SoCal Spartan Race Recap!

The SoCal Spartan Races were held in Temecula, which was about an hour and a half drive from us.  The drive was easy and the only traffic we hit was to get into the event parking area.

The event was a three-quarter of a mile walk (uphill) from the parking area, and once there, we checked in and received our bibs, timing chips, headband with number, and free beer ticket then checked our bags at the bag check.  My cousin and I did the Spartan Sprint (3+ miles) and my cousin’s husband, my brother, and my brother’s friend did the Super Spartan (8+ miles).

Me and my brother

Me and my cousin

My cousin and her hubby

My cousin and I were in a wave nearly an hour before the boys, so we said goodbye, wished them luck and were off to our corral!

The Obstacles!

If you are unable to complete an obstacle, you have to do a set of 30 burpees.  To do a burpee, you squat, kick your legs out behind you so you’re in a plank position, do a pushup, jump your legs back to your hands, then jump up with your hands over your head.  If you’re a visual person like me, check out this video to see a burpee.

Mud pits

Run through sludge!  The first obstacle was a thick mud pit and my shoes actually got stuck and slipped off!  I was able to retrieve them and put them back on.  I tied them so tight, there was no way they would come off again!

Wall climb

The walls varied in height, and they seemed to start out short and became taller and taller as the race progressed.  There was even a 5 ft wall to jump over to get into your race corral before it even began!  It was pretty awesome.

Hills

More like mountains!  Temecula is quite hilly, so there were constant running up hills then coming back down.  One was so tall and steep, and that was the most challenging obstacle for me.  Gotta do it though!

Wading through rivers with waist deep holes

There was one part near the beginning of the course that was a gamble…you could go left for the “Harder but Shorter path” or right for the “Easier but Longer path”.  We opted for harder and shorter and it was a narrow river we had to wade through.  It looked like no big deal until splat!  I fell right into a hole that went waist deep in mud. I wiggled myself out and then my cousin fell into another hole waist deep!  After the river, we had to run through a forresty-area and then back to another hill where the other shorter/easier path met up.

Monkey bars

I haven’t done monkey bars in probably 20+ years.  Hanging, my feet were only 6 inches off the gorund, but man was I scared for that first swing!  I would almost start, then hold myself back because “what if I missed the next rung and fell?”  Well, then I’d drop those 6 inches, no big deal.  So I pushed myself forward and grabbed the second rung.  Then I swung my body and grabbed the third..and so on.  I made it just before the last rung when I fell, but I got back up from the end point and swung two rungs to make up for it.

Swamp running in the lake in neck deep muddy water

Part of the lake was blocked off for us to “wade” through.  The water was as dark as coffee and the mud on the bottom was like wet cement married with quicksand {thankfullly I had tied my laces super tight after the last mud pit!}  It was waist deep sludge, then it got deeper, and deeper, and finally came up to my neck.  At that depth, it was hard for me to get leverage to rip my feet out of the mud below the water, so I ended up swimming the rest of the way.  By the way, the water was absolutely FREEZING!!!  My legs went numb.  After the swamp running, of course there was another hill.

Ladder climb up then down

The hill led to a ladder climb over a cargo container then back down.  The bars were pretty spaced out, so you had to make sure not to slip with your muddy shoes and fall.

Barbed wire crawl

Then there was the barbed wire crawl over wet muddy gravel with small muddy water holes throughout.  The length of this obstacle was long…probably about 50 feet.  I first started to army crawl, but my elbows were getting ripped up.  I saw someone roll, and followed suit, which made it much easier.  I’d roll under some wire, then plop down under another wire into a muddy water hole, then climb up trying to avoid the next line of wire, then roll again and repeat.  My cousin, who was with me, opted for a back bend/crab crawl style that worked very well for her!  There were also volunteers along the sides spraying us with fire hoses!

Me in the background sliding down a mud slope in between the barbed wire

Over-under-through walls

And then there are the three back-to-back walls.  The first 6 ft wall we had to climb over, the second we had to roll/crawl under, and the third had barbed wire on the top and a small square hole in the center that you had to jump/crawl through.  These were fun and very simple.

Ladders up to the bridge of planks to walk across then climb back down

Similar to the ladder climb up and down I mentioned above, this obstacle was double the height, and the top was just planks going across length-wise.  There was no solid bottom at the top to walk across, so we had to walk the planks (literally) to get to the other side to go down.  Once my cousin and I got to the top, though, we noticed an older woman struggling to make it.  She voiced she was afraid of heights, and we responded with “you’re awesome for doing this” and gave her our hands to pull her up and over.  She made it!  Sidenote:  There is such a sense of commraderie, teamwork, and encouragement at the Spartan Race, which was apparent the entire time!  Every participant was willing to help orthers, and it was so heartwarming to see and experience.

Carry 50lb bag of rocks up a mountain

This obstacle was no cake walk.  We had to grab a 50lb sack of rocks (not the most comfortable thing to carry since they dig into you) and carry it up a very steep, rocky and sandy mountain.  The bag was hard enough to lift from the ground up to my shoulder, and now I have to carry it up this unstable mountain?  Ok, let’s do it!  I first put the bag on my right shoulder, and the rocks were digging into me, so I readjusted and ended up carrying it in my arms in front of my stomach.  I was the only one carrying the bag this way, but it made it so much easier for me. At the top, my cousin had to readjust so she dropped her bag.  I dropped mine to help put hers on her back across both of her shoulders to distribute the weight more evenly, then picked my bag up, and down we went.  This one definitely made my heart rate skyrocket!

At the top of the mountain

Tire Toss

There were monster truck tires lined up and you had to flip it 3x one day and 3x back to move on.  I guess my biceps are quite strong because this was super easy for me.  Done!  On to the next!

Lateral wall climb using 2x4”s as hand and foot holds to get across

This obstacle was an insane forearm workout!  It was a long wall we had to climb laterally (side-to-side) using only little 2” by 4” wood planks at eye level and foot level to grab onto and step on.  And no grabbing the top of the wall!  This was super challenging, and my midget legs struggled to reach the next pegs, but I did it without falling!  My forearms though were screaming at me.

Inverted wall

Of course once my arms were on fire from the lateral wall climb, we had to run down a hill to a very tall inverted wall.  That means the top of the wall is closer to you than the bottom.  There was a plank near the bottom to step on, making you inverted, and yet I still couldn’t reach the top to hoist myself over.  Then I hear a guy yell “Get your footing, I’m giving you a shoulder boost” and I felt this guy use his shoulder to push me up so I could grab the top.  I pulled myself up, threw one leg over for leverage, and pulled the rest of my body up and over while profusely thanking this guy.  He then did the same for my cousin, and I ran back up the wall (it was inverted away from me now so I was able to run up it and grab on), grabbed my cousin and pulled her over.  Then we both jumped down, and it was a high jump!

Herculean hoist

After the inverted wall was the Herculean Hoist!  The obstacle was to hoist a 60lb cinder block off the ground about 20 feet using a rope pulley system.  I was waiting in line to complete and saw many women struggling.  Then I saw the woman in front of me walk up to it and beast it out!  I looked at my cousin and said “Im going to do what she did” and I walked up to the rope and grabbed it and thought ‘holy shit it’s heavier than I anticipated’ and pulled like hell, one hand over the other using my body weight to pull down, and ta-da!  I was at the top in 10 seconds!  Beast Mode Engaged!  The hardest part was actually letting it back down because you couldn’t just drop it or it would shatter and cement pieces would go flying everywhere.  So you had to slowly release it, and that rope wanted so badly to slide through my hands, but I wouldn’t let it.

Mount Everest

After the Herculean Hoist we thought we were nearly done because this was just after the 3 mile mark.  Afterall, we were doing the 3+ mile Spartan Sprint.  Nope.  (The course ended up being 4+ miles.)  Then there was a mountain.  A very steep, rocky mountain, that we thought was only for the Super Spartans (8+ mile course).  Up we went!  My cousin was killing this one!  I, on the other hand was struggling.  “Almost to the top” my cousin would say.  “We’re not even half way” I’d respond.  Panting, we were at the top.

Very tall wall climb

Of course while we, er, I was out of breath from Mount Everest, there was a really tall 10 foot wall we had to climb over.  I got a running start, jumped and reached the top, pulled myself about half way, then fell.  Round two, over the damn wall.

Log jump

The log jump wasn’t so bad.  It was a line of maybe 10-12 logs sticking out of the ground, all different heights, that you had to jump on to get to the other side.  I stepped from the first one to the second, and realized my stride isn’t long enough to maintain a strong balance, so I jumped faster without pausing, and made it to the other side without falling.  Phew!

Tractor pull

Once again, we thought this obstacle was for the Super Spartans, and once again we were wrong.  There was a hill, and we had to drag a 50lb cinder block tied to a chain up this hill and back down.  My cousin and I teamed up, and thank god we did.  This was so hard!  The hill was covered in loose dirt, so the cement block kept getting stuck.  There were people who stopped and broke down in tears, this obstacle was so hard.  My cousin and I worked out a system though, and through great teamwork, we completed this obstacle.

Javelin toss

This obstacle was a crap shoot.  I have never thrown a javelin, but I’ve seen a lot of movie and shows where they do through javelins and tried to channel their strategy.  Arc it, don’t through it straight or it will nose down.  Mind you, the woman monitoring this obstacle was giving out 30 burpee sets like she was handing out free candy at a candy store.  One guy missed and asked to go again, and she said “you have 30 burpees, ifyou miss again, you have 60, and I’m counting.”  Well, he missed, and she literally counted each of the 60 burpees this man had to do.  I hadn’t done burpees yet and I wasn’t going to start now.  I threw my javelin and it landed at the bottom end of the haystack, but it stuck!  I was allowed to move on, no burpees necessary.

Rope climb straight up to ring a bell

We could see the finish line now, but there were still a few obstacles to complete.  One of which was a verticle rope climb the height of two cargo containers with a bell at the top to ring.  I looked at this, looked at my cousin, looked at the beer tent past the finish line, and we both said “burpees?” and laughed.  30 burpees it was!

Slippery wall

Then there was a wall built at a 45 degree incline covered in mud and water.  There were ropes coming down to grab onto for assistance in getting over this one.  I grabbed the rope and made it to the top but couldn’t figure out how to get over because the rope ended.  Still holding the rope I put my knees down {bad idea because the gritty muddy water cut them up}, and a guy from the other side reached his hand over and gave me the leverage I needed to get over the top.  Then it was an easy climb down with plank rungs.

The final mud hills/pits with one last wall climb swim

There were several 10 ft incline mud hills with muddy water pits on the other side.  It was a lot of up-and-over, trying to maintain footing so as not to slip.  The water pits that we had to wade through were deep and freezign!  After three up and overs, we stood on top of the last mud hill to see a wall in the muddy water pit.  At first I thought we had to jump over, but then I noticed the top was laced with barbed wire.  How do we get over this?  Then I saw someone swim under the wall.  We had gotten this far without having to swim through muddy water so it was completely unexpected.  I knew I couldn’t think about it too much {bacteria getting into my ears?} so I slid down the mud mountain into the water, plugged my nose, and went under.  It was pretty gross, but the coldness of the water felt very refreshing.  We did it!!!

Jump over fire

I have to admit, the fire pit we had to jump over was much smaller than I expected, but it was still pretty cool.  My cousin and I held hands, ran, and jumped!

Battle three gladiators with the foam

The very last obstacle was to pass three gladiators who try to knock down runners with pugil sticks.  We ran through and dodged them all! Woohoo!

After crossing the finish line, there was an option to do 40 extra burpees for a second medal.  After all of that, who can say no to 40 burpees for a SECOND medal!  Of course we did it :)

After earning our burpee medal, I noticed my knees were bleeding from the slippery wall at the end.  BATTLE WOUNDS!!  But a shower, clean clothes, and bandages could wait…a celebratory beer was the priority.  We got our free Sierra Nevada and it went down so easily :)

Cheers! 

Bloody knees from the Slippery Wall

We then headed to the bag check for our bags with towels and clean clothes, then hit the showers.

Ice cold outdoor "shower"- a line of hoses with nozzles 

I was about to change right there in the middle of everyone using my makeshift towel shield until I saw a tent that read ‘Women’s Changing’.  After an ice cold outdoor shower in my underarmours and tank, we ventured into the tent and changed into clean dry clothes, then grabbed another beer while we waited for the boys to finish.

When they finally crossed the finish line, they looked exhausted yet very triumphant!  They did it!  They are going for the trifecta (sprint of 3+ miles, super of 8+ miles, and beast of 12+ miles all within the same calendar year).

The Spartan Race was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done.  It made other mud runs and obstacle courses feel like child’s play.  I am so proud of myself, my cousin, and the boys for dominating this race.  WE ARE SPARTANS!!  AROO!!!

My 1st Marathon: 2013 LA Marathon Recap

I’M A MARATHONER!!  Those words seem surreal.  I can’t believe I ran 26.2 miles!

On Sunday, March 17^th 2013, St. Patrick’s Day, I ran my first marathon, the LA Marathon for the MDS Foundation in memory of my mom who passed away from MDS last March.  Having such an important reason to run gave me the courage to start training for and the strength to finish the marathon.  I am so happy to say that with the help of family and friends, we raised nearly $3,000 for MDS!  I ran the marathon with my best friend, Lisa, who was running for the Pablove Foundation to support pediatric cancer in memory of her brother Jeff.  She too raised nearly $3,000 for the Pablove Foundation!  I know my mom and her brother are looking down on us and are so proud.

Quick side note, we both designed our race shirts.  Lisa’s had a picture of her and her brother, and my shirt had a picture of me and Mom with my “Imagine A Cure for MDS” logo.  During the race, other runners would run by me and give me a thumbs up, or say encouraging words like “good for you” “I’m sure your mom is proud” “way to go”.  It was amazing.

Now for the recap (complete with a TON of pictures)!  Sit back and enjoy :)

The LA Marathon is known as the “Stadium to the Sea” race because it starts at Dodger Stadium and ends at the Santa Monica Pier.  Well, because it’s a point-to-point race, Lisa and I had to park in Santa Monica and be on the 4am shuttle to take us to Dodger Stadium.  The shuttle dropped us off with a couple hours to starting time, so we found a spot inside Dodger Stadium and did what other runners were doing…we took a short nap.  After waking up at 2am, we needed a power nap.

@ Dodger Stadium around 4:30am

The weather was perfect – cool and overcast.  The race started promptly at 7:30am and we were off!

@ the starting line

Time to run a marathon!!

The first 5 miles were great, then unfortunately my IT band began flaring up, which was much earlier than I anticipated.  I pushed through to mile 10, where I stopped at the medic tent and filled a Ziploc bag with ice and stuck it under my capris on my knee.  That helped a lot.  The spectators along the course were so motivating!  Some people were wearing silly costumes, others were holding clever signs, others blasting music  and cheering.  The crowd along the course was incredible!!!  The sights were a great distraction too – running through Chinatown, past the Pantages Theatre, El Capitan, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, and running along the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Rodeo Drive.  It was an exciting course running through all the cities and seeing all the landmarks, and the volunteers and spectators were awesome!

Walt Disney Concert Hall

The Pantages

El Capitan Theater

Grauman's Chinese Theater

The Troubadour!

I received some text messages along the way from family and friends that were so encouraging and powerful that they brought me to tears.  Everyone was so proud of what I was doing, and in that moment it hit me, ‘Holy shit!  I’m actually running a marathon and I’m running it for Mom!  She would be so freaking proud of me!’  I became emotional and so happy!  I was actually doing it!  Around mile 14 my cousin texted me and said she was at mile 16.  I was hurting and very much looking forward to seeing some family.

Running by the Whiskey A Go Go between miles 15 and 16

I got to 16 and there they were with neon signs that were so perfect (zombies & beer!  Do they know me or what?!).

Love the signs!!!

Me with my awesome cousins at mile 16!

I stopped and hugged them and chatted with them for a minute before taking off, and my cousin joined me!  I have to give a HUGE shoutout to her, because she was only planning on running a mile or two with me, but she stuck with me to keep me motivated for TEN MILES!!  She was with me from mile 16 and peeled off just before 26.  Shanu, I love you so much.  Words can’t even express how thankful I am!!

We cruised down Rodeo Drive, and soon we were approaching mile 18.  I got so excited because that’s where my hubby was!!!  He was with Lisa’s hubby (who I’ve been friends since Kindergarten), Lisa’s mom, my friend Amanda and her sister.  I was SO happy to see them all!  I ran up {the hill} to them and smiled so big as I shouted, “I am never running another marathon again!”  I was in so much pain at this point.  But seeing them made all the pain dissipate.  My hubby gave me the biggest hug in the world and told me how proud he is of me and how proud mom is watching me from above.  Baby, you are the best husband in the world.  I love you to infinity and beyond!!  Everyone else gave me big hugs and words of encouragement and we took some pictures (thank you David for being our personal photographer!).

Queue long photo montage:

Mile 18!! (The marker is that giant orange thing behind me)

So excited to see my hubby!

I love this man!!!

Beyond happy!  Seeing them was the best pick-me-up!

I heart zombies

Yeaaa!!!!

Love this girl!!  Thanks for coming out to cheer me on love!!!!

He's the best hubby :)

Then I was off, my cousin still running with me!  By Mile 20 my hips were so sore and my right knee was in agony that I had to speed walk with some jogging thrown in for the next few miles.  My cousin was awesome though, singing to me, dancing alongside me, telling me stories, and making me laugh.  The miles seemed to tick by despite my pain…Mile 20…Mile 21…Mile 22…Mile 23!  I kept telling myself, ‘This is nothing compared to what mom went though.  This is a cake walk!’  Finally I saw the Mile 24 marker and got so excited.  2.6 miles to go.  We hustled through 24 even though it felt like the longest mile on the course, and finally hit mile 25.

Almost there!  My cousin peeled off shortly thereafter and I was running to the finish.  Then around 25.7 my right calf cramped up and I had to pull over to stretch it.  Stretching helped a lot and I began running again.  I was almost there.

All of a sudden I heard my name and I looked to my left and there was Koko (my dearest friend since 3^rd grade!) with her fiancé with the coolest (and very “Maggie”) sign ever:  “May the course be with you” in bright colors!  I waved and picked up my pace.  As I was running, I heard my name again!  I look over and it’s my hubby, David, and Lisa (Lisa finished in 5:07!) cheering me on!  Yes!!  0.4 miles to go and I was in a full on sprint.  Every ounce of pain that my body felt was gone in that moment.  I pushed harder than I thought I could and before I knew it I had crossed the finish line.

My super sexy finish face haha!  I was in so much pain sprinting across that finish.
My right knee gave out a second after this photo.

The second I crossed, my right knee gave out and I started hopping on my left leg.  A medic ran over to check on me (great service!) and I told him I was fine.  I hobbled over to my Daddy who was at the finish line.  Seeing him gave me so much happiness and relief.  I did it.  I just ran a marathon!  26.2 miles.  I felt so accomplished.

I got my medal, and I have to say, it’s the coolest medal I’ve ever seen!  It’s blue ombre with a transparent green shamrock on it!  It’s so pretty!  I met up with everyone where the gates opened about half a mile from the finish and everyone hugged me so tight.  It was incredible and very emotional.  My body hurt like hell but I was nothing but smiles :)  I did it Mommy, I did it for you!  And I ran 26 miles at the age of 26 (check that off my list!)!

WE DID IT!!!!  WE ARE MARATHONERS!!!!

My incredible husband.  I love him more than words can express!

She lei'd me :)

With my hubby and my daddy :)

Love you guys so much!!  Thank you for all your support!!!

LA Marathon finishers!

Running for people we love and lost.

We splurged at the expo and bought these $80 jackets.
Hey, it was our first marathon and who know if we'll ever run another full!  Plus, they are super soft :)

Me and my daddy :)  We did it for Mommy!

I apologize if the next bit sounds like an academy award speech, but with this being my first (and probably last) marathon, I have some very important thank yous:

Mommy, you gave me the courage to take on this challenge, and the strength to finish it.  I probably wouldn’t have begun the journey to my marathon if I didn’t have such a powerful cause to run for.  I wish you were still here with us, and I thank you for being my strength, in life, and in death.  I love you always.

Sean, my love, thank you for being on this journey with me.  Your motivational text messages and pictures while I was out on long runs lifted me up and kept me going.  Thank you for getting my ice for my ice baths, and giving me post-run massages.  You are the best husband in the world and I am so lucky to have you as my best friend and partner in life.  I love you.

Daddy, thank you for being there for me every step of the way, especially on my 20-mile training run when you called me at mile 18 and talked me through the pain and fatigue to mile 20.  Thank you for being there to cheer me on at the marathon and seeing me finish.  You are the best daddy a girl could ask for, I love you.

Lisa, my best friend and running buddy, I am so happy we were able to experience our first marathon together.  We ran in memory of people we love and lost, and that is amazing.  You are a rockstar!  I am so proud of your accomplishment.  Girl you ROCKED it!!!  Love you Lis!

My cousins Shahana, Mike, and Aysha who were at mile 16 and gave me the pick-me-up I needed, thank you.  Shahana, the words “thank you” don’t even seem sufficient.  You ran with me the last 10 miles and gave me the motivation to keep pushing when I wasn’t sure if I could.  I am so grateful for your love, and I am so lucky you are my family.

Koko, Jay, Amanda, and Heather, thank you so much for coming out to cheer me on!  Having you guys on the course gave me the boost I needed to keep going.  I love you guys!

David, thank you for coming out to cheer on your remarkable wife, and myself, and for being our personal photographers.  Oh!  And for giving me a piece of watermelon at mile 18…YUM!

My brothers, cousins, and friends who wanted to be there but couldn’t because they are out of town, thank you for all the text message during the race!  Through your messages, it was like you were there.  I treasure your words of inspiration.

My running coach, Chris, thank you for training me these last few months and helping me to become a better runner.  I couldn’t have trained for this without you, especially on those 13-20 mile training runs!!  Thank you!

To all my donors...we did it!!  Your support means the world to me, and because of you, we are $3,000 closer to finding a cure for MDS.  THANK YOU!!!!

My only goal was to finish, and that I did!  According to my Garmin, I ran 26.22 miles in 6:14:50.  I’m totally happy with that.  It’s not about the time it takes…it’s about the journey to get there, and it was quite a journey!  To all my family, friends, coworkers, readers of this blog, Twitter friends, thank you for your endless love and support!!  I seriously could not have crossed that finish line and raised awareness and money for MDS without all of you guys!  With all my heart, THANK YOU!!!  WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!