Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention...

We have less than one year left! 


Holy cow! It seemed like this day would never come! As soon as we realized this day was getting close, time seemed sllooowwww dddooowwwwnnnnnnnn....

But, finally we have hit the mark (well a few days ago actually)! Now we can say that we have less than one year until he gets out of the Navy!

Less than one year until we find a new "normal".
Less than one year until I get my husband for more than 2 days at a time.
Less than one year until we get to start making plans for the rest of our lives!
Less than one year until we get to start the baby makin'! ;)
Less than one year until I get my dance partner back.

We're buying a house this year.
We're saving like crazy this year.
We have so many things to look forward to this year.

This also means there will be a few lasts.
The last holidays apart.
The last birthdays apart.
The last of having two apartments.
The last year of nightly web cam dates.
The last of weekly 3 hour drives.
The last couple of deployments.
Sadly, the last Navy Balls. < I will really miss that part.
The last of seeing him in his adorable uniform. :D

I'm sure there is more for all these lists, but you get the point. 

So. Excited.

I'm sure there will be many more updates this year than last. Last year we just kind of hunkered down and got through it.

This year is going to be crazy, and exciting, and we were smiling so big last night while we were talking about it. 


Friday, October 19, 2012

Reflections from Yoga Last Night

I'm cross-posting this with some minor edits, from my fitness blog.

To start, I haven’t been to a yoga class in just under 4 years. I started going during Monkey's first deployment when I found myself restless, stressed, and missing him very very much. I hadn’t slept well for two weeks. There was a yoga studio next to my dance studio and I decided to take a drop-in class one evening. Slept. Like. A. Rock. I don’t know if it was the physical exhaustion from sweating out half your body weight in a 100 degree room, or if I was actually able to find center and clear my mind long enough to fall asleep. But it was miraculous.


I kept it up until I either ran out of time, or money. I can’t recall which. Either way, I eventually fell out of it. I don’t even remember if I missed it. But I did remember how good it made me feel. Yet, I’ve been afraid to go back. I’m not sure where that’s coming from. I thought, perhaps I feared I would be “bad” at it after all this time. But I’m the kind of person who’s up for anything. I learned a long time ago to stop caring how I perceived myself in learning  a new skill. Everyone starts in the same place. I don’t even care if people judge me for “sucking” anymore. Whatev’s. This is my journey and I’m here for me.

I have yet to answer this question for myself. But last night, I went back to yoga. My schedule got all mish-mashed having to work late Tuesday night; so I decided to do an extra day at ME Fitness in NE Portland. After a quick TRX blast class, and 30 minutes on the ‘gluteal’ setting on the elliptical, I mustered up a pretend confidence and dropped in on the last yoga class of the night.
I giggle a little on the inside at hearing the CD of chimes and “Ommm’s” in the background. The perfectly 78 degree room warmed me from the inside out. I was excited for a good stretch after a hard 3 days of gym/dance/muay thai. I placed my rental mat on the empty floor and stashed my things in a cubby. I return to my mat to find that I have placed it in the wrong direction now that other students were arriving and eyeballing my miss-placed set up.

I lowered myself onto my newly correctly orientated mat, and started slowly stretching out in a very non-yogi style. Class begins and I’m delighted and disappointing at the same time. It was harder than I remember.

I’m never one to turn down a physical challenge, so I welcomed the extra workout after my previous hour. But, I was hoping for more of a pure stretch out. I understand there are many different types of yoga. I guess this one isn’t the stretchy kind. I enjoyed it regardless. I learned some new ways to pretzelfy myself in some position named after a bird. We performed lots and lots of downward dog, achieving an always needed entire-back-of-the-leg stretch.  I found myself wishing I hadn’t just ellipsed for 30 minutes prior. My shaking legs made me feel weak and disappointed in my performance. I decided I didn’t care. As long as I was pushing myself as hard as I could, I would be getting something out of it.

Next we moved to inverted positions. Well, I attempted to move to an inverted position. I can do a headstand all day long in a tripod position. Not so much in the elbows-on-the-floor-hands-behind-head position. I tried my hardest not to look like a duck chasing fish under the water with my tail feathers flitting around in the air. Also, I forgot about the T4 syndrome I’m recovering from. Owie. Guess I won’t be trying that again any time soon. Disappointing but probably a good idea.
Lastly, we returned to the floor to slow down, find center, and practice a few of our own “Oooommm’s”. At first I felt goofy, always starting a second after the others, but a smile crossed my face as I relished in the harmonies we were making. The lower voices of the lone male yogi, and the varied soft female voices created a harmonious chord which truly brought me joy. The energy gave a final peace to my evening.

I left feeling accomplished in the challenged and a little more tired than expected. But I remembered the familiar calm and comfort from 4 years prior when the practice was a necessity.  I drove home with a clear head and a calm mind.

Today, my neck is reminding me that I forgot about its injury, but otherwise, still relishing in the experience. However, I still have a hesitation about going back. Though I know that as soon as I get there I will be glad I did. I’m wondering where this internal reluctance is coming from. It is always thwarted once my feet are on the mat.

Any thoughts? Have you experienced this with things in your life?
Do you do Yoga? What is your favorite thing about it?

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Sunday, October 7, 2012

Another GIVEAWAY!!!

Hey guys, thought I would let you know that I've got another giveaway going on on my Fitness Blog. Here's the deets:

A few weeks ago I posted a review of Coromega’s delicious Omega 3 supplements. They not only taste better (as a matter of fact they are very tasty) than your traditional variations of Omega supplements, their patented emulsion process allows Coromega to be absorbed into your bloodstream 300% better than softgels.


Coromega is so sure of their claim that they invited me to take the Coromega 90 day challenge. I was given an Omega 3 test to check my levels, and I will take one tasty Coromega squeeze every day for 90 days. Afterwards, I will take the test again and see how my Omega levels have, presumably, risen. I will of course, share all the details here.

I will write a full post with updates along the way as soon as I receive my first test results.
Curious about Coromega’s amazing claim to make a product that not only works better but tastes better? Here’s your chance! They have offered to give one of my lucky followers a 90 day supply of the same yummy squeezes I received! You can take them straight from the tube or even mix them in a smoothie. I like to squeeze it into my fruity protein drink after my workout.

To enter, complete entries in the Rafflecopter widget below, or on the FunkyFitnessPDX Facebook page!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

The post about nothing.

I promise you that I have not been neglecting the blog because of my other blog. There really truly is nothing of note going on. The boat is doing boat stuff that I'm not allowed to talk about on here, and we're just kinda in a holding pattern getting sporadically pissed off at the Navy for the same ol' same ol' mostly out of frustration of a lack of schedule. You all know how that goes.

I guess there is some sort of news. The Navy birthday ball is coming up and I actually already have a dress. I just have to get a brooch for it, because it has been lost. Don't feel like getting all upset by explaining the how. It's just missing and now i need to find a replacement. There are several candidates on Etsy, I just need to pick on this week so make sure it gets here in time without having to over pay for shipping.

We're getting closer and closer (oh so very slowly) to Monkey's one-year-left mark. He decided quite some time ago that he is not reenlisting. A career in the Navy is for some, but not for us. We're excited to move into a new normal and really start our lives together. It's going to be a little scary, especially money-wise for a bit, but we're totally stoked to be figuring it all out together. :)

My offices are moving into a historic building in Fort Vancouver. So, we're literally in what was a military base. The idea seems cool, and the building is very neat. But, the whole scenario is a bit eerie for me. It just feels a little unsettling to be on a military base. Even being from the 1900's it still feels like Monkey's base and it's weird for me, for some reason. I know it's really going to sink in when he's deployed and I'm walking around a military base every day. Or, maybe I'll just get so used to it that I won't notice? I hope that's the case. I used to run through there on my lunch breaks and I would get super nostalgic and miss him like crazy, can't imagine what that's going to be like on a daily basis. Guess I'll find out.

We're sticking it out in this apartment for one more year. The rent is going to go up again but it's the best apartment I've ever lived in. I was thinking about moving into a cheaper place but Monkey wants us to move once he gets out so we can have a new shared space. Since I spend so much time in this apartment I think he feels like I have kind of claimed the territory. I won't have a problem 'unclaiming' it but I also don't mind a fresh start to go with our new lives. So, I'm not really going to argue. We kind of want to find something that is more central to our dancing activities anyway since we'll be able to do that much more often. Money permitting.

Mm, I think that about it. I always end up writing more in these "I have nothing to say" posts than I think I'm going to. I guess I just have to sit down and start writing. Anyway, that's what's up. Catch ya later.
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Wednesday, September 19, 2012

GIVEAWAY!!!

Hey! I have my very first giveaway! Well, it's mine but it's not on this blog. But I know a lot of you are awesome fitness divas and figured you would like this one anyway. 


Jump on over to my fitness blog FunkyFitnessPDX for all the deets - OR - Jump straight to the Facebook page and enter right away. 

Its super easy to enter! Promise!

AND because I love you all the best, I'll give an extra entry to anyone to enters the giveaway and also comments on this post!

Good luck!

Oh wait! What was I thinking?! This is blogger so I can post the entry form right here! Yay for you, you don't have to go anywhere! :D

a Rafflecopter giveaway  
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Saturday, August 25, 2012

ViewSPORT Shirts with Free Shipping discount code

Hey all! Have you seen ViewSPORT shirts yet? They're pretty awesome. Inspirational shirts that turn perspiration in to motivation with sweat activated messages! What!? Cool right?

Well, what's even cooler is that I have a discount code for you all for FREE SHIPPING on any two shirts, right now! Check it out.

I’m headed out for my Saturday adventures wearing my new “Run with Heart” tank, in honor of the Hood to Coast race going on right now in my neck of the woods! And, to celebrate, I have a special offer for all my awesome readers. (Pst, if you’re reading this, that’s you! Yes you. You’re awesome!)


Free shipping offer has expired, but you can still use code "funkyfitness" for 10% off your ViewSPORT order!

Here are some handy links:
ViewSPORT home page –> here

*Note on discounts codes: These discounts codes are provided to me by ViewSPORT. I do not have control over the longevity of the code. I apologize if they stop working.



Related articles
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Thursday, August 23, 2012

How to be awesome at racquet ball.

Well it would look something like this ;)






Sunday, August 12, 2012

More VEDA

If you're wondering where I've been...

I've been Vlogging! I am participating in something called VEDA (Vlog/Video Every Day in August), where fellow vloggers vlog based on a daily theme prompt. Yesterday's theme was "Dress up. Tiaras encouraged". WELL! If there was ever a day to have fun with, this would be the day for me. :D Also, hubby was home for a whole day (:/)  So, I got him to play along, too. Aaaannnddd... this is what happend. Enjoy!






Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Saturday, August 4, 2012

My first Vlog!

Well hey there! Check out the vlog segment I put together for my new fitness blog. Today I reviewed Wello. An online live personal training session via video chat. Pretty slick!


Latest Shenanigans

So, I'm actually having a bit of trouble keeping up with both blogs, so I'm going to be a little bit lazy here. I'm going to make you click through. I'm sorry. But it will be worth it!

But first. Update on the neck situation:
I'm about 60% better than I was when I wrote that first post (that was a bad day). It's still really uncomfortable and I have about 70% mobility. If I move too fast it catches, and boy oh boy is that "uncomfortable". My chiropractor taped me up with some KT tape and it's doing wonders. At first I didn't think it was helping, so just before my last appt I took it off. It was also kind of starting to itch. I immediately regretted it. So, before I left her office I had her tape me back up. I wish I had someone here to tape me back up when these "racing stripes" eventually come off.

So, because of this bum neck situation, I haven't been able to workout out all week. Which means I'm going crazy. I have 3 more sessions on my parkour groupon and I can't go to that. I'm not even really supposed to go to ballet (though I might try it anyway, maybe beginner ballet or something).

BUT! I have been waiting for a good time to try out something called Wello. It's an online, one-on-one live video personal training session! How slick is that? I contacted Wello to see if they had someone who could work around my gimpy neck and they replied with great enthusiasm that they have trainers who specialize in physical therapy and recovery and specifically recommended a few of them. So in a few hours I have my first Wello session, which I plan to write a blog post about as well. 

So, all of this loops back around to the original point of this blog post. I hurt my neck because I was sore from my first Parkour class. Which I have written a post about on my new fitness blog FunkyFitnessPDX! (Btw, you should come follow me. I would love you for it. Aaand I might be doing a giveaway soon, soo.... )



Alright, that about covers everything. I'm broken, I'm bored, and I've been blogging! Check it! 
Oh, I guess in Navy news... umm... husband has Saturday duty so won't be seeing him for another week. Last month we saw each other for 4 days. And not even 4 straight days. Still have no idea when leave is supposed to be. Semper Gumby, Hooyah and stuff!


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Wednesday, August 1, 2012

I broke myself

So, I'm incredibly bored right now. Why? Because I am forcibly immobile. I sprained my neck. That's right...sprained... my neck. Because I'm just a freaking kick ass ninja freaking princess like that! Yup.

Doctor's orders: Move slowly, no exercise the rest of the week, we'll see about this weekend after a follow up on Friday. Super. If you know me then you know that I'm going to die. No really, I just might. I might just curl up and die from not being able to workout. I'm a crazy person like that. My hobbies are dancing, muay thai, and anything else that burns calories. In mass quantities I literally don't know what to do with myself.

Official mumbo jumbo is T4 syndrome, muscle spasms, and sprained/strained neck. So, I broke myself and my neck is "really angry". <--That there is official doctor speak.

I took the day off work because it's hard to drive when you can't turn your head. And after a couple hours of pittering around the interwebs, I'm bored! Soooo bored! I guess I have stuff to blog about on my new fitness blog, but I also don't feel like thinking. Watching movies is just uncomfortable.... *whine whine, excuses excuses* And of course, no husband to take care of me. Such is life.

Um, yeah so that's it. I just needed to whine a little. Anyone want to bring me a water bottle with a straw, some magical no calorie chocolate (since I can't work it off), and entertain me? Maybe a puppet show, or a massage. I'd like puppet show. Thanks, see you soon.




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Thursday, July 12, 2012

New Blog

Don't worry! I'm not leaving here. But, I have started another blog. It is an alternative fitness blog for the Portland area. I cover as many cool fitnessy and active things as I can find, along with product reviews and all those other bloggy things. Even if you don't live near Portland, you can still get fun ideas and find them in your area.

Please go check it out! Maybe like and share some stuff? I'm trying to get up to 100 followers as quickly as possible so I can connect with some networks.

It also has a companion twitter page @funkyfitnesspdx

Here's the URL! http://funkyfitnesspdx.wordpress.com/

Thanks guys!

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Dance, Dance!

A little over a year ago I put away my ballet slippers and put on a pair for boxing gloves. Since then I've missed those dirty pink slippers terribly. This week I finally got to put them back on. It was amazing. Painful, but amazing!

On Thursday I took my very first lyrical and contemporary classes. I had some time off of work and I wanted to try some new things. Saturday I was supposed to take a highly anticipated ballet class but ended up taking a hike up Mt. Hood with some friends instead. Monkey has the "weekend killer" Saturday duty so he's not home this weekend. So, this morning I got up early, had my oatmeal and made my way out to SW Portland for a beginner/intermediate ballet class that I found through Groupon. It was confusing, painful, and uterly fantastic! Oh my goodness I have lost so much, but it felt sooooo good to be back at the barre and out on the floor. I smiled the whole time. Afterwards there was a very beginner class so I stuck around for that one, too so I could work on some of the specific things that I couldn't do in the previous, faster paced class.

All in all I ended up spending two and a half hours dancing. Oh happy ballerina day! I can't wait for next week. :D

Friday, July 6, 2012

Well I've been a busy bee!

I've been running here there and everywhere doing everything that I've been meaning to do for months. Well, all the fun stuff anyway. I still have a bunch of free lance stuff I keep promising people.

Anyway, I decided to use my days off to go to all the fitness and dance classes that I've been meaning to try. So over the last couple of days I have been to Barre 3 classes, a contemporary and lyrical dance class, and a pole conditioning class. Today, I need a massage. Tomorrow I'm going to a ballet class. And Sunday I'm going to a Ballet/Contemporary fitness class.

All this was 50% for me and 50% for my new blog! I'm starting an alternative fitness blog. I'll basically find all the cool active stuff there is to do around Portland and write features, and reviews mixed with some recipes, nutrition, and product reviews. I'm having so much fun with this, I wish I could do this as my job!

I'm not quite ready to release the url for the blog just yet. I want to have a few solid articles up before it goes live and I have tidbits of stuff to fill in on each of my 5 features that I've already written. But, if you're as excited about this as I am, or just want to be my pal. Could you please follow the blog on Twitter? @funkyfitnesspdx

You'll get teasers of what's to come and be the first to know when the blog goes live. I know most of you don't live in portland but A. You can still use the features as ideas and find stuff in your area, and B. I would be very grateful. :)

Don't worry, I'll still be writing here as well.

See ya! I'm going to have some breakfast and think about going to noon kickboxing.

Monday, July 2, 2012

In other news

Here are some random tidbits of what's going on right meow.

Over the weekend

Yesterday we went to Multnomah falls with a friend of Monkey's and hiked the equivalent of 236 flights of stairs. By the end of the day I could barely lift my legs. Today my hips and knees are sore and I have two blisters on my right foot. Definitely worth it for the fresh air, time with Monkey, and some awesome exercise. Especially since we spent the first couple of miles speed hiking to get past all the tourists and lollygaggers at the bottom.

I think this is maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of the way to the tippy tippy top. Monkey sportin his Spartan Race t-shirt from a couple weeks ago.
 
We don't often get a picture of the two of us that wasn't taken at arms length.

Like this one. :)  PS, I'll be the first to admit, I airbrushed this pic. (Crows feet, blemishes...) Yeah, I'm one of those girls, well sometimes. But hey, if I paid for the education to learn how, I might as well use it for my own good.





Anyway, on to the "other news" part of this post. 

This Week

This week I was supposed to be on vacation. However I greatly miss-guessed when their stand down/leave period would be. I figured I would reserve a week off then move it to the right or left when I knew more. Yeah, I was a little too far off. Like,  a month or so off. Since I really want to take some time off but couldn't possibly occupy myself for a whole week alone, I opted to just shorten it and take three days. Even at that, I'm not sure I'll be able to fill all of my time. Though, I suppose I could use the extra time to catch up on the freelance design stuff I've been promising people. 

Anyway, I'm taking Wed-Friday off to spend all by myself. It took me forever to decide which three days to take off. I won't go into details about my scaterbrained reasoning for why this decision was so difficult, but the final choice was pretty much decided by the fact that we are presenting the next round of logo comps we've been working on for weeks and I really want mine to be chosen so I want to be here for the presentation. 

I have lined up a schedule of all the fun fitness and dance classes that I've been meaning to take for quite some time. I'm also going to finally use the spa package Monkey bought be for my birthday. And then hopefully, go hiking again with some friends. Since my days off runs right into my weekend and Monkey has the "weekend killer" Saturday duty and I won't see him at all this weekend, I'll just carry that over through Saturday and Sunday as well. I bought a Groupon for some ballet-fitness classes that look like fun. So, pretty much I'll be exercising all day for 5 days straight. Well, except for that spa day. And, that sounds like the best 5 days ever. It could only be better if Monkey was here too.


Sunday, June 24, 2012

Good times in Poulsbo.

Monkey was supposed to be working part of the day on Saturday so I drove up to spend the weekend in WA. He ended up not having to work so, while he could have come down to Portland, and least we were able to take advantage of it and take a little trip over to Poulsbo for some dinner and waterfront ice cream eating. :D

I love Poulsbo! I want to live there so much. It's an adorable little Norwegian waterfront town. We've made a tradition of going there for dinner, then getting ice cream and walking down the waterfront at sunset. Love it. Such a sweet evening with my love.

So that's what we were doing tonight. My tummy and my heart are quite full. Enjoy some pics.








Saturday, June 23, 2012

More Pics from Spartan Race

In no particular order: The professional pics from Spartan Race. Enjoy!

  

















Sunday, June 17, 2012

Spartan Race!

Yesterday was an epic day of excitement, mud, team work, and triumph!!! It was Spartan Race!!!

My day started like many other Saturdays; trying to pry a sleepy Monkey out of bed. The rest of the day, however, was much less typical.

After a quick stop to have a friend french braid my hair, we were off to Sports Authority to pick up something for Monkey in black and green. The girls had already picked out our outfits but we weren't sure that he was going to be able to even come home this weekend until the very last minute. Originally we had a four person team. Then it was two, then maybe three, then two, then almost one, then two, then we ended up with three. (Navy - enough said) We would have had the 4th but he sprained his ankle playing ultimate frisbee the week before. 



Then it was off to Vancouver to pick up our comrades for the day. They had come down from Bangor the night before. After a quick stop to get cash and "perky jerky" we were off to become Spartans.

As we stood in the parking lot writing our bib numbers on various body parts as instructed by the "packet", we watched rounds of earlier runners come back cover in scratches, mud, and some with limps, slings, and bandages. We all gave nervous laughs.

We made it through registration with no snafus and started attaching timer chips and participant bracelets. Then we pre-shopped the swag tent, took a few pictures, and settled into a place in the shade to chill until our heat started.



We decided that we were going start in the back of the pack so that we wouldn't get trampled and wouldn't wear ourselves out. And that's what happened, except that then we got stuck behind all the walkers with nowhere to pass. So, the first half mile or so was nice uphill nature hike. Oh well, we weren't going for time any way. :)

The first obstacles were some easy over/under walls, then some tall walls. Lindsey, had an injured shoulder going into the race so we worked together to help her over the wall, then I would get a leg-up from Monkey and then he would get himself over the wall. It's wasn't always graceful but we did it!

Then came the first of two barbed wire crawls. These things meant business. The good thing about being small is that most of the time I could crawl on my hands and knees to maneuver the hills, valleys, and water trenches. Some places there was no choice but to get your belly to the ground and use elbows and toes to move forward. It wouldn't have been so bad except that the mud was gravely so there were tons of sharp little rocks and safety pins that had fallen off of the other racers' bibs. Oh, and they were spraying everyone with freezing cold water. That was... awesome. (*sarcasm*)   And it just kept coming! Just as you get past the first couple hills and you have your sites set on the last big hump, you make it over to see... more barbed wire. Mustering up more grit you push through what must be the last of it, then... more barbed wire. Eventually you hear someone on a megaphone yelling orders and exhausted cheers of the competitors who have finally made it out. My knees we so happy to be done! 

A blur of hills, tunnels, water/mud pits, and a GIANT slide down into a water hole followed. After carrying sand bags and cinder blocks up and down a few more hills, we came to the dreaded rope climb!
I had practiced a couple times on a rope at the gym but was never able to make it all the way to the top for fear of not being able to safely repel. These ropes however had knots in them which made it easier, though ultimately kept me from making it to the top. I wasn't using the foot-locking method that I had worked on because I didn't need it for 90% of the climb. But then I got to the top and the last knot was just 3 inches too high for me to get my feet on. At that point was too tired to hang on to get the rope wrapped around my foot. So, I had to call it quits just a few feet from the bell. I slipped down about 10 feet of the rope until I caught myself on one of the knots. Scared the crap out of me! Then I had to climb out of the water and go do my 30 "I-couldn't-do-it" burpies.

So close!

Lindsey after her burpies.

Me, after my burpies.

All of us, after rope climb burpies.

From here we continued to the javelin throw. You had to make it stick in bail of hay. And if you didn't, guess what... more burpies. I didn't make it. Burpies for me. I think Monkey got his to stick though.

Next the boldering wall. I luckily had 7 years of summer camp on my side and I jiggered my way across like a semi-pro. "Ding Ding!", went the bell as I finished burpie-free!

Next up, more running, and another barbed wire crawl. This time, up a huge hill! It was daunting to see hundreds of people covering a hillside; crawling and sliding. Every few minutes the army of Spartans let out wave of "Ahroo, Ahroo"s as we cheered on the entire hillside in an effort to keep moving forward. The worst and best part of this climb was that we were constantly getting stuck behind people who were stuck or tired and were in our way. It was frustrating to have to wait for them to move while being pinned in the mud ducked under barbed wire; but it forcefully created and comradeship of neighboring Spartans, acting as braces for slipping shoes and cheering on the muddy stranger in front of you.

After we collected our group at the top of the hill, we maneuvered our way down a slippery slope to a set of Spartan monkey bars. The kid on the microphone was advising that "dirt is our friend" "if your hands are wet you will not make it", so we caked on as much dirt to our freshly rinsed hands as possible. I didn't have high hopes for this obstacle. I had never been any good at monkey bars. But I carefully pawed my way across one bar at a time and made it through burpie-free!

Then, guess what... more up hill running! From somewhere, I had gotten a second wind and was eager to finish strong. Up the hill we went to the last set of challenges. We climbed over a swinging cargo net, scaled a muddy rope-wall and jogged around a corner as on-lookers cheered us on letting us know that it was almost over. The last obstacle was a lillypad jump from one 7inch post to the next. Unfortunately for me, this was where my being small was a huge disadvantage. They were just set too far apart. Couple with being wobbly and cover in mud, I didn't even make it to the second post. Monkey attempted this obstacle a bit too ambitiously and took a painful spill, mostly damaging his... um, pride.



"I'm ok..." he says.
And that's my foot, on the left side of the picture.

Lindsey making her way across.

Monkey still recovering as we walk up the hill to complete our burpies.
  And that was the very last obstacle before the grande finale fire jump! We took a moment to compose ourselves as Lindsey sprinted past us eager to finish. Then we ran, hand in hand, and leaped over the fire together.



Just before the finish line there was a gauntlet of lack luster Spartan warriors with big padded sticks. I was fearing them based on the videos I had seen, but they weren't even trying. Oh well, I was so pooped at the point anyway. 

At the finish line we were given a medal, t-shirt, bananas, and cocoanut water. I don't like bananas but I was so hungry I didn't care.

We took a few muddy pics for memories then hosed off in the sponsored showers amongst 100 other participants' yelps of surprise shots of cold water and finding various cuts and scrapes with the supplied soap.

 
 

We hit the swag tent and decided to call it a day and headed out to Shari's for some grub! We were still pretty filthy, even after a change of clothes, when we strolled into the restaurant and were received with confusion and amusement by the wait staff.



After we finally made it home, several hours after we had finished, and it was time for a highly anticipated hot shower. We probably showered for at least an hour and still couldn't get all the dirt off. With most of the grime down the drain it was time to survey the damage.

My Spartan knees! They are even more sexy today now that the bruises have set it. Oh yeah baby, hottness right here!
So all in all, it was a pretty amazing day! I wish that all four of us could have done it together. But it looks like we will being doing it again next year as our injured comrade signed up for next year's race already.

Today, I am sore and bruised and chilling out for the day. Monkey, after being gone for a month, was unfortunately only able to squeek out one day off and is back at work today, a duty day, of all days. So I will stay occupied documenting our adventures and reliving memories with the use of every achy muscle.

AHROO!