There are moments in our lives when we realize we want something to change. It happened in my life and maybe it’s happening in yours! I believe that the spirit of connectedness is a powerful force. We seek to find someone that we can connect with and that can help show us how they “did it,” because then we believe we can do it! Making a difference in people’s lives, inspiring change and offering you the connectedness of a community is why I started Fierce Forward! I am committed to offering a variety of tools, resources, and inspiration to help you achieve a healthy life full of positive change. Afterall, I did it, and you can do it too!
My Tough Mudder Experience
Saturday morning wakeup call was 5:30 so we could get out the door by 6 to then drive an hour to where the event was located in Chicago.
I had 1/3 cup of oatmeal with a banana and looking back wonder WTH I was thinking! This did not last me very long through the event but needless to say, this was a great learning experience for me that I need to be much more conscious of the food I eat the night before and the morning of ANY event, especially one with military style obstacles and 10 miles of running. Good lord Ashley. Mistake #1.
I ran with my friend, Neal and his wife and my fiance’ watched as we took the Tough Mudder head on like Boss’s!!
It all started with a large group of us at the Start Line and a guy riling us up, doing ‘Huah’s!” and getting down on our knee, pledging our camaraderie spirit.
By the time we took off running, I told Neal my heart was pounding so fast already from all the adrenaline and within 5 minutes, we rock up to THE Arctic Enema…
Neil jumps in before me, nose plugged (great idea I should have thought of Mistake #2) and I decide to just plunge in. I got all the way under, my feet even slipped at the bottom of the truck when I hit and immediately as I got above water, my lungs and body went into SHOCK. I mean, I’ve never felt this before and it was pure s.h.o.c.k. The worst part was having to put my head under once more to get to the end of the tank. Then people could barely get out because their legs were not responding. So I had to sit there waiting for people just to get a leg up to get out of the tank so I could. As soon as I got out, I immediately felt better, shook my head and we began running….
Marcus got a pretty awesome shot here of me IN SHOCK after my head finally came up from the first jump in the ice bath. My favorite shot! I also like that the tank says, “Tic Enema” I’m not sure I would have jumped in a tank of tic’s though.
We take off on our leisurely run warming our bodies up. Let me chat a little about the running. I did a lot of sprint work and not enough endurance work which I would say is my weakness most times in my training anyways. (Mistake #3 or is this 4?) These runs took. it. out. of . me. Neal was a little prancer and just kept prancing forward like it was nothing but in between the obstacles and all the running through mud, I was fighting my screaming legs and my head after mile 3. 7 more to go!!
This was a cake walk. Climb through tubes that you cannot see anything in, you have to find your way out.
Halfway through, Marcus was there to make me feel like home again and Neal and I commented another mile in how cool it was that our best friends came to support and cheer us on, that it made a huge difference to have them there! I was surprised when he leaned in to give my dirty self a kiss but I accepted:)
This would be false advertisement if I acted like I went across the bars! I did not make it and realized at this point I was no longer the Fierce Warrior who started the race. I just was doing everything I could to smile and get through mile by mile. At one point, Neal’s calves really began cramping up badly and alot of other people’s too so a few stops for him I was thankful for. He got better after some massage work and walking.
I would say overall, it was alot of fun to do WITH someone and maybe if I had come into it more prepared, (having eaten ALOT MORE CARBS FOR ENERGY (again, not sure what I was thinking in the morning) and with more endurance behind me I would have enjoyed it more. It was a 2 hour drive home and I was wiped. The next day my hip flexors were sore and alot of different areas in my legs. I also was really sore in my left ankle, which rolled close to 20 times through running through the mud and divets in the terrain.
I thought going into it, maybe I’ll get into these. I’m trying to find that thing that really empowers me, pushes me and makes me want to come back for more. I’ve done the competitions but refuse to do competition dieting again but rather, find something that challenges me as an athlete. Although this pushed me, I did not wake up the next morning thinking, I want to do that next year!!! One and done baby!
I guess I don’t need a tough mudder to know I’m one tough cookie, actually, one FIERCE cookie!
I’M LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO REP FIERCE FORWARD AT THEIR EVENTS. EMAIL ME AT fierceforward@live.com if you have an event you’ll be doing and want to rep Fierce Forward as the Fierce Fighter you are!!!
My Happiness Project Update
Well, alot has happened in the past couple of weeks that I’m SO PROUD OF!! I can’t believe how far I’ve come, from being that unorganized, flustered by all the cluster yet continue to carry forth girl to this more organized woman in control of it.
It has made a huge difference in my world to just take some of the clutter off my shoulders and what I have concluded the main jist of being organized is, is this one Intention: EVERYTHING HAS A PLACE.
That is what it all comes down to!
Here is what I have tackled in the past two weeks…
- I decided to go in JCPenny and pick out a few summer dresses and FIND WHAT I LOVE about myself in them. It’s so easy to go in the dressing room and beat yourself up and tell yourself that the lighting sucks and that nothing fits but I wanted to be good to myself and that is part of my Happiness Project.
- I even went out and got some Succulents and planted a Cactus Bowl. It was a lot of fun and something I’ve been wanting to do for a while now and just didn’t make the time for.
- In life, I’ve realized how important it is to be organized in the Chaos. If you do not have a strong hold on everything you’re juggling, more Chaos is created and you will soon find yourself with an anxiety attack or missing appointments, etc. I went to Target and got all these cute, colorful binders to organize my Online Training Clients, In-person Clients, my Wedding (September 7th of this year!) and my order for Intention Bracelets! I saw these little accessories that just made me want to delve in to the project so I got them:) From SmashIt Brand.
If you haven’t begun a Happiness Project and just want to DO MORE for Yourself, I 100% recommend it! You can start yours by doing one thing that you’ve been wanting to do for a long time. Tackle it one corner or one piece at a time and watch it take flight into a finished project that creates a feeling of ‘lightness’ in yourself. Fierce Forward approved!!
Motivation May Playlist 2013
Music is huge for me when it comes to motivation! And let’s face it, motivation is daily work. You aren’t ALWAYS motivated and you have to do your best to keep up with fueling the fire behind you. We just gotta keep moving fiercely forward and that requires effort, energy and fierce motivation. So when I was feeling a little unmotivated, I thought to myself how it has been a while since I found new music. I spent a couple hours of my evening last night scouring Youtube for new remixes, which are my favorite to work out to! And low and behold, I could not WAIT to get into the gym today!!! Without further ado, I give you…
MOTIVATION MAY PLAYLIST
And just because, here is my entire compilation of Summer 2013, to listen to in the gym, for long road trips to Michigan Antiquing, to the Beach, on and on!
Enjoy Fierce Ones:)
Ash
Pin It
