QuirkyDM deploys against the Kaiju

[redpuma]

Hey! I feel so behind, catching up on everyone's posts from the past week! I just want to say that your kids ARE AWESOME! I figure that it's never too late to throw some props to dad for having the kewlest kids!

see below

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I forgot to mention MOM in this. I have no idea why. I must have been cracked out. I completely agree with Chris-Tien Jinn above ^^^. YOU WILL CRUSH IT!

[QuirkyDM]

Nicely done!  That's a heck of a wrap-up.  The pictures are a nice touch, too.

Thanks. I think pictures just add more oomph. I love seeing them in other people's threads, so I figured I should add them here, too.

 

Man your runs always seem epic. I was waiting for "and then I defeated a hoard of angry Vikings using a ballpoint pen and a strip of duct tape, No big"

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Ooooh. I like that. I'll have to put that in my next long run. It shouldn't be too hard to set up, but the only thing I'm not sure i can find in time is a decent ball point pen.

 

Awesome work ma'am

So  many good things to comment, but you sure are right, you can ALWAYS find something to balance on!

Heh.

Yeah, that kid in me that walks on the edge of the sidewalks never grew up. Actually, I'm not sure any part of that kid in me grew up.

 

 

Ha fantastic stuff in the wrap up. Keep eating plenty if you're maintaining you'll feel much better for it

Sent from my nokia 3210

Definitely. It's just a little insane how much I'm eating to not lose weight. Those BMR calculators are out by about 500 calories for me. Though, I also eat pretty healthy with lots of protein, so that could have an effect.

 

You are going to CRUSH it!! 

Damn straight! I think ... Wait, no, I was right the first time.

 

I forgot to mention MOM in this. I have no idea why. I must have been cracked out. I completely agree with Chris-Tien Jinn above ^^^. YOU WILL CRUSH IT!

Yeah, MOM definitely gets to take most of the credit here. I just throw in what I can every once in a while and hope I don't screw them up too badly.

 

Wednesday report:

I hit the weight room Monday which felt good. Lots of pull ups and deadlifts. I was going to do Zombies, Run yesterday, but the weather would have turned it into Zombies, Swim! So I hit it today at lunch. Mal was right. Stuff is happening now. At the end, I could only channel my inner Achmed:

 

This weekend, besides the Sprint, is 4 days of camping with the family which will be awesome. First trip of the year. One more run tomorrow, some skills work Friday and then resting easy at the campground before the Sprint. They're giving us headbands this year instead of bibs which is great. For me anyway, because now I'm going to run it shirtless. For everyone else in my heat ... well, we'll just consider that another unpleasant obstacle they'll need to deal with.

[Maledictus]

Have fun at the sprint and the camping. I like to combine the two and be camp at the sprint but YMMV...

[Chris56Ryan]

Bah ha ha I love achmed

[AverageJoe]

Camping...Ooohhh I can't wait to go camping again!  Also I feel like pull ups and deadlifts are two of the best exercises for making you feel BadAss, Right?  Can't wait to hear how awesome you did on the Sprint!

[AgentsSka]

Ok, seriously.  Your Sunday workouts are making me feel lame.  Crap.  

 

I mean... GREAT JOB!

 

Good luck this weekend.  Aroo!

[Elder]

Sprint and camping?!  Sounds fun!

 

In September when I do my Super Spartan there will be a long road trip AND camping involved.  Yes it will be awesome.  

[AgentsSka]

Ooooh... I forgot about the camping.  So fun!  (And, I'm slightly jealous.)  I'm road-tripping/camping for the Super and Beast, as well.  Didn't think to do it this weekend early enough.  Oh well.

[Xena]

Have a great race! Your photo running adventure has me inspired.

[Teros]

Awesome workout. Atlas carry- you using atlas stones? What weight?

[Phytomancer]

Have an awesome race!!

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Hope it was great .... looking forward to your report.  And pics. Don't forget pics!!

[The Swedish Ninja]

Hope it was great .... looking forward to your report.  And pics. Don't forget pics!!

Yes!

Pics, or it didn't happen

[Phayze]

Well!? What news from Sparta? Can't wait for all the details!

[Epsilonx2]

You are just killing it as usual! Can't wait to hear about the weekend! I love camping, despite the fact that I always seem to get rained on (and sleep in a tent with inadequate protection from said rain).

[Anamal]

I can't wait to hear how your race went! I also camped after I did my super in Jan! It was funny because every hotel room was booked within 40 miles of the race venue, but the campground right across the street (we're talking less than a mile from the venue) was totally empty. And these people call themselves Spartans? A true Spartan not only plays in the dirt, he sleeps in the dirt! Aroo!

 

Ok, maybe I'm getting a little over-zealous here.

 

Oh and back to your comment about not knowing how to take a recovery run! I just figured this out earlier this year, after running off and on since I was in high school. My strategy is to run without music, and focus on keeping my breathing in control enough that I could have a conversation. If I find myself working too hard I'll force myself to walk for a min or two. It's kind of annoying at first but once you figure it out my recovery runs became really fun. I would come out of the run feeling energized and better than when I went in, which is how I knew it was working.

 

Also, you've inspired me to get my own shovel handle and get out there practicing the spear throw. I always assumed the spear throw would be an obligatory 30 burpees, but since there are likely going to be more than one in the UB that's not energy I need to waste.

[AgentsSka]

So... with all that said... where are you staying for the UB!?

[QuirkyDM]

OK, I'm back. I've been back for a few days, but I've been playing catch up all over the place and it's been a crazy few days. Plus, I don't have any photos of me from the Sprint yet because Trumin is brutally slow at getting out the Sunday pics. Looks like they're putting all their energy into Saturday and finishing them 100% before they even bother with the Sunday photos.

 

Awesome workout. Atlas carry- you using atlas stones? What weight?

I'm using my makeshift version. My neighbor was doing some landscaping and let me snag two large paving stones. They're 55lbs each; I stack them on top of one another and carry those around.

 

 

So... with all that said... where are you staying for the UB!?

Yeah, we can totally have a NF meetup, even if there's only 3 of us.

 

 

I can't wait to hear how your race went! I also camped after I did my super in Jan! It was funny because every hotel room was booked within 40 miles of the race venue, but the campground right across the street (we're talking less than a mile from the venue) was totally empty. And these people call themselves Spartans? A true Spartan not only plays in the dirt, he sleeps in the dirt! Aroo!

 

Ok, maybe I'm getting a little over-zealous here.

 

Oh and back to your comment about not knowing how to take a recovery run! I just figured this out earlier this year, after running off and on since I was in high school. My strategy is to run without music, and focus on keeping my breathing in control enough that I could have a conversation. If I find myself working too hard I'll force myself to walk for a min or two. It's kind of annoying at first but once you figure it out my recovery runs became really fun. I would come out of the run feeling energized and better than when I went in, which is how I knew it was working.

 

Also, you've inspired me to get my own shovel handle and get out there practicing the spear throw. I always assumed the spear throw would be an obligatory 30 burpees, but since there are likely going to be more than one in the UB that's not energy I need to waste.

I'm gong to focus on that for my recovery runs, thanks.

 

OK, so race report. But first, let's talk about shoes. That's all the rest of the post will talk about, so you can skip if you want.

 

I am still very happy with my Skechers GoRun sneakers. For road racing, they're very nice. But my love affair with Skechers trail run shoes came to an end on Friday when I went to pack them up.

 

That's a big rip down the side of them. So now on Friday, I'm trying to grab myself a pair of new trail shoes and have the great joy of breaking them in during the Spartan Sprint. AgentsSka was just talking about doing this on his thread and I commented "I can't imagine testing shoes in an actual race..." Irony, thanks for visiting, come by anytime.

 

Not having time to do proper shopping or shoe research, I decided to just take AgentsSka's research and look for Innov-8 X-Talons. Two local stores supposedly carry them and I zip over to them after work. The first store was replaced with a new sports store and no Innov-8. So I go to the other store. No Innov-8 there, either. Crap. Well, let's see what else they have.

 

Now when I say, let's see what else they have, I really mean, do you have any shoes, at all, that fit me. Because I'm a size 7 shoe, so finding men shoes is not always easy. A lot of stores don't bother to carry shoes that small. And that's the case here. I can sometimes find a women's shoe that works as long as the color scheme is not too much for me to swallow. So I try that next. And there's some that fit OK, though not great. But some online reviews show that they hold water and that is the opposite of what I want. Blech!

 

At this point, I figure I might have to either duck tape my trail shoes for a final ride, or sacrifice a pair of old sneakers to the Spartan gods. But first, I go back to the first store, tell them I want a pair of trail shoes that drain well and size seven. First time out of the gate, a pair of size 7 Asics trail shoes with drain holes all over and they fit perfect. Woah. On line review says they should hold up. OK.

 

Just to be thorough, I also try another pair of trail shoes. Fit is good. Take a few jogging steps. Wtf? I'm stomping on my heel every step.

 

"Do these have a higher drop than those last shoes?"

"These are 10mm drop, the last ones were 6mm."

 

Well, holy crap. First, I'm just impressed with myself that I knew what drop was because six months ago I had no clue. Second, I'm impressed with myself that I can actually tell the difference. Now it's entirely possible I'm full of crap, but I'm going to tell myself I noticed the difference and feel more like someone who has a clue about these things.

 

At the end, I got the Asics and took them to the race. They did the job. On the steepest slopes, they gripped fine, it was only when the steepest slopes were soaked in mud that I could feel them slip, but I'm not sure anything would have stopped that.

 

Enough for this post. More updates about the actual race coming up.

[Xena]

Pretty crazy shoe drama...glad it worked out! I'm the exact opposite. Have total ogre feet. Sometimes wear men's shoes (don't have the same problem with colors that you would going the other way), but they tend to slip in the heel.

 

Can't wait to hear more about the race!

[AgentsSka]

I used to run in Asics back in the day.  I don't think I even knew that they had trail offerings.

 

Glad you were able to find something that worked!

[Chris56Ryan]

Oh god I'd hate to have that happen to me right before a race I'd totally get the wrong shoe with that little notice

[Phytomancer]

I have my first Asics ready to try. Now I'm using lighter shoes for travel-- you can say I lead a double pair life.

[Quirkyself]

I don't know how your race went, as I was watching the kids' race, but I will say that you have done a great job training them.  They simply rocked it!  They didn't hesitate to climb through the mud, run up those hills, carry logs, go over cargo nets... they are setting goals and getting fit and you are their inspiration - pretty cool, daddy!  Imagine, a few years ago you couldn't even think of a goal and now you can't seem to stop setting them - so PROUD of you babe!  Now get ready to help me with my goal of cleaning the garage  Mwha, ha, ha, ha!

[QuirkyDM]

OK, part 2 of the report ... and not my race report, yet. But like Quirkyself said, I want to show off the kids race a bit. Last year, the kids did the Spartan Jr. course, but were disappointed in it. It was little more than a few paltry obstacles with a rope that went back and forth. They also didn't enjoy it because last year, I ran with my brother on the course and he found out how unprepared he was and the kids ended up waiting for over 2 hours before we finished. This year, signed our heats up to be at the same time and I ran by myself. While I didn't get to see the kids race, (and they didn't see me either) they didn't have to wait around much during the afternoon for me to finish.

 

The kids race this year was far, FAR superior to the Spartan kids race last year. The kids loved it and had an absolute blast doing it. My daughter is waiting for the day she turns 14 and can do the adult course .. but that's still a few years away. In the meantime, it means if I can get the kids and myself to do OCRs together, I will.

 

While getting ready for the kids' race, the obstacles looked pretty decent. But I knew this was going to be a real race when I heard the race director explaining to the kids about the 5 burpee penalty for not completing an obstacle. Now this is what my kids wanted- an actual Spartan race!

 

Here's a bunch of pictures of them being Spartans. They also had slip and slide, the rope climb, the wall climb, traverse wall, and the spear throw. Yeah, the kids had a spear throw! They had almost as many obstacles as I did. And my daughter was excited because they would actually get muddy this year.

 

(son is in gray shirt and orange shorts, daughter is in green shirt and pink shorts)

 

 

 

 

Yep, still nothing here about my race.    Next post, I promise.

[Teros]

Ah see, I think I can handle that one without a problem.  *think*