves. I listened to my favorite podcast (shout out to the schmoesknowshow!!!) which had me smiling the whole time. I was able to comfortably run a 9:49 min/mile running alone. I am cautiously confident to officially set my race day goal pace at 9:30 min/mile. Like most people I tend to run a little faster on race day. The atmosphere gets me so amped up to run to the best of my abilities, and in 17 days I will get to see what I am really made of!!