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!

PA Kids Spartan Race 2012

Mya and Michael ran their first Spartan race today and had a blast. We will definitely be doing this again.

PA Kids Spartan Race 2012, - click the link to see all the photos.

Pennsylvania Tough Mudder 2012

If you would have told me a year and a half ago that I would be running 12.5 miles in an obstacle race I would have thought you were crazy. Yesterday, that is exactly what my wife Gretchen and I did. Over the past year or so Gretchen and I have gotten hooked on obstacle races. The first run we did was last May in the Run-a-muck in New Jersey. It was a 5k and a perfect start to the new addiction. The next race was the Spartan Race at Blue Mountain in September. It was a 5 mile race and Gretchen took first place. I was so proud (still am) and amazed. She won a bad-ass sword which I insisted on incorporating into my Halloween costume. We did another 5 mile run in October - The Rock Solid Mud Run (also in New Jersey) and had a blast. We've both been training very hard all year with running and gym workouts and eating clean. I've been hitting the gym 5 days a week with 2 additional days running and have gotten my mileage up to 10 miles for my long runs to train for this race - The Tough Mudder. This was a 12.5 mile run held at Pocono Manor with 20+ obstacles. We had a great time doing it and finished around 3 hours. Our next run is another Spartan Race in July where Gretchen will have to fight for her title. I recorded this video using my GoPro Hero and edited it using Cyberlink Powerdirector.

Pennsylvania Tough Mudder 2012 - GoPro (all obstacles) from Daniel Krueger on Vimeo.