Fear, Faith and The Road Ahead

I was on my way home last night from a day of fun at my Dad's. He lives about 45 minutes outside of the city and it was dark out. I actually hate nightime driving. Especially on the highway. But I do it, because it's worth spending the time out there all day. 

Then on the drive I started thinking about how I could technically only see so far up the road. My lights only reached so far and I wasn't able to see everything in front of me. I could see cars ahead of that space though. 

In reality, it's kind of a faith that the road is there and that there is no obstructions on it isn't it? I mean I know there is a road. I know there are people ahead on this road. But there is a the fear that I am not seeing something or missing something between here and there. 

Isn't that life? We are here and can see what's around us with our own lights. We can also see people where we want to go. The rest in between (the road) is a fear or faith. I don't mean spiritual faith. I mean faith that it is there, it will work out and that we have the reaction time if there is something blocking our way. 

What if we applied that to our lives? To our goals? What if you took your New Years Resolution or whatever goal you are working on currently and had faith the road was there? What if we sat for a moment and imagined our goals as the car lights in front. We see the cars ahead, but some of the road is unseen?

We may not have the answers or see every little detail that comes our way on our way to where we want to be, but if we trust we are on the right road and keep driving along we get there.

Love,

Jen The Bitchin' Housewife

The Spartan Super AROO!

This past weekend I ran the Spartan Super in Red Deer with a good friend. 13.5 km and I think I read somewhere about 25 obstacles. Mud, scrapes, grunts, camaraderie and glory.

The Spartan races have a few different levels. The Sprint (5km), Super (12+ km), Beast (19+km) and the Ultra Beast (40+km). They run them all over the world. Sprints I believe you can find in each city, Supers one per Province/State and Beasts you will like have to do more travelling for, depending on where you live. 

A few years ago I did a Mud Hero with my sister. Same idea, it was 5km and a bunch of obstacles. I had a blast and found it relatively easy. This is before I even really got into weight lifting and strength training. I was mostly going off marathon training I did a year or so before that. 

So I figured since then I've become a lot more athletic, I could handle the Super. I signed up last year but had nobody to watch my kids so I pushed it to this year. Signed up with a friend who has done it before and *thought* that I would train. Ha ha.

I never did specific training for the run necessarily, but I knew I could run a distance and since I've been teaching a lot of Insanity live, I knew I had the burpees down!

The fun part of the Spartan is definitely the obstacles. When you can't do an obstacle, your penalty is 30 burpees though. And although I believe I am athletic and had help from my friend and strangers on the course, there were just some things I couldn't do, or fell from. Soooooo yeah..... burpees. Ugh.

Some of my favourite obstacles were:

• Inverted wall. After doing a few 6 foot walls (and me needing a boost), we came across this one and the station person informed us you only get one chance or you do burpees. Well.... if you know me at all, that was certainly motivation enough. Put me in a do or die and I flourish. I nearly fell but you bet your ass I had death grip on that top piece to climb over. 

• Barbwire crawl. crawling through mud under a barbwire, just like in the movies. Totally bad ass. It's challenging keeping your butt down so it doesn't get snagged and having to use your arms to pull you through.the cool mud feels good as you slide across it, but if you are wearing shorts like I was can also scratch your legs/knees. 

• Incline wall. They put this one right after the muddy barbwire those evil bastards. Everything was so slippery and hard to get a grip. I was waiting for the rope with the knots after I tried without and couldn't make it. My friend Ginel (who is a beast at Spartans) got up and we were helping the guy in front of me as I pushed and she pulled. I was starting to worry whether or not I would be able to make it. She was already up and like I said... do or die moment. I made it in one go. *insert cheers*

• Vertical Cargo Net Climb. This was the second last one, before the rope climb and then jumping over the fire at the end. Maybe I like this one because I found it super easy, but mostly because of sitting at the top. Sitting up there for a moment with my hands in the air feeling the success of everything that just happened. 

Not pictured was my other favourite part. Everyone helping each other. Approaching a wall this big guy asked if anyone needed help over the wall. He held out his hands and launched me up so I could get over the tall wall.

At one obstacle we had to drag a heavy ass cinder block around a dirt ring road by chain/rope and I was struggling the last 25 feet or so. The guys behind me were cheering me on and even helped pull it for me even though they had their own. 

Not long after we had to pull a cinder block up really high (i'm guessing 50 ft) and let it down slowly with control. I was having trouble getting mine started and a girl came along and we pulled together. Then I turned around and helped her and her friend with theirs. 

Overall the whole thing was a blast and I would certainly do it again. Next year possibly more training so I can be the one to help my friends over walls!

These race photos are not mine or me or from my race, since they are not posted yet. Watch for photos of me doing the race over on my Bitchin' Housewife Facebook Page!

Some tips I would like to share if you are thinking about doing a race:

• Less clothing the better. Wear lightweight, leave sweaters at check in etc. The more clothing (and cotton being the worst) the more it absorbs the mud and water. 
• Eat well the days leading up to it and the morning of. Avoid foods upsetting of the stomach and think about good sources of carbohydrates. 
• High knee socks are great if not wearing pants. I think they saved me some scrapes for sure.
• Don't wear your best shoes. I washed mine after but yeah they will never be the same for sure. 
• do some training! Ha ha ha. Even if it's just running so you are conditioned to run. You can find lots of training programs on the internet. 
• Have fun! Especially if you are not competitively running for best time, have fun with it. Stop when you need to. Remember to enjoy the journey a long the way and stop for a "holy shit I'm doing this" moment!

Love, 

Jen The Bitchin' Housewife

Self Care Sunday - Month End Reflection

Welcome back to another Sunday. I hope your week has gone well and you were able to take some time to yourself. 

Since we are only a couple of days away from a new month starting, this Self Care Sunday is about reflection and intention. 

In the yoga room we talk about noticing what happens in postures, be it what we physically feel in our bodies or what starts to happen in our minds as we move (or slow down).We may not be able to change these things when we first notice them, but as soon as we are aware then we can start the work. If we never take the time to reflect, how are to to become aware and start the work of change?

So let's sit down this week, or next few days before the new month starts and think about how it went. Reflecting on what has made us proud and what needs work. Setting intentions for what we wish for ourselves. 

Some suggestions to help you with this reflection:

• Turn off your phone (starting to see my theme for these self care Sundays?)
• Find a space you can be alone in the quiet. See my Self Care Sunday A Simple Bath for tips on finding this time and place alone. 
• Bring a pen and paper.
• Bring along music, candles or a glass of wine. Whatever helps you relax a little into the space.

Then we start to ask ourselves these questions

1. What am I grateful for this month?
2. What am I proud of?
3. What is something I would do differently?
4. What do I want to let go of?
5. What do I want to add into my life?

This of course seems more simple then it really is. Trying to not get caught up on things that didn't go so well or planning to much on how our next month will go. As we ask these questions starting to pay attention to how we feel physically, mentally and emotionally about each question.  

For example, what am I proud of? Maybe you are proud you have started Self Care Sunday practices. You may feel pride, a sense of calm, the body relaxed and chest puffed out and open. 

Moving through these questions again without lingering too long on the sensations to dwell. If it help you can even set a time for 2 or 5 minutes once you ask yourself a question to come back to the next one. 

After we've spent some time reflecting, moving on to our intentions for the month. This isn't our goal planning. This is our intentions for how we want to be. "I want to move through my days with ease and peace", "I wish to find the positive in situations.". From there later on (another day) you can set goals to achieve these intentions, but for now we are just putting out there what we truly desire from life. 

Once we have sorted through our thoughts a little, taking a few moments to write down any thoughts or feelings. Journaling if that's something you do. This writing is whatever you feel you need to write down. Whether it is some goals or just how you feel. 

I highly recommend ending this with a yoga practice (youtubing is a wonder!) or a bath or anything else that makes you feel relaxes and at ease. 

I'd love to hear what some of your intentions are for the month. Share below or on the Facebook Page .

Love, 

Jen

Restart, Do Over, Just Try Again!

Tomorrow is February 1st. A time to reflect on our year so far. Many of us set resolutions or intentions for the month, year etc and now it's time to check in. 

According to Static Brain only 8% of people complete their new years resolutions. This makes me wonder why? In our world of immediate access to information and usually access to the tools we need to do almost anything we want in life, why do we set goals for ourselves and then forget them?

I imagine there is many reasons, that are very personal to each and every one of us. And that is okay. You are trying your best.

That said, let's take February 1st as our "restart", January was our trial run and we can try again. Let's take it past that though. After February 1st you will likely fall off track from whatever your goal or resolution may be. That important thing is you try and try again. 

Seldom do things go the way we plan they will. When we hit traffic on our way to work, or a meeting doesn't go how we thought it would, do we turn our cars around and drive back home? Do we walk out half way through the meeting? Not usually. So why do we do this with goals? Why do we say "Crap, I fumbled on my diet plan" or "I didn't put away the money I planned to the past two weeks" and believe we just weren't meant for success? 

Get back on the horse, ride through the rough patches and the gentle strolls and reflect on maybe this is what your success looks like. Perfectionism isn't real. Think about anything you've accomplished in your life. Did it go perfectly? Would it have been as fun or as much of a learning experience if it did?

Good luck to you, in whatever your goals are. Just keep trying again. 

Love, 

Jen