Combo Number Gross: Running & Texas Feasts

Nolan and I have spent the week in Austin working on the Texas event. It has been delicious. But I’m feeling the burn—not the good kind in your biceps from pumping iron with Sean. The bad kind in your stomach and heart from pumping your body full of breakfast tacos and pit BBQ.

When I arrived, I was full of dreams and illusions. I thought I could work and work out. I was so sure I wouldn't let being on the road stop me from working out. I even bragged to friend of TMHQ Jason GoRuck (I’m pretty sure he has a real last name, but results are unclear.) I was all Jason, I can have it all! I can run on the hotel treadmill while transferring Tri-State registrations from Saturday to Sunday and while eating a burrito!!!!

I did not run while holding a burrito. But it's gotten pretty close, since there are few moments here when I am not consuming food.

Can it be only a week ago that I was exposed to the joys of eating all you can eat in Texas?

I was so young back then. So naive.

I started out strong. I ran on the treadmill on Monday, and I lifted on Tuesday. Then Wednesday rolled along, and I woke up feeling not so great. Did you know you can be hungover from too many fajitas?

But Thursday night, I didn't want to let myself continue down this road. I wasn't ready to find out what rock-bottom was. I could just see myself waking up in some hotel room surrounded by old, half eaten bacon egg and cheese taquitos. So I put down the new bacon egg and cheese taquito and decided to go for a run.

Also, it was about 80 kajillion degrees out. It was the absolute worst. I felt so hot and full of cheese that all I could think was I really wish that alligator would eat me and put me out of my misery.

Then all I could think was OMG AN ALLIGATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was very close to this alligator.

That three minute panicked, frenzied run away from the alligator was probably the real physical challenge of that entire workout.

I think I'll focus on training once I get back to New York. Right now I'll probably burn off all this Texas food if I just sit here, watching Law and Order SVU, breathing, and not eating cheese.

Sophie in low places

I didn't work out today, because I am under the weather. Not feeling good is making me sad.

Texas is so confusing. For instance, Why is it always raining when it is sunny?

Another confusing thing about Texas was when we had lunch today, because it was the first non-Mexican food of the trip. All I could think was Why is this meat not in a burrito?

Between feeling sick, the rain, and the non-burrito food, we'd hit a low point. Well, I had hit a low point. And when I'm not feeling good, I make sure no one else is feeling good. Especially Nolan. That way everyone is equal.

But then we saw this cow friend, and I started feeling a little better.

And then that sunny rain turned into a rainbow!

Then I felt a lot better. But no, I still don't want to work out. There are so many heavy burritos in my stomach, just walking around is like doing lunges with 25 pound** weights.

**I have not gained 25 pounds. I hope.

Even the spiders...

Are bigger in Texas. It's probably because they eat so much protein.

Nolan, TMHQ's redhead, I are down here in Texas to check things out for the Austin event. We were driving along, thinking everything was fine. And then we saw THESE:

I'm not sure if you can tell from the photo, but it is approximately eighty gajillion inches across.

Run for the mud (hills?)

Running is fun when you take in the scenery. Except not fun if when you pause to take a picture someone tries to steal your wallet. New York always keeps you on your toes.

At Customer Service, I get a lot of questions about training for Tough Mudder, specifically about the relative importance of running versus lifting. Of course strength is important. Sean is always on my case about lifting more, and he's right. Also, some people think running is boring, especially if you're on a treadmill. More like brain-dead-mill, am I right? Hello? Is this thing on?

But hello, Tough Mudder is a lot about running. It's important, and it can be fun. Many famous people in different eras have been running enthusiasts. When Bill Clinton was president, he was known to go jogging. Yes, it counts when you're running to get McDonalds--it's about the journey, not the destination. Ed Norton did the NYC marathon, and he's awesome. President John Quincy Adams enjoyed swimming naked in the Potomac River--and maybe if he'd gone running more, people wouldn't have run away screaming every time he prepared to take a dip.

I usually run 3--4 times a week--hill training, sprints, and one or two plain distance runs. The other day I ran five miles, and I want to do 5.5 next week. One of my favorite things about summer, besides ice cream (...I mean...protein powder?) is getting to run outside. It's great to see NYC waking up, and I feel like I get let in on a little secret side of New York, and no I don't mean the gentleman's club The Secret Side by the East River. Get your mind out of the gutter, mudders.

I like to run through the West Village, because a)it's beautiful

and b)maybe I will see a famous person.

Here's the Union Square farmer's market getting set up. I wanted to stop and buy some cookies, but then I realized how sad that would look. Also, I suspect Sean would somehow find out and then I'd be in big trouble.

Every time I run past the W Hotel in Union Square, I think "Sure, you may be fancy and awesome and full of cool people...but can you run through fire? I don't even see you registered in active.com."

Then it's time for work, where sometimes the guys make smoothies! FUN! Except why does this taste like Dogfish?

Monday, July 19th: A woman, a plan, a Canal Street

Training plans are key. We all know that. But what about the rest of your life? What is the point of a plan if it means you have to miss out on the things that are important to you? When is it worth sacrificing for the sake of Tough Mudder?

All week I'd imagined that Saturday I would wake up in the morning, go to spinning class, and then go the farmer's market on the way home. I wanted my roommates to wake up to fresh flowers in a vase and some freshly baked pumpkin scones. Then we would all laugh and throw money in the air and Matt Damon would come over and read us Harry Potter. In that plan, I looked like this:

I had forgotten about how much I love fun, specifically fun in the form of staying at Piano's dancing until 4am. That fun looked like this:

Although it was 92 degrees, I tried to go running. That unfun looked like this:

So instead of following my training plan, I hung out with my roommates watching Mad Men for nine hours, complaining about how hot it was. That looked like this:

Even though at first I was worried about skipping a workout, I soon realized two things:

1. A training plan is important--but a key component of it is flexibility. You have to be able to skip a workout now and then when fun things happen. Training does take hard work and discipline, and I'm happy to say Sunday I was back on track doing hill repeats in Central Park.

2. Do NOT buy tequila shots for strangers, because while money may not feel real at night, in the light of day it is incredibly real. And now I have none. It looks like this:

Wednesday, July 14th: (Not at all) Under Pressure

Today is my day off from training, because I have an early morning doctor's appointment.

Update: I have excellent blood pressure.

Monday, July 12th: Pain. Everywhere.

If only the Uhaul came with a free protein shake...what a double whammy!

This weekend I learned that pain can come with a reward. Right now I hurt everywhere, including my eyeballs, but actually that is from falling asleep watching Seinfeld on my computer. The point is, I'm hurting, but the reward is that I learned to push myself, and I know I'm getting stronger.

Let me take you on the guided Tour De Pain...

Shoulders: hurt from training with Sean on Saturday. It was my introduction to cross fit, which is pretty awesome. My two favorite parts were 1. I didn't quit when I was tired, and I ended up using heavier weights than usual. 2. We only had to work out for 20 minutes because it was so intense. We started with some dynamic stretching, and then we did three sets of dead lifts, box jumps, and something I don't know what to call--squats where you swing a weight like a kettlebell. After that we did biceps, which normally I pretty much ignore, except to do kind of lame curls while checking myself out in the mirror. Sean showed me the light and made me admit that it's time to get it together and do real arm exercises.

Biceps: pain from Saturday's workout.

Tendons near my elbows: really hurt, but this is from carrying boxes over the weekend when I moved into my new apartment.

Back muscles: really hurt. Either from the boxes, opening and closing the giant moving truck's door, sleeping on my new mattress, or Sean's workout. Results are unclear.

Legs: Hurt from box jumps with Sean. Also from walking into boxes in the new apartment.

In conclusion, both cross fit and moving day can give you pain, and yet both pains come with rewards--being stronger and having an awesome apartment. So really, it all evens out. Now if only I could find a way to make that reward come in either cash or ice cream form. I'll let you guys know how that works out. I probably need to study the arts of alchemy.

(In case you are wondering, Sunday I ran for 4.5 miles on the tredmill, and today I did abs and spin class.)

SPC

Friday, July 9th: Day 1. The Hills are Tired

If only these guys would pull me up the hill...

Oh. My. Mud. That hill workout made my legs feel like under-cooked Coney Island hotdogs. Speaking of which, I would love a hotdog right now. I'm trying to be healthy and follow Sean's nutrition guidelines, but it's not easy. I made one of his protein shakes last night, because I decided to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge instead of take the subway home. It was beautiful, but I didn't get home until late, so by that point I was not about to start cooking. The shake was delicious, but it turned out I didn't have any ice, so it was awkwardly warm. Also, I had to use water instead of milk, because the milk in the fridge was from June.

The hill workout was tough and definitely made me a little nervous for NorCal, since that is up a mountain. We did the upper loop of Central Park, which has two big hills. I usually don't run with other people, and this was a nice change. Plus, having Lindsay Marathon Queen there helped me push myself, since sometimes when I'm alone I have a tendency to go easy and stop when I could do more.

I'm off to tackle today's customer service emails. Happy Friday!

SPC

Thursday, July 8th: Prepare to Meet Your Mudder

Another time I faced a Tough Mudder challenge--I was the first member of TMHQ

to test out the fire obstacle. But I didn't get a raise. Weird!

Hello friends. I'm Sophie. You may think you know me from customer service. You may actually know me from customer service. Maybe I helped your mom get a spectator ticket. Maybe I helped you transfer your registration from Saturday Tri-State to Sunday Tri-State. Maybe I have seen a lot of awkward photos that you keep sending, hoping to be in the Tough Mudder Universe. (You know who you are.)

But for those of you not familiar with me, I'm the youngest member of Tough Mudder Head Quarters, and as such, the office guinea pig. (At the Bear Creek dry run, I was the one with a camera strapped to my head with duct-tape and a fuzzy ear warmer.) So I will be training for the next three months to run in the Norcal event. I'll be keeping this blog to update you on my training, and maybe some of my feelings. Just kidding. At Tough Mudder we don't have feelings, because those weigh you down and make you run slower.

Training starts tomorrow morning, bright and early in Central Park: hill training with Lindsay, TMHQ's resident marathoner. She even did the race where you run up the Empire State Building. She's for real. I also want to mention Baker and Sean, who helped out a lot with this plan. Baker and I went to college together, where he played lacrosse. He's a pretty serious runner these days now that he's out of school and an "adult," but he didn't exactly get it together to sign up for Bear Creek in time. (Sound familiar?) Sean is a member of E7, one of TMHQ's (my) favorite Tough Mudder teams. They were in the elite start group at Bear Creek, and Sean's pretty much a machine.

Currently, I run in Central Park and go to spinning class at the gym a few times a week. Growing up, I rode horses, and in college I played rugby. My other favorite cardio is shopping for shoes and soft white t-shirts. Needless to say, I'm a little nervous about what's going to happen on October 9th, but I'm feeling positive right now. Maybe it's the dogfish.

SPC