Reebok Spartan Race Giveaway!

Reebok was one of the sponsors at Fitbloggin’ 2013 and I was very fortunate to come home with some amazing goodies from them. I am pretty sure that the total value of the items I received from Reebok actually exceeded the ticket cost to attend Fitbloggin’. And it was all really nice, and very useful, stuff so I was one happy camper.  Thanks Reebok! J

I was even more excited to find out that I could receive a free entry fee into any of Reebok’s Spartan Races, if I was interested.

Heck yeah, I was interested. Paul had just signed up for the Spartan Race in Mississippi a few weeks prior to me attending Fitbloggin’ and was hoping that someone else would sign up with him. I had said no originally because I am running a half marathon the following weekend and was concerned I would injure myself or at least still be totally exhausted from the race a week later.

When the Reebok rep told me about the free entry fee I thought to myself…’What would Dani do?’ (when it comes to running, she's my measuring stick for crazy ideas) and since I know she would have said ‘heck, yeah I’ll do it!’ I decided I would too. I immediately told Paul about the free race fee and he was super excited.

And I’m excited too. I have never done an obstacle race before. Do you remember that I registered for one back in April that ended up being canceled-that crushed my heart.

 

I know I'll be happy to receive that medal in the end. Hopefully I don't have to fight off someone with a giant q-tip thingy to get there....

Yep, I am definitely excited to train up for the Spartan Race. I may even go back to CrossFit to help get me ready for this race. I mean, Reebok did give me a free pair of CrossFit shoes so I probably should put them to good use, right?

Crazy!

Oh, and do you want to know something else that is pretty darn awesome? In addition to my race entry, I also have one to share as well. Reebok Spartan Race has given me one free race entry to give away on the blog. The winner gets to pick any open heat in any 2013-14 race within the continental U.S. How awesome is that? And if you live in my area of the south you could even sign up for the Mississippi one with me J

Ridiculously crazy!

I was actually kind of jealous of all the amazing locations there are for the Spartan Race. If I wasn’t already committed to a trail half marathon in Georgia on September 29 I would have totally registered for the one in my hometown Philly- at Citizens Bank Park (where the Phillies play, for you non-baseball people) on September 28. That one looks awesome!

Yikes....

In addition to Philadelphia, there are races all over the country; New Jersey, Illinois, Nebraska, Virginia, Massachusetts (Fenway!!!), Wisconsin, and Washington to name a few. It looks like about half of the states in the U.S.  have at least one of the three race options offered; Sprint (what I’ll be doing), Super, and Beast. I love that they not only offer so many locations but that they offer various lengths/obstacle counts – this makes it less intimidating for a newbie like me.

Completely badass!

It’s also very cool that you can sign up to receive emails with their signature Spartan Workout of the Day. I have yet to try one of these but Paul has been doing them and they are no joke.  I guess they would have to be intense in order to get you ready for the race. Yep, I am excited (and a bit terrified) for this new challenge- definitely entering a new frontier for me.

So, without further ado...what you have all been waiting for…

How to Enter

I am going to make the entry process fairly easy for all of us…if you want to enter just leave a comment on this post telling me which Spartan Race location you would pick for your race entry. That's it.

 *Check out their website here for a list of race locations.

You can only enter once.

You have until 11:59pm (central) on July 18^th , 2013 to enter.

Winner will be chosen at random and announced here on the blog some time Friday, July 19^th, 2013.

Easy enough, right?

Remember this is only good for open heats in any 2013-14 Spartan Race located within the continental United States. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments or email me- axid200 (at) gmail (dot) com 

Since there will only be one winner for the race entry fee, Spartan Race so kindly offered up a 15% off registration fee code for us to use. Isn't that awesome?

Here is the link: 15% off code 

Now the only question that remains is ARE YOU SPARTAN TOUGH???

Disclaimer: Reebok/Spartan Race provided me two free race entries in hopes to promote their events. I did not or will not receive any compensation for this or any Spartan Race post. I will be writing about the race I participate in but all opinions will be my own and true to my experience.

Note: there is a mandatory fee of $14.00 for insurance that is not included in the race registration fee. Winner will be responsible to pay for their own insurance costs.

Photos and videos were taken from Spartan Race website with prior approval J

Learning to Love the Run

I can’t tell you why or how or even when but one day I woke up, went for a run, and actually enjoyed it.

You should know that I only just began running January of this year. For the first 5 months of the year the running I did was primarily done in short bursts followed by a lot of walking/slow jogging since I was doing the Couch to 5K program which is almost entirely intervals. I did a bulk of my training for my first 5K on a treadmill which I hated.

I hate the treadmill. It annoys the shit out of me. But I didn’t know any better. I wasn’t sure how I would manage intervals on a track/road so I kept at it. Like a stupid hamster on a wheel.

I finished the C25K program and ran my first 5K in May. I was beyond happy to have achieved that goal. It was an amazing day. But you know what? I didn’t enjoy the run.

I enjoyed finishing, for sure, and enjoyed knowing I could actually run for 3.1 miles straight but the running- eh, it was for the birds.

That was it. I decided that running just wasn’t for me but since I stupidly signed up for another 5K in June I would keep at it until after that one. I couldn’t let my money go to waste, could I?

So I spent the next month running. Off and on. When I could fit it in. I wasn’t committed to getting better because I was going to give it up. But I did finally learn how to become comfortable running outside and spent the little time I was running on the track or trails.

I ran my second 5K in June and surprisingly it didn’t suck. I mean it wasn’t a walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination but I actually kind of enjoyed myself. I was exhausted and sweaty and felt like that 5K took every ounce of energy out of me but I walked away feeling like I could actually like running.

So, I decided to keep at it. 2 miles at a time, 3 miles at time. I think I can, I think I can. Like the little engine that could.

People say if you are running then you are a runner. It doesn’t matter the distance.

I don’t think you would call what I was doing running. I would call it struggling. Every few days I would head out to the track for a nice early morning struggle. That’s really the best way to describe it.

But I kept at it because it was getting easier and I enjoyed it a little more each time.

Through the process of attempting to develop my running skills I read as many books, articles, blog posts as I could in search of advice. I found a lot of useful stuff but this one piece of advice really changed things for me:

SLOW DOWN

Slow the eff down!

Ok, it didn’t yell or curse at me but I did learn that my pace was way too fast. I did not have the fitness level needed to maintain that pace. Even though my legs could move that fast it was just too much on the body- my heart rate was way too high.

So I got over that pace number I was working so hard to keep and focused on a different number- my heart rate. And most of my easy runs I was running slower than I could walk but I kept that pace so I could keep my heart rate down.

And wouldn’t you know- that made a world of difference.

One day I woke up and running wasn’t so difficult. I crossed over from struggler to runner.

And now running is fun. I feel great during and after. It’s not so freaking hard.. It feels like what it should feel like. And man it is great!

Now, all of my non-speed work runs are done at a pace that’s comfortable for my body and it has made all the difference.

Thinking back on it, I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am that I signed up for that second 5K.

Do you love to run? Was it easy from the get go or did you struggle too?

“Most people run a race to see who is fastest.  I run a race to see who has the most guts.”  ~Steve Prefontaine

Me and Paul after the Freedom 4-Miler on the 4th of July