Rugged Maniac Tri State

This past weekend, I participated in Rugged Maniac with my husband and his company.
This hasn't been our first rodeo, but it was by far our most favorite.  Last year we competed in Warrior Dash in Albrightsville, PA and Rugged Maniac in Brooklyn, NY, but this was by far our favorite mud run by far.

Rugged Maniac Tri State was held at Raceway Park, a venue near and dear to my heart.  I worked there once upon a time as a teenage parking attendant back when the parking lot was a dirt field.

So this 5k included mud, a water slide, cargo nets, wooden barricades, mud, hills, barbed wire, more mud, fire and mud.  It began on the racetrack and then quickly dropped us onto one of the motocross courses, which was chock full of rolling hills.  The best obstacle by far was this huge waterslide that ended with a huge puddle of mucky water.  Dave, two friends and myself all went down together, screaming and laughing on the way down.  Seriously I felt like I was 6 years old again.

Our finishing time was 59:36.  My goal was to have fun and enjoy the day with a great group of people.  You can see below that we accomplished that goal!

Taking on a TRI

Well, not yet.  But training has begun. Every Tuesday and Thursday through the end of August.  I gave myself exactly 1 hour to prep myself for this decision and pack a bag with a towel, bike shoes, bathing suit, as well as my children so they could hang out in the babysitting room.   Now's my chance to train and what better way than with a group of fabulous women at the Y with the Tri Fit class.

Running and biking aren't a problem.  My goal for running is to improve my 5k time overall and not feel like I am going to puke at the end of every run.  But I think I fixed that issue (more on that later).  And as for biking, well, I am not sure since, wait-for-it, I am not an outdoor cyclist.  Say what? Yes, you read that correctly.  I have not ridden a bike outdoors since I was probably 12 years old.  I guess I just figured out what my goal should be during training, huh?

My weakest area is by far swimming.  Although in 4 training sessions, my progress has been incredible.    I finally (!!!) can swim with my face in the water.  Yes, picture me, swimming laps and I don't know how to breathe correctly.  But the one point is that I wanted to learn and am committed to practicing even if that means showing up at the pool on non-swimming days.

I amaze myself.  At how strong I am and my mental discipline that has gotten me to this point so far.  When I first began my fitness journey, my goal was to complete a 5k in under 40 minutes.  I think that goal was blown way out of the water.

And I found this motivational saying that I think depicts my final sentiments.

it's been a long time...

I've come to the realization that I should have blogged more about my journey and taken more pictures. But blogging takes a lot of time.  However, I decided now more than ever to get posting and help inspire those around me to jump on the health and fitness bandwagon if not for anyone but themselves and to feel good.

It's not that I will forget this journey, but being able to look back to see my progress in stages would have been awesome.  I tell everyone when they start their journey to take pictures & measurements.  I should learn to practice what I preach.

Speaking of PRs.  I ran two 5ks in the late Spring.  My goal was to run a sub 33 minute 5k which I had no problem doing.  Currently, my PR is 31:34 which was set at the Hillsborough Hop on June 2nd, 2012.  And that, of course, has led me to wanting to run a sub 30 minute 5k, which I know I can do.

A few weeks ago, I was featured on the Philly Blurb's Biggest Loser's blog as part of the "Losing It On Their Own" series which features real life people who lost weight, but gained a healthy lifestyle in return.  Being interviewed by Jen was a complete honor as I look forward to her articles on the current episodes of The Biggest Loser.  It felt more like a conversation than an interview.  My story can be read here.