Fuego Y Agua- final chapter: "I fail" and the DNF adventure.

My two successful puzzle pieces that together read "I fail". Sadly, we never got the pieces that read "did not".

"I really don't think life is about the I-could-have-beens. Life is only about the I-tried-to-do. I don't mind the failure but I can't imagine that I'd forgive myself if I didn't try."
Nikki Giovanni

Having missed the time cutoff and earned the title of DNF, we decided to continue up the Maderas volcano knowing that we would not be able to earn official Survival Run finisher status. I had decided long before that it didn't matter. We came to Ometepe for adventure, and we weren't ready for our adventure to be over. Not yet anyway. Lani and I agreed that we would take advantage of the opportunity afforded to us to ascend the volcano to the crater where there would be an aid station and continue over the summit to the section of the course referred to by racers as "the jungle gym".

This ascent was the first time that we had been completely alone along the course. Other racers had turned around at the checkpoint and volunteers at junctions were no longer there. We hiked in silence, stopping only once for a quick snack. Despite our unofficial status, we made good time up the volcano as the air became cooler and dryer with a sweet smelling breeze, almost like Maine in the summertime. The vegetation became green and lush and the trail thick with mud. No longer racing, our hike to the crater became a sweet, spiritual retreat that Lani and I shared without many words. We climbed down the sharp decent into the crater to the aid station where it all changed.

At the summit of the volcano there was a small, shallow, murky lagoon where we learned remaining survival racers would swim across to retrieve an egg that would be worn on their forehead down the volcano to the finish line. The volunteers were tired and appeared to be packing up for the day. We filled up our packs with water, but the food was gone. We tried to "check in", but it was clear that since we were not officially in the race any longer, our whereabouts were of little concern to anyone. The volunteers encouraged us to avoid descending through the jungle gym as the trail was technical and light was fading quickly. However, it was also clear that a return down our original path would bring us to a location where catching a ride to the finish was unlikely and we didn't know the island well enough to confidently find our way.

the crater of Maderas volcano. Photo credit Matt Davis?

So, we continued on despite their recommendations, knowing fully that there was a chance that no one could make the cutoff at the aid station and pass this way. No one took down our bib numbers or radioed of our intent, which was a little unsettling.

view of Lake Nicaragua with Concepcion in the background from the rim of the Maderas volcano. Photo Deborah Goehring?

We ascended the trail out of the volcano to be met with our first utterly spectacular vistas on the mountain. In one direction we could see out over Lake Nicaragua, the isthmus connecting the two volcanoes and Concepcion volcano in the near distance. In the other direction was the jungle of the Maderas, lush and green. It was breathtaking. As we traversed the rim of the crater, we could hear monkeys and birds in the jungle readying themselves for the night that would soon descend upon us all. After a few moments to take in all that surrounded us, we realized that daylight was indeed fleeting and we needed to hustle as far down the volcano as possible in the daylight. The "jungle gym" truly lived up to its name. We climbed over, under and between roots, swung on vines (yeah, that was awesome), and used some cables and ropes to help us navigate the terrain. On two separate occasions, I actually clothes-lined myself with overhead branches out of my view from the visor of my cap. Had I had an egg on my forehead, I think this might have been DNF number 3.

As darkness approached, trail markers became nearly impossible to find. I can't imagine coming down this trail in total darkness as the remaining racers would have to do behind us. Although we didn't take any wrong turns, I attribute it to the fact that there were two of us searching the landscape with our headlamps. Alone, it would have been more difficult. Nearly 5 hours after departing the tree obstacles, we made it to Monkey Island where the Survival Run finish would be. Only two racers would make the time-cutoffs and finish this race, although there were many of us who had an experience that surpassed any disappointment we may have experienced.

Looking back at this experience, I regret nothing and would change nothing. I met other Survival Runners and ultra-runners who shared the beauty of the Maderas volcano and Ometepe with me over the week that will remain in my soul forever. I don't believe you needed to run this one to be part of the magic it held. My eyes were opened to a whole world of ultra-running that I can only hope to be a part of in some capacity for years to come. DNF or no DNF, this one really delivered. 

Sean, one of our new crazy ultra-runner friends.

An extra special thank you to my dear friend Lani for believing me when I said she would never regret joining me for an adventure of a lifetime.

Thanks to Simple Fuel for such great support and love...

"I don't believe in failure. It is not failure if you enjoyed the process."
Oprah Winfrey 

Some of the friends we have left behind on Ometepe. Photo credit to Paul Bujis.

Training Weaknesses

Today's brief post is about training weaknesses.  As we prepare Shelley for the Fuego y Agua Survival Run, we have taken a look at where we can make improvements in Shelley's overall fitness and athleticism.

We know what her strengths are, Long Slow Distance.  Shelley can go forever, both physically and mentally, as she clearly demonstrated in her Spartan Death Race win.  It is important to continue to train to your strengths, after all, that is what is going to continue to bring you success.  Additionally, it is probably what you like to do, your strength.  It is much harder to get out of bed in morning to go do the workout you are not good at.

While Shelley has good balance and above average athleticism, she could use improvement in these areas.  When racing in variable conditions, it is VERY important to have sure footing.  In these races, every step is expended energy.  If a racer can limit the number of times they slip, loose balance, or have to slow or stop due to unsure footing, they will expend less energy and maintain a better pace.

With this in mind, we perform various foot work, agility, and balance drills such as using a agility ladder, lateral shuttle runs, karaoke, and balance drills such as this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqlUJgPC-eQ&feature=youtu.be

This drill starts with a lateral bound, working lateral power.  The landing builds lateral stability and balance.  The airplane builds posterior strength and the pistol squat builds quad and glute strength, all while improving balance.

Stay tuned for more on how to train for obstacle course races and improve your athleticism.

Fun with Turkish get-ups

Aaron Solomon NASM-CPT

Marketing, dignity and all things EPIC

A few weeks ago I decided to throw my hat in the ring for another ridiculously fun racing adventure called EPIC Racing Arena. Epic is an event that will take place in December 2013 that will put competitors in a large stadium and have them face off in front of a large audience. The obstacles will be huge and will require strength, agility, speed and problem solving and the winner’s purse will be enormous. There will be bands. There will be festivities. The competition will no doubt include the best obstacle racers in the world rendering the event unlike any other that has yet to be organized. I have met many of the founders and coordinators of this event and I genuinely believe it will be EPIC like no other.

After submitting my application, I received notice that applicants were encouraged to have a facebook athlete page as well as a blog to help market themselves for sponsorship. Working with Simple Brandz already, I understood how important it is for sponsors to gain visibility through their athletes’ blogs and athlete pages. They are, after all, businesses willing to give us athletes product and funding in exchange for some additional exposure. I enjoy sharing my racing experiences with fellow racers post-mortem as well as giving my family and non-racing friends a glimpse into my motivation for being part of a culture that they might otherwise think is crazy. This made creating the blog easy. I might even go so far as to say that the blog has given me an outlet I have been looking for.

The facebook “athlete” page, on the other hand, has been a little more painful for me. Promoting myself as an “athlete” hardly seems right. I am not a professional athlete: I am a mom and high school teacher. I do not ooze talent, strength or other athleticism that can justify such a title. I am determined, a little stubborn, OK at lots of different things, and I have found a niche out there for people who just simply aren’t good at quitting. Hardly worthy of a facebook “athlete” page, if you ask me. I did, however, set one up last week with the idea that this would be a way that I could separate my regular life from my obstacle/adventure running life. I hate blog-spamming my friends and family trying to determine who is genuinely interested in this crap and who isn’t. So I set up the page, invited my friends and from here on out I will phase out the inundation of all things muddy on my regular facebook page (unless it is really awesome, that is).

So this leads me back to EPIC. Shortly after starting my blog, I received my first challenge. The challenge was in the form of a short workout which was to be posted and shared on the EPIC website. The winner of this challenge will be the first athlete selected for the EPIC racing area event. The catch: you have to promote your own video to gain votes to win the challenge through shameless self-promotion.

Since the challenge was released, my inbox, notifications and facebook newsfeed have been slammed with “vote for me” pleas from my friends also aiming to be part of EPIC history. From a marketing perspective, this is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Aspiring competitors are providing free advertising for an event that they haven’t even been selected for. I get it. Business is business and these guys have found their way into the obstacle racing private groups, onto the personal pages of well-decorated athletes, and in places they have never imagined. Unfortunately, for me, this is where I have to draw the line. Self-promotion is something I have never been fond of and allowing a marketing plan to dominate my personal facebook page, my “athlete” page, or even a casual conversation with a friend for a vote is unimaginable. I want to gain entry to an elite event based on my abilities, my race resume and my accomplishments, not my ability to promote and plead for votes. To me, applying for entry to a race should not make me feel like I am running for prom queen.

So, I sit this one out. Don’t get me wrong, I really want to do this event. I know I can be a fierce competitor, and I have no doubts that this will be EPIC. However, I don’t feel that it should be up to me to convince anyone of that. If you see me at this event, it is because I am qualified to participate. Period. If I don’t make it, then I never deserved to be there in the first place.

I mean no disrespect to the founders of this new event. In truth, your marketing plan is genius. I also want my friends who are going head to head in this challenge (and future ones) the best of luck. You are all brave to put yourselves out there and I respect every one of you for taking the risks that you have. Please understand that I couldn’t choose between you, as I have never met another athlete at one of these races who wasn’t EPIC in their own way.

Filthy Clean Eating

In the last couple of weeks I have received some great questions, many around the topic of food. Proper nutrition is such an important part of every aspect of our lives: athletics, brain function, mood and even facilitating proper sleep patterns. While I do not claim to be any where near an expert on the topic, I'd love to dedicate this post to addressing some of the questions people have been asking about daily nutrition.


1) I understand what good foods and bad foods are, but I always backslide from my diet. How can I avoid this cheating pattern?

For me, this is pretty simple: I never diet. Dieting is temporary and when the diet is over old habits always return. Restricting calories or certain foods always seems to lead to injury from training without proper nutritional support. Bacon? Sure. Chocolate? Absolutely. What works for me is to eat foods in moderation- and this can be more sustainable over the long run. Total deprivation of anything is always temporary and good health should be long term. With that said, the less processed your food is, the better off you are. If it comes in a package, it probably isn't all that great for you and will do little to help you perform your best. If it doesn't look like it did when it grew in the garden, it has been processed. Choose whole raw foods including grains, fruits and veggies as well as local meats and dairy raised without hormones, steroids and antibiotics whenever possible.

Hand picking and freezing fruits and veggies is the way to go.

I also subscribe to the idea that even sweets can be part of a good diet- some are better for you than others. For me, no artificial sweeteners.  Ice cream with real sugar and cream, real butter, quality dark chocolate (sorry milk chocolate, no offense) and homemade desserts (made with a little less sugar than called for in the recipe) are all in the diet. Maybe I am just rationalizing my sweet tooth?

Homemade blueberry pie with hand picked berries. OK, so maybe not healthy, but it sure tastes good.

 
















2) I also have young kids and can't get them to eat the healthy foods that I like. I just don't have time to make two meals so I end up eating kid food that I know is not great for me. How can I make time to eat healthy foods with kids and a job?

The kids love having choices when it comes to their salad

I used to try to make two meals- one for my husband and me and one for the kids. Inevitably, I would run out of time and just make mac-and-cheese for everyone or wind up "momposting" whatever scraps the kids didn't eat. A couple of years ago I decided that it was time that the kids started eating OUR food instead of us eating kid food. At first, the kids did protest but they are resilient creatures and they adjust.

The kids love beets, grapes, peppers and cukes, pomegranite, nuts, and carrots.

 One thing seems to work well is creating a salad plate that offers the kids a choice. Try assembling veggies, nuts, fruits, cheese, and whatever we have in the fridge into small piles and let everyone choose from each pile what to put in their "salad". The kids each have to choose a minimum of 3 options- although they usually choose more than 3 now. I get a little of everything for myself and everyone is happy! Sometimes kids just want to be empowered with choices.

Voila, yummy salad with all of my favorite things.

The same can be done with sauces and other toppings for other dishes. For example, marinate or  grill chicken plain for everyone and then make a sauce that can be added separately for adults or adventurous children.
Once in a while, there is always a place for a little Annie's mac-n-cheese... with a little sweet potato hidden in it of course.



3) What nutritional supplements should I use?
Ideally, it is best to try to get nutrients from real food rather than relying on vitamins or supplements. There are a few exceptions, however. The first is vitamin D. Several studies have indicated that in northern latitudes (ie. north of Atlanta) it is impossible for the body to make sufficient vitamin D from sunlight during the winter. If you have ever wondered about the importance of Vit D, check out this article- it is pretty compelling.

http://www.innovativehealing.com/health-library/articles-by-liz/pilates-style-magazine/the-sunshine-vitamin

For most of us, 1,500 IU per day is appropriate but it is best to ask your doctor what amount is best for you.

Aside from that, I don't have a regular supplement regime. This summer, I began working with an amazing company that makes Simple Fuel and started using their products, which I have really enjoyed. If you are interested in an all natural real food-based supplement, I absolutely recommend trying this stuff. It has Omega's, fibers and antioxidants to help keep you naturally energized all day. On days when time is short and you are not able to eat all the healthy foods that you'd like, try the following shake using Simple Fuel:

 2 Tbsp Simple Fuel
1 small banana
1Tbsp natural peanut butter
a handful of frozen blueberries
2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
handful ice cubes

Put everything in a blender and it is ready!


4) I am really good about making healthy choices for meals, but in the middle of the afternoon I get really hungry and I have trouble eating healthy. Life can be so busy, I get caught off guard and make last minute bad choices.

As someone who eats constantly, I can relate. Sometimes when the hunger button lights up and there is no decent food in sight, we resort to desperate measures. Whole, fresh food isn't always available. Let's face it, sometimes an apple doesn't do the trick anyway. I used to fill this void with bars. Clif Bars, Luna Bars, Powerbars, Builder Bars, etc. which are okay, but a little more processed than I'd like.

Here are a few quick pre-packaged options that are a little less processed and provide great mid-day energy. All are great alternatives to junky snacks.

1) Garuka bars (formerly Gorilla Bars). Garuka Bars are all natural and made with only 8 ingredients: Vermont raw honey, peanut butter, 7 whole-grain flakes, dried cranberries, brown rice puffs, light brown sugar, whole peanuts, and a teeny tiny bit of Vermont’s own Cabot butter.

2) Simple granola. I may be a little biased but this stuff is really great. Gluten free, all natural and raw granola. When you can't make you own, this is the next best stuff. I keep a bag of this in my backpack most days for emergency snacking. The snickerdoodle, original and crunchy are all great, I have yet to try the mocha chip and chocolate chip so those are next on my list.

3) Hammer Bars- In my opinion, Hammer nutrition makes the best of the prepackaged energy bars. Guten free, no refined sugars, and free of soy. The taste is good and it provides good clean energy.