“Bite off more than you can chew, and then keep chewing”
Joe Desena
I am still chewing!!!!
It has been a busy week, and the Spartan Fit program has kept me on my toes.
Day 6 - involved a nice little run. Time goal was 20 minutes with a sub maximal effort, just below lactate threshold. The good news from this end is that it felt good and I managed a really good cadence of 174 strides / minute. Whilst it's still a way off elite standards, it is progress and mentally the whole workout felt really good.
Day 7 - was all about learning to love the burpee. Impossible she thought. This workout was a big enough challenge that I found myself simply sucking it up and getting on with it. When you make a commitment to a challenge like this, there is no other option. Just get it done. 6 minutes of hang time and 125 interesting burpees later, my upper body was feeling it and my mind was focused.
Day 8 - heavy carry up a hill. I do in fact really enjoy a heavy carry up a hill, for the challenge it gives me. At the beginning of the year a workout like this would have had me in tears; in fact did have me in tears doing almost the same thing. On Day 8 I shouldered my pack (roughly 20kg) and walked up a great big hill, a total elevation gain of about 165m; and then walked back down again. The requirement of the workout was to keep the pack on my back for 40 minutes without a break. A huge challenge when shoulders ache and its hot and sweaty and almost everything in me wanted to put it down; but the tiny voice inside said keep going, so I did.
Day 9 - Ahhhh ... everybody loves a recovery day. My prescription today was to spend quality time with my children; to recharge my batteries and ready myself for the challenge of tomorrow.
Day 10 - The HERO workout! So glad I rested yesterday. This challenge was huge - accumulated hang time, with a penalty for each drop from the bar. I dropped many more times than I care to count and my total time of 23:45 compared to the goal time of 10:00 gives you an indication of the mental and physical challenge involved. The hardest part of this effort for me was committing to jumping up again after each fall and committing to grabbing the bar and holding on. I knew it was going to hurt. I knew it was going to be hard. I knew I would not be doing anything else until my time goal was met. 23 minutes and 45 seconds later - task done.
Day 11 - the program says to play a sport that you love for an hour. It was Sunday and I was committed to the Spartan Lunges for a Cause challenge - 1km of lunges and 300 burpees done in a ladder - 42m lunges and 1 extra burpee each lap for a total of 24 laps. As I love doing Spartan races and it could almost be considered a sport, I took this as appropriate for the requirements for the Spartan Fit challenge. The learning for today - music really does make a difference. I dialled up a Youtube playlist of the 100 greatest songs of all time. Not knowing what to expect I was delighted throughout the workout to hear Rolling Stones Sympathy for the Devil and the Top Gun Classic - You've lost that loving feeling - right when my legs really started to feel it!! But exactly the moment when I needed it most along came "I feel good" by James Brown and I just wanted to dance. Video footage of that precise moment doesn't quite show the magic, but I can tell you it felt great to let my disco queen out mid lunge. Lunges done, burpees complete it was back to normal Sunday of lazy breakfast and taking it easy.
My Spartan Fit 30 day challenge is now over 30% complete.
I feel stronger - physically and mentally.
I am loving the challenge as I look at the workout each day. I don't look ahead, I just take each day as it comes and get it done. I really try to stay in the moment and give it everything I've got each time.
I am excited about what I can achieve in the next 19 days.
Today is Monday, Day 12 ... in just a little while I'll be heading outside to get it done. Stay tuned, details will follow.
