It is the day after the Birthday Challenge and I am feeling a little sore, a little hungry, a little disappointed, but still proud.
The Challenge:
25 minutes of snoozing (which I hate)
116 Push ups
1160 Sit ups
25 miles mountain biking (outside in the snow)
2.5 miles of swimming
25 miles of running
25 mini candy bars
25 oz of beer
The week before the birthday challenge weekend was snow free and "warm" for WI, which means that it was over 20 degrees. I was pretty pumped and actually thought I might be able to escape the snow. But NO, Saturday afternoon mother nature blessed us with some snow. Oh well I was going to do it all anyways.
6:25 am - the alarm went off and I press the snooze button let the 25 min of snoozing begin.
6:50 am - time to get up (I am not going to lie I did snooze for a little longer...it was still dark out!)
I wasn't really sleeping in this picture, if you know me at all you know how much I hate sleeping it. Which is one reason I did this part of the challenge, to do something that I hated!
7:05 am - actually get out of bed
7:20 am - 25 push ups, 235 sit ups, 2 mini candy bars
8:00 am - Headed out for the bike, it was about 14 degrees out, which felt warm compared to the day before went I did a little test run. Adam let me borrow his awesome gloves which kept my hands nice and toasty.The bike wasn't all that bad, I was having fun. The only downfall was that I wasn't going all that fast on the downhills, but I was lugging around a 35 pound bike.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=625978
9:04 am - Stopped at Fireman's park in Verona, said hi to Adam, drank some gatorate and some water. 2 mini candy bars.
I realized after I turned around, the wind was at my back the entire time and now it was in my face. Going back wasn't as much fun, but it was bearable, I had enough clothes on.
10:00 am - 25 MILES BIKING done. I was planning on getting home a little earlier and doing another set of situps and pushups but the pool was open from 10-12 and I had to get going.
10:20 am - 12 pm - 2.5 MILES SWIMMING. 4400 yards
I did: running total ( in yards)
200 free 200
100 kick 300
50 free 350
100 free 450
200 free 650
300 free 950
400 free 1350
500 pull 1850
100 kick 1950
600 free 2550
100 kick 2650
500 pull 3150
400 free 3550
300 free 3850
200 free 4050
100 free 4150
50 free 4200
50 kick 4250
50 breast 4300
100 back stroke 4400
Overall, felt really good, the limbs were a little cold when I first got in, but other than that...piece of cake. Oh yeah and I ate 2 mini candy bars before and 2 after swimming (up to 8 total).
12:30-1:30 pm - Took in some calories and completed 50 push ups (75 total) and 470 sit ups (705 total) and ate 4 more candy bars ( 12 total)
1:30 pm - Started the run, Adam was on my bike ridding along next to me being my support crew. The sidewalks were not plowed all that great, it was a little difficult to run.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=625962
I had a little bit of a side stitch to start off the run, it didn't go away until about mile 6 or so. I was truckin' along going REALLY slow, but whatever I was still moving. It was about this point when I realized I didn't know if I was going to be able to finish the whole 25 miles...
Adam got off the bike once we got to Olin park and got in the car. I had my ipod on, so we weren't talking and I think he got a little bored and cold. I am not going to lie at about mile 10 or so I realized that I was getting bored and wanted to stop. I took some nutrition at this point and felt better....for about 10 minutes. The road conditions really sucked. I ran through the arb and the entire thing had snow and ice on the ground, which makes for a difficult run when it prevents any sort of push off. Around Lake Monona was not much better, it would get better at some points, but worse at others. After the first hour, I tried to break it up into 8 1/2 hour sections (it was going to take me about 5 hours at my pace to finish). I got through the first one not too bad. The second was worse, I was checking my watch every 5 minutes or so and started to think "why...why do I choose to do things like this"? This was about 1/2 way. 2 hours and 15 minutes or so. I gave Adam a look...."What the hell am I doing!" He gave great support all day, told me that it was a hell of a day and that i have gone really far already. I wasn't about to give up now, so I kept going. This was the third 1/2 hour block. I started thinking...."I have to do four more of these..." my legs were started to cramp up, my toes were destroyed (I think the most I ran before this day was about 10 miles, without swimming or biking, and without snow since we didn't have any until the day before). The last 3 miles were a mental challenge. I knew there was no way I would make it 10 MORE MILES, no way. I was feeling pretty bad, and I wasn't trained at all for this event. I knew at the beginning of this that I set a goal for myself that I might not finish and unfortunately for me I didn't, I gave up. Adam said he wish he got it on tape. If you know me at all you know that I NEVER give up...never...without a decent fight. I fought pretty hard, I was doing this for fun and I knew my body was telling me to stop, which I did...right around the 25 km mark! (15.5 miles)
4:30 pm - I am done, sitting my butt down in the car.
5:00 pm - 41 push ups (116 TOTAL), 455 sit ups (1160 TOTAL), ate 6 more candy bars (18 total)
6:00 pm - went to Natt Spil for dinner with Adam drank one pint of beer there (16 oz), then headed over to the Great Dane and had 12 oz more of beer (26 oz TOTAL, got some extra credit in there) ate 2 more candy bars (20 total).
8:00 pm - Went home, attempted to drink some more beer, finished the last 5 candy bars, and then PASSED OUT! Well not really, because I hate sleeping on the couch. But overall, good day. Didn't accomplish as much as I planned, but that was the intent, to make it almost too hard and it was. I am only 25 and have much to learn. Next year...I will not attempt to run 26 miles, because I know that it will be snowy out and there will be no way that I want to do that. But there will be a next time.....see you for Birthday Challenge 26!
I almost forgot...THANK YOU SO MUCH to my boyfriend Adam. I could not have done it without you, love ya babe! Okay bye!
