First Day of "Official" Tough Mudder Training

Yesterday I was supposed to start weight training using Laura Bailey's program found here but I got my a** kicked doing a Total Body sculpting class here.

If I were to take Ms. M's class 3 times a week and add 5K runs to the mix, I bet you I could be Tough Mudder ready.  It was the most intense, challenging and fun workouts, I have had in a long time.

You know the type of workouts that make you feel like you've actually worked out?  Yeah, it was one of those.  It also made me realize that I am in worse shape than I thought.  Yuk!

Fortunately, I survived long enough to wake up at 4:25 this morning to work out.

My plan for getting in shape is to work on a different weight training program every 4 weeks and Laura Bailey's workout is the start of it.

Laura Bailey's muscle-building program is all about the split workouts, supersets and high reps to fatigue the muscles quickly. 

Here is a run-down on today's workout:

Legs

Superset #1
Leg Extensions
Lunges (modified from Laura Bailey's program)

Superset #2
Lying Curls (modified)
Plie Squats

Superset #3
Leg Press
Freehand Jump Squats

Time wasn't on my side, so I didn't Superset #4, 5 and the added bonus exercise.  And I did 20 minutes (modified) on the elliptical.   My plan is to make Saturdays make-up day.  All the exercises I don't get to during the week will make a nice circuit workout then.  Groovy, right?

Tomorrow: Back and Shoulders.

Sometime this week, I want to discuss how I might be leaning toward a diet of blended soups, drinks and juices. 

Oh BTW, if you are ever interested in finding out what it's like to be a student at Living Light head on over to The Chef Experience.  You just might find someone you know.  wink wink. :)

Tough Mudder Inspiration

I am not the first to want to participate in a Tough Mudder on a high raw vegan diet. 
Here are a few who have paved the way and excelled.

Steve of RawVegan4Life channel on YouTube was a Tough Mudder in November 2011.

Juliana Sproles won $10K in the 2011's World's Toughest Mudder challenge.

It is possible to be an athlete on a high raw vegan diet,  just look below.

 Kathleen Leonard

Tim VanOrden

Pam Boteler

Brendan Brazier

Do you know of others who are rocking the athletic world on a high plant-based, raw vegan diet?

Let me know and I will add them to the list.

Week 1 Training Schedule

There is just about 27 weeks until the NorCal Tough Mudder.  I was 90% sure I was going to do this in January and I originally had a schedule starting the beginning of the year.  But the motivation hadn't quite kicked in like I wanted until now.

My hopes were from January-March get in good shape so I could gradually do Tough Mudder-specfic training.  That didn't happen. 

27 weeks is quite a bit of time for someone who is pristine shape, it is not for me.  I haven't worked out in a month, my diet has been beyond S.A.D and I have indulged in a few cocktails too many.

Bottom line:  I am soooo out of shape.

On to Plan B.

Below is Week's one's revised schedule: 
It's a work in progress.  I will play it by ear to see what is working for me and what is not.

Either way I thought it would be fun to show you each week what my plan was and what I actually did.  Sounds good?
Planned workout.

Week	Date	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
1	3/12	40 min Interval Cardio	PLY & 60 min low-impact cardio	WTC 30 min Interval Cardio	BOX & 60 min low-impact cardio	40 min Interval Cardio	Whale Run 5K fun run	Rest

WTC: Weight Training Circuit;   PLY: Plyometrics drills;         BOX: Boxing drills

It is just a brief overview.  I'll go into detail on what exercises I used at a later time.

I am prepping my body to do some running major running soon.  Here is the 5K running plan I will be using in the next few weeks. 

Actual workout for week 1

Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
Walk the mil (tread that is): 35 min. While listening to my morning jam	Elliptical: 20 min. Walk the mill: 25 min While listening to my morning jam	Walk the mill: 47 min Run the mill: 1 min. While watching Vincent D'Onofrio interrogate criminals on Law & Order: Criminal Intent	My dog ate my homework so I wasn’t able to hear the alarm because my cell phone died in the middle of the night and the butler did it.  All in all I slept in my warm and cozy bed and didn’t work out this morning	Yet to be determined.	Yet to be determined.	Rest – Thank goodness!

On Saturday, March 17th, Man on the Raw, our youngest daughter and the Living Light staff will all walk in the 28th Annual Whale Run and Walk.

Later that afternoon the family will head over to the Living Light lecture hall for a rawluck.

My Tough Mudder teammate and Living Light Instructor, Gina,  will host the festivities, it should be fun.

Pretty soon, I'll post some raw food pixs.  I am going to the Associated Chefs' catered dinner tonight, there are always good eats there.

Those Damn Three Days

I hate the first few days of eating raw!  H-A-T-E. 

First of all, let's get this straight.  I AM eating enough calories.  I eat my fruits and green leafy vegetables with minimal fats (mostly avocados, a tablespoon or two of Raw Dijon dressing-my favorite).  I am in bed by 10, so I am well-rested.

But, you know the feeling you get the first few days of eating clean, raw or otherwise.  You know what I'm talking about.

I feel like crap.  My brain is foggy, I am moving around like a zombie, I am just plain out of it. 

It's a wonder, I'm getting this post off without sounding as stupid as I feel.    At work I find myself just staring at the computer screen not coprehending comprehending a simple email and at home, Man on the Raw caught me gazing at the bear bare wall, just because.

I know once my body excepts accepts  the fact that the previous months' sins of saturated fats, processed sugars and alcohol are behind me (for the time being) it will see the "green leafy" light at the end raw food tunnel.  That happens on day four right?  It better.

I'm tired of trying to mustard muster up the energy to smile and laugh this through.  It's just too hard.  Man on the Raw says I always go through this the first few days.   

Thanks for the support, baby.  Love you, too.

We are not going to mention the 4:45 a.m. workouts.   

It's early, yes but I'm a early bird. 

I don't like the starting from scratch.

Serves me right for taking the whole month of February off .   All the progress I made November-January fell  by the waist-side wayside.  Poof.   Gone.  Like it never happened.

Why does your body start over?  What good is this muscle memory crap, if my body doesn't remember when I was good and workout on a regular basis?  Don't I get bonus points for past effort?

No, my body wants to make me suffer for not working out.  My feet and legs and abs want me to feel the aches, like some sick punishment for abandoning my chores.  It's a wonder I continue. 

Part of Tough Mudder's creed states "I do not whine – kids whine."
Fortunately, this is more of  venting than whining.  So I think I'm within my rights.

We're friends right,? You can handle the moaning.

And if you can't handle the b****fest, visit me on day four.  I've been told I will feel much better by than   then.

Another Challenge...What?

Here we go again.  You should know the drill by now. 

I come back after a very, very long hiatus with some new and crazy challenge (i.e. Everything I Ate Raw) and blog about it for a few months and then disappear for another very, very long hiatus.

Okay, I feel much better now that we have the rules established.

I've been busy, with family and work and just not having anything interesting to say.   

On to this year's wacky goal. 

I am in the process (started yesterday) of training and participating in the Tough Mudder in NorCal in September.

This is something I have been thinking about for a while, ever since I created a meal plan for my friend Scott who was in last September's event.

I'm not an athletic type of girl but I do love to push myself to the edge.  This seems like a great way to see how physically tough I really can be.

And of course all this craziness will be fueled on a raw vegan diet.   This is a raw food blog, so it only makes sense.

When I started The Daily Raw Cafe back in the day (May 2007), I had the intention of making it my raw food journey journal of sorts but it turned into a raw food recipe site.  Which was fine, because that's where my interests were at the time.

Now, I want to talk more about my life as far as the raw food lifestyle is concerned.   I have been on the raw food roller coaster for some eight years now and never really talked about the challenges and triumphs I have experienced. 

So now is the time, when I plan to participate in the most difficult experience of my life, I think others might want to know about it.  Also, I have received a lot of questions on what it's like to work at Living Light and I am totally open to offering a few behind-the-scenes moments at Living Light.  

If any of you have read my Juice Feasting Journey, then you know I have a no holds barred approach to writing.   I censor very few things.

Here are some things I could be writing about:
Training schedules
Nutritional plans
My Inspirations

How insane I am for wanting to do Tough Mudder
How I don't want to wake up at 4:30 a.m. to work out
How cool Tough Mudder is
How crazy my family is
How much I love my job
How cool the Living Light students are
How messy my home is
How great my kids are
How so very much in love I am with Man on the Raw
How much I want to strangle Man on the Raw
How I try very hard to feed my kids raw foods while they beg for a cheese pizza
How guilty I am for feeding my kids crap while I'm eating a raw diet
How I have a life other than training
How I love blogging
How I have a life other than blogging
My other interests 
and so much more...

I don't know if I will succeed, I don't know if this will be the last post and then I will hide away again. 

Well, I do know that I have schedule a few more posts for this week, so I guess you are guaranteed at least that much.

For those who are curious....
...as far as Everything I Ate Raw is concerned, I lasted 10 months.  I started eating cooked again November 1, 2011, I stopped taking pictures about a month before that.

:)

The Making of a Raw Vegan Tough Mudder...Coming Soon

Day 226

Raw Vegan Pizza