Tough Mudder done, Broad St. to come!

Just quickly checking in because there has been some action in my racing life. Unfortunately I don't have enough time for a full rundown because it's also finals week at Villanova. This means I'm writing A LOT, running on very little sleep, and I'm still supposed to give classes from 8-3 and coach from 3-530... I am fairly confident I bit off more than I can chew this year. Nevertheless, the updates...

This weekend was a very different kind of race for me. I headed to the Poconos with a couple friends from high school to take on a Tough Mudder. According to the website it's "probably the toughest event on the planet" - I don't know about that, but it was a challenging event. I was more challenged than I thought I would be (I admittedly have a little bit of an Ironman ego), but I had a lot more fun too. The worst part was the cold. It was 32 degrees when the race started, and about 15 minutes in they make you climb into a dumpster full of ice water and make sure you completely submerge yourself. It's very appropriately called the "ice enema." From that moment on I lost most feeling in my hands and was unable to successfully complete some of the obstacles because I could not clench hands to hold on to anything (ie: monkey bars, ropes, walls, etc.). The most feared part of the course was the live electrical wires that we had to crawl though and then run through. They actually weren't as bad as I feared they would be, although they certainly did sting a bit. Overall it was a fun day and I didn't hurt myself, which I was a little fearful of. If I did do it again I would only do it during the summer months, and I would like to try to race it to see how fast I could do it - we went at a pretty leisurely pace.

Next stop- Broad St. I did this run back in 2010 and I'll say it was my first break through race. I didn't do anything extraordinary, but it was first time holding a sub 7min pace (I ran a 1:07.xx). Based on the half marathon on April 1, I should be down under 1:02, which I'd be very happy about. I would LOVE to see 59:59 on the clock when I cross, but I don't know if that is a real possibility just yet. I have been slacking a little with my workouts and I haven't been sleeping much because of all the work I have for Villanova. It's nice to know that going sub 1:00 is within my grasp even if it doesn't happen this weekend. My more realistic goal is to be under 1:02, which would be an improvement on my half marathon pace. We'll see though. I really don't know how it will go. I'm going to start near the front and go out hard and just hope I can hold on.

Come Tuesday of next week all my finals and papers will be finished, so it's all about the BIKE! And maybe I'll start swimming again too haha.