Post Race depression?

So it's been 2 days since the adventure race and I am wondering if there is a such thing as post race depression?!? Take me back to the race. The people. The...ambiance of the whole thing. I feel like any time I try to explain the sequence of events of the race to anyone outside of the Adventure Racing world and they just don't get it. People ask "how was the race?!" and I explode with details and excitement and then when I start to focus on their faces I realize some people just don't get it.

Try telling someone you rode 15km of trails, your shoes permanently smell like swamp and poo, you were into marsh up to your knees (person looks at your knees then continues making eye contact), you were bush whacking in forest Les Stroud might reconsider, you suffered from bug bites, dehydration and hunger and that you LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT. Really. Every second of it. The people I met were awesome and the race was organized so well. The after party helped. That was pretty fun too, but that all came with my rockstar attitude. I had to prove I can party like I race.

Once I get over my post race depression I will be sure to blog some specific highlights of the race. My perscription? Storm the Ten. September 18th, 2010. http://www.stormevents.ca/stormthe10.htm

So if you ask me what I did on the weekend, be prepared for an answer. I didn't sit on the couch and watch movies. I didn't go to the bar. I may have had a few too many drinks, but afterall, I'm a ROCKSTAR now.

wooohooo

Ahhhhh

I'm so scared I might puke.
Tonight's the bike night.
Wish me luck!

A lesson well learnt

Sunday's workout was the real deal (again) and we pulled it off. We set off on our own team navigation test. Each of us were given the opportunity to lead the gang for a good portion. I learned some valuable lessons during my time to lead and you are definitely only as strong as your weakest link!
Keri set us off to a good start with her running the first portion. She set a good pace and she managed to get us from point A to point B. Yeah Keri! We then went onto our bikes where (I think Gail and Szrenka led us. They did amazing - they really have those mapping skills down! The two ladies led us into the trails where Shane kindly asked me to take a turn to lead ("is it wrong to kindly decline?") I was scared and I felt the pressure. I also learned a good lesson. Slow down and think about what you are doing and where you are going. I lead us into a wrong loop and cost us a bit of time. A huge learning curve for me. We continued on our challenge where Mel lead us through the trails on our bike. We get to the look out point successfully and Susie has us run the stairs. Awesome. My legs were burning. We finished off with some burpies and kept on biking. I can't believe how far we have come. To think about the amount of endurance we have and where we came from is pretty amazing.

I felt awesome after this workout, I learnt a lot! I have also really grown a lot as an athlete over the last 12 weeks. I'm excited to see where this will take me. Stay turned, the good stuff is yet to come!

Putting the puzzle together...

...we are definitely coming together as Adventure Racers, Sunday helped to prove that. What an experience. We were basically given a quick refresher on how to use the compass, minor details and BAM. Off we were to find 4 beach balls in Hilton Falls. Lucky for me Susie was on my team. We got off to a slow start because we struggled with the first check point. No biggie, we were quickly off to find the others. At one point we passed the same man three times (it was all in our strategy). By the third check point we opted for the road less travelled (this way is shorter) and the rough patch of the course....seemed like a good idea at the time. Wow, that totally put my mountain biking (or lack of) skills to the test. I looked down at my hands and my knuckles were white, I vaguely remember someone telling me this is a nono. Ooops.

When we met up with Shane along our detour and he reminded me of some important points. Switching gears, shoulders back, lock your core, let your bike take the bumps etc. etc. Good thing I don't have ADD because that's a lot to focus on. Susie and I made it back safe, sound and pretty muddy. What an awesome day, Susie and I even managed to get some chats in along the course. I loved the whole morning! I'm officially hooked. Thank-you!

Burn Baby Burn!

Sorry about the lack of blogging last week. Reports cards got me.

I loved loved LOVED the workout today. Fresh after the Moon and June and after Susie's e-mail last week I was pumped. Pumped to get whipped! This will give you a sligh idea of how the workout was. I just had a shower and I couldn't shampoo my own hair. That's how awesome the workout was. So here I am, blogging with half soapy unbrushed hair (and by hair I mean fro).

We started out with skipping and ladders. I love the ladders, they always remind me how uncoordinated I am. "Lock your core" I hear in the background. After that we went to the football drill, I can't believe I was pumped before the workout :) Truthfully, this is an awesome all around workout. I felt it everywhere, especially in my forearms (which might explain my hair right now). We lie side by side in plank in a straight line all the way down the field. OH WAIT...before that we do 15 burpees (see previous blog on burpees), 20 mountain climbers, and 15 squat jumps. Then we lie in plank, then continue to jump over each person one by one. Just take a second and picture it. Then listen to it...you wouldn't believe the sounds that came out of us ladies. I think we did that one three times but to be honest - it's much of a blur.

Then along came the TRX machine. Oh boy. This definitely reminds me how much I have to work my core. Honestly, this was so hard. I love it, but it was so so hard. At one point my thighs wouldn't move and Susie replies "how many are you at?" I manage to get out "12" and Susie just laughs. I probably sounded like I just complete 100. Nope 12. I definitely need to get working on my core. That's embarrassing.

Finally was the windsprints. I don't mind the wind sprints, in fact sickly enough, I love sprinting. This was a great opportunity to try out our new Sunnto Heart Rate Monitors. Sprint. Check your HR. Rest. Repeat. After the second sprint Susie comes over to me and asks about my HR. I tell her and I'm waiting for a 'great job Carpenter!' Nope. "I guess you could have went a little harder out there." True.

Awesome workout thanks to Susie. The weather managed to hold off for us, which was a bonus! As always, I'm totally looking forward to next Sunday.

Mountain biking + navigation skills = a wicked Awesome DAY!

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www.RACEDAYRUSH.com/Phat Chicks Workout #5

Mountain biking = almost love at first try

WOW!
This will probably be my cheesiest entry. I am a new person. The mountain biking session on Thursday was AMAZING! Hands down. I felt like I was on a constant rollercoaster. You know that feeling when you are scared but confident and nervous but excited? Yeah, that one. That's how I felt the entire night. I learnt so much about mountain biking and myself that night. For a chick with little confidence to feel that good about herself is awesome. I don't think I'm in love with mountain biking just yet - I'm still scared. I'm just really into that feeling of adrenalin! I was describing how I felt to Neil and he politely says: "Uhhh, yeah. That's adrenalin."

We finally get to this calm and beautiful river and here I think... the men are going to give us a motivating talk on how awesome we are. Then I remember that we are training with guys tonight. Shane holds up a heart rate monitor and points to the river. "First three people to cross the river with their bike and back gets a HRM from Suunto." More adrenalin. Why do I always get this feeling of panic when someone puts competition into anything?! It can be the first person to eat their cereal. I have to win. It turned out we all got our brand new heart rate monitors from SUUNTO. What a relief. Mine is bright orange and I love it!



My highlight. Just when I think the night couldn't get any better... FREE SAUCONY SHOES! It was like Christmas morning. It started out as the first person to make it all the way up the hill (and by hill I mean death trap) in their saddle without stopping gets free Saucony gear. Piece of cake. They had me at free. I did it and then Matt Merko says "Anyone willing (crazy enough) to do it again for a pair of Saucony shoes?" "I'll do it." So I did. This hill was steep and my thighs burnt so bad I felt like I was climbing Mt. Everest but at the same time I love that feeling of a grusome workout (I think that's why I'm a runner). So true to his word, Matt Merko, our wicked awesome Saucony rep is sending me my new kicks!

Awesome, Awesome night. I can't wait to get back out there and scare myself a little more.

Three Cheers for Hills!

I thought I would blog even though I missed the trail running session today because I was still out there running. Just running the roads instead! I finished the Mississauga Marathon today in 1 hour 43 minutes and I felt amazing (that's a PB for me)! I was shooting for a strong 1:50! Awesome. Normally I'm a lot more stiff and sore but today I felt great. I have to say, my time is all thanks to the horrid hill training with Phat Chicks and Race Day Rush. Definately worth the buring sensation. I was able to tear up the last two hills. I mean I gav'er (talk about outer body experience....haha) I didn't even know where the energy was coming from. It could have been the wicked weather or the fact that Mississauga is very downhill for a marathon :) Either way it was an amazing day and a great way to start out the summer season!

I also ran into Shane's friend Eman - running the half with the helmet camera. I gave a shout out to the Phat Chicks and of course RDR. It was exciting to see the reactions of people... "Does that guy have a helmet on his head?!" or "What is he doing?" Once I told Eman my finishing goal I felt the pressure to do it because it was on tape. Thanks!

In the end, it was a great day, ran over half the race with my brother, got a massage and the sun was shining all day. I do however, miss all the Race Day Rushers! I'm looking forward to this Thursday!

Shannon

Still going strongish

Hi,
I'm feeling a bit down because I missed the workout today. An important one too. Also missing the group! I am still keeping up with the homework and gearing up for the Mississauga Marathon. I'm only doing the half but I'm hoping (I'm putting it out there because I need the pressure) for a 1:45 half. I think I can. This will be included as my RDR training runs ;)
Today I did the core homework and I felt great, I'm still steady at 15 (male) push ups in a minute which is frustrating and burpees still hate me.

Burpees!

Burpee (exercise)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The burpee is a full body exercise used in strength training and as aerobic exercise. It is performed in four steps:
Begin in a standing position.
Drop into a squat position with your hands on the floor in front of you.
Kick your feet back, while simultaneously lowering yourself into a pushup
Immediately return your feet to the squat position, while simultaneously pushing up with your arms.
Leap up as high as possible from the squat position with your arms overhead (you may also clap your hands above your head at the peak of your jump

Definition from: Wikipedia 2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burpee_(exercise)

I have actually never really hated anything more in my life then a Burpee. In fact, about two months ago I thought I was really fit - UNTIL I was asked to do 10 Burpees. I thought I was going to die. During the drill (which included 10 burpees) my thighs felt like they had led in them and my arms had a burning sensation in them that I never experienced. Currently in grade 2 we are writing poetry, the following is my owe to Burpees and my awesome grade two‘s!

Burning sensation that usually makes me want to go into fetal position.
Usually I don’t feel such hate towards exercise.
Really, I’d like to meet the TOOL that created Burpees.
Probably won’t be able to sit down tomorrow.
Expected to do how many?!?!
Eventually I will be able to walk again (that’s what they tell me).
Suddenly I feel the need to cry.

Workout #1

Saturday morning brought some interesting weather - a bit cold and snowy for my liking. We all met at LaSalle Park in Burlington to enjoy the awesome scene. We started out with a warm up and then...sprints.

That was so sweet of Meridith and Suzie to let us do sprints, I mean who doesn't love the burning sensation in your glutes, quads, hamstings and every other single part of the body?!? I know I will thank the ladies in a few months, but in the meantime I may have to use some foul language during workouts.

The stairworkout was amazing - fun and different. It's surprisingly harder then you think to run downstairs. The best part was just when you think you're done the stairs...you have to sprint back up a monster...I mean hill.

Despite the weather, we had a wicked workout with a solid group of ladies. I'm looking forward to my homework workouts and next Sunday's group workout!

Until then,

Shannon

Meet and Greet

Today was the big day - the meet and greet. I think we have a pretty wicked group together. So many different backgrounds and stories. To date the scariest thing was being video taped - at least I thought. Now I am thinking the mountain biking is really going to get me. The mountain biking is going to be FAST....and scary.


The race itself seems amazing. I love the RockStar theme. Check it outhttp://www.racetherockstar.com/RockstAR_Adventure_Race.html

A poor little hammy

Sometimes I think I'm a superstar and that I can do things like upside down push ups (I wonder what my face looked like when I was doing them?) and ten thousand lounges. I paid the price and pulled a my hamstring. It hurt to do everything especially once I bent down - but I'm ready to go again.

You're in...

Sunday morning I found out I'm in. Woo hoo. I'm scared but excited (Scared because Suzie and Meredith have already been know to kick my butt at boot camp)! I'm looking forward to meeting everyone and of course... being in the best shape of my life!