Where do I even begin?
We packed everything, including my minions, into the car at 6:30AM to get to Westport, CT on Saturday 10/5 in time for 7:30 set up. Volunteering beforehand was both a blessing and a curse. The blessing was it took my mind off of stressing. The curse was that even though I left my post 30 minutes prior to when my heat was SUPPOSED to begin, my challenger group was immediately called into our “pen”. No time to fuel. No time for water. I barely had time to put my ankle brace on.
The worst part about that rush to our waiting post was, well, the waiting. We sat in the pen for at least 30 minutes, and then we were let out into groups of 50 (I was in the 2nd group of 50). So, by the time our group got out, we still had to wait for the first group to do their calisthenics before waiting another 10 minutes to start ours.
The waiting was the WORST.
The whole time hubby and the (very cranky by this point) minions were standing by. Josh wanted to “run the race with me” and I didn’t think that was really going to happen. However, the atmosphere was very casual and people were walking/running beside the competitors, so when he started running alongside me (off of the course), it seemed fine. Poor hubby probably didn’t plan on walking a 5K while mostly holding the 3 year old, but he was a trooper.
So, Thing 1 was running alongside me (remember how slow I run, right? M’kay) and when we would approach an obstacle, I would tell him to get back with hubby (e.g. tired flips), or I would let him stay near me (e.g. jumping hay bales). I know he loved it and he felt very accomplished.
So, let’s talk about the race from my perspective.
One thing that bugged me was they changed things since the list was posted. For example, at the beginning, we were told we would do 40 pushups, 20 each of squats, lunges, jump squats and jump lunges. When we got there, there were no pushups (I wasn’t complaining) but then 30 each of the others. By the time I got done with those 4 things, I started to try to run, and felt so wobbly, I couldn’t I had to walk almost the first whole section – to the walking lunges. ¼ f’in mile of walking lunges.
Yes, that is why my legs are still killing me today.
8 – 5’ walls. Just a little too tall for my normal run and jump. They were a bitch to get over. But I did them, all of them, alone.
I was going through the course and everyone in my group was well ahead of me by this point. I didn’t care so much. I went through the speed and agility course, zig-zag runs, tires, jumping hay bales. Slowly, but done.
It was likely around this time I thought “What the hell did I do this for? This is not even a LITTLE bit fun”. But nothing was going to stop me from finishing. When people from the BEGINNER group that started AFTER us started to run past me, my heart sank a little. Although frustrated and annoyed, I kept going.
And really – if you were running through the course that fast, you should have challenged yourself up a level! Damn! Anyway…
The 200lb tire flips were my favorite. I loved, loved, loved them. The best part of them was when they big burley guy who was moderating the obstacle started walking towards me, asking if I needed any help. I flipped that bitch over and said “nah, I’m good”. The look on his face was PRICELESS. As was the look on his face when I quickly flipped it 7 more times – UP HILL.
The only real fail I had was the traverse wall – I got about ½ way on it and dropped off. I have NO experience with this and frankly, the construction of the wall was shoddy. The hand grips were loose and spinning and the foot grips were either already broken off or in the midst of falling off. Meh. I was ok with just letting that one go – for now.
Other obstacles came and went. The 8’ walls were a lot easier than I thought. I used the rope and I was up and over quickly – all three.
It’s funny, some of the obstacles I was most worried about were easy, and then some I felt ok about were much tougher.
Monkey bars were OK – I got across with a little help from my trainer, Mike. It was SOOOO nice to see him there moderating this obstacle. I was so close to the finish but I couldn’t help telling him “This kinda sucks, Mike”. He laughed and told me I was almost there. Monkey bars, rope slams (which I kicked ass on), 40 muther f’in pushups (another change from the original list) and a sprint (as sprint-y as I could muster in the damn sand) to the finish and I was done.
So. Done.
Exhausted was an understatement. Today is day 3 after the event and I’m just beginning to walk normally (damn, damn, damn you lunges).
Ok. Here is a mini re-cap of the above:
1. Waiting sucks
2. Waiting = not fueling and hydrating properly (my fail)
3. Lunges suck
4. Tire flips rule
5. Family rules
So, as far as I am concerned, I am super happy I accomplished this event, and I will not be doing it again. LOL. Of course, I think I might have said that last year about the Rugged Maniac, so I won’t discount it completely. Although I didn’t run with any other “Tuff Girls”, my tribe was with me the whole time so I felt very supported throughout. I’m a very lucky wifey and mama, for sure.
PEACE!
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