2015 A Year in Review: Travels, Races, and Family Fun

With just a couple of days left in the year, I thought it would be fun to revisit 2015 today. The year started off rough and we had lots to deal with as it went on with Jason’s injury and following surgeries. There were days that we just could not see the light. But, we aren’t the type to let our lives be dictated by our circumstance. Sure, things were not ideal, but we knew they could be much worse. So, we made the best with what we had. We kept positive and moving forward with our lives.

Even with the ups and downs, we had such a full year. We got to travel to some fun places with our family and Jason and I even got away without the kiddos to San Francisco+Sonoma County. We took the kids camping in Utah for the first time. We spent a super fun weekend with our family in Huntington Beach, CA! The kids and I hiked to the Colorado River. We got to go boating in Lake Mead. I ran my first trail half marathon in Red Rock Canyon and my 3rd Tough Mudder. I won a free registration from Pace Per Mile to Walt Disney World’s Wine & Dine Half Marathon, so we all went to Florida for 8 days! The kiddos ran the Disney Kid 1 mile race. We visited all 4 Disney parks and visited with friends that are like family. I also ran the Disneyland Half Marathon to complete the Coast to Coast Challenge. I ran 3 Spartan races (2 with the hubs) and got my 2nd Trifecta. The kids ran the Spartan Kid race too. Lastly, I won another free registration to the Run Laughlin Half Marathon in December, which turned out to be a great race.

I’m looking forward to starting 2016 with new goals and plans. I’m looking forward to fun adventures with my family and taking on new challenges. But, for now, I’m happy to look back and reflect on all the good things that have taken place and not to dwell on what could have been or feel bad for the huge curve ball life threw our way. Today I choose to be grateful for all the wonderful things and places I’ve been. I’m grateful for my family’s constant support. I’m happy to be where I am in life. It may not be exactly where I want to be, but it is a lot closer than I was before. And for that, I am grateful.

What’s your favorite memory of 2015? Are you looking forward to 2016? What goals do you have for the new year?

Spartan Race | #WhyIRace

Spartan Race started a new campaign recently asking folks to share their story. Everyone has a story as to why they race. Below is my reason. I race for many reasons. I race to keep myself motivated in my fitness journey. I race to be a good role model for my kiddos. I race to push myself beyond my comfort zone. I race for those who can’t. I race to prove that I can. I race because it’s fun. But, mostly to be stronger than I was before.

I’ve never been athletic. Running was not something I did for fun. Running wasn’t something I did. Period. Finding this new passion in running and obstacle course racing has been an amazing addition to my life! It’s woken up a spark in me to be stronger, healthier, and better than I was before.

What’s your story? Why do you race? Share your story HERE!

Update: Spartan Races + Injury

I’ve been MIA again for a little over a week. This was not my intention at all. I planned on getting back from the Spartan Beast & Sprint giddy with excitement and ready to share the experience here on the blog. But, sometimes life doesn’t go as planned.

First, the good news:

1. The SoCal Spartan Beast was an amazing experience again. I’m glad Jason and I finished strong, albeit exhausted!

2. We both finished the Spartan Sprint and because the event had been rescheduled from September, we got both the 2014 and the 2015 medals. Woohoo, I finally got my Spartan Trifecta for 2014!

And now, the bad news:

Jason hurt himself on the last obstacle. It was a Tarzan swing type thing, where you had to swing from one end to the other without touching the water trench that was in the middle. Sadly, Jason’s foot hit the edge of the trench and fell into the water. He knew he was hurt pretty badly and got help getting out of the water. Meanwhile, I was on the side doing my burpee penalty. I didn’t even attempt that obstacle! I saw him limping towards the finish line, but assumed it was a leg cramp. Once I crossed the finish line, I saw that he was hurt and he immediately called for medic. That is of course, once that finisher medal was around his neck! True Spartan. At the medic tent I could see his ankle was super swollen and after they bandaged his ankle and put ice on it, we got a ride to our car and were told to go to the hospital. I had about 5 minutes to run to bag check for our stuff, grab our finisher tshirts, and on Jason’s insistence, I purchased the Trifecta holder I was waiting to buy after the race. Once I got back to the medic tent, Jason was already in the van that was taking us and a few other injured Spartans back to our cars.

We knew getting him to the hotel room would be difficult, so we stopped at Wal-Mart and I bought him some crutches. Thank goodness for elevators! We made it to our room and decided to not rush home, but rather keep the foot iced, elevated, and give him ibuprofen. Throughout the entire ordeal Jason remained calm and said he wasn’t in much pain. The next morning, we checked out and arrived to Vegas a little before noon. We went straight to the urgent care and after getting his xray, it was confirmed his ankle was fractured and we got a referral to see a podiatrist the next morning. At the appointment, we learned his injury and fracture was pretty bad and had to have surgery. Surgery was scheduled for Thursday morning. I’m relieved to say that surgery went well and he’s healing now. We’re doing everything we can to keep him comfortable, but of course he isn’t able to move much and he needs to keep his leg elevated, so he isn’t always feeling great. But, the doctor is sure he’ll make a speedy recovery! Not sure he’ll be doing another Spartan race anytime soon, but we’ll see 😉

Big thanks to all our family and friends for the visits, phone calls, texts, and messages on facebook and instagram! We appreciate it so much.

So, that’s where I’ve been since Sunday, playing nurse and taking care of the Mr. I’ll be blogging the race recaps later this week, though. Hoping to be getting back to some sort of routine here soon. Not just with blogging, but with work, home life, and nutrition and workouts!

Highlights From My 14 in 2014 Race Challenge

Last year I accepted the challenge of running 14 races in 2014 and I’ve been chronicling each race here on the blog. Feel free to go back and check them all out, HERE! I’ve gotta say, I’m really proud for achieving this goal, but I’m kinda glad it’s over. I really enjoy running races, but ensuring I had 14 throughout the year was tough at times. I was literally scheduling my life around races, not that I minded that too much (wink wink)! We got to travel a bit for races too, which I loved, except when Jason forgot to pack our bag with my race sneakers for the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon. Yea, that wasn’t too fun. Thankfully, it all worked and I ran the race in new shoes thank to my sister! We also traveled to Temecula, CA for what should have been my Spartan Trifecta weekend. I’d ran the Spartan Super in April here in Vegas and was all set to run the Spartan Beast & Sprint SoCal but the weather had other plans. There was a major heat wave and although I did finish the Beast with my girl, NinjaEve, the Sprint was canceled the following day. I really enjoyed running the Spartan Beast, even though it was a pretty brutal course, and I’m looking forward to going back and trying for my trifecta again next weekend! AROO!!!!

A few other favorite races were the Bubble Run 5K because I got to run it with my 5 year old daughter and that was just a blast! I also had fun running the Komen Race for the Cure 5K with my sister. Of course, I can’t forget Tough Mudder and facing my fear of heights. Different than Spartan in so many ways, Tough Mudder has a way of changing me for the better each time I run it. I can’t wait to see what Tough Mudder X3 has in store for me in 2015.

Running 14 races in 2014 ranging from fun 5Ks to a half marathon and physically grueling OCRs, taught me that I am capable of so much more I give myself credit for. We are all capable of so much more. Our bodies are strong and can get us through anything, it’s our minds we have to convince otherwise. I see that now. But, most importantly, this year has shown me how much support I have from my family and friends. I could not ask for better people in my life and I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve it. I just know I couldn’t get along without them. I couldn’t get along without friends willing to french braid my hair at 10pm so I don’t have frizzy hair for a race, for a sister who is willing to drive over 3 hours to watch the kiddos while we run a half marathon, for friends & parents who don’t complain when I ask them to watch my kiddos so I can run and train for races, for racing OCR peeps who run & encourage me even though I’m slower than they are! Thank you!

Yes, 2014 has shown me so much love and support. It’s made me appreciate those in my life so much and I hope to always be there for them like they are for me. I’m ready to take on 2015 running some fun and challenging races. I know I won’t ever be alone. This journey is not mine alone, it’s a journey I started for myself, but has become so much more than that. It is about finding inspiration where there was none before, it’s about motivating not just myself but those I love. No, I won’t be running 15 in 2015, but every race I run this year I will run with purpose. I will give it my best because it’s the least I can do for everyone who is helping me get to where I am going. Where that is exactly, I’m not sure, but wherever this journey takes me has got to be way better than where I was before. It’s already been a fun ride so far!

Where will 2015 take you?

How I Feel about the SoCal Spartan Sprint being Postponed

After completing the Spartan Beast in Temecula on Saturday 9/13, I was ready to complete the Spartan Sprint the next day. I had been training hard and was feeling good about leaving the shortest distance race for last. On our way to the hotel room to freshen up after the Beast, we met up with our teammates who had driven from Las Vegas to Temecula to complete the Sprint with us on Sunday. We were all excited and ready to run together the next day and then that night we received this email:

The disappointment I felt from reading that email is beyond words. Reading it now makes me ill. I was so ready to have my trifecta medal. I planned an entire trip around it. Like I wrote in my blog post before I left, I sacrificed so much to be there and to come back incomplete was just a huge let down. I’ve seen images of Spartan racers running in the rain and in the snow, I never imaged they would cancel a race because it was too hot, especially because they have this posted on their website:

I honestly believe Spartan Race did their due diligence before & during the race. We received emails from Spartan before the race with warnings about the heat and giving straight-forward advice on how to prepare for it. I heeded the warnings. I prepared. I hydrated the week before the race. I took electrolytes, a hydration pack, and waterproof sunblock. My husband wore a wide rimmed hat and carried a hydration pack too as a spectator. He carried coconut water for us, too. Was it hot? Yes. But, in my opinion, it was bearable with preparation. Those who didn’t prepare paid the consequences. They weren’t able to complete the race, they became sick or injured. Do I feel for them? Of course I do. I do not wish anyone pain or defeat. I know it was tough, but the Spartan races, especially the Beast, are designed to be tough, right?

Obviously, I wish they hadn’t postponed the race until January. The goal of a trifecta is to race all 3 distances within a calendar year. Running the Sprint in January isn’t an option. I’ve worked too hard for this to not complete it now. I’m working on getting to run the Spartan Sprint in Malibu in December. But I’m still sad. Not only am I sad for myself, I am sad for my teammates who traveled 5 hours to be there and left empty handed. I’m sad for the friends I made along the course of the Beast, who like me were prepared to come back the next day and earn that Trifecta medal. I’m sad for the folks I met while training at Camp Rhino who were all excited and worked so hard to complete their first obstacle race.

We haven’t heard anything else from Spartan except that we’ve been automatically registered to a new Sprint event they’ve added for January 18, 2015 at the same location, Vail Lake Resort in Temecula, CA. This will be the weekend before their already scheduled events the following weekend there. The email was sent Sept. 14 and said more details to follow, but we haven’t received any new info yet. I’ll assume they will accommodate transfers without charging transfer fees as they must know not everyone will be available that date. I’m waiting anxiously to see what other, if any, compensation they provide their athletes. In the meantime, I’ll keep training!

– Has a race you’ve registered for and trained for been canceled before? I’d love to hear how you dealt with it and how the event company handled it!

One piece missing...will I get to complete my trifecta in 2014?!? — One piece missing…will I get to complete my trifecta in 2014?!?

SoCal Spartan Beast Recap | Race 12 of 14 for 2014

I’ve been thinking a lot about how to handle this blog post. I decided I’ll share my thoughts and comments strictly about this race and my experience on Saturday without letting my thoughts and frustrations about the canceled Spartan Sprint on Sunday get in the way. In case you missed it, Spartan Race canceled the Spartan Sprint in Temecula, CA on Sunday, Sept 14 due to extreme heat. I’ll keep my comments and thoughts about that in a separate blog post tomorrow. Believe me, I have lots to say about it! But for today, I want to focus on my experience running the SoCal Beast on Saturday.

We took our time heading out of Vegas on Friday morning and ended up in some major 2 hour delay traffic jam on our way to Temecula. Once we finally arrived at our hotel, we pretty much went straight to bed after setting out my clothes and gear for the next day. Of course, I hardly slept. I was too anxious to sleep, so I tossed and turned a lot until it was finally time to get ready to go. I had my coffee and ate my go to pre-race breakfast of a banana and half a bagel thin with almond butter. Once we got to Veil Resort we parked and made our way to the registration area. Everything went very smoothly and we had no problems checking in and getting ready. I met up with my friend, Eve, who ran alongside me the whole time. By the way you must follow her on instagram! Here’s the link to her profile: http://instagram.com/ninjaeve Sidenote: Eve will be participating in World’s Toughest Mudder this November and I can’t wait to be there supporting my girl!!!

On with the race, I won’t give you a play by play of every obstacle, but I will say that this was a brutal course. 6.2 of the 12 mile course was all uphill. These hills, although I’d like to call them mountains, were no joke. The first half of the course went by pretty quickly and I felt great about completing every obstacle up to that point. Just like for the Spartan Super, the bucket carry was by far the toughest obstacle for me. My calf cramped up towards the end of the obstacle and thank goodness I’d read an article about mustard helping with leg cramps and had some mustard packets in my hydration pack. About 2-3 minutes after taking it, I felt ok enough to finish the obstacle and my calf didn’t cramp up again afterwards. I will always carry mustard packets with me on a race from now on!

Thanks to this random dude for the boost!

For the second half of the race, the temperature started to creep up and we could see so many people that just weren’t prepared for the heat. Both Eve and I had our water backpacks and although the water was already warm after a few hours, it was still helping us keep hydrated. We’d also put electrolyte tablets in our water before the race and I had my Island Boost packets too. The race had plenty of water stations and one of the last stations also had gatorade and salt packets for dehydrated runners. Even with all the warnings and emails from Spartan Race about preparing for the heat, some athletes just weren’t prepared for the 100+ temps and many were not able to complete the race. So many runners weren’t carrying water and guys were running with no shirts, even after being warned of the extremely high temperatures and given clear instructions on what to do to prepare for it. Spartan also ended up shortening the race by several miles for those with later start times. Like I said, Eve and I had prepared before and during the race and we finished strong. Eve got her 2X Trifecta medal and I was on my way to getting my first Trifecta. Of course, I couldn’t have done it without her help throughout the race and literally pulling, pushing, and carrying me over some of those obstacles. Big thanks to a few other racers who took the time to help me up a few walls and of course a massive thanks to my hubby for all his support before and after the race and for taking these awesome photos. Thanks also to my friends and family for all their encouragement!

Sadly, things didn’t turn out as planned and the Spartan Sprint on Sunday got postponed until January. But, at the time, we had no idea that was going to happen. I was totally ready to take on the Sprint on Sunday with my hubby and 4 other friends that had traveled from Vegas to run it together. Like I said, be sure to come back tomorrow for my thoughts about their decision and what we ended up doing since we couldn’t race.

As for the Beast, it definitely lived up to it’s name and I can’t wait to do it again!

Fitness Friday | Spartan Trifecta

The day is finally here! We are heading out for Temecula, CA this morning and tomorrow I will be running the Spartan Beast and Sunday, the Spartan Sprint. Add in the Spartan Supe r I completed in April and I’ll have myself a Spartan Trifecta! Woohoo!!

That is of course, if I survive this weekend. I love that feeling after a race, you know the one where you feel amazing and awesome! Your body is sore and bruised but you still manage to walk a little taller. You’re on a major high from completing something completely terrifying. It’s such a feeling of accomplishment when you cross that finish line. Not too many things in life compare.

But, that feeling before a race….the self doubt, the anxiety, the nervousness! The feelings of maybe I could have done more, maybe I shouldn’t have had that ice cream a few weeks ago. Maybe I should have ran more during my training. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Then come the what ifs. What if I cramp up during the race? What if I hurt myself? What if I don’t finish? Well, it’s just enough to drive a girl crazy (and quite possibly her husband too!) Ahhh!! Yup, these thoughts are all running through my head right now.

Friends ask me if I’m ready and I just shrug, give a weak smile and say, “We’ll see!” Because, well, the truth is, we’ll see! I’ve trained hard. I’ve given it my all. I’ve been to tons of boot camps, practice obstacle races, elevation trainings at Camp Rhino. I’ve sacrificed sleeping in on the weekends. I’ve sacrificed evenings with my family. I’ve sacrificed time with friends. I’ve passed on dessert I couldn’t tell you how many times. I’ve been so sore that it’s been difficult going up the stairs. I’ve gotten bruised and scraped. All for what? For a medal. For bragging rights. For that feeling after a race. For me. For my kiddos who believe in me. For everyone who supports me. I do it because it scares me. I do it because it pushes me to try harder. I do it because I can. Because I never dreamed I could.

Spartan Up! – Aroo