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Tuxedo Spartan Sprint Race Report - and life up to it

Third place is nothing to turn one's nose up at.  With so many great athletes that have come into the sport, only 3 of us cross the finish line in those coveted podium spots.   Forth place could have easily happened in this race.  If I knew that I had been at my peak fitness or that I had given all I was physically able to do, I would be thrilled.  But I've had a few set backs lately that have definitely had an impact on my training. 

My last race was 2 months ago in Las Vegas, and I had managed to snag the top of the podium.  Even though the competition was fierce I was able to push my body after getting off obstacles to a decent running pace.  Physically I was where I wanted to be - Mentally I was where I wanted to be. 

And then I ran into some bad luck. 

One week later, in the 2nd WOD of a Crossfit competition, I managed to get a minor case of Rhabdo in my quad (Vastus Lateralis).  Yes folks, here's TyAnn apparently pushing beyond her limits and getting herself in trouble - again.  I'm really hating to admit this because so many people already think I am crazy, insane, etc without this little nugget. 
But for me, pushing beyond my limit feels exactly like pushing up to my limit.  Honestly I can't tell the difference.  I didn't feel worse than a hard workout while performing it.  Afterwards it felt like I had ran a marathon on the one leg.


Sorry - I know it's gross

So a few weeks of decreased intensity and minimal running was enough to take me down a couple notches.  And then I managed to get a Staph infection in that same leg in a little spot that my fingernail had accidently cut while massaging.  Add in 2 rounds of antibiotics to kill my athletic performance while trying to come back.  With my immune system down I caught a cold the week of the race.``


As I stood at that starting line in New York, I was mentally ready to go, but really wondering how my body was going to respond.  I just didn't know.  But as always, I was going to give it what I had. 
The race had been preceded by interviews with the NBC crew and lots of pressure.  I was surprised (and happy) that I wasn't really affected by it.    I was just there to prove that I was still strong, still fast, and could still perform.

Tuxedo Park is a ski resort - So the course was as one would expect.  Straight up, then straight down.

The first running bit was uphill, and soon after the send off, I knew I was in trouble.  I was not bouncing up the hill like I normally do, I was fighting.  I was trying not to walk.   I knew this was going to be 4.5 miles of pure pain.

I tried to stay with Rose and Amelia, but my body just wasn't ready that day.  I was so out of breath already and I just couldn't go.  I was able to gain quite a bit of ground away from rest of the pack however, so that pressure wasn't really there for the first part.   

There were a few new obstacles including monkey bars that were different levels.  I had to get a good swing going to get to one of the high ones.  We also got to try out cargo net monkey bars - A lot more challenging then I expected!

About halfway into the course, I had somewhat caught Amelia as she had fallen off of the cargo monkey bars and had to burpee out.  We then had to do a "fun" combination of obstacles that started with the Hercules Hoist, right into the inverted wall, into one of the worst barbed wire sections I've ever suffer through..  It was uphill (dare I say 100 yds or so) and not very wet.  I never realized how much better mud felt.  Dry, rocky, and low - I was feeling pukey going through it.  I could see Amelia about 30 sec ahead on the barbed wire crawl. 

Nasty Barbed Wire Crawl

Brilliantly placed, the spear throw came right after that lovely bit.  Hands were muddy, and we were exhausted.  Both Rose and Amelia missed theirs, and I really wanted to snag that 2nd place away from Amelia.  The hay bales were smaller than normal, and it was uphill which was a new.  My spear went slightly to the right of the target.  CRAP!  I started on my 30 burpees.

April came in next, and thankfully missed hers.  I had 10 burpees left.  And Orla's spear goes in.  She ran off in 3rd place.

I didn't know how much race was left - a mile or so.  If there is one thing I've learned in obstacle racing, its that you can't ever give up in these races until you cross the finish line.  There just may be something that works out in your favor.  I ran down the next hill to the rope climb and tried to get through as fast as I could.  April was ready to go up as I was getting out and Orla was about 30 yds ahead.  But she was walking the hill.  This was my chance!

I knew this was the last of the race, so I tried to run that hill as fast as I could.  We reached the traverse wall together, and I risked falling off for a fast crossing.  It worked out and I ran up the last hill into the woods.  I couldn't see my competitors anymore and I gave it everything I had left to gain some more ground.  I crossed the finish line with plenty of time to spare!

For anyone that really knows me, this just fuels my competitive fire for the next race.  I'm hungry for more, and to get the gains I had back.  I decided to hire a running coach that can help me get there quickly.  I'm going to do the little things that make a difference - more sleep and a focus on recovery.

It was quite the experience to be a part of the beginning of the growth of the sport.  NBC did an amazing job and were all in.  There were cameras everywhere throughout the race.  The pre and post race interviews were extremely professional, and I can just see how it is all going to unfold to look amazing.  If the sport takes off, then I'll have been at the starting line of it all.  The experience was surreal and will be one I won't forget. 

 

Why Running Races are Easy!

Today I laughed, I cried, I got so angry I had to count to 10 in the other room, my heart almost burst from being so full of love, and I adored and fumed over the same person within the same hour.  Welcome to my typical day as a parent.  I feel as though I have been pushed to my physical/ mental limit without even leaving the house.

As a  Professional Obstacle Racer, I'm pushing my body to my physical limits on a daily basis as part of my training.  I find myself having to reach inside and find more drive- convince myself to finish one more rep or meet a set time running around a track.  Once or twice a month I travel to different parts of the country to see if I can go beyond those limits I once thought far enough.  These endeavors are physically, emotionally, and mentally draining.   But they pale in comparison to what I go through on an almost daily basis under my own roof.

I have been blessed with 3 healthy, vibrant, active, independent,  and strong willed children.  They love to run around - especially when they get their second wind right around 8 pm.  They eat every 2-3 hours and will like something you cook one week and not the next.  They have their own ideas on how their day should go, and if you think you know better then prepare for battle.  They know exactly what to say or do to you to push you off the cliff of self control that you are so desperately hanging on to.  They do love their toys (which have the ability to multiply) and need lots of room  to be able to properly conduct their kid fantasy - They prefer the clean rooms and hallways.  They know what is best for themselves and will rightly let you know that.

Compared to this, racing is easy.  I've seen it over and over with my friends with their own kiddos.  They tend to race stronger and harder after they have been endowed with a few bundles of joy.  Want to know the secret?  We have all gone completely insane and have to get our crazy out in some way or another.  My girlfriends all become progressively faster after each child they birth.  Some might say that this is due to more muscle gained/ less fat yada yada yada.  They are wrong.  Parents just add to their level of crazy and have found racing as a way to release it in controlled amounts. 

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change one iota of it.  As Charles Dickens says ,"It was the best of times, It was the worst of times".  I have never been happier in my life, or more full of love for and in awe of my 3 munchkins. 

So the next time you see a parent, just give them a knowing wink that you are in on the secret.  If you are a parent, just make sure you keep registering for those races. 

 

Want More?  Here's how I eat on a Mom's schedule

Feature Friday

A little more getting to know me - Click here to read an interview with Kelly Vincent - blogger at Utah Dixie Deals.  Thanks for the love Kelly:)

Feature Friday - Meet TyAnn Clark Utah Dixiedeals.com

 

Drowning over Burpees

Stephanie and I at the finish

I've been eager to get this story out because it is so inspirational.  Stephanie started crossfit less than a year ago, and has since lost around 80 lbs.   As a single mom and awesome friend of mine, when she told me that a Spartan race was on her bucket list, I quickly got her registered for the closest race coming up.  She attended crossfit and my Saturday obstacle course trainings to prepare, and showed up at the starting line.  So without further ado, here is Stephanie's experience at the Las Vegas Super Spartan 2014. 

"She looked straight at me without a scintilla of hesitation and said, 'you can do this Steph'!  I was amazed at the amount of confidence this girl had in me when myself I felt like the biggest loser in the world. I wanted to do this race because I wanted to get out of my head. So much was spinning out of control in my life.

 Monday before the race, I became ill. I started to vomit and had a fever and hives everywhere. BUT - I don’t quit!

"I will run this race," I thought, "I will run it!" TyAnn’s trainings were grueling and I never actually gave my 100 percent partly because I just didn’t believe that I could. I have said it once and will say it again, I don’t know how I can be this blessed to have people see more in me than I see in myself. The night before the race my hives were out of control. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep. I was a wreck with nerves and stressing about the fool I was about to make of myself. Saturday morning, I went anyway. I am no quitter. I may suck at doing things but I don't quit. 

When the race began, I jumped that wall and I knew, I was in the game. I could hear (trainer) Ann’s voice in my head to keep running. I could hear Matt’s (blackridge trainer) voice in my head to keep going. All I could think about is use my legs, tighten my core, jump the walls. I could hear the voices of my friends telling me to keep going. The walls were the easiest part. Mile four came and my legs decided to give up on me. I thought 'who the boss here'. My legs were cramping so bad that I wanted to walk off and say screw this,  I am no Spartan. I am only human.

I had this thought, Ann, Justin, TyAnn, Jared, they knew I was going to finish, why I couldn’t see what they saw. Before I had any time for self-doubt, I saw the sign. “Three miles left before your free beer.” I said "Screw free beer; I want to jump that fire!!!

Little did I know I was going to come face to face with my nemesis: water. I don’t dive in water; I cannot stand the feeling of water against my throat let alone above my head. I am looking at the obstacle thinking, there goes my next 30 burpees. After 90 burpees, I couldn’t fathom the idea that I had to do another 30. I stood in that pool for 20 minutes talking my way out of it. I looked over and saw the finish line and said, (@#*!) it - Today is a good day to drown.


When I popped on the other side, I started to scream and cry because I couldn’t believe that
I chose drowning over burpees!!!.
 When I crossed that finish line, I was running on pure adrenaline and complete and total joy. I knew it was the beginning of my journey to no longer live comfortable and to harness discipline in my life. My friends were proud and I was really happy that I made them proud. No Blackridge crossfitter should be labeled as a quitter. I made TyAnn proud. She trained me to succeed not to fail and succeeding I did. I don’t know how she planted that idea in my head but I am very very thankful for her. I am thankful the support that I have. I am thankful for that #@$@ race!

I wanna do more, I wanna be more.

Las Vegas Spartan Super - Overcoming obstacles

2007 World Champtionships

One of the reasons that I really love and admire Kara Goucher stems from an article that I once read about her.  For those of you in the dark - she is a Olympic athlete that has competed (and kicked butt!) in distances ranging from the 5000m to the marathon.  She came in 3rd place in her first marathon in New York, posting a time that had beaten the infamous Deena Castor the year before.  Here is the kicker.  Despite being arguably the best Female American Distance Runner of our decade, she constantly wrestles with self doubt.  When she steps up to a line, she still has negative chatter going on in her head.  Voices tell her that she isn't as good as the world class athletes that she races against. 

You can read the full article here - It's a good one!

Well here is my confession - I relate because I struggle with the same thing.  And I say currently struggle because I don't know that it will ever completely go away.  However, I have made HUGE strides in the last year, particularly in the last few months, and I think it's showing in my race results.  I started out the year with 2 x 4th place finishes, and moved up to a 3rd, then 2nd, then 2 x 1sts.  It seems as though the methods I use help me to shut out the chatter and be able to compete like I know I can. If she can conquer it, so can I. 

Spartan Family - Orla Walsh, Margaret Slatcher
TyAnn clark, +Amelia Boone

This year's Las Vegas Spartan ended up in my favor, and I'm thrilled with how my body performed.  Normally going into a race and knowing that I was going to have to compete with people like Amelia Boone and Rose Wetzel would leave me feeling completely nervous and nauseous all week.  Honestly it used to be that bad!  But I was actually relaxed and happy, not allowing the race to consume my thoughts.  Even Fri driving down, I was just looking forward to having a good time with the fam.  SO UNUSUAL!

I'm not gonna lie - I WANTED THIS WIN - BADLY!  Toquerville, UT is 2 hours away, so this was kind of my local race.   I had lots of friends, family, and support in the audience that day, and I wanted to do it for them. I was especially excited to see one of my trainees complete the course.  Click here for her story.
 Images of my kids watching influenced much of my performance!

After the ladies were sent off, a group of 10 or so pushed the pace and fought for running ground.  After the first mile, we were down to 4.  Rose Wetzel, Amelia, Boone, and KK Stewart were the other 3. 

One of the things that helped me in this race was experience in long distance running.  Having run more 10ks to marathons than I can count has helped me to know how much energy to expend in order to have some left at the end.  So when we hit things like the bucket carry, all 3 girls got ahead of me.  I tried to go strong, but not as though I'm finishing a workout for time.  I tried to evenly expend my energy.   Within the next half mile I caught back up.

The Painted Warrior loads his shoes with sand as he

 crushes it down the hill.

The course was actually a last minute change (not on Spartan's part -their last venue was cancelled for them) and I'm sure it won't be the one they use next year.  It was extremely rocky, and at many points we were jumping from rock pile to rock pile over small ditches.   My new Reeboks made specifically for obstacle courses performed amazingly, but nothing could keep out the sand that was dumping in from the top as you ran down hills.  Then we would reach a gravel/sand hill and have to climb.  Kudos to race designer Chad Brooks for managing to squeeze as many "hills" in as possible. 

At this point, we reached something called The Gamble.  We are told beforehand that the longer route is flatter and easier, and the shorter, harder.  I had already decided to go left (short) because it's served well in the past.   It seems I chose correctly because a mile later it was only Amelia, Kk, and I.  Rose unfortunately had gone right and we didn't see her for a while.  Amazingly she did catch back up to KK pretty quickly!


Amelia and I spent the next 6 miles trading off leads.  I would get slightly ahead of her on running, and she would catch back up in most of the obstacles.  I honestly had been hoping just for a place on the podium in this race.  I don't know if I ever believed that I would be on top of that podium.  So when Amelia and I were fighting for first and second, I decided I wasn't going to let her have it.  I was going to fight to the death!  My race mantras were "Be Epic, Inspire, and have Courage" and I kept repeating it.  If my pace on my garmin wasn't what I thought it should be I pushed harder.

We went through tire drags and pulls, tire flips, and a super gnarly barbed wire crawl.

Amelia throws first

At the heavy sandbag carry, Amelia gained some ground ahead of me as this is in her wheelhouse.  But I was right behind at the spear throw.  You can never be relaxed and confident that you've got it in the bag until you pass the final test (and I'm convinced that the spear throw is a mental challenge).  I may have been throwing some negative vibes Amelia's way because she missed it!  And gave us a few (understandably) choice words along with it.  I knew I was going to make it.  The hay bales seemed huge and practically right in from of me.  I delivered!

I seal my fate

One mile left, and I was pushing to the finish to leave no room for doubt.  One more sandbag carry, and Amelia had already finished her burpees when I finished the first lap.  Really??  I could see the finish line and see my friend Justin finishing up right in front of me.  I told him to help bring me in because my energy was failing and he pushed the pace for me. 

Last obstacle that could change my game - Traverse Wall.  You fall off - you get 30 burpees (and I would definitely lose first place).  I took it slow and steady, and made it to the end.

I couldn't suppress the grin on my face as I finished the last barbed wire crawl, water dunk and slippery wall.  I could hear my family cheering and tears came to my eyes.  This was a big win for me!  Amelia came in second and Rose with an impressive comeback in 3rd.

My rock and Love of my Life

Love my mom!

I got to spend the rest of my day watching all my peeps from my crossfit gym and obstacle training group come in.  So many first timers, and so many finding out what "You'll know at the finish line" feels like!

WANNA READ MORE RACE RECAPS?
Follow Amelia and I battling it out at the Atlas Race - Temecula, CA
 

Running Death by Burpees

Death by Burpees

Ok  I've seen workouts involving burpees that are a lot worse (hello Crossfit Games 14.5), but I like this one a lot.  Mostly because I made it up, but also because anyone can do it anywhere.  If you are a hiker, runner, crossfitter, or OCR athlete, use this to learn how to push hard through fatigue. Whether you are at the tail end of a marathon, or running after coming off an obstacle, you will be able to deal with the tiredness easier.     

Vermont World championships
My chest made it down - I promise.

First off, this requires correct burpee form - hands up with jump at the top, chest goes to ground in the push up position (can be done on knees). 

I really like workouts with variety as I go along.  This one is great to add into a longer run. 

Beginners - You can start by run/walking after each burpee  section and/ or starting with fewer burpees.

Intermediate - Run after each burpee section, jog and recover between sets

Advanced - Sprint after burpees, try to maintain race pace through recovery (more of a slower tempo run pace) 

This will be less intense than a track workout which typically have shorter breaks - It's designed to train your legs  to move faster through longer miles.  The 1/2 mile spread is pretty typical obstacle spacing in an obstacle course race.



Begin!
1 mile warm up
30 burpees
30 sec sprint
1/2 mile of recovery (I ran at a 6:45 -7 min mile)
25 burpees
40 sec sprint
1/2 mile of recovery
20 burpees
50 sec sprint
1/2 mile of recovery
15 burpees
60 sec sprint
1/2 mile of recovery
10 burpees
70 sec sprint
1/2 mile of recovery
5 burpees
80 sec sprint
1/2 mile of recovery

Enjoy!