Marathon Mania and Getting Lost on a Mountain

First things first, here are some Crossfit WODs I've done recently.

We did the AMRAP Monday night. I thought I would be totally out of energy, but that was not the case at all. I whizzed through all 15 minutes of this one. It was tough, though. Lots of people were struggling. I appreciated the sprint at the end. I felt like I got a little speed work out of it!

I did the following workout Friday evening. Beth and I worked out right next to each other and tried to keep our pace in check since we were heading out for a run afterwards.

I liked this workout, and my quads were significantly trashed by the end from all the cleans. Farmers walks are never my favorite, but luckily it was only 200 and 100 meters worth.

Friday night after the workout, Beth, Jess and I headed out to Cougar Mountain with Jess's dog Katie in tow.

Me, Beth and Jess. This pic was not from Friday night.

The plan was to run for about an hour and a half. We had assumed it would be dark by the time we got there and that we would need head lamps and flashlights, but it actually wasn't dark at all! So, being the incredibly smart runners that we are, we headed into the woods without lights of any kind. Safety first! I know, I know. So dumb.

Another fun tidbit that showcases our amazingly smart wit: there had been a bear spotted on the mountain less than 2 hours prior. Someone had kindly attached a note to the trail head stating to be careful. We looked at the note, let Katie off her leash, and headed out on the trail. Gosh, we should really get a stupidity award.

I was hoping if we came across the bear, he would look like this.

The first part of the run was fine except for the fact that I am most certainly #teammorning when it comes to running and my stomach was not a happy camper that I was taking it for a run past its bedtime. After all those medicine ball cleans, my legs were trashed as well, so I was suffering a bit. I think all of us had lead legs because we kept tripping on roots and rocks.

After a particularly graceful stumble by me, we decided to hike for a little bit until we hit a flatter section of trail. It was about this time that all of us started realizing how dark it was getting. Jess, our fearless trail leader, suggested cutting the run a little short. We all quickly agreed. Unfortunately, we were still quite a ways away from the car.

About 20 minutes later it was pitch black and we had no choice but to walk since we could barely see our feet in front of us.

I am not going to sugar coat it. We were all scared. After Katie got away from us and Jess had to run into the forest to get her, we were all talking loudly, telling stories, and trying to keep our spirits up.

At one point, we noticed a weird light behind us. We all turned around and were faced with a full moon so bright it took our breath away. We all thought we were goners. My stomach literally dropped as I thought there was someone with a flashlight right behind who was going to murder us and throw us in the woods!

Thankfully, we made it back to the car. Sufficiently stressed and exhausted! And, we will always carry lights when we go out running in the evening. Lesson learned! =)

I have one more piece of news for this Tuesday morning. I got a little trigger happy and I signed up for another marathon!

The race is called the Pigtails Flat Ass Marathon and it is about an hour away from me. This one is December 15, so I am just using my training from NYC Marathon to carry me over. There is also a 50k going on and I had a fleeting moment of signing up for that, but decided a marathon will be tough enough! I'm not sure if this was the smartest decision, but I'm excited to run nonetheless!