Happy New Year! Day 3

Well, on the heels of 2009, we both only had to work a half day and were able to hit the gym early. Today's workout was a repeat of Day 1. I think we will call this workout our Circuit Training Program. Today's numbers below:

Steph:
10 minute jog - 0.73 miles
Push ups - 27
Pull ups - 20 @ 30lb pull downs
Jump squats - 30
Crunches - 50
10 minute bike - 2.1

Rick:
10 minute jog - 1.3 miles
Push ups - 25
Dips - 10
Pull ups - 12
Jump Squats - 30
Crunches - 100
*10 minute jog - 1.15 miles

* Had to jog since Steph grabbed the last open bike and we were on a time schedule.


A couple things we have noticed... our muscles are noticeably fatigued from the prior two workouts. These 'body resistance to exhaustion only' exercises are completely different that what we are used to (lifting free weights specifically). Hopefully we can hurry up and build some muscle memory and begin improving our numbers quickly.

Day 2... This is tough!

After Steph read Day 2's workout we both knew this one would be tough. We had to run for 25 minutes and bike for 20 minutes with as little time in between as possible. Our numbers:

Steph: 25 minute jog - 1.7 miles and 20 minute bike - 4.0 miles.
Rick: 25 minute jog - 3.2 miles and 20 minute bike - 5.7 miles.

So proud of Steph! Up until today, the longest sustained jog she has completed was 20 minutes and she almost puked. Today she did 45 minutes of cardio activity, covered almost 6 miles and didn't complain once.

Needless to say, after we burned 600 - 700 calories, we came home and made two homemade pizzas and devoured them. Washed down with some viatamin water.

Day 1.... Wow!

Steph found an online training program to help get folks in gear to tackle Muddy Buddy. The regiment is designed to be a 6 week program. We are fairly confident that we are more than 6 weeks out but we are going to follow this program for it's entirety to get moving in the right direction.

Day 1's workout consisted of a 10 minute bike ride / warm up, followed by push ups to exhaustion with a 2 minute rest, pull ups to exhaustion with a 2 minute rest, 25 jumping jacks as quickly as possible without hindering form with a 2 minute rest, jump squats to exhaustion with a 3 minute rest, crunches to exhaustion with a 3 minute rest and a 10 minute jog. This kicked our asses! We are going to put our numbers up so you can follow our progress (this workout is repeated throughout the program).

Steph's Day 1 Numbers:
10 Minute Bike - 2.22 Miles
Push Ups - 25
Jump Squats - 25
Crunches - 36
10 Minute Jog - 0.70 Miles

Rick's Day 1 Numbers:
10 Minute Bike - 3.22 Miles
Push Ups - 32
Jump Squats - 30
Crunches - 100
10 Minute Jog - 1.30 Miles

Welcome

Welcome!
Welcome to our new blog. The goal of this blog is to allow anyone interested to look in on our steps to completing a Muddy Buddy race in 2009. Hopefully we can keep a well documented track of our training regiment, trials and tribulations, expectations, frustrations and a full account of the race.

Who are we?
We are a newly wed couple (October 11, 2008, our wedding survived Hurricane Ike!). We met each other in school at Texas A&M University at Galveston and have been together ever since. We both grew up in families that placed a lot of emphasis on being active and healthy. We both played sports growing up and eventually transitioned into the gym.

Why the Muddy Buddy?
With 2009 right at our heels, we were talking about what we would like to accomplish in the new year. Not so much what resolutions we should make since we both believe that we live a nice, well balanced life already and aren't looking for major changes... But, what would we like to improve...? We came up with the idea that we should make a conscious effort to improve three areas of our lives; our mind, body and soul. We discussed doing some art and dance classes, going to more musical events, joining some area charitable clubs etc...

While we still have intentions to do these things, we began to focus on where we wanted to grow in the new year, physically. We go to the gym Mon. - Thurs. We have a good workout program focused on light cardiovascular activity and weight training. This program works well for us and we have seen vast improvements in strength and muscularity, but the same thing, day in and day out can become a little disconnecting. We wanted to try something new and fun that would help us bond, would require team work and would push us out of our comfort zone.

We recalled a story from a friend at school about a two person team running and biking race. The plus side, the race wasn't solely about winning. The event was meant to be fun! There was a giant mud pit that all competitors had to crawl through to finish the race, there were randomly placed obstacles like rope nets that everyone had to climb, and there was an awesome party afterward with a full beergarden! This sounded fun! We began researching online to try to find the name of this race, google made quick work and we jumped into the Muddy Buddy website.

What is Muddy Buddy?
From the Muddy Buddy Website, Muddy Buddy is Two Buddies + One Mountain Bike + One Mondo Mud Pit = The Best Time of Your Life! To break it down further... Both partners start at the same time, one running and one biking. The course is approximately 6 miles long and is separated into 5 legs by obstacles along the way. The first obstacle is near the one mile mark. Assuming that the biker is traveling faster than the runner, the biker will first approach the obstacle transition area. The biker will drop the bike and conquer the obstacle and start running to the 2nd transition/obstacle. The runner will then approach the first transition area, conquer the obstacle, find the bike and start riding to the 2nd transition/obstacle area. The team will continue to leap frog throughout the course switching between biking and running. Because the course has five legs, the person who is the stronger biker should begin the race biking, and the stronger runners, should start out running so they are doing three legs of their stronger discipline, and two of the other. There will be five obstacles on each Muddy Buddy course. Mystery events could be challenges such as a cargo net crawl, a wall, monkey bars, or a hay bale obstacle. At every race teams will have to conquer the famous Mud Pit before crossing the finish line together.

How Do We Plan On Training?
Well, first of all, and quite important, we are going to be buying some decent mountain bikes in the new year. Nothing professional or anything, but something that will stand the test of time. From there, we are going to start working on trail jogging riding. Luckily, we have some great trails just down the road from our house in Seabrook, TX. We will also begin attending some of the spin classes at our gym. Yeah, going to kick our asses. We are most likely ready for the event now since it really only requires someone to be able to trail run three miles and mountain bike three miles, but we are going to prepare early and safely.

Here We Go!
So, follow us on our journey into 'funventure' racing and read up on our ups and downs. Leave us comments and let us know what you think! Thanks for stopping by!

-Rick & Steph