So I spent this past weekend learning a valuable lesson.  That lesson is to drop your ego, at times your ambition, listen to your body, and learn when you need to back off.  I was registered for my first ultra this weekend and had been looking forward to it for months.  It wasn't just the race, an ultra is something i have long wanted to do.  But a few weeks before my shins really started hurting again, and the chaos of life has kept me from training as hard as I would have liked.  Being a wrestler, and the way i have been programed as an athlete is to push thorough everything.  If there is a wall in front of you, smash through it, don't go around it......no one leaves until the last man crawls out....that type of mentality. 

So Saturday morning i woke up and realized it was time to listen to my body, to relax, and to remember there will be other races and be smart.  This is a part of my death race training and learning.....training smart, staying positive, and just simply to put one foot in front of the next :) 

I was able to do a short canyon run with Joei, and the heat kicked our ass.  So we didnt last long.  I am truly looking forward to getting back to some hard core training.  My obsessive hard workouts are what keep me moving forward, and keep me feeling prepared.  CF has been an amazing foundation, but I need to get back to gym, CF, and cross training.  I will get it all done, its just a lot right now, coaching my daughters soccer team, CF, CF kids, RCIA classes, etc. etc.  No excuses, i just need this month to figure it all out.  I will have to make some sacrifices like cancelling my Ballys which i love and joining 24 hour fitness.  That move will cost me more money and take away some comfort, however it will better serve me with time. 
So starting October, I should be in a comfortable place with life and workouts and finding that balance.  I wont have any free time, but who needs it?  My free time, is working out, because that is who I am :)  I am hoping we can get back to some Sunday night or morning training so we all get back into the swing.  Lets go Death Racers....organize a day!  Sand Dune Park, Angeles National Forest...i don't care, lets just get out and motivate and push each other!!!!  I was thinking about meeting at Rio Hondo Police Academy training with you all, then riding to the beach, breakfast, come back, and do the obstacle course a few times.  After Labor day weekend...who wants to go?????????

Glad to see some of you posting in here....still waiting for Tom, Gazelle, Joei, and the rest of you :)  I posted pictures of you all...so check it out!!

last.....i have found a good place for myself when training where i feel pretty positive about whatever i encounter.  This is what separates the death race from every other race in the world.  There is no way to prepare for it, no way to train.  The only training you can do is rip yourself so far out of your comfort zone, and smile the entire time!  I have a found a pretty good place where no matter how uncomfortable I am i seem to be able to push through it...this is the key to the death race!  There are no tricks...just be able to do the task, overcome the adversity, and smile all day.....

Now...i need Tom to get me lost in the mountains, or lost in the hood at a bum hole to really test my spirit :)

Let the training begin!

Not that I haven't been already. I have finally arrived in NC, which means that I am no longer living out of my car!

I got home on the evening of the 23rd. Since then I have started running on my own, working out with Dynamic Wrestling (my old wrestling club), and I have attended a few trial sessions at CrossFit Raleigh.

This past weekend I ran (sneaked into would be more accurate) the Warrior Dash. When my friend Meg had initially told me about it, I thought I would still be on the road, as such I never registered. Fortunately the atmosphere was very relaxed. It was almost more like a concert or music festival rather than a race. One of Meg's friends let me use his bib number after he had finished, although I wouldn't have needed it anyway.

The dash was great fun, but in no way challenging. I got home and decided to revisit my old training circuit. The main Lake Johnson loop is 3 miles around with a few mean hills on the back stretch. I saw a runner come out of a side loop I had never noticed in all of my previous runs. When asked, he said that it would tack on an additional 2 miles before reconnecting to the main loop about 200m in the distance. I ran the main loop twice and finished with some deep stretching and super-sets of squat jumps and pull-ups.

After the Dash, Meg had expressed interest the Tough Mudder coming up in Winterplace, VA. on October 23rd. Once I got home from my run I registered. This one should be a challenge. It is somewhere between 9-10 miles, contains plenty of obstacles, but more importantly it is located on a ski resort. To say that this course will be hilly would be an understatement along the lines of saying that McDonald's has helped several people become overweight.

On tap for today:
Wrestling practice from 4-5:30
Then WOD with Matt and Matt. 3 rounds of: 1 mile run, 200m bear crawl, 200m sprint, plus w/u and c/d of course.

Jeff

Well, I have been using cross fit now for the bulk of my training.  Its really not enough for what I want and or need...but its a great base.  I love the energy and the people, and the fact that i basically have a personal trainer on me all the time.  It also gives me a place to compete with myself.  I try and do 2 WOD's, although the tend to frown on it.  But I really do need that extra work.  1 WOD is a great workout, but not enough for a death race.  Its good for now, and Ill take that.  Plus I love the people. 

With Soccer starting up time is cut short so CF will work perfectly.  I plan to drop my Bally's membership and join the 24 hour or LA Fitness which will be closer to me and I can go straight from CF to the gym.  I just need a place where they will let me run around, plus I need a sauna and pool.  It sucks to leave Bally's, but I need something closer.  I can do whatever I want there, and pay a minimum membership fee.....however its just too far now.

For the next couple months things will be busy with CF, Madison CF (she is rockin it!!!!), and RCIA class.  At least at CF I can try and get on every board, I have people trying to beat me so I go harder, and my kid and GF love it!  So it all works out.  Come December Ill start to pick it back up Death Race style...i miss running with logs, carrying crosses etc!

Speaking of that our Mission to Mission is going strong.  I think it will do very well and hopefully raise a lot of money.  Ill meet soon with Tom to get it all worked out.  I have my first ultra tomorrow and I am very unsure about it....i have not really trained, my diet sucks, my shins hurt, and its going to be 100 tomorrow.  So ill go, forget time, and perhaps just do a 25k.

Life is good, the positives in my life keep me moving forward and motivated!  My baby, friends, joei, cf, all of it.  Always trying to keep an "attitude of gratitude" which is what will get me to the finish line this June....


where are all my other death racers??? Come in and blog your workouts!!!

This past weekend I was able to get some training in.  A little lighter than I anticipated, but it was a good workout and a lot of fun!  Joei and I were in Temecula and we went through the trails there.  Some of the beautiful trails were burnt in a recent fire, but its always a lot of fun running those trails, through the adobe and trying to avoid killer tarantellas! 

Joei didn't seem to believe me until she almost stepped on two large size hairy ass tarantella's!  Too funny to see her reaction, especially since this is the person who seems to fear so very little!  We were able to run about 7-8 miles, and after chop some wood.  We were supposed to chop a few pieces, but the hundreds of logs in front of us proved to be to inviting and challenging so we ended up splitting some pretty massive pieces!  Damn wood taunting us.....they will learn not to taunt us......

Tom and Yesel went for a late hike on Friday after a crazy WOD from Tom at CF.  He has been killing it this summer with running, hiking, swimming, cf, gym, Im impressed!!!  No doubt he will do well at the DR 2012.  Meanwhile, Yesel has been attacking the water with fierce determination.  Its impressive to see her tackle her biggest obstacle...swimming.  And not only tackle it but learn in the frickin ocean :)  I have been getting some text from some other DRers who have been killing it since it getting back.  All that motivates me.  I plan to really push this year to a different level.  I agree with Laura about having the support which is vital....however...in the end this is a race you must tackle on your own.  Its very similar to wrestling....you form a bond with your team that's closer than anything you have ever done before.  Its a bond that only someone who is going through it can truly appreciate and understand.....however....in the end each person has to travel their own journey and stand on their individual podium....or do their best getting to that podium.  No one cares where you land or how you finish...its all about the journey and your struggle/adventure/dream. 

Nothing is getting in my way this year.  I am going to give this everything i have.  Finish or not, there will be no excuses, and I will be there facing that farm in June no matter what.......  That said my life has been changing for the better and its a great way to start off a death race training year.  My personal life has taken on a new adventure which is exciting and I am excited to share this journey of the death race 2012 with new friends and new adversity.  I am truly looking forward to training with Al, Tom, Yesel, Joei, Laura, Michelle, sharing the journey with Jeff, and the new people along the way I know I am soon to meet.  Plus with the support of my friends, Spencer, Craig, etc...I am sure to crush it this year.  I just introduced CF to my workout and we will see how that goes.  I love it there, love the energy, love the people, and the workouts are great.  I just need to do a lot more.  So perhaps two WODs, or my CF WOD plus ballys, plus training....all i know is you cant just train.  You have to push it...... so I may lift with my weighted backpack, or do back to back WODS or grab a log when I run through the mountains, whatever....  

This year, there will be no regrets......I plan to live it all to the fullest!!

So the Journey Begins....

This is an open blog where several people who are taking on the Death Race 2012 may come to share ideas, thoughts, adventures, the journey.....

I like what my friend and 2011 Death Race finisher had to say about the race some say is the most grueling, punishing, spiritual, and emotional race on the planet...

The Death Race, ironically enough, has almost nothing to do with either death or racing; although it shrouds itself in that cover quite well. It is, in the end, a test that only you can give yourself. There are people there that help along the way. After all what would the Death Race be if not for the creative genius of Joe Desena, Andy Weinberg and staff. It is about the perception of personal limits, learning who you truly are in the face of adversity, and succeeding at something that you will repeatedly be told is beyond your grasp. It is a journey that condenses the most critical path of personal life lessons into a brief weekend in the Vermont mountains. As racers more eloquent than me put it, it is about life. And that is the irony - that it is indeed, in the end, the Life Race. Doesn't sound as cool, right? No one wants to run the "life race." We, as people, grow through struggle. It's only through stumbling in life that we learn our greatest lessons, so we seek the moments that give us that opportunity, and the Death Race sets that stage. The only thing we need to do is show up, toe the line and make the choice to move our feet forward as fast as we're able to in every given moment. The rest takes care of itself.