This is SPARTA!!

This was another weekend of racing for me.  I am proud to say I am now officially a SPARTAN.  Team Dynasty and I went to Miami and did the Super Spartan, an 8+ mile race with over 25 obstacles.  I wasn't at my best on this race and I know where I went wrong.  While I haven't gone back to horrible eating (fast food and processed junk), I wasn't  at 100% in the nutrition area leading up to this weekend.  I REALLY struggled with the running.  I felt good in the beginning, but lost steam after I failed the monkey bars obstacle and had to do 30 burpees.  For those of you that have never heard of a burpee, let's just say they are no joke!!  You crouch down, jump back to a plank, do a push up, jump back to the crouch and jump up in the air.   After all that craziness, I had a hard time getting back into a groove.    There was  A LOT of trail running too.  I'm not a great runner, so the up and down, uneven ground and dodging branches made a difficult workout even tougher.  I had to do another 30 burpees when I couldn't get up the rope climb (noticing a trend here? I need more upper body strength!). 

Even though this was not my best race, I still had a great time.  I realized if I want to continue in this sport I have to really take it seriously.   I don't want to continue spending my time and money on racing if I am not performing.  So...since quitting isn't an option, it's time to step it up!  I will be continuing my workouts, adding some running on strength training days and eating clean.  I still some work to do before I feel confident enough to run a competitive heat on my own.   But I will get there...

I've added a few of my favorite pictures from the race below.  As always, if you are interested in learning more about how you can change your life, both inside and out, feel free to respond to this blog or contact me at erinkterry@hotmail.com, coacherinterry@gmail.com, erinkterry@beachbodycoach.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com.erinkterry.

Hog Wild Mud Run 2013

This weekend I did another obstacle course race and I am super sore today!!  I have bruises up and down both legs and one arm.  Most people probably wouldn't want to be covered in marks and unable to move very quickly, but I see all of this as proof that I did something pretty amazing.  This race was tough, but I am really seeing a difference in my upper body strength and did obstacles completely unassisted.  Obstacles that on my first race I needed several people to literally lift me over.  At almost every race I've done there are these walls that you have to climb/jump over.   The ones at this race were about as tall as my shoulders.  I have always struggled with this because they take a lot of upper body strength, which I don't have.  But yesterday, I was able to get over all of them on my own.  Another obstacle I struggle with are the walls you climb up with ropes attached.  Again,  mostly upper body strength.  I got over this wall all by myself too.   That was my favorite.  It was really simple compared to other obstacles, but conquering it made me really proud of myself.   I am getting closer to my goal of running a competitive heat in an obstacle course race.  I think if I continue going the way I have been I will be able to check this goal off my list by the end of this summer! 

My team, Team Dynasty did amazing at this race too.  Several of the girls ran the competitive heat and placed in the top 50 out of all racers.  Our coach, Arnel, got 3rd place overall!!  Here are a couple of before and after pics.  We went out to eat on our way home and I'm sure we were a sight...all covered in mud (that stuff is like glue and you pretty much have to remove a layer of skin to get it all off!) and looking rough!  But again, I love every dirty, gross moment of these races!

One of the coolest parts of the race was our newest racer and my partner, Jessica.  Like I mentioned before, my first race was hard.  I had no idea what to expect and I had never done anything even close to one of these races.  But...Team Dynasty made sure I felt supported and encouraged and helped me every step of the way.   I was nervous pairing up with someone who had never done a race before, not because of how she would do, but how I would.  I wanted to make sure that I helped her have an experience like mine.  One where she felt like she had accomplished something she might have never thought she could have.  She made it through almost all of the obstacles, ran a lot and conquered her first obstacle course race.  We will be partners again at our race next weekend, the Spartan Race in Miami.  SUPER PROUD OF YOU JESSICA!  You did amazing!!

Thanks for reading!  If you are interested in training for an obstacle course race or running one with Team Dynasty, let me know!  I would love to help you out!  Feel free to respond to this blog, or contact me at erinkterry@hotmail.com, erinkterry@beachbodycoach.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/erinkterry.

Have a great week and stay tuned for my blog next weekend on the Spartan Race!!

My First 10K!

This weekend I did something I never imagined I would be able to do.  I ran 6.2 miles all at one time without stopping.   I was really nervous going into this race because I haven't been running lately.  I've been struggling a little with time management by adding working out back into my day.  During the Ultimate Reset, I wasn't able to workout so I did maybe a week of training for this race.  I told a friend earlier this week that I wasn't looking forward to it and thought I would probably end up walking a lot of the race.  She hasn't been feeling running lately either, so she wasn't too sure how she was going to do.   My friend and I agreed to start off together, but I made sure to let her know that when she wanted to take off to just go and I would be fine.  At about mile 2, I knew I wasn't going to stop.  I didn't care if I was the slowest "runner", I was going to run the whole race...no walking allowed.  My friend told me the same thing.  She wasn't going to let me walk.  We ended up making the perfect running team.  She said she tends to run too fast in the beginning then struggles to maintain her pace and ends up having to walk.  Since I was a slower runner than her, I kept her from burning out.  But she pushed me to run faster than I probably would have on my own.  We kept a pretty steady pace of around 11:30-12 min/mile.   Towards the end, my friend sped up and finished about a minute before I did.  I felt amazing as I rounded the corner lined with people watching and cheering and saw another friend holding up one of the signs in the picture above.  I saw the finish line and ran as fast as I could.  I'm pretty sure there was lightening come out of my feet! ;) 

The whole experience was a lot of fun.  The run was in perfect weather (cold to start off, but once we got going, it was really nice), running along the bay, past gorgeous (probably million dollar) homes and a perfect (totally by accident) playlist to keep me motivated.  My friend had also signed up for the 5k that started a little later.  So in between races, we hung out, got some food, and listened to an awesome DJ.    After the 5k started, I held up signs and cheered in runners at the finish line.  My friend PR'd in the 5k.  Overall, it was a great way to spend a Saturday morning!!!  Next goal is to run another 10K and see how much time I can shave off.  My official race time was 1 hr and 13 min.  I've got some work to do, but I will get there!!  Thanks to Jenny and Nicole for a great time!! 

If you are interested in setting new records and doing things you never thought possible, let me know and I can help!  As always, feel free to contact me on this blog or at erinkterry@hotmail.com, erinkterry@beachbodycoach.com on or Facebook at www.facebook.com/erinkterry 

Thanks for reading and have a great week!!