Getting your period can ruin an important day. Getting your period the night before a Spartan Race can put a person into panic mode. The night before my second Spartan Race, I realized that I got my period a few days early. I started flipping out… how I would be able to trek up Blue Mountain with cramps, and worst of all, how would I make it through the mud pits and swims with Aunt Flo around? I knew how tough my first Spartan Race had been and I was really worried.

The morning of the race, I packed my bag and made sure to include a bunch of my favorite U by Kotex Sleek tampons – better to be safe than sorry right?

Right before our wave time, I hit up the port-a-potty. The no-slip grip on the tampons made using my port-a-potty experience a little more bearable. If you’ve ever used a port-a-potty before a race, you know what I’m talking about.

Getting to the starting line I was a bag of nerves. Not only was I terrified at the view of the sandbag carry ahead of me, I was nervous about springing a leak in the woods. Throughout the race, I felt great. I was able to conquer most of the obstacles (and burpees!) and not really worry about having my period because I knew I was protected.

After reaching the finish line, I hightailed it back to the port-a-potty before heading to the beer tent. I was tired and relieved that I made it through the race without any accidents. I was also excited that I was able to smash the stereotypes that women are incapable of exercise on their period. (Yes, there are people who still believe that! Crazy I know!)

A victory for me thanks to U by Kotex!

You can learn more about U by Kotex on Facebook and Twitter.

Have you ever tried U by Kotex?

I wrote this review while participating in a content series through Clever Girls Collective on behalf of U by Kotex, and received products to facilitate my post and compensation for my time to participate.

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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?

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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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What do these two events have in common? I am pushing my boundaries. I am doing things that I thought were impossible for me to do, and guess what? They are possible. A few weeks ago I received an email telling me that I had been chosen by Reebok and Fitfluential to be a part of Team Fitfluetial in the upcoming Spartan Race in Tuxedo, New York.

My reaction? Breathe in, breathe out..holy crap, this is so exciting! Breathe in, breathe out..holy crap, I haven’t run in months!

So what’s a girl to do? Lace up her sneakers – her new and very blue Reebok Sublite Duos and push her boundaries.

I ran a three mile loop, and by ran I mean ran quickly and almost effortlessly down the hill and struggles and walked for parts back. In the end, I felt tired but refreshed and I knew that I could do this. I feel that Crossfit is preparing me for the obstacle portion of the race and I am planning on staying after this Friday to try to master the rope climb. Now the only thing I need to do is practice my burpees because I have a feeling I will be doing a whole lot of those in the near future! While the Spartan Race isn’t your typical “mud run” I am feeling confident. I feel like I will be able to get through it, but I know that it will be a challenge. Life is about pushing your boundaries and mastering challenges and the Spartan Race is no different.

Have you ever done an obstacle course race?

Reebok has provided me with training gear and entry into the Spartan Race. All opinions are my own.

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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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