Pressing forward.

So this will be my first post that doesn’t primarily focus on or preface an upcoming event.  Nor does it follow one, for that matter.  The next event that I have on the docket is the Tampa Tough Mudder event with Jessica.  I am still pretty amped up about it.  Originally, I had planned on running it with a small collection of Marines from 3^rd Force Reconnaissance Company out of Mobile, Alabama.  Unfortunately, they have since had to withdraw from the event due to their hectic training schedule.  It’s definitely a bummer but is totally understandable and is most certainly indicative of the lifestyle these guys live.  It is, by  in large, just one small example of what these guys have to sacrifice in order to do the work needed to support our nation’s elite special operations community.   

I ultimately know that Jessica is probably not looking forward to it as much as I am but that is understandable.  This type of thing just isn’t her forte as much as it is mine.  But in order to add an additional challenge for myself, I will be adding weight to myself just as I had done previously with the Warrior Dash that she and I ran together.  I’ll probably do this with a 40lb weighted vest and a 300ml water supply for both Jess and I.  That way, we both get something out of it.  If you get a chance to talk to Jessica, make sure that you give her an encouraging fist bump.  Jessica’s only other event she has ran was the Warrior Dash so there is a considerable distance difference between the two events; the Warrior Dash only being about three miles long verses the grueling twelve mile event that Tough Mudder HQ facilitates.  She is most certainly cowgirlin-the-eff-up, in a manner of speaking.  I could only be more excited if the bug bites her just as it has for me.

So to add on to my last post, I finished this past week of restarting my heavy lifting routine.  And let me tell you, I haven’t been that sore in quite a while.  This only further proves to me what I had originally postulated: that the two facets of fitness that I focus on are two completely separate disciplines.   I have decided to hire a professional trainer from my local gym that specializes in heavy weight lifting of fitness in order to expand my knowledge base and, thus, provide me with a more solid foundation.  I plan on utilizing this window of training to primarily perfect my ability to do what is known as a clean-and-jerk and clean-and-press.  Both are a huge part of Cross Fit.  Videos are provided below.

In light of this, I have recently purchased and am excited to test out my new weight lifting shoes from Rogue Fitness.  In my next posting, I will go over what my initial thoughts are on the shoe and why I think that they are important.  Essentially, just like any other shoe, they are designed to help and support the athlete (or wannabe such as myself) to  train for a specific task just as what running shoes for runners, cleats do for traction, etc.  They essentially provide the user with a forward leaning posture to help support the heavy lifting from a clean and jerk.  They’re not necessarily needed but I can use all of the help that I can get.

The duality of my focus on both disciplines of circuit training and weightlifting will prove to be difficult.  This I am certain of.  But both focuses are extremely important if I want to ultimately finish the Death Race.  Take an athlete like Joe Decker for example.  He has completed the past two Spartan Death Race events from the past two years… oh yea… and he also placed first both times.  From this, he has started his own fitness company known as Gut Check Fitness.  Before he decided to take on the Death Race, he also holds the belt for the Guinness Book of World Records competition known as the World’s Fittest Man.   A guy like Decker is the type of person and athlete that our nation’s youth should be attempting to emulate.  He’s strong, fit, smart, capable, unflusterable, and most importantly, he is as humble as they come.  I can only hope that maybe he will become as famous but I will not hold my breath.  A video is provided below.

                      Joe Decker: Worlds Fittest Man and two-time Spartan Death Race Champion

Well, I think I have run my mouth enough for one week.  Thanks for reading guys and gals and stay tuned in for my preamble of my next event: the Tampa Tough Mudder.