So on Saturday, October 20th I decided to push myself out of a comfort zone. I’ve blogged about obstacle racing before; training for the Warrior Dash and doing my first Warrior Dash this summer with my fitness blogger friends (or blends as we refer to each other in the “blogging world”).
So I got up nice and early, made myself some protein pumpkin pancakes, packed a plastic bag for wet clothes, my Magnum Serum, Acid & Heat and booked it down to Cherry Street for a 9am start time.
The course starts in the Soccer Dome at the Docks and then the race course runs along Cherry Beach and ends back at the Docks. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
As you enter the Dome you are handed a big block of wood which is lovingly refered to as a “rifle”. Yup I’m in Army territory. You then are ushered into rows and the yelling starts. Oh and the holding of the rifle over your head. Let me just say it’s so much fun. But I’d be joking. It’s definitely a test of concentration and determination. Can you not tell that’s my determined face below? It was slight hell to be honest but after getting through it you feel stronger and great about pushing through a test of muscle power and will.
So after an hour or holding this rifle above your head with both arms and at times one arm they lead you outside. Oh wait. I almost forgot the army of staff that walk up and down the rows yelling “motivational” sayings or just plain yelling at you. It wasn’t exactly my cup of tea but then again I was pushing my comfort zones. I avoided eye contact in the hopes that the yelling wouldn’t happen in my ear 😉
Ok back to outside. We still have our rifles and now it’s time for a 5K run. I’m franticly trying to figure out how I’m going to run with this rifle. At times I ran with it under one arm like a loaf of bread. But as warned the other side that was free would start to cramp. So I would either run holding onto it with both arms (see picture below) until I realized I was going to bruise up my hips royally (which I did) to grasping one end higher almost like a baby and holding the other end a bit lower.
Ok so the run portion wouldn’t be that bad on it’s own. The course was a mix of road, sand and then a bike path. It was running with the darn block of wood that killed me. I almost forgot, it was also the stations of plyo fun along the way. If I remember correctly (it was a bit of a haze) there were sit ups, jump squats (x 2), kneeling to standing (x2) and pushups along the way. Ok back to home base and a glass of water. Oh and then back at it. We then had to complete a series of obstacles. Started off by the water dragging huge tires on a chain out of the water and throwing them back in 3 times, then off to hop a good sized wall, climbing over a wood obstacle and then a mud pit (my hardcore self bypassed it – I just was trying to avoid the cold water) and then came an over and under wood obstacle and then it was monkey bar fun (my rotator cuffs suck so I opted for 25 burpees instead – I’m determined to conquer it next time), hammer throws in the sand, then it was time to climb a rope (which I sucked at so I did rope pull ups instead – it was a gym class nightmare all over again), then it was tire runs to the volleyball courts where it feels like the obstacles never end. First up was throwing a cinder block on your shoulder and running down to one end. This became walking quite quickly. Throw it on the other shoulder and back. Then it was the worst obstacle for me. The sand bag. That darn thing just didn’t want to budge. I had a crappy bag with a broken strap but I wasn’t going to complain. In the process I almost gave up and cut up a finger 🙂 The war wounds were posted on instagram. It may look like I’m laughing below. Which I probably am as I tend to do that when I can’t do something in fitness. Don’t ask me why lol.
I finally finished this horrible obstacle and it was onto the orange buckets. I swear they were filled with lead. It was hard to hold them on the outside of your body so I managed to bruise my legs and cut up my ankles really well. More war wounds posted on instagram. Then it was off to put a sand filled backpack on and crawl through the sand. Then drag a cinder block on a chain back and forth. Then hop over more wood and then plyo pushups on more wood. Oh and then… shut up I’m done!!! I completed the race portion in 1:39! Please note I completed Warrior Dash in less than an hour so I’m now seeing that race as a walk in the park, despite the heat and hills. This O Course was a butt kicker literally.
I found out this week I placed 14 which means I made the top 20 females. I have no clue how good it is but I feel amazing and so proud. I pushed myself out of a comfort zone. I did this all on my own not knowing anyone there and can be proud of checking off something cool off a fitness bucket list that I didn’t even know was on it. As they say at O Course. Uh Rah 🙂
How would you compare the “muddiness” to Warrior Dash? Or the ability to clean up and leave when you’re done?
Pretty muddy in the summer as you run through the lake, crawl through sand and a mud pit. Nowhere to really clean up. Must bring a change of clothes and towel.