I picked up my packet the day before, so we arrived at the starting line just a few minutes before the start. The race was a 5k and a Half Marathon, and the two races started an hour apart. My first impression was that the race was really small – there was only 170 runners for the 5k.

The race itself was an out and back. The view was great, but on the way out the wind was in my face the whole time and made it a little hard to breathe. The way back was great because the sun was shining in my face and the run was very enjoyable.

The best part of the whole race was when I neared the finish line. Tommy and Alex were waiting for me near the finish, and Alex ran out of the crowd to cross the finish line with me. The girls who were giving out medals at the finish line gave him a finishers medal, even though I told them he didn’t run with me. He was beyond excited.

My finish time was 38:05, one of my slowest 5k times. But the way I see it, for having run only twice since the summer, I did pretty good and I can only go up from there. The post race set up was great. They had bagels with cream cheese, apples, strawberries and blueberries along with coffee, tea and water. It was so cold out that the water set out in cups had ice chunks in it. Yea, it was that cold!

I am  really excited for the weather to warm up, so I can spend more time outdoors and hopefully PR a 5k this year!

What’s the coldest race you’ve ever run?

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Alex took part in the Get To the Point 5k children’s dash. The whole race was only 25 meters, but seeing how serious the kids took it, you would’ve thought they were running the NYC Marathon.  Since the street was closed off before the race, the kids warmed up by running back and forth in the street. All of the parents there joked about how much energy kids have. They could have ran for hours!

It was fun watching the really small children run. One of the little girls ran off the course, yelling to her mom that she had to go to the potty and didn’t finish the race. Alex’s group was the third or fourth to go. I started out running with him, but once we got about halfway down the course, he let go of my hard and ran off.

At the finish line, they took down Alex’s name and told us to stick around for the awards ceremony. We got to watch all the other age groups run, while enjoying juice boxes and soft pretzels that were put out for the kids. Once all the races were complete, it was time for awards!

Alex was very excited to go up on stage and get his gold medal.

He had an absolute blast and told us that he wants to run really fast and win more medals.

What was the first race you ever ran?

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If you are looking for a fall race, the Women’s Health RUN10 FEED10 is a great option. This is the second year that the race is being run and it takes place on September 22 in New York City on the West Side Highway. The concept behind the race is simple: run a 10K and provide 10 meals for those struggling with hunger in New York. Last year, RUN10 FEED10 raised 1 million meals nationwide and Women’s Health is also encouraging all runners to try to raise $100 in donations, to help further support the cause. Right now, over 50 million Americans are food insecure, meaning they don’t know from where their next meal is coming and this number includes a lot of hungry little bellies. Doing something you already love to do, will allow lots of kids receive the food and nourishment they need.

After the race, all participants will be invited to take part in a post-race Wellness Festival with post-run yoga, giveaways and freebies from some great bands and a special concert by Naya Rivera from Glee. You also get a limited edition RUN10 FEED 10 bag and bracelet wen you sign up.

There will also be timed 10Ks in Chicago and San Francisco, as well as, fun runs in Boston, Los Angeles, Miami and Seattle. There is also a cool Run Your Own 10K feature where you can run a virtual 10K, and still help support the cause the RUN10 FEED10 stands for.

If you want to sign up head over the the RUN10 FEED10 page, and use code R10F10USA for $5 off registration!

If you can’t make it to the race, but want to held spread the word about the cause, you can enter to win one of the RUN10 FEED10 bags, to get the word out about the race series.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Are you signed up for any races this fall?

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We didn’t start until 12:45, but we got to the race site around 11 to give ourselves plenty of time to pick up our packets, check our bags and mess around with the challenges. We watched a bunch of waves go out and heard that we would be going straight up the mountain along the path of the ski lift. The whole way up, we would climbing either a black diamond or a double black diamond ski slope. I was thinking that I can’t get down these ski slopes, let alone get up them.

Soon enough it was time to line up for the 12:45 heat and all I could think was how much the climb up the mountain was going to stink in the heat and sun. The beginning wasn’t bad. I took the advice that one of the Reebok reps gave me at my first Spartan – Go slower than you think you want to. While most of the crowd sprinted out of the start, I took my time. I got to the first obstacle with little trouble. The first obstacle was an under, over and through set of walls. Easy enough. The second obstacle was the sandbag carry, which I had heard would be the worst part of the day. The sandbag carry was straight up a double black diamond slope that was difficult to stand on, let alone climb up carrying a 40 lbs bag. I took my time and made it to the top, with a lot of breaks.

I spent some time at the top waiting for one of my teammates, and it was fun to look down and see how much I had just climbed and to cheer on others making their way up. The views off the top were amazing and I had wished I had a camera to snap some photos.

After the sand bag carry, it was more uphill climbing, but I knew the worst was past me. There was at least one more obstacle before I reached the top and it was climbing up a steep slope with the help of a rope. Once at the top there were five obstacles in a row – pulling a weight on a chain, tire flipping, spear throw, monkey bars and lifting a 40 pound weight on a rope and letting it back down. Since all the obstacles were one right after another, there was some waiting, but it wasn’t bad.

Once the obstacles were complete, it was all downhill from there, literally. On the way down, we had to climb down another steep slope with the help of a rope, climb a cargo net, get over a 7 foot wall and crawl through two barbed wire mud pits. There was also another 7 foot wall at the end of one of the mud pits where I totally fell off the top right into the crossbeams.

But I can say it was all well worth it to go down the giant slip and slide into the lake. I heard about the slip and slide at the beginning of the race and every time we emerged out of the woods, I would cross my fingers that it was time to go down the slide. When we finally made it there, I was pretty freaked out, but it was so so fun. Swimming through the lake also felt amazing after being it the heat from the last couple hours.

We crossed the finish line at 3:08:10. I knew that I could have finished earlier, but when you’re a team you work as a team and don’t leave anyone behind. It felt great to cross the finish line, get my medal and stuff my face with a banana because I was starving!

After washing ourselves off a bit, it was time for my celebratory beer.

Beer never tasted sooo good!

And since I can’t get enough Spartans, I am already signed up from the 2014 Tri-State Sprint in Tuxedo New York. I think I also want to do the CitiField Spartan, to get a taste of the clean version of the race. I think 2014 may also be the year of the Super Spartan for me, but I have a long time to decide about that!

Have you ever done a mud run? What obstacle would you want to try?

The post Blue Mountain Spartan Sprint appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

if you can survive one of these, you can most likely survive anything!

The race was a 4 mile Spartan Sprint that took place in Tuxedo, NY.

It is difficult to recap the race because I honestly cannot remember most of it. I don’t know if it was the adrenaline of being in the moment and trying to push through the events or what, but there are simply parts that I don’t recall. I couldn’t tell you what all my obstacles were and I couldn’t tell you how much time it took us (we finished in 2:50:36, but at the time we had no clue if two hours of

ten hours had passed.) I can tell you that a Spartan is a life changing type of race. Their slogan is when you cross the finish line you’ll know, and it is true. When Mikey and I crossed the finished line we were ecstatic.

The day after the race, I sat down to film a video about my experience, so I wouldn’t forget all of the things I wanted to share. If you want to see why you need to run a Spartan Race, watch away!

And last, but not least, some pictures from the race itself. Whenever we came down the mountain to do obstacles, Tommy was there to catch the good, the bad and the burpees!

So long story short, I am hooked on Spartan! My next Spartan is one month, July 14th, Blue Mountain , Pennsylvania. I’m counting down the days!

Have you even done a Spartan Race? Have I convinced you to do one?!

I received free entry to the race and training gear from Reebok. All opinions are my own!

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I woke up on race day to pouring rain. I laid in bed thinking about forgetting the rainy run and sleeping in. As appealing as it sounded, I knew I couldn’t not go. I was naturally running late, but since the run was so close by, I got to the start line just in time to hear the send off. The race was three laps around the park – one smaller and two larger. The course was very well marked with lots of volunteers along the course holding arrows showing us where to go.

Since it had been cold and rainy going in, I was wearing a jacket, but as I started to warm up, I wanted nothing more than to take my jacket off. I was kind of proud of my mid run wardrobe change, but I had to stop to take off my Garmin because I couldn’t get my sleeve off. At one point during the run I was pretty sure I was the only person left. I could see a few people ahead of me, but no one behind me. With only 500 participants, groups got pretty spread out, but luckily I wasn’t last!

I had to take some walking breaks, but eventually I made it to the finish line in 36:39, with an average pace of 11:49 per mile. It’s not my best 5k time, but its a start. I can only go up from here throughout the summer.

I also loved the email I received a few minutes after crossing the finish line!

What’s your fastest 5k?

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My morning started off with a press conference to kick off Reebok’s new partnership with the Spartan Race with some fellow Fitfluential Ambassadors – Christine, Noelle, Ashley, Ava, Megan, Alfonso, Andre, Meghan

I’ve heard a lot about different obstacle/mud runs in the last few months, but the Spartan Race really blows all of the other races out of the water. The Spartan Race really tests your fitness and if you aren’t able to complete an obstacle, the penalty is 30 burpees…yikes! The Spartan Race has grown exponentially, starting with 1,500 participants in its first year up in Vermont, to over 1.5 million people competing in 60 events worldwide in 2012. Not too shabby for an event that the creators were told that no one would show up to!

This new partnership between Reebok and the Spartan Race will allow for the race to expand even further. The creators of the race have an Olympic dream and want obstacle course racing to be an event in the Olympic games. Something that I would totally watch! Through this partnership, the Spartan Race hopes to bring obstacle racing to new markets around the world and expose people who would otherwise never know that these types of races exist. Reebok is also creating a new line of Spartan Race gear including clothes and shoes, which I am very excited to see! The Spartan Race is also 80% done with building a training course in Vermont, just six miles outside of Killington. I know that I will be visiting this once it opens!

The real fun began when we headed outdoors. There was a 10 obstacle course set up in the heart of Times Square, which was a preview of  the real thing which is taking place in Citi Field in April. The course was not easy! I was hesitant at first, and did not want to roll through the mud, but I figured that I had a change of clothes and when would I ever have the chance to roll in the mud in the middle of Times Square, right?

Another amazing thing about the Spartan Race is the sense of community. It really reminded me of Crossfit. I knew I wouldn’t be able to climb the rope, and was ready to give up and do the burpees when two people on the course ran over and propped me up. I rang the bell on top of the rope and felt so proud! Everyone who completed the course got sent home with some bling, which I proudly wore!

I was honored to be able to compete alongside incredible athletes and amazing people, like the wounded veterans who compete with Team Extreme. Seeing Todd Love, a triple amputee, climb the rope on his own, threw every excuse in the book out the window.

I cannot wait to complete the real thing in April in Citi Field, but until then I need to train or else my butt with be doing way too many burpees!

P.S. My feet made the official Reebok Spartan Race video..check out my fresh new kicks!

Have you ever done an obstacle run?

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I heard about the Commitment Day 5k a few months ago, but didn’t end up registering until late December, just because I wasn’t sure where we would be for New Year’s Eve and of be able to make it into the city for the run. Luckily we stayed local and the run was on. I wanted to run this 5k because of the great message behind it. “Commitment Day is a way to get people moving and excited about starting 2013 with a renewed commitment to living a healthy and active life, instead of simply making resolutions.”There were races in 30 cities around the country being run simultaneously, and it felt good to think that I was the part of something bigger than just a 5k in NYC.

Since I’m on the east coast, the NYC Commitment Day Run started at 11am. Since we went to bed around three, the late start time was a god send. I don’t know how all the west coasters did it at 8am! It was also nice to see that despite the freezing cold temps, people still came, bundled up and ready to run. The run itself took place along the West Side Highway and was an out and back loop. The start and finish lines were right along the Intrepid, so we had a sweet view of the ship and of the shuttle on our way to the finish line.

The run itself went well. I was tired from only sleeping 5 hours, I was cold, but I quickly warmed up. I struggled a bit, I walked a bit, but once I crossed the finish line I felt great. I could have stayed in my nice warm bed, but I got up and got it done. Since the race wasn’t officially timed with chips, I’m not sure of what my exact time was, but it was somewhere around 36 minutes. Not my fastest 5k, but I have a whole year to work on getting faster.

Overall the inaugural Commitment Day 5k was a great experience. I hope this race sticks around so that I can make this a New Year’s Day tradition.

I also have to thank Tommy for being super supportive and going to the race with me and freezing his butt off to cheer me on and get some pictures. With support like that, how can I not succeed?

 Did you workout on New Year’s Day?

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I laid out my gear the night before to make sure that I didn’t wake up the whole house on a morning where everyone else got to sleep in a bit. I ran in my Swiftwick socks, Altra shoes and Free Motion gear for the first time in a race, and I was super comfy the whole way through! At least, as comfy as you can be running a hilly 5 miles.

We arrived at the race bright and early because we still had to pick up our packets. Packet pickup went very smoothly and we even got some cool neck warmers/hats which came in handy because it was a chilly morning at the start line. I also used the bag drop for the first time at a race, and that went off without a hitch, as well.

At 9AM, we were off. We all ran together for a bit and then we all fell into our own running grooves and parted ways. I felt great for the first two miles and cruised the whole way, but around mile three my left foot started bothering me a bit on the decent from the hills. It kind of made me angry because I was struggling up the hills and couldn’t get a rest going down because my foot was hurting. I need to work on the mental aspect of running races because I get caught up and focus on one little thing and it throws my groove off horribly.

The rest of the race flew by. There was only one portion where we crossed the same part of course twice, so it was nice to have a constantly changing scenery. I also loved that there was a ton of people out playing with their dogs. Happy puppies make me happy.

The finish line was packed with lots of spectators, which made finishing all the better. There is nothing like crossing a finish line with a bunch of people yelling and cheering you on, even when you’re finish with a time of 1:03:36, which isn’t exactly gold medal time. Best feeling ever. On the way out I grabbed my finisher’s medal (which is so so sweet looking) and headed up the hill to grab some post race fuel. There were tables set up with lots of volunteers handing out apples, bagels, hot chocolate and water.

Overall, the race was very well organized and a lot of fun to run. I can’t wait until next year where I will beat my time, fo sho!

Did you run a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving?

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