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Spartan Challenge Time! I'm pretty excited for this challenge! It's time to start training up for the Fenway Spartan Sprint. My goals for it are pretty modest. Don't dieFinish in < 2 hours (last year's time was ~2:04)I would also like to minimize burpees, but there's only so much a girl can do Burpees are (sadly) inevitable. So, the Sprint is going to a lot of stairs, arm stuff, and general fitness stuff (e.g.- able to do bear crawls and burpees). I need to prepare as best I can in the next 8.5 weeks. I also need to figure out where I'm staying and how I'm getting there at some point. It's gonna be a busy challenge. Mission 1: Protein I suck at eating enough protein. There, I said it. If I'm not consciously thinking about it, I'm lucky to eat ~50g/day. That;s not enough for my muscles to recover from what I'll be doing to them. Last week, I proved to myself that it is possible to eat ~90-100g of protein and not be miserable. It also helps me stay full and eat less calories. Strategy: >75g protein/day Mission 2: Running Cardio is a big part of the Spartan. There's a lot of running up and down stairs that has to happen on top of the obstacles. I don't want to get worn out from that when I need to be prepared to haul myself over walls and stuff. I'd feel good about being able to comfortably run 4-5 miles by the race, but I'll settle for ~3.5 miles. Strategy: Find a running plan and run 2-3x/week Mission 3: General Fitness The other half of the Spartan is the obstacles. Last year showed me exactly where I was when it comes to hauling myself over walls, up a cargo net, etc. I will do better this year. Bonus points if I actually go over the 8ft wall instead of chickening out It would also be nice to not feel so limited overall. This mission is the tough one. I'm going to be constrained by rest/recovery time, especially at first. I have karate on Mon/Wed (until after the 26th, then it's Tu/Th). What I can do the next day depends on the intensity of the class. I also have limited access to the pull up bar at work (during the work week). Ideally, I'd be able to join my coworkers on Tu/Th mornings for an awesome, Spartan-y workout, but it's pushing it with having karate the night before. I would get no down time for my muscles. If anyone has thoughts here, I'd love to hear them. Strategy: Figure out a plan covering burpees, rowing, pull ups, etc. Ultimately, the best thing I can do to prepare for this race is lose weight. The less I have to haul around, the easier it is to haul myself around. I'm still going to prep with running & conditioning, but weight loss (esp. ~10 lbs) is going to be the best thing I can do for myself. Something awesome to keep in mind is that if I get down to ~192 (an 11 lb loss in 9 weeks), I'll be 25 lbs lighter than at last year's Spartan. Fun stuff: I'm testing for my green belt/7th kyu on the 26th!!!I will be in Onederland by the end of the challengeGetting a tattoo for getting to Onederland! Let's get this party started!