Tough Mudder recap (part 1)

The Tough Mudder was amazing.

And now, 4 days later, I'm finally at a place where I can organize my thoughts enough to write about it. Plus, my muscles have loosened up enough that I can type. (Nope, not kidding about that one.)  Confession - when I first finished, all I thought was THAT WAS AWESOME.  Then when I had time to rest, I thought about how sore I was.  Finally, I had a lot of random thoughts over the past few days and the only way it made sense was to break it down in segments.  Feel free to read it all or just jump to whatever interests you!

Day Before TM
I decided to go easy on the workout for a few reasons. It seems like most serious athletes give themselves a break before an event. I had been crazy busy earlier in the week so I needed to do some school work. And I didn't want to risk hurting myself in a ridiculously ironic way - stepping off the curb wrong during a 1-mile jog before the Tough Mudder, or something equally embarassing.  I took a Pure Barre class in the morning and then relaxed with my Med-Surg book all afternoon. That evening, B and I took it easy and did the typical thing before a big race - carb loading! We both had huge bowls of pasta from Lasagna House before climbing into bed relatively early.

Day of TM
B refused to eat beforehand but I knew I'd need some fuel to survive the Tough Mudder. I tried to hit all the major food groups - fruit, carbs, protein, Spark, chia seeds. And I think it served me pretty well. Thanks for all the pre-race fuel tips a few weeks back!

We also had a bag packed and ready to go so that when our friend Aaron arrived, we could leave.  Our start time was 12:20 but experienced Tough Mudders recommended we get there around an hour early.  Apparently, Tough Mudder races are notorious for having parking that is pretty far from the race site. Thankfully, our parking situation was fine but the extra time was nice to allow us to get our race packets, check our bags, use the bathroom, and write on our race numbers. We also had shirts made for our team and my brother-in-law was bringing those so we all had time to change once he arrived.

I HIGHLY recommend packing a bag for after the race because you will be a muddy, sweaty, delirious mess afterwards!  Here's what was in our bag:

Tough Mudder survival kit: change of clothes, flips flops, sunscreen, face wipes, baby wipes

Our friend brought along a Sam's-club sized package of baby wipes and we went through the entire thing! There are showers after the event (just to rinse off mud while still clothed) but they rush you out of there and trust me, there will still be so much mud inside your clothes and shoes afterward. I had mud in places I never imagined. If you plan on putting on a change of clothes for the ride home you will want to have some wipes with you! 

gorgeous day for a Tough Mudder!

Aaron and B, before the race

fueling up with a vanilla waffle from Honey Stinger - SO GOOD

saw these Tough Mudders while we were waiting to start and thought they were near the end of the course... I would soon find out that I was very wrong

just needed my shirt and I was ready to go! note: I did not wear the sunglasses on the course - they definitely would have broken.

just one of many costumed Tough Mudders

two of my awesome teammates, pre-race

the Rockets, ready to get our Tough Mudder on!

Okay, this post is getting pretty long and I haven't even gotten into the race yet! I need to get back to the books for a bit but come back tomorrow for recap part 2 where I'll go into details about the race and show you the dirty after pictures (oh, yeah!).

xoxo,

Cait

Monday quickie

I overslept and have an IV calculation test in a few hours, so I'm off to power through review with some Starbucks.  Then I'm working at Pure Barre later tonight (where I cannot wait to stretch out these sore muscles!) but I promise to post on the Tough Mudder later!

In short..

It was amazing.

I'm doing it again next year.

Maybe twice.

Here's a sneak peak of our shoes, post-race.  Yes, it was that muddy!

xoxo,
Cait

can it just stay Friday forever?

This has been a hellish week, and while I'm glad it is finally Friday, I almost wish the weekend wouldn't arrive. Huh? What? Allow me to explain.

First, I'll back up.  Last weekend I went to Austin to handle some wedding plans.  My future in-laws visited Austin from Friday through Saturday to check out some venues for the rehearsal dinner.  I headed to town Thursday night and stayed until Sunday morning to get a little extra time with my family.  I really miss my family and it is so nice to spend time with them.

there is nothing better than spending time with this gorgeous lady

But. There's always a but.  I was WORN OUT.  When I drove back to Houston on Sunday, I had to spend the rest of the day studying for my psych finals.  That's right, finals. As in TWO EXAMS.  We had our course final bright and early Monday morning (you may have seen my IG post about getting up at 4am), followed by our ATI exam that afternoon.  (ATI is a test company and for most courses we have in nursing school we take a content test made by ATI that should predict how we will do on the board exam when we graduate.) 

Pretest ritual: quite spot, headphones in, iced coffee, and practice questions.  Also, these jeggings made for super comfy but professional test attire.  I wore mine with a long shirt to hide the "legging-ness".

In a normal week, I only head to Galveston once for tests/class/seminar.  My nursing program is a hybrid accelerated BSN program.  The accelerated part means that it only takes a year as compared to 2 years in the traditional program.  The hybrid part means that it is mostly self-directed - all of our theory courses are online, combined with our clinical visits, our lab skills, and exams.  Lab skills and exams take place on campus. We have exams each week but we only have lab at the beginning of a course. Once we've learned the skill, we then put it into practice at our clinical visits which eliminates the need to attend lab on campus.  Does that make sense?

So back to this week.  Like I said, we normally only need to be on campus once a week. I live in Houston which means that without traffic it takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get to school.  Because our Adult 2 course started last week, we had lab this week to learn to insert IVs, draw blood, change central line dressings, and suction tracheostomy tubes.  It was GREAT. Except for needing to be on campus 4 days in a row.  I am totally exhausted from all the back-and-forth, the long days in lab, and then trying to study while I'm at home.  I'm relived that today I only have to work at Pure Barre for a few hours in the morning.

So why I am wishing the weekend wouldn't arrive?  Two words.

TOUGH. MUDDER.

This Saturday is the Tough Mudder race.  We checked out the course earlier this week and I am legit scared.  First, it is 13 miles. WHAT? I was expecting 10 miles and that was enough to make my heart race.  But 13 miles? I wasn't planning on that until November 23rd and without crazy obstacles.

You can view a better version here. And check out descriptions of the obstacles.

I just hope I can finish. And if my arms still work on Sunday, I'll do a recap.  

Anyone else ever done the Tough Mudder? Or any other type of obstacle race? I'd love to hear about your experience and any tips or tricks you've got!  Wish me luck!

xoxo,

Cait

marriage

I had a post planned out for today for Wedding Wednesday. Actually, I have a few planned out - on table decor, rehearsal dinner planning, and favors, among other things.  But then I read this article, Of years of Love, and a Long Goodbye, and out came the following post. 

I'll let you read the article first.

Go ahead, read it. I'll be here when you finish.


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When I read the story about a marriage as long as theirs, I think of my grandparents.  They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last June and then last December my grandfather died unexpectedly from a stroke.  Anytime I read of a couple married for that long, my mind wanders to the same places: to my grandparents, to how much I miss my grandfather (sp then I think of the struggle my grandmother must endure every day without the love of her life), and finally I think about what I hope my marriage will be.  It's a topic that often creeps into my mind with my own wedding just over 5 months away.  And inevitably, I then let my mind wander into the conversation of "wedding" versus "marriage" though that is another post, for another day.

There are many places in the article where I found my eyes welling with tears, sometimes from sadness but mostly from joy. 

It took two or three hours to get through the pages, because she'd underline each sentence in every story with a black pen. After a while he found comfort in reading between the lines, because it was something they shared.  
"Most couples have the most intensity in the beginning. But I was always working. So we had the best and most romantic part of our marriage at the end. We literally held hands for the last 20 years."  

So Cousy worked hard to create the perception that his once-independent wife was vital and healthy.

To love that purely and that deeply is a gift.  It makes my heart sing and puts a lump in my throat in a way that aches and feels beautiful at the same time.

The article discusses the progression of the wife's dementia and her fierce denial of dementia. The husband carefully planned out their days in order to maintain the independence his wife cherished, from moving their car to another state to putting in fake flowers.  When I read that, I thought about Adam Sandler's character is 50 First Dates.  Remember how he could recreate any kind of "normal" for Lucy, no matter how painstaking and frustrating it could be, because he loved her and wanted her to always feel good?  That was a movie, but this is real.  Was real.  The man in this article really did those things for his wife, and not because he had to but because in doing so, it made her happy and that filled his heart with love.

This is the marriage I want.  No, hopefully not one that ends with dementia, but one that is filled with acts large and small that bring happiness to my mate and to me.  I enjoy the material things in life but I have to remind myself that those things don't matter in the end. I want to look back and see kind, selfless acts from me and from my husband that speak louder than any words could to the depths of our love. I want caring for each other to be the language of our love over many, many years. The small but gentle wake up in the morning when my alarm goes off for what feels like the hundredth time.  Turning on the coffee pot even though he doesn't drink coffee. Turning the TV to the big game so it's ready to go when he gets home from a long day.  Taking care of the chore that the other one hates to do, without being asked or reminded.

I hope that 60 years from next March, I can look back on the life B and I have built together and find the similarities between us and this couple. Between us and my grandparents.

xoxo,

Cait 

picture post

I've just finished a full day of psych testing and I've got 3 days of lab skills in Galveston ahead of me, so pardon the lack of words.

done with psych clinicals!

enjoying a gluten-free and dairy-free meal, with a side of Dr. Mindy Lahiri

first day of work at Pure Barre Houston

just... no... don't... ugh!

anyone else's dogs stalk them in the bathroom?

my trusty co-pilot and me, heading to Austin

one of two pictures that proved I ran while in Austin

3 generations makes my heart happy

 

Tati holding Milli's hand

one picture of this little angel isn't enough

Quack's Bakery has the best cupcakes in Austin (not gluten- or dairy-free!)

car ride back home

xoxo,

Cait