Gearing up for Tough Mudder Las Vegas | Tough Cookies 2.0

Here I go again…getting that same nervous, anxious energy I felt before the Spartan Super earlier this month. This time, I’m gearing up for my second Tough Mudder event coming up on Sunday! If you are new to the blog, you may not know how Tough Mudder changed my life, but it really did. I won’t bore those how already know the story, but you can read my thoughts on Tough Mudder HERE and HERE!

I've been having a real hard time practicing this obstacle at Camp Rhino. Not sure what my problem is,but I know it's all in my head. I start running towards the ramp and then stop myself halfway. It's really annoying! I did it before, I can do it again and this photo proves it! I will get up Everest again. — I’ve been having a real hard time practicing this obstacle at Camp Rhino. Not sure what my problem is,but I know it’s all in my head. I start running towards the ramp and then stop myself halfway. It’s really annoying! I did it before, I can do it again and this photo proves it! I will get up Everest again.

I’m excited to be taking on my second Tough Mudder with 2 really good friends of ours! Last year, our friend Veronica couldn’t do it since she’d just had a baby a month before, but we convinced her hubby, Ernie, to join our team. This year, Veronica is joining team Tough Cookies and the 4 of us are ready to take on the 10+ mile course full of crazy obstacles that will really test our stamina and mental grit! We’ve been training at Camp Rhino and it’s been very helpful to give the obstacles a try. We’ve been calling our training sessions “double dates”! Yea, that’s how we roll! I encourage you to find an obstacle training gym/facility in your own city and if you’re from Vegas, you gotta check out Camp Rhino!

New obstacle - Fire in Your Hole. Like Wet N Wild, but with fire &muddy water at the bottom! — New obstacle – Fire in Your Hole. Like Wet N Wild, but with fire &muddy water at the bottom!

I’m so happy we don’t have a 2.5 hour drive this year to get to the event, since it’s being held at Lake Las Vegas, just 30 minutes away. I’m also anxious to try out the brand new Legionnaire Loop, which is only open to repeat Mudders and has some pretty challenging & fun looking obstacles. My sister will be coming along is the official Tough Cookies photographer and her hubby will be a spectator too! This is the first time he’s gone to any one of our crazy obstacle races, so it’s gonna be a real treat for him & hey, maybe he’ll even join us for the next one (Javier, are you reading this?!)

It’s really going to be fun having them encouraging us along the course! I just hope they’re nice to us for the Family Feud obstacle 😉

Getting knocked down by spectators during the Family Feud obstacle. This actually looks like fun!

Let’s do this!! Hoorah!!

Spartan Super Las Vegas | Race 4 of 14 for 2014

I did it!! I completed my first Spartan Race and I must say, it went better than expected. I completed the Spartan Super in Las Vegas. I don’t want to do a long recap of each obstacle but I will say that I totally missed the Spear Throw, Traverse Wall (my foot cramped), and Rope Climb (honestly, I didn’t try hard with this one because sadly I made up my mind that I couldn’t do it). I also had some help with the monkey bars, bucket brigade, tire pull and of course, getting over those 8 ft walls! I’m super proud I was able to do the Hercules Hoist, Tire Flip, and well, basically just get through the whole thing. I’m wearing my bruises with pride 😉 I’m also super proud of my little guy. He did the Spartan Jr. He’d been running and “training” for his race too and seeing him so happy complete his 1 mile race and get his medal was just awesome!

I had a great team of guys and I will admit, being the only girl on the team, I was a bit nervous that I’d either slow them down or that they’d leave me behind. I’m glad to say that neither of those things happened. They helped me with obstacles when needed, we encouraged each other, and stayed together as a team. AROO!!!

Huge thanks to our support team who kept up on the spectator course to make sure we had enough water, coconut water, and even snacks!! Special thanks to my hubby for taking pictures throughout the course & my sister who always supports me in all I do! I love you so much xoxox

The final obstacle - Fire Jump! Then free beer :) — The final obstacle – Fire Jump! Then free beer 🙂

I got done just in time to go see my son do his Jr. Spartan Race! So excited and proud of him!

I am quite tempted to go for the Trifecta, complete the 3 Spartan Races in one year – Sprint, Super, and Beast! I signed up for the Spartan Sprint in Southern California this September, but logistically speaking I don’t think I”ll be able to make it to one of the Beast events..we’ll see 😉 I’m really excited for the Sprint in Temecula, not only because it’s wine country, but because my hubby will be joining me on this one and the wives of 2 of my teammates will be joining us too! I’m calling it the Couples Spartan Retreat 😉

My Thoughts Before Spartan Super Las Vegas…

What did I get myself into!!! I’m really excited to be running the Spartan Super tomorrow in Las Vegas, especially more so since I won the entry via the awesome Confessions of a City Eater blog! With the excitement however, comes major knots in my stomach and feelings of doubt and nervousness. I’ve been training hard, but of course, I could always train harder. There are some obstacles that down right scare me and I really hope my team doesn’t leave me in the dust! Today is not the day for self doubt, however. Today is the day to get pumped up and ready to give it my all tomorrow. I’m putting my big girl panties on, along with my mega cool funky leggings my sister found for me at Khols. OH YEAH! You won’t miss me on the course with those cool things! I’m geared and ready to have a good time. Tonight, I’m gonna carb up with a nice big plate of pasta (not Paleo, it’s ok, I’m not 100% all the time). I’ll also be taking my own advice from my post, 7 Tips for Conquering Your Next Obstacle Course Race, and packing all the essentials! Here’s a bit of what I’ve got to look forward to tomorrow! AROO!!!

7 Tips for Conquering your next Obstacle Course Race

I’m 10 days away from my first Spartan race! I’m doing the Super Spartan on April 5th and I’m super nervous and excited. I’ve also got my second Tough Mudder on April 27th. I’ve been training hard with my trainer twice a week and getting my Pure Intensity Training classes at the gym too. I’ve even taken it up a notch by joining Camp Rhino. This place is pretty cool and I should do a full blog post about it soon, but for now, just know that it’s an obstacle training facility that offers a ton of training classes, drop-ins, and a ton more!! So, do I feel prepared? Of course not! Not sure I will ever feel prepared before any obstacle race. But, they really do push your limits and get you out of your comfort zone. The feeling of accomplishment afterwards is surreal!
Anyhow, today I want to share with you a few tips that will help you be ready come race day.

1. Don’t wear cotton. I’ve said this before and I will say it again! Don’t wear cotton!! It drags, it stays wet, and drags you down. Stick to dry wicking fabrics. This includes everything from socks and underwear too, not just your shirt and pants! Trust me 😉

2. Ladies, invest in a good maximum support sports bra with light padding. You’ll be wet pretty much the entire time during the race, you don’t want your girls exposed 😉

3. Wear long pants. I made the mistake of wearing compression shorts for the Badass Dash and let me tell ya, never again! My knees and legs were so messed up from crawling under barbed wire and banged up and burned from climbing walls and ropes. Protect your legs and wear long form fitting pants that won’t drag when they’re wet!

4. Tie your sneakers tight. You’ll be running in and out of water and mud and want to make sure you don’t leave your sneakers behind!

5. A change of clothes & deodorant. You’ll be muddy, wet, and gross. The last thing you want is to get in your car back home or to eat afterwards in that. Most races should have a shower and/or changing area so bring a towel. Clean, dry clothes will feel amazing after being in wet cold clothes! Don’t forget a clean pair of shoes too! Flip flops work great 🙂

6. Garbage bag. You’ll need a place to throw in those dirty wet clothes you just got out of 🙂

7. Have fun and take pictures! Obstacle course races are designed to test your physical and mental limits. They’re tough, but also a lot of fun and you’ll want to snap a few before and after shots 🙂

xo,

Jessie

Training for Obstacle Course Races

I will begin this post by clearly stating that I am no expert on obstacle course races (OCR), nor am I a personal trainer! I’m just an average girl who really loves to push her limits and see what she can do. Last year, I did 3 OCR, including Tough Mudder and this year I’m signed up for Tough Mudder again and Super Spartan. I will probably add a few smaller ones too by the end of the year….what can I say, I really do love OCR!

So that being said, I thought I’d share with you a few tips that helped me complete (read: SURVIVE) Tough Mudder last year and what I plan to do in these next 2 months leading to my obstacle course races in April.

Eat Clean! They say a good workout can’t out-exercise a bad diet and I really believe this. I’ve noticed that when I allow myself a lot of “cheat meals” my workouts suffer. I’m more sluggish and slow and of course, I don’t see the results I want. So, eating clean in the month(s) leading up to your OCR will help you get lean & strong!
Focus on Building Upper Body Strength! This was huge for me. Most of us ladies tend to have weaker upper body strength and a lot, if not most, of the obstacles you’ll encounter will require strong arms. Army man crawling, pulling yourself up walls & ropes, monkey bars, etc.. these all require strong upper body strength. Find a workout that is best for you and work on getting those muscles! Push ups, tricep dips, and pull ups (Disclaimer: I have yet to master 1 pull up. It’s on my to-do list!)
Run! You’re not training for a marathon, but you should be able to run at least 3 miles nonstop. Work on sprints and hills to really get those legs ready for the 10 + mile course.
Interval Training! You’ll be doing all sorts of things on an OCR from jumping over fire, crawling under barbed wire, and balancing on boards. You’ll have to build up your endurance and agility. Tabata, HIIT, Boot Camps, these are all great examples of high intensity training. Get lots of lunges, high knees, mountain climbers, and frog hops done!
Burpees! I don’t know anyone who loves a burpee, but everyone agrees they get the job done. And if you’re planning on doing a Spartan race, just know that the penalty for not completing an obstacle is 30 burpees..Yikes!!
Stretch! Don’t forget to stretch after your runs and workouts! This will aid in recovery, flexibility, and help prevent injury!

Also, do some research and check out what you’re up against. Go to YouTube and look for videos of the OCR you’ll be doing, specifically in your city. This will help you visualize what you’re going to be facing and get you pumped up! Tough Mudder has this great Boot Camp Training on their website where you can build your own workout circuit based on your fitness level and it’s designed to get you through their toughest obstacles! I’d also recommend checking out a training facility in your town. We have Camp Rhino here in Las Vegas and it rocks. We went last year and plan to go again this year. They have a beginners class where you can try out the obstacles, plus they give you tips and techniques for conquering the race. Lastly, have fun training 🙂

So, which OCR are you signed up for? I’d love hear about it and how you’re training!

2013 The Year of the Races

If you asked me last year where I thought I’d be at the end of 2013, this would definitely not be it!! I never dreamed I’d be sharing my personal ups and downs on this blog. I never imagined I’d sign up, nonetheless finish a half marathon. Yup, 2013 has been a life changer. I went from never participating in any sort of running/obstacle races to running 6 races in one year. It’s been an amazing journey and I couldn’t have done it without the support from family and friends, especially those who came out and ran alongside me! I used to dread working out and therefore rarely (read: NEVER) did it. I only ate “healthy” if I was on a “diet” and let’s be honest, fad diets aren’t healthy. They don’t last. Only a change in your lifestyle and your attitude is what makes the changes happen. The magic is in the commitment, not a pill.

I found that change in me by signing up for all these races/events. Signing up for these events has kept me on track with my exercise routine and eating habits. It’s given me a goal to reach and has made all the difference in my attitude towards working out and eating healthy. I can’t wait to see what 2014 will bring! So far we’re signed up for our second Tough Mudder in April and signing up for Blood, Sweat, and Beers 10K trail run in March. I really want to run a Ragnar Relay race and as soon as I learn to ride a bike (Yes, you read that right, I don’t know how to ride a bike!!) I want to do a sprint triathalon.

The Color Run 5K really introduced me to event racing. I had no idea what to expect, from the packet pickup to to the run itself, it was a great first experience!

After Color Run, I did Tough Mudder! I’d trained hard and really got into fitness during this time. I’ve said it time and time again, Tough Mudder changed my life!

The obstacle course race bug hit me hard and in May, I was ready for more! This time, it was a family affair and my sister, Norma, joined me for the Badass Dash 7K. The kiddos also participated in their first kid OCR and loved it!

Later in May, my sister and I, along with our friend, Veronica, did the Race for the Cure 5K with the LVAC team. This is a very important cause for us and our family and we were excited to have a part in raising awareness!

As most of you know, summers in Vegas are HOT! So, summer was spent vacationing and having fun with the kids with our Summer Bucket List. Towards the end of summer, I began training for the Rock N Roll Half Marathon!

I recently blogged about my first half marathon experience, if you missed it, you can check it out HERE! If you want the short version: It was by far one of the hardest and most amazing experiences I’ve had in my life!

Six days after the half marathon, I joined some of my book club girls for the Dirty Dash 5K and my son did the 1 miles Piglet Plunge! What a way to end a super fun year of races! You can read my review of that race, HERE.

I’d love to hear about your favorite races of 2013 and what you’re planning for 2014! Do you have any suggestions on races I should be looking into? Don’t be shy…

Dirty Dash 5K Recap

So, six days after the Rock N Roll Half Marathon I was ready to take on the Dirty Dash 5K with my book club girls! We had my hubby design a shirt for us and then had them printed at a local print shop. Isn’t it a cute shirt? Here’s a little recap of the day and a review of the Dirty Dash event itself.

A few days before the race, the weather in Vegas goes bonkers! Lots of wind, rain, and cold temps. We kept hoping it would clear up by Saturday but it just kept getting worse. So, we all made sure to bundle up with layers, hats, and gloves. We put our big girl panties and drove out to Boulder City for some fun in the mud! I made a “girl power” playlist to help pump us up for the race, which was fun, but I think we were all a little freaked out by how cold and rainy it was. The weather didn’t really clear up and we were actually getting some rain mixed with flurries Brrrrrr…..Once it was our time to go and we started running we warmed up a bit and the rain even died down some. We all made the best of it and had a good time together!

Since the weather was so bad, Jason decided to stay home with the kids until it was time for the kid’s Piglet Plunge. I had already paid for Diego’s registration, but thank goodness we were leaving Elysse’s till the last minute and of course, we did not have her participate since the weather was so bad. So, we only have a few iphone photos of us before and after the race.

As for the race itself, it was definitely not my favorite. I know the bad weather didn’t help but, there were lots of things that could have been done better and they had nothing to do with the weather. It was also a shame they had to deflate the slide at the end and we didn’t get to use it. That would’ve been fun. So, let’s here goes:

Pros

Pre-race communication was great. Emails were informative, albeit a little cheesy, and clear directions were given.
We got a nice tshirt, beer koozie, temporay tatoo, and sticker.
There were enough port-a-potties and didn’t have to wait in line.
The part that had mud was great! It was smooth like frosting 🙂

Cons

Packet Pickup was unorganized and the volunteers/workers were pretty rude. I understand they had to change their setup due to the rain, but seriously a smile wouldn’t hurt!
Not a lot of obstacles. We ran for 1 mile with no obstacles, except for a few mud puddles and we aren’t really sure if they were part of the race or just due to the rain! The obstacles were in mile 2 and again the last mile was running without obstacles.
Beer Chug was actually an obstacle! I would’ve preferred a free beer at the end.
The 3 main obstacles were one right after the other. Having them spaced out would’ve spread out the fun!
The course was not clearly marked. Not sure if the rain & wind washed off their markers, but I had a hard time figuring out where to go.
Piglet Plunge was a joke! It was about 3/4 mile and the kids ran through 2 (maybe 3) watery mud pits at the start and end of the run. That’s it! I think they may have been counting on the slide to be an obstacle, but that was deflated due to the weather.

It was so cold and rainy, I think the photographers, organizers, and volunteers were just ready to go and not at all enthusiastic. Motivation and fun were definitely lacking. I’m sure had the weather been better, that it may not have been so bad.

Tough Mudder Las Vegas 2014 | Tough Cookies 2.0

Yesterday I did it. I signed my husband and I up for our second Tough Mudder event. I’ll be honest, the thought of going through that electic eel makes me want to throw up. Yup, that’s me getting shocked by 10,000 volts of electricity ———————–>>>>>

When I signed up last year, I had no idea what I was getting into. I just knew I was ready to do something completely out of my comfort zone. I didn’t know it would change my life. Because it did. Tough Mudder changed my life (I’m not even exaggerating)! Training for the event got me to do workouts I’d never dream I could do. I’d never heard of a burpee before, let alone attempt to do one!! It got me eating healthier. I began to care for my body. It wasn’t about trying to get skinny anymore, it was about trying to get strong. It got my family eating healthier and becoming more active too. And once I completed Tough Mudder, I was hooked. Tough Mudder showed me that I can do whatever I set my mind to do. It takes a lot of discipline, determination, and some pain, but it’s possible. Just like Tough Mudder, you can’t do it alone. Ok, maybe some people can, but I ‘m not one of them. Our team was there for each other and we all helped each other out from start to finish. That’s how life is too. You need your support group to get you over those hurdles! And I have the best group of friends & family supporting me all the way. I’m sure I can get annoying sometimes, so thanks for putting up with me peeps!!!

I’m excited to get some of the original Tough Cookies back together for our second Tough Mudder and super excited to get some new recruits (you know who you are!!) These next 200+ days of Tough Mudder training are going to be amazing and I cannot wait for April 27th! But first, let me get through my first Rock N Roll half marathon, the Dirty Dash, and Spartan Sprint! See, I told you I was hooked 😉