SPAAAAAR-TANS!!! PREPARE FOR GLORY!

I am sure everyone is dying to know how the race went.  By all accounts, I would have to say it was a success.  I wasn't thrilled with my time (a little over 2 hours), but it wasn't due to a lack of effort.  I left everything I had on that field.  There was definitely room for improvement, but there are just some things that you cannot account for.  Unbelievably, the weather cooperated.  I really couldn't have asked for a better race.  There were some things that looked like they were going to be easier on the videos and there were others things that turned out to be much easier.  From what I know so far, I actually did pretty well overall and for my age group. What will follow is pretty much a blow by blow of how the morning went and how the race was.

I woke up at around 6:30 a.m. and my wife and I got everyone ready (she did most of the work because I'm lazy).  I had a nice light breakfast of a white bagel with peanut butter.  I turned out to be an almost perfect breakfast and will likely be my new race day food of choice.  We got out of the house around 8:00 to be greeted by an under inflated tire.  Thankfully, we had to stop for gas and took care of the tire in a jiffy.  

The field was about an hour away and we got stuck in some traffic.  We got to the field at around 10:00.  There was a soccer tournament nearby and there were a bunch of pissed off soccer moms that didn't take too kindly to a bunch of scuzzy racers clogging up their field.  I immediately went to packet pickup while eating my last pre-race snack (a banana).  Packet pickup was a breeze because I followed the instructions posted on the Spartan Race website.  For the next hour, we just kind of hung out and watched the festivities. 

Me with Superman

We were lucky enough to get there to see Team X.T.R.E.M.E. parachute onto the field and do their start.  For those that don't know, Team X.T.R.E.M.E. is a group of disabled veterans that races in full combat gear.  Probably the most motivating experience of the morning.

Team X.T.R.E.M.E. Parachuting In

Team X.T.R.E.M.E. Starting Point

Within an hour I met up with my running partner and we got to the starting line.  We joked with one another for a little bit, him telling me I was too skinny, me asking him if he was going to run in a T-shirt or the natural wool sweater he was wearing underneath it.  My wife and kids followed us over to the start and snapped a few pictures of me acting cheesy.  We heard that the top men's time was 1:16:00.  We both scoffed at that.  I was certain that I would finish within 1:30:00.

Starting Line

The host bombed us with a smoke grenade and that started the race.  I was running on adrenaline at the beginning of the race.  They could have had a 30' tall wall and I would've scaled that bastard with ease.  There were a few obstacles at the beginning that were pretty easy to traverse.  A little jumping and rolling, nothing too serious.  At the end of the first field there was an obstacle that required us to jump over, roll under and jump through three separate walls.  I cracked my back going through the last part, luckily I had loaded up on my Yoga earlier this week or this may have been a problem.

We quickly ran into another field and through a water pit before going off road.  When I say off road, I mean it.  There was a trail, but it was littered with holes, fallen tree trunks and huge rocks.  Very easy to roll an ankle.  After the first mile, my running partner and I ran into the biggest hill I've ever raced up.  Honestly, I thought it would never end.  I rarely walk when I run and even I had to stop and catch my breath.  I pulled away from my partner at this point and got a massive lead.  He didn't catch back up until around mile six.

I Don't Have Any Pictures of Me Doing Obstacles, So I figured I Would Add A Picture of My Kids Acting Silly While Daddy Was Out Being A Spartan.

 



That hill was awful and seemed to last almost an entire mile.  The descent was just as difficult because it was so steep, I had to pretty much stutter step my whole way down.  After the hill of death, the adrenaline had worn off and I was starting to hurt already.  It's at this point that I should mention that we were racing around horse farms.  For much of the next mile, I spent most of my time running and jumping over barriers that horses would use for the steeplechase.  It was getting old and I was starting to get more than a little frustrated at all the jumping I was doing over these stupid things.

After what seemed like an eternity, I finally made it out of the steeplechase.  We went back off road again.  Much of the next mile is pretty much a blur.   I really don't remember anything being too difficult.  It seemed like they wanted to give us a little bit of a break before hammering us again.  A few things to jump over, but nothing too serious.  Right before mile 4 we came out of the woods again and were closing in on the fairgrounds.  That's when we came to the world's longest low crawl through mud under barbed wire.  Seriously, I may be exaggerating, but not much, it seemed like this low crawl was the length of like three football fields.  It was split into three fields and in between each one was a pit of water. 

As I was running up, one of the guys told me to roll under it and put my arms up above my head.  Yeah, bullshit!  I wound up with gashes all over my back from trying it that way.  Maybe that guy doesn't do his should presses or something.  I lost a TON of time crawling under that barbed wire, oh and might I add, the mud was filled with rocks.  So, not only did I thrash my back on the barbed wire, but my knees, ribs and elbows were wrecked on the rocks and worst of all I lost my number which had my free beer ticket on it.  After the mud pit, there were a set of monkey bars, I went all Gladiator and rubbed dirt on my hands to make sure I got a grip and I destroyed those monkey bars.

One of My Battle Scars

Miles 4-6 were actually kind of tame.  There was some more jumping over steeplechase barriers and I almost fell off of one into a ravine at one point, but it was pretty tame.  There was a balancing obstacle where you had to walk across a flat log before scaling a 6' wall.  After the wall, there was another balancing obstacle where you had to walk across stumps that were varying heights all stuck in the ground, then scale a cargo net and then flip a giant tire a few times. 

Then, I got to the Hercules Hoist and I was screwed.  I'll be honest.  I though this obstacle was going to be a cake walk and it kicked my ass.  My strategy was to get a foot hold and then just walk back.  The problem was that the ground and my shoes were caked in mud and getting a foot hold was impossible.  I got it about 1/3 of the way up before I gave up and just did my burpies.  The energy I burned on those burpies and trying to get that weight up REALLY hurt me.  It was here that my running partner caught me.  I was dying at this point, but I saw a family sitting out in the middle of a field. They asked me what heat I was in and after I told them, they were impressed and told me I was "really moving."  That gave me just that extra little bit I needed to keep trudging forward.

I really don't remember a lot from miles 6-8+ (I say 8+ because I know damn well that course was well over 8 miles).  I do remember that they saved the hardest obstacles for the end.  Right after mile 6 started, they gave me a 50-60 lb sandbag that I had to haul around what seemed like forever.  I had to push that thing over logs and throw it on top of rocks and then climb on top of the rocks before throwing it down and then picking it up and carrying it some more.  It seemed like I carried that stupid sand bag for a good 10+ minutes. 

From there, I had to scale another cargo net and then do, what I thought, was one of the hardest obstacles of then entire race, "The Bunny Hop."  I know, "The Bunny Hop?"  What's so intense about that?  It was around "The Bunny Hop" that I felt my calves start to go and afterward was the only time where I walked for any significant amount of time.  They give you a big rubber strap and you hook it around your ankles.  You have to hop over logs and roll under ropes for about a hundred feet.  Doesn't sound too hard, but it was agony. 

After "The Bunny Hop" we made it back to the main fairgrounds.  It's a total mindscrew.  You think you're pretty much at the end and then they hit you with 7 ridiculous obstacles right at the end. A series of water pits, followed by walking up an inclined wall with a rope, then you have to pull a cinder block around a (I guess) 1/4 mile track, scale another 6 foot wall, rock climb horizontally across a wall with wooden blocks, a javelin throw and then a rope climb.  I was really worried about scaling the water wall, but my shoes stuck to that bitch like glue.  I went up and over it with no problem.

It was off to the brick pull.  That brick pull was awful.  All kinds of shit would get stuck under it and make it harder to drag.  Not to mention, you had to drag it with a chain.  I was dying at this point.  I just wanted that shit to be over.  I completely lost my calves doing this obstacle and I got to a point where I would yank it and then walk the chain out.  That obstacle was awful.  I was at a slow jog at this point and I jogged to the next obstacle, another 6' wall.  Surprisingly, I went up it like it was nothing (No doubt thanks to my outstanding hip drive from all of the squats and dead lifts I've been doing). 

Amazingly, my running partner was on the other side of the wall.  I was convinced I had lost to him.  Turns out the 6' wall burned him and he had to knock out 30 burpies for it.  We came back to the starting point and we knew we only had to finish the final obstacles.  We both traversed the rock climb wall, then it was the javelin throw.  He blew his completely.  Mine actually hit the target and would have stuck if the target was a little fuller. 30 burpies for the both of us.  If my calves weren't completely spent before then, they were now.  We both walked to the rope climb. 

I scaled the rope (like a boss) and hit the bell.  As soon as he heard me hit the bell, he said "You got me, Torres."  He went down and did his burpies.  I tried to get down slowly and gracefully, but my calves were gone.  They couldn't hold me on the rope.  How I got up there in the first place, I'll never know.  I was halfway down the rope and my legs gave out.  I fell about ten feet into the water below.  I crawled out of the pit and walked over to the last stretch.  I knelt down and in an homage to CM Punk, I looked at my wrist band, I got up, shuffled my fists, cupped my mouth and shouted "IT'S CLOBBERING TIME" as I sprinted toward the gladiators at the finish line.

Turns out the gladiators didn't take to kindly to my challenge and tried to crush me as I sprinted through.  One crushed me in the chest, another threw his pugil stick at me and still another one got me in "The Boyz."  The one that got me in "The Boyz" pissed me off and I shouted back at him, "Is that all you got, bitch!"  One of them chased me after that and tried to throw his pugil stick at me. He missed as I crossed the finish line. 

I Think This Is Actually Me Turning To Make Sure I Didn't Have A Gladiator On My Ass

The feeling I got when I crossed the finish line was incredible.  Life changing.  I knew that every squat, every dead lift, every pull-up, every mile, every stretch, every bench press was worth it. It was amazing.  I thought that race would be hard, but nowhere near as hard as it actually was.  After finishing, I feel like I can accomplish anything.  My gut and balls hurt from being crushed by one of those gladiators, but I was immune to it.  It was just incredible.  The hardest miles I had ever done and it was worth every second.  A few moments later I was in agony.  I was on the ground holding my calves in the fetal position and a few minutes later my thighs locked up, but even that pain was worth it.  It was amazing and I'm already contemplating doing it again next year. 

A Cornucopia of Things

I have a lot of topics to cover today, so I'll just dive right in.  I've got Spartan Race this weekend and I'm still tapering.  I have not lifted since Sunday (I pushed another new squat PR.  SWEET!)  and my last run was Saturday.  I'm really concerned about feeling weak or tired, but I think I'm going to be ok and just try to trust in my training.  It's weird.  I've got this itch to train, but I have to store all of the that energy up for Saturday. 

I went to Yoga yesterday, I've got another session scheduled for tomorrow and, if I'm lucky, I might be able to squeeze in one more session on Friday.  I want to try and be as limber and loose as possible.  I also want to use the quiet time of Yoga to help increase my mental focus for the big day.  Don't confuse me for some type of vegan, hippy weirdo.  I don't get stoned while listening to dulcimer music and whiffing incense, but I do believe Yoga plays a vital part in any training regimen and should be a part of every endurance/distance athlete's schedule.

While we are on the topic of distance athletes I would be remiss if I did not mention that I signed up for my first half-marathon today.  I will be running the Baltimore Half Marathon on October 13.  I'm excited and nervous.  The furthest I've ever run is 12 miles and I injured myself pretty bad doing that.  Since then, the longest run I've done was 11 miles and it wasn't pretty.  I know I can do it, but there is definitely a bit of a mental barrier there that I will need to overcome, this is one of the things that makes Yoga invaluable. 

October is going to be a bit of a busy month for me.  The week after Baltimore, I run my final race of the season, Rogue Runner.  I'm not really thinking about Rogue Runner right now, nor am I thinking about how I'm going to structure my training for these races.  I just want to continue to focus on what I've got going for this weekend and taking a short break before I get back to training.  Quite honestly, the thing I'm most looking forward to is having a few cold beers and a really unhealthy meal after the race this weekend.

As I mentioned previously, October is going to be a busy month, but the Torres household isn't going to be as busy as we had previously anticipated.  Unfortunately, my training partner and wife, who was working herself up for the Marine Corps Marathon, has injured herself (she has a stress fracture in her left leg).  She's my inspiration, my support system and the leader of my 3 person cheering section. 

I can't come close to comprehending how devastating it must have been for her to get that news this past Tuesday and having to pull out of a race that she had been looking forward to since the beginning of this year.  She's been training like a maniac for this race and this was her white whale.  I tried to console her as best I could, but I knew that no words I offered could give her back the lost opportunity and make up for the time and effort that she had sunk into this race. 

So, in true Roy fashion I told her to "rub some dirt on it, man the fuck up and quit crying."  Just kidding, but that would have been pretty funny if I did.  In all seriousness, I know she's going to rock that bitch come October 2013.  She's already deferred her spot until next year and is looking for ways to train around her injury.  She's a beast I tell you.

I figure I'll close on a little bit of a more upbeat note.  My mom, who is in her 50's, went to Colorado last week.  Not only did that psychopath run the Pikes Peak Half-marathon on Saturday, but she ran the full marathon on Sunday.  For those that don't know, the ascent up Pikes Peak is 13.32 miles, starting at 6300 feet above sea level with an elevation gain of an additional 7815 feet.  According to their website, trees can't grow above the 12000 ft level due to how thin the air is.  When I spoke with her on Friday, we were talking about the race and I said "Yeah... Uhhhh... Fuck that."  Kudos to her. 

Well, I think that's enough for today.  I'm going to try to provide an update on Saturday night while Spartan is still fresh in my mind, but there's a good chance I may be too busy indulging in Chicago Style Pizza, bratwurst and a few of the finest seasonal craft brews that our good friends at Sam Adams and Fat Tire have to offer.  So until next time, as always, train hard, have fun and be safe.

The Taper

As I've been promising for the last week or so, I'm finally going to talk about my taper that I've been doing for the past few weeks in preparation for Spartan Race next Saturday.  I can honestly say it's going awesome.  Below is a video of me breaking my personal squat record.  I do 205 in this video for 5 reps.  This is my final set after doing 2 sets of 185 for 10 and another set of 195 for 10. 

Overall, I'm really happy about how I'm feeling right now.  I just feel stronger all around.  Every weight I lift feels lighter.  I can do more pullups.  I can push more weight with my shoulder and bench presses.  My deadlift has gone up.  I just feel fresher and ready for Spartan.  It's tempting to try and push more weight, but I've been resisting because I don't want to burn myself out.  I am a little afraid that I might be sacrificing my cardiovascular conditioning, but I ran 8 miles last Saturday with little problem.
The natural question is, if I'm still working out so much, what have I tapered.  Well, in the last 3 weeks I've literally cut my running load in half.  It's weird not running so much.  Every time I get home from a run that's shorter than six miles I feel like I have somehow cheated.  I'm pretty confident that my stamina is going to be there when I need it next weekend. I've also slightly altered my diet to help deal with my gut issues.

I've cut back on my dairy intake by switching from regular milk to soy milk.  I'm still using whey, but mixing it with the new milk.  I've also stopped using cheese on my sandwiches and dressing with my vegetables.  I've noticed a slight difference.  I also paid a visit to the local vitamin store.  The meat head behind the counter suggested that I might be suffering from a glutamine deficit during my runs.  So, I've added a small dosage of glutamine to my regular supplementation regimen.  Both seem to be working, but I'll have a better idea of how well they're working on Saturday when I do my last run of the training cycle.

Overall, as difficult as this training has been, I have enjoyed it for the most part.  I've discovered more about my body and training than I ever thought possible.  I learned all kinds of little things that have helped increased my endurance and form which, in turn, has helped me to enjoy the experience a lot more.  It's been a bit of a journey of self discovery these past few months.  I only hope that I'm not leaving my best in the gym or on the road.  I hope to continue down this path and push my physical limits after I have completed Spartan.

I've already set my next goals, I'll be running the 10K Rogue Runner Obstacle Race (http://www.roguerunnerrace.com/) in October.  I'm also on the fence about whether or not I'll attempt my first half marathon.  My plan is to get into beast mode and do the Baltimore Half Marathon (http://www.thebaltimoremarathon.com/) the week before Rogue Runner.  That will probably end my race season for the year.  That's all for today.  Kind of a boring update this time around, maybe next time I'll get into something more exciting next time.  As always, train hard, have fun and be safe.

Before and After

I figured I would make a quick update today.  I was going through some of my wife's old pictures on FB and I came across something that many people probably think doesn't exist.  FAT PICTURES!  As I have mentioned before, about 2 years ago I made the decision to change my life because of some health issues one of my wife's friend's husband experienced.  I was close to 200 lbs, which some of you may not consider heavy, but you have to remember, I'm only 5'8". 

Anyway, here are some pictures from then.  This is actually about three months after I had started my workout plan.  I had probably already lost a few lbs, but I hadn't made a concentrated effort to change my lifestyle yet.  I would still smoke the occasional cigarette, eat and drink A LOT of crappy food and good beer.  For those of you that do not know, it's actually better for your waistline to drink shitty beer.  The reason good beer tastes so good is because it has extra ingredients in it that bring up the flavor and the calorie count.  So without further adieu, these are some pictures taken the summer I started my cardio regimen about 2 years ago.

Believe it or not, I was actually in pretty good cardiovascular shape at this point.  I was primarily doing the elliptical.  I had not started running yet, well, because "I hated running," but that's another story for another day.  My weight training regimen didn't actually start until last year.  Believe it or not, fat really did not start to REALLY come off until I started weight training.  This is why I'm so adamant when I talk to people about the benefits of strength training.  This is what I looked like a little over two months ago. 

I've actually filled out a little more since then and dropped a little more fat, but I didn't feel like getting off my fat ass to go take a more recent photo, so these will have to do.  As I said, I started strength training sometime in the spring of last year and I got really serious about it in the last year.  I have no delusions about where I am.  I know that I'm not Jason Statham or Ryan Reynolds.  Although, eventually getting as close as possible to that point is the ultimate goal. 

Now, I don't want anybody to get the wrong idea.  The intent here isn't to brag or anything.  I want people to know that I've been there.  I know how difficult it is to try and shed fat and gain muscle.  I know how hard it is when your kids want to play in the yard and chasing them around makes you breathe heavy.  I know what it's like when you walk up a flight of stairs and your heart starts to pound.  That's really the purpose of the stuff I write.  I want people to know that I've been there. 

Am I a competitive person?  Of course.  Do I sometimes wish more people would take it upon themselves to get in shape?  No doubt.  I get pissed off when I see fat people riding around on carts.  I get angry when obese people cut in front of me in the mall and then waddle slower than two snails screwing.  I'm human.  However, if just one person gets motivated to make a change in their life, if they decide to make that commitment to themselves to get in better shape and my blog or my ramblings on twitter or facebook is their inspiration, that's the biggest reward I can reap from all of the miles I log, all of the weights I lift and all of the stretches I do. 

Someone telling me, "Dude, you're amazing.  You made me want to get in shape!" that makes every single drop of sweat worth it.  To know that I helped somebody to improve their life and maybe even saved their life.  That's an incredible reward.  As I said, fitness is a commitment.  A diet is not something you go off of, it's the way you eat, FOREVER.  Getting in shape requires you to commit yourself to it.  You can't change your diet and exercise for six months, lose ten pounds and think, "Well, that's it!  I can go back to eating shit again."  It doesn't work that way.  If you do that, the weight is just going to come back and it's going to bring some extra weight with it.  Trust me.  I've done it.  I've ballooned up and down.  It's not fun and gets harder to lose every time.

Sorry, I got off on another one of my tangents.  Today was a bit of another stream of conciousness rants.  Next time, I hope to talk about my taper and how I'm feeling heading into Spartan (Hint: AWESOME).  So, as always, train hard, have fun and be safe.

Inspiration

I was finishing my leg workout just a little earlier and was brainstorming about what I was going to write about.  I had about half of this written in my head, I was going to talk about how my taper is going, how I'm feeling stronger, going up in my bench presses, squats, etc., but then I started thinking about Oscar Pistorius.  I'm not sure what brought it on, but I've been thinking about this inspirational athlete ever since a first heard about him and his journey to the Olympics.  As I'm sure most of you know, Pistorius is the first amputee runner to ever compete in the Olympics.  Please, bear with me, because this is just going to be a bit of stream of consciousness type blog today.

I love tales of inspiration, but there has been something that really affected me about Pistorius. I'm not sure what it is, maybe it's the fact that he just wants everyone to treat him the same.  He did not want special treatment and he did not want anything handed to him.  Maybe that is what was so beautiful to me about his loss.  Nobody took it easy on him.  Nobody felt sorry for him.  Nobody gave him anything.  It was as it had always been for him. 

Throughout the games he discussed how his late mother was a major inspiration for him and how she treated him no differently than his brother.  He told stories about how she told his brother to put his shoes on and told him to put his legs on.  He just thought he had a different kind of shoes.  He played sports and he had a regular childhood. 

NBC showed the work that he does with children.  They showed how he goes into classrooms, walks around outside with the kids and after they have grown comfortable with him, he shows them that his legs are amputated below the knee and his legs are actually prostheses.  He explains that their next reaction is always to check his arms and make sure those are real.

Every little thing about his story made me emotional and, as my wife will tell you, I never display emotion. The thing that set me over the top though, was when Kirani James exchanged bibs with Pistorius after he had beat him in the semi-finals.  That one moment signified everything that the Olympics is supposed to be about.  Even now, just thinking about it, I get overcome by it.

Where am I going with this?  I'm not sure, really.  I guess I just wanted to share my feelings on something that I'm sure moved us all.  Perhaps, I don't know, maybe I wanted to try and thank Pistorius for inspiring me.  Anyway, until next time, as always, train hard, have fun and be safe.