Mya's Journey...Birth to Graduation

Cupids Revenge 2

Gretchen and I competed for the second year in a row at the CrossFit Lancaster couples CrossFit competition "Cupids Revenge."  All in all we did very well together and finished strong in 9th place out of 30+ couples. In the one rep max thruster WOD we both were dissapointed in our performance as we had done better in practice, but we really did well in the 6 min AMRAP of kettlebell swings and burpees getting 259 reps in just 6 minutes. This is a brief video I put together of the 4 WODs:

The BEAST

I've had a few of days to look back on one of the most difficult races I've completed to this day - the Reebok World Championship Spartan Beast - a 14+ mile 12,000'+ elevation obstacle race held at Killington Ski Resort in Vermont. This race tested me both mentally and physically - it was a painful, bloody, cold, and cramp filled torturous challenge - but all can think about is that I can't wait to do it again.

Photo Credit Spartan Race

It's really difficult for me to write a full review since running a 14 mile race like this tends to leave my brain slightly scrambled, but I'll do my best to piece it together. First - perfect weather for a race. Not too cold not too hot. Loved it. One of the best times of year to be in Killington and New England (although I do prefer snowboarding down the mountain to running up it).

1 mile 65lb sandbag carry

We started a few minutes later than the normal 8am elite start time due to the NBC Television presence and some introductions of the incredible athletes from around the world. Then it was game time...Aroo! Aroo! Aroo! - and we were off. The first two miles were pretty much completely uphill - as expected and very difficult. There were the normal walls, over unders, etc. There was a tire drag on a chain then a pull - I live for the upper body portions of the race. Around mile 4 or 5 (it's honestly become a blur) we got to the dreaded sandbag carry. This was no ordinary 40lb sandbag carry up a hill and back down.
This was a WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BEAST sandbag carry and it lived up to it. The sandbag weighed 65lbs and the carry was up one of the steepest slopes Killington had to offer for A FULL MILE - 1/2 mile up and back down.

This was also the part of the race that my better half, Gretchen Krueger, caught up to me - I think (still blurry). We decided to stay together for the remainder of the race - also with my buddy Keith. During the next couple miles there was a spear throw (which I was thrilled to have NAILED - Gretchen made it too) and a few other obstacles including a pretty long barbed wire crawl.

Barbed wire scratches

At mile 7ish we got to the rope climb, inverted walls, another barbed wire section (one of 4 barbed wire crawls). I was wearing my Ultraspire Omega hydration vest and I did not want to shred it on barbed wire, so every time I went through a barbed wire patch I would take it off and roll with it. This is how I got scratched up pretty bad during the race. I was also starting to cramp up in my legs from the cold muddy water.

After the barbed wire we had to cross a pretty cool raised ladder to a cargo net then back down. We also met up with a good friend and great guy, Rob Butler - owner of Shale Hill Adventure Farm. Next was the real water portion of the race and the start of crazy cramps and hypothermia. A brief swim into the late September chilled waters of Killington's runoff led to the second rope climb of the race - the rope is attached to the bottom of a 20' high bridge. That was not too bad. Then we had to run around the lake to the traverse wall. Legs were very cold and slightly cramped but still did it no problem. THEN was the hard part - another swim to the bridge and another rope climb followed by a tarzan swing on very short ropes to a bell ring. Gretchen went first and I cheered her on. I really thought if anyone could make it, she would. She got to the second rope of the swing and fell.

Swim - rope climb - Tarzan swing (mile 7) - Photo Credit Spartan Race

This is also something on a normal day I feel I would be pretty good at - I did not make it either. When I swam across the lake to the other side to meet Gretchen, she was holding her hand and practically in tears. Uh oh...

Her pinky was purple and white and turned to the side. Four different people looked at it and said "yes, that looks broken." We thought it was broken. We were freezing. I felt sick that we would have to stop the race. I could not imagine how Gretchen would continue the race and all obstacles with her finger looking like that and I asked her repeatedly if she wanted to go to the medic. If she did, that was it - race over and she would be DQ'd. If she went to the medic I felt like there was no way I could continue racing while my hurt wife was in the medical tent. I'll be honest - I was so cold and miserable at that point I almost wanted her to say "ok, let's go to the medic." It would not have taken much to twist my arm to drop out at that point. But Gretchen is tougher than anyone I know and she said "no, let's keep going." I was amazed at her fortitude. I'm a baby - if my hand looked like hers I probably would have dropped out. Luckily it was just sprained and freezing cold because once we started moving for another mile or so we all warmed up and her hand was ok.

Photo Credit Spartan Race

After a 1/2 mile bucket carry up the mountain (5 gallon bucket filled with rocks) and some actual fun running (not climbing) for a few miles we were routed back to the water again around mile 9. This time for the tyrolean traverse - a 40-50 yard rope strung over the lake which you have to climb under or over to ring a bell. I went first this time and made it no problem. I go underneath and rest my calves crossed and pull using all upper body.

Gretchen went next with the more conservative technique of staying on top of the rope. That way takes longer but uses less energy. She made it and so did our friends. The rest of the race was pretty straight forward with more running up hills, down hills, a few walls to scramble over and some other obstacles...More barbed wire...this time uphill.

After race pose with Beast & Trifecta medals

The last major obstacle was another sandbag carry for about 3/4 of a mile. The slope was much less steep and the sandbag was only 40lbs, so it seemed easy after what we had just been through. Last was the fire jump and gladiators - Gretchen and I held hands over the fire and rushed the gladiators together. It was a great feeling to get that medal with my wife. It's funny - I still don't really like to run, but I LOVE to finish a run or a race. This race was really satisfying to finish especially after the debacle from last year with the "lost tribe."

The other incredible highlight from the weekend was seeing my Spartan Family and VPX Team Xtreme family. I have made lifetime friendships with people from literally all over the world and it is such a great feeling to get together with friends who share the same passions.

VPX TEAM Xtreme

PA Spartan Race - 2013

Three years ago this past weekend, Gretchen and I ran our very first Spartan Race here at Blue Mountain. This is the race that was our gateway drug into the world of OCR - and it's been all downhill from there...That 2011 race here was when Gretchen took 1st place and came home with the coveted spartan sword (which I've used for my Spartan Halloween costume for the past couple of years - and of course in the Bad Boys of OCR 2012 Calendar). Last year's 2012 race here was hyped as the Elite women's showdown with Spartan Race bringing in heavy hitters from all over the country.

The 2013 race was just as hard as I expected it to be, but the course was a bit shorter. Last year the course was longer than the previous year, and I expected Spartan Race to either keep it the same or make it longer. It was surprising and actually a bit refreshing to run a Spartan Sprint that was under 4 miles in length. Gretchen and I ran on Saturday in the Elite category - The 3.4 mile course was incredibly challenging for the first 2 miles. The course pretty much went straight up the 1500' mountain - throwing in a 40lb sandbag carry at the absolute steepest portion. The obstacles were as expected but I was bummed to miss the spear throw at the top of the mountain and forced to do 30 burpees. This seems to be a theme with me - I was neck and neck with my VPX teammate, Jason Henline - I missed it and he made it - he beat me by a few minutes. The most difficult obstacle in my opinion was the mountain itself - slippery and muddy from downpours the day before and steep as ever. It's a lot more fun to snowboard down than to run up, but it's a lot more satisfying to cross that finish line.

I was pleased with my finish time of just over 1 hour - Gretchen finished in 4th place missing 3rd by just 1 second but finishing 1st for her age. I am extremely proud of her but she was very disappointed since she made a wrong turn after the swimming portion which cost her a couple of minutes. We had fun hanging with our Spartan family and VPX Team Xtreme teammates in the festival area and got some great photos:

I even tried the pull up competition getting 30 strict pull ups in 1 minute - my fellow VPX teammate and Mud & Adventure founder, Paul Buijs, did 39 or 40 right behind me - although there is a bit of controversy as kipping is not allowed. His judge, Kevin LaPlatley aka - The MudMan let the kipping slide :)

I came back on Sunday to give the race another try and finished 1 minute faster than I did on Saturday giving me a 28th place finish and 2nd for age - not too bad! The mountain felt a lot harder going up on day 2, but knowing the course gave me an advantage as I knew what to expect and when to turn the dial up. I missed the spear throw both days - ugh. I'm gonna have to keep practicing. We had a great weekend overall and I'm looking forward to the rest of racing season!

Gretchen's CrossFit Open WOD 13.2

Gretchen did amazing in this second round of the Reebok CrossFit Open Games getting 315 reps in the 10 minutes alotted of the 13.2 WOD.

The WOD consisted of the following:

10 minute AMRAP of:
5 Shoulder to overhead, 75 lbs
10 Deadlift, 75 lbs
15 Box jump, 20 inch

Here is the video:

CrossFit Open WOD 13.1

I'm extremely proud of my wife, Gretchen Krueger, after her first CrossFit Open WOD 13.1 attempt. She got 159 reps in the workout which consisted of burpees and snatches. The exact workout is:

17 minute AMRAP of:
40 Burpees 
30 Snatch, 75 / 45 lbs 
30 Burpees
30 Snatch, 135 / 75 lbs 
20 Burpees
30 Snatch, 165 / 100 lbs 
10 burpees
Max rep Snatch, 210 / 120 lbs

This is the 17 minute video of her WOD:

Miami Spartan Race 2013

Ahhhhh, Miami in the winter. Mid 80 degree temps, white sandy beaches, and turquoise blue water. Then the SPARTANS invaded South Florida turning Oleta River State Park into a wet and muddy Spartan Super complete with scantily clad women and bare chested men.

Gretchen and I flew from freezing cold Philadelphia into warm, bright and sunny Fort Lauderdale on Friday morning. Since we couldn't check in to our hotel until later that day we decided to take a quick peek at the race venue. With the usual white tents, red shirted volunteers, and Spartan Race signs everywhere, there wasn't a lot to see. We soon met up with Spartan superstars Andi Hardy and Jeffrey Bent and went to the beach by their hotel for some pre-race R&R.  After some planking, sandy headstands and slight sunburns we made our way to our own hotel for a restless night before the race. 

Morning came quickly and we met up with the usual suspects at the starting line minus a few and plus some new. Junyoung Pak, Shawn Feiok, Elliot Megquire, and David Magida were lined up elbow to elbow ready to go for the mens heat.  The Saturday race was now split into Elite men starting at 8am, followed by the Elite women at 8:20. This meant that Gretchen and I wouldn't be running together, but we were fine with that. We usually end up running together for a short time before she leaves me in the dust anyway. I think that Spartan Race split the genders for all elite races now to make the points and scoring a bit easier.

The first half of the 8+ mile race was fairly normal. Three foot walls to scramble over followed by a short water crossing. Next was a longer water crossing where we were instructed to stay waist deep. After the second water crossing there were some over under and through walls to scramble by. Next came some twisting and turning longer runs through overgrown brush where we were eventually routed towards the main road of the park and the first water stop at two miles. After the water was another decent run into the next obstacle of the monkey bars. This is where I saw the first person doing penalty burpees after slipping off the wet bars. Next we made our way to a longer water crossing in deeper water – thankfully no alligators were around. Here you had the option of swimming or pulling yourself across using buoyed ropes. I always find using the ropes requires less energy and is just as quick. Next came the longer running portion of the race. We ran through the woods on mountain bike trails that twisted and turned for a few miles. There were a few rolling mud pits thrown in the mix with a fire hose of water being sprayed at the competitors – it was definitely refreshing on a hot and humid day. There was also the cargo net climb and traverse with the middle section above the road below – could be scary for some. At the four mile mark, we encountered our second aid station. This was also the part of the race that split up some of the faster runners and confused a lot of people.

I never actually saw the fire, but from all the reports after the race, there was a portion of the course in the woods that was burning. From what I was told, some runners ran right through the area thinking this was a part of the race. Once the officials realized this was happening, the race directors had to quickly reroute any runners coming up that portion of the course which cut out at least a mile of twists and turns through the woods.  I was just a few minutes behind the faster runners in the lead and had no idea this was going on. When I got to the tractor pull (a cinderblock attached to a 4’ length of chain) I was surprised at how short a distance we had to pull it. Because this race was in Miami, the course was extremely flat – easily the flattest Spartan Race I’d ever run, so the pull did not seem very difficult. We were then directed to the sandbag carry just a few hundred meters down from the tractor pull. I realized something was wrong when I saw Shawn Feiok and Pak emerge from the woods and directed to the tractor pull behind me. There is no WAY I am faster than those guys. It wasn't until after the race that we figured out what had happened. The early runners went through the woods and the later runners were directed to a shorter course making the faster runners appear behind them once they emerged from the woods.

I kept going to the atlas carry/burpee station – a heavy stone you have to carry about 10 yards, put down and do 5 burpees then bring back to the other side. Next were the tire flips followed by the 8 foot walls and a longer stretch of running. We were directed to a bridge embankment near the entrance of the park where we traversed down a 30 foot decline using a rope (a new and pretty cool obstacle) where we had to fill a weighted bucket with water 3 times from a stream below and dump it into a trash can then dump back into the stream. After that we climbed the other side of the embankment with a rope and made our way towards the final stretch of the race and the last set of obstacles. At this point the sun was baking and I was glad to have my Geigerrig filled with water and electrolytes. The last set of obstacles was the rope climb, traverse wall, muddy stretch barbed wire crawl, slippery climb over the triangular wall and the gladiator pit. I was pretty disappointed that there was no tyrolean traverse, spear throw, or fire jump (controlled fire jump). From what I was told, Florida does not allow spears or controlled fires – bummer.

David Magida crossed the finish line first followed by Elliot Megquire. This was David’s first win in a Spartan race and I was happy for him. Unfortunately both David and Elliot were DQ’d after the race officials figured out what had happened with the fire splitting up the elite men. The elite women were not affected by the fire since the course had already been rerouted and they were all running the same distance. There was a meeting on Sunday with the Spartan officials and some of the Spartan 300 members, and it was decided that no points would be awarded for the Saturday Elite race due to the fire. The race will still count towards a Spartan trifecta (running a sprint, super, and beast in the same year), but the Elite points for the race were nullified.

Gretchen and I reran the race on Sunday and the course was definitely longer by at least 1.5 miles. Both of our times on Sunday were approximately 20 minutes longer than the day before. Gretchen took an impressive 4th place on Sunday. All in all, I am glad we raced in Miami, but compared to a lot of the Spartan races around the country this seemed somewhat lacking. 

Redeemed!

I did it. Not that I didn't think I could, but it's official and felt great. I completed the South Carolina Spartan Beast this past Saturday - a 13.2 mile race in the middle of nowhere'sville South Carolina, giving me a trifecta of Spartan races for the year (completion of a Sprint, Super and Beast in one year). This was my 5th Spartan race for the 2012 race season - The PA Sprint, Virginia Super, NJ Super, and the Killington Beast. After the Vermont debacle 3 weeks ago, this really was redemption. And to top it all off, I did it on my 39th birthday followed by my 12 year anniversary on Sunday to my beautiful wife Gretchen.

The weekend started on Friday with a long 10+ hour drive from PA to South Carolina with my buddy Jason Moss and friend Heather Powell. Gretchen flew down with another friend of ours who is a flight attendant and had a buddy pass, then meeting us at the hotel. The 8am elite start on Saturday morning came quickly and we were off. The air was pretty chilly, but after a mile or so I was sweating as usual. I really loved this course. The up and down hills were short but steep, the terrain and obstacles were fast but challenging. Thinking back on it, I could have completed it faster, but I always think that after a race. The barbed wire crawls were pretty brutal - up hill and long. I did mess up on the traverse wall (a first for me) and had to do 30 burpees. It was pretty slick and freshly painted. The tyrollean traverse went well this time after having experienced it in two other races. All in all a great day. The photo above is very meaningful as well because it's the first time in all of my Spartan races that I nailed the spear throw. Not having to do 30 burpees at the end of the race was a welcome birthday present. Then it was over and time for the looooong 10+ hour ride home. Always a let down when its all done after thinking and prepping for a race for so long. It was great to see so many amazing people who travel from all over to compete in these races. Like a welcoming family. I'm still feeling the high from the weekend and look forward to seeing the action photos from Nuvision in a few days. Next up....Boston Fenway Sprint or Texas Beast?

 

Road to the BEAST

Five more days to the toughest race and challenge of my life - the Spartan BEAST - a 13+ mile race up and down Killington - described as a race from hell. I never in my life thought that I would ever be doing anything like this. Up until May of 2011 I had never run in a race before. In fact, I hated running and did all I could to avoid it. Even in high school when I was forced to run 2 miles before wrestling practice I would completely dog it. So...After a night hanging with some friends last April, and after a few or more adult beverages, I was peer-pressured into registering for a 5k Mud-run. I trained for a few weeks by adding some runs into my normal workouts. I think the most I ran in training for this race was a 1.5 miles at the most. It was nerve wracking having this event hanging over my head, but I completed it with my wife (who has always loved running) and some good friends. After finishing this 3 mile and change race I felt great and I wanted more - I was hooked. We registered for a Spartan Race at Blue Mountain the next month. The race looked challenging and Gretchen and I decided to register in the earliest heat so we could get on the course early. Neither of us realized that we were in the "elite" heat of the race. Amazingly, Gretchen took first place and won a bad ass sword and the respect of a lot of people. I was and still am so proud of her accomplishment. I finished about 15 minutes after she did and again felt great. The carnival-like atmosphere and the excitement of that race was unlike anything I'd ever done or experienced - I loved it.

I decided to up my running mileage and we registered for a couple more races. They were all great, but didn't really compare to the Spartan Race.This year we did the Tough Mudder, the PA Spartan Sprint (our kids even ran in the kids race), the Virginia Spartan Super, the NJ Spartan Super....all leading up to this. The BEAST where after finishing we will get the coveted Spartan trifecta medal. I'm nervous, excited, and anxious. I've been training hard - hitting the gym 5 days a week and running every 2-3 days all year and eating clean, but this will be the big test. Gretchen and I will be driving up to Killington this Friday morning for the early morning start on Saturday. Killington is actually where we went 11 years ago after our October 2000 wedding for a snowboarding honeymoon. This will be a bit different.

Crossfit Athlete = Spartan Warrior

This is an awesome video that was made by the Spartan Race to promote the Spartan races to Crossfitters around the country. The goal of the video is to show the overlap between being a Crossfit Athlete and a Spartan Warrior. Gretchen is way more of a crossfitter than I am, but I can certainly see the benefits and the overlap between the two sports. We had fun shooting this with the crew at the Mountain after the PA Spartan Sprint and the next day at Pottstown Crossfit.

PA Spartan Race - Elite Women

This is a great video focusing on the Elite Women from the PA Spartan Race on July 14th. Gretchen took first place in this race last year and was up against some incredibly fierce competition this year. She finished in a very respectable 10th place - I am very proud of her!

Rock Solid Mud Run

Since Gretchen and I had so much fun at the Spartan Race last month, we decided to do another mud run - The Rock Solid Mud Run in Englishtown, NJ. This one was not as intense as the Spartan, but it was definitely a fun 5 mile course with 30+ military grade obstacles. I found the running on the course to be easier than the Spartan since this was flat and the Spartan was up a mountain, but some of the obstacles were pretty tough. Starting out you had to swim/wade through a lake three times after jumping off of a 20' platform or sliding down a steep slide (which Gretchen chose). We recorded the run with my GoPro Hero video camera and took turns wearing it. It was definitely a good time and I'd do it again. Here a fun video I put together using music that Gretchen insisted on :) Enjoy and please comment!

PA Spartan Sprint - 1st Place

Well, we did it - and Gretchen took an AMAZING 1st place! I am seriously so proud of her. Gretchen is the runner of the family - I am not. When we decided to do "The Spartan," she said she would stay with me throughout the race. Yeah, that went out the window about 15 minutes in when one of the workers told her she was the 2nd place woman at that time. She took off - I don't blame her at all and I didn't want to hold her back. We were both very impressed with the course. I was pretty nervous since they upped the distance from 3 miles to 4.8 miles, but we both did well. Gretchen finished in 1 hour and 17 minutes and I finished in 1 hour and 33 minutes. Not too bad...Gretchen came home with a bad ass gladiator sword as the first place trophy and she may get to compete in another Spartan race in Texas for a $10k prize. It was a very good day. Here is the video of Gretchen getting her "trophy."


***UPDATE***
This is the actual video of the Spartan Race in PA posted yesterday on Spartan.tv:
Pa Spartan Sprint

Steamboat Springs Colorado Trip

Even though Gretchen and I decided not to get each other anything for our tenth wedding anniversary back in October, she surprised me with plane tickets to Steamboat Springs Colorado. I surprised her with a new snowboard...Perfect. One of my best friends, Fred, has lived in Steamboat for the past 12 years and offered us the condo he rents out to skiers and snowboarders for the long 4 day weekend. The trip started out a bit rough as Gretchen does not enjoy flying and the airlines lost every one of our bags - Gretchen felt much better once we were on solid ground and our bags were eventually delivered to us late the first evening. The snowboarding was amazing and the trip was a blast. Here is a video I made using a Flip-like camera called the Vado - there are also a bunch of photos we took below:

OCNJ - Krueger Family 2010

Family photo on the beach

5k Run - Kids 1/2 Mile Run

The Empire Strikes Back

The Empire Strikes Back - Starring The Krueger Family:

Old videos

It's funny the old videos and photos you find on your computer. Here are a few of Mya and Michael from about 6 years ago...The video quality has gotten much better over the past few years but these are very cute:

New York City 1/2 Marathon

I have been working with a very cool non profit organization located in NYC called "The Fresh Air Fund" for almost 2 years now. The Fresh Air Fund helps inner city children get out of the city for a few weeks during the summer to either a host home in the country or a camp in upstate New York.

The New York City 1/2 Marathon offers non profits like "FAF" a number of spots in the race which allows anyone who wants to raise money for the cause participate in this exclusive run. Gretchen, Genevieve, and Courtney are all runners and I thought this would be a perfect opportunity for them to participate. They each had to raise $1000 to run in the race. We started raising money for this back in December and were able to meet the $3000 a couple of weeks ago. If you'd like to donate you still can here.

We came into the city on Saturday evening and stayed over at a really nice hotel - the Hotel Indigo in Chelsea. Genevieve was able to get us all rooms at a fantastic discount using points she's accrued from her US Open stays in the city. Luck of the draw, we got a room that had a broken air conditioner...sigh...Needless to say it was about 80 degrees in our room and neither Gretchen nor I slept very well - the kids did not seem bothered.

I didn't really know what to expect from the race and I was actually very impressed with the marathon. It was exciting to be there and cheer on Gretchen and the Fresh Air team. The kids were a bit of a handful moving from place to place, but it all worked out for the best. We ended up missing the finish because the taxi we took got stuck in traffic, circled back, and an 8 minute ride took us 45 minutes to get to the end. We had a great time and I am super proud of Gretchen, Genevieve, and Courtney for doing this. Here are the photos and video:

Family Snowboarding

Here are a few snowboard videos I took at Bear Creek with my sweet little Vado camera over the weekend. As you can see, Michael started getting a little testy when he noticed I was recording him. Both kids are doing amazingly well although they don't last very long on the slopes. It's awesome that they are starting at this age. I wish I did :)

Bear Creek - 2/28/2010:

This one is Gretchen boarding at Blue Mt last week: