Spartan Race 2019 Part 2

Continued from Part 1.

After that came the Atlas Carry. Big ol' stone to carry, put down, do 5 burpees and then bring back. Not too bad. I was able to lift the stone much more easily than last year and the only bad thing about the burpees was that my shirt was still wet, so I made a muddy mess down my front on the first rep and every time I jumped up I'd splatter mud everywhere. It was fun.

Then we came upon the Spear Throw. No hay bales this year; instead we had foam type targets with Spartan logos on them. I watched some others from my team go first. One of them even got away with two tries, but still didn't make it. When I finally had my turn, I totally made the distance, but I was off to the right. So, I went to the penalty area and did my 30 burpees. And my adopted team waited patiently for me to finish - it probably helped that there was a water station right there, so they had something to do while waiting.

The course then made its way down the hill a bit to the Bucket Carry. The Bucket Carry was basically the same as last year, but in a very different spot. We got to climb up, then down, then back up again while carrying the bucket. And the terrain wasn't exactly even, so I ended up trying to put more weight on my right arm so I could look around the bucket on the left to see my footing. Also, the guy in front of me gave some warnings when there were dips or roots sticking out.

I wasn't going to let that bucket go.

No way, no how. 

Next came the Slip Wall. The course was still on a downhill, and the wall itself was kind of tilted. Like, the right side was uphill from the left side. So it was a bit awkward feeling to climb up it, but not a problem for me. I did use the rope a fair amount, but that's what it's there for.

And then, another nemesis. The Inverted Wall. Last year, I couldn't do this one, and it was right near the beginning of the course. I remember trying to do what I'd seen in videos, to get myself crouched on the underside and then spring up and grab the top. But last year, I couldn't do it. I tried a couple times and my fingers just wouldn't grasp the top. That time, I got help from a stranger. This time, I had a team standing by to help me.

But I didn't need the help. I got myself onto that wall and gave a mighty jump. My hands reached all the way to the top edge of the wall and I held on. I got my legs up and over almost before I realized what I was doing. More than any other obstacle, I think this one proves to me how much I've improved since last year. Because it's the exact same test, and this time, I passed.

We decided to do some running - so it would be like we'd been running the whole time - as we came down to the area where the spectators could approach the course. I thought I'd see Ambrose there, but I didn't. So I walked up to the Multi-Rig with my team. First, I went to the far right, but there was a bit of a line and I wanted to get going, so I went to the far left. It was at the sides where there were extra steps to make the rings easier for short folk to reach.

I'm walking over to the other side of the rig here.

Getting a handle on the first ring in the background.

Starting my journey through the rings. 

Once I got started, it was almost easy. I swung from one to the next, paused with hands on both rings to get my momentum going before the next reach. I made sure of my grip before I let go. And I made it all the way to the end pretty quickly.

But that's where I ran into a little trouble. See, technically, you have to hit the bell to complete the obstacle. But that bell was a good two feet higher than the ring I was holding onto. I tried swinging and kipping, but I ended up spinning in circles. Still, I clung to it, even as one of my teammates came over to stop my spinning so I could give it another go. In the end, I just couldn't get enough momentum to reach the bell. But I decided that I had completed it well enough for me and went on without penalty burpees.

Sure, technically, I didn't complete. But I got through those rings, and I'm doing this for fun. So I moved on to the Hercules Hoist. Last year, this was the one penalty obstacle that I was able to complete. This year, since I'd just spent a good 30 seconds holding onto a ring, my forearms were a little pumped and it was hard to pull that thin rope and lift the weight. I got through it, but slowly, and with several pauses while I stood on the rope to keep it in place.

After that came the new obstacle, the Helix. This one I'd seen watching races on YouTube, and it didn't look terribly difficult, but I'd seen some of the elite athletes fail on it. It can get slick, and you aren't allowed to touch the top or touch the ground. I watched one of my teammates go through first to get an idea of what to do. I also chose a side that wasn't facing the sun so I wouldn't have to worry about grabbing sun-heated metal. I totally cribbed a technique from one of my fellow women when I saw how she crouched near the top of the part of the obstacle that had no lower footholds. And I made it through.

Nothing hard remained. Just getting through the A-Frame Cargo, which doesn't bother me because I don't have an issue with heights. At least, not those kinds of heights. I get a bit bothered when I'm on top of a narrow ridge... And then the Dunk Wall, where I actually helped my team again by talking someone through going under. It was nice that the wall was actually an inflatable rather than a wooden board - if someone came up early there would be no head banging or gashing. I showed her how you could actually reach under and feel where the air was with your hand, and that helped. I also counted us down to go under.

We got some pictures together before taking the Fire Jump, which seemed bigger than last year - possibly because I was jumping it about 2 hours earlier this year. And some pictures after the finish line. And then I found my husband and we dispersed.

This fire made me nervous.

But I made it over without getting burned.

My adopted team! 

I drank down the can of FitAid that I was given at the finish and handed everything else off to Ambrose, who grudgingly took off his pack to store it all and then had to take it off again when I wanted my Spartan Finisher shirt to wear once I rinsed myself off. Since I wasn't among the very last to finish this year, I actually got to use a hose with water pressure this time. Ambrose even walked over to help hose me down - not that some of the dirt was coming off at all. I got changed and then headed over to get my free beer.

Once I got the beer, we found a spot in the shade to sit and I started to realize just how much I'd used my legs. They were aching. And I was shaking. So I ate the banana and then we went to stand in line for the snow cones. After that, I dragged Ambrose over to the picture area where he took some pictures of me posing with my medal.

Then we drove home. I cried a bit, not from being upset, but from being so very happy. There was a small part of me that thought that I would be some sort of exception. That other people can train hard and succeed, but if I trained hard, I wouldn't. Turns out, I'm not an exception. I worked for months on getting my upper body stronger, and it worked. Hard work does pay off, even for me.

Spartan Race 2019 Part 1

I did it. I finished the Spartan Sprint with only one set of penalty burpees - and that was for the spear throw, which I knew I didn't have enough practice in to guarantee anything. I figured that one was a toss up. I finished a lot faster this year, even though I didn't do a lot of running. Maybe next time I'll go for speed, but this year was all about the obstacles and finishing. And I finished a whole lot of obstacles.

I had an earlier start time this year, so we got going from the house before 9:30 am and Google Maps insisted it would take us an hour to arrive at our destination. Ha! That would have been true if there were no Spartan Race going on at our destination, but since there was, we ended up with about 45 minutes worth of stop and go traffic to get to the parking area. Luckily, we snagged a spot near the port-o-potties, because after that wait we both needed a pit stop.

We ran into stop and go traffic pretty far from the parking lot.

Seeing the line of cars ahead was not fun.

I did get excited to see the runners and part of the course up on the hill.

Then, before we headed inside, I ate my lunch of a tortilla and chicken breast. And then we walked on over to registration and split up since there's a different check in line for spectators and racers. I got my goody bag and we met back up and entered the festival area. The layout was a lot different from last year. Better, I think. We entered the merchandise area, and then got to the map and the food trucks were one direction and the start was another.

We spent some time scoping the place out, verifying the location of the snow cone truck and figuring out where Ambrose could watch me start and finish the race. I was nervous. I got my sunscreen on and then I heard the guy in the start corral announcing that they'd take anyone whose time was before 12, even though it was 11:30. And then that they'd take just anyone, no matter the start time. That was tempting, but I'm a creature of habit. I wanted to go on time.

Nervous selfie.

Of course, I was also jittery with nerves, so after two pit stops to make sure I had peed as much as I could before the race started, I got into the start corral for the 12:15 start, once they announced that they would take anyone who had a start time before 1:15. And that was the absolute best choice I made all day.

Because although I stood alone in the corral, near the front and ready to go after climbing the wall to enter, I didn't stay alone for long. I jogged slowly through the rough terrain to the Over Wall, and hopped over that without any trouble. Then I jogged some more to get to the Rolling Mud. Right before the mud, I was found. Someone who had also been to the Camp Rhino training the prior weekend saw me, said hi, and asked if I wanted to join her team. I said yes and was immediately adopted.

Entering the start corral.

That wall wasn't a problem for me.

Waiting in the start area.

And we're off!

Being with a group made me remember that I was doing this for fun. Yes, I wanted to test myself against the obstacles, and yes, I wanted to see if my months and months of training had paid off. But I'm not out there trying to get the best time or beat anyone. We did a lot of walking, and that was okay.

I got adopted!

Into the rolling mud.

I got wet.

In this pit, the liner floated up and tried to trip me.

Then we headed up, up, up the hill.

Although I had been planning on emptying the water from my shoes after the Rolling Mud, I decided not to so I could keep up with the group that I'd found myself in. I got some introductions and learned a few names. I even told one of them about my ICT hike coming up in July, since a lot of folks were talking about what other races they were doing. We trudged up the hill and the work passed more easily for the company.

On the Vertical Cargo, I hung back a bit near the top to make sure I didn't get inadvertently kicked in the head. And I also talked one of my new teammates through getting over the top, because the height made her nervous. It was a bit scary up there because the whole rig wobbled a bit, but I didn't have any trouble getting up and over.

After that was the Barbed Wire Crawl, which I only like because I am small enough to mostly avoid hitting the barbs while I crawl. Again, it was much nicer to do this as part of a group, joining in some banter or just listening to them and feeling like I was included. One girl ripped a scab on her knee and went to rolling instead of crawling. Since we weren't that far from the Rolling Mud, her clothes picked up a lot of dirt and made mud.

Plenty of clearance for me on the crawl.

I even managed a smile for the camera!

The next obstacle was the Rope Climb. Last year, I thought I had the Rope Climb in the bag, because I was able to do them at CrossFit, mostly. But this year, I knew I could do it. I'd been practicing rope climbs not only at CrossFit, but also at Camp Rhino with a slicker rope. And I had been working my grip. So even though the rope I grabbed was cold, wet, and muddy, I knew I could make my way up it.

I took a few deep breaths, dug my fingers into the slim, dirty rope, and set my feet. Not as high as I could possibly set them, but high enough to get started. With a wet rope, I wasn't going to chance getting my knees up to my chest. I just needed to finish, not to do it in a certain number of pulls.

I rang that bell at the top of the rope. And it was wonderful to have that group there, ready with the high fives and cheers when I told them that even though I had done the course last year, this was my first bell. I also tried to help one of my teammates figure out the rope climb, but it's not something that's really easy to teach or learn in just a few minutes, so she decided to do the penalty instead.

On from the rope climb, we got to the Sandbag Carry. This came at right around the same spot that they had the buckets last year. It's a place where the hill dips down a bit, so we got to carry the sandbags downhill and then back uphill in a nice little loop. The downhill was no problem, but my legs complained a fair amount while trying to get back up, especially when I was passing someone who had to stop for a rest break. But I managed not to knock her off the trail or fall myself.

The Hurdles were next. This was an obstacle that I remembered from last year with less than fondness. I had trouble with them last year - I could do them, but I had a hard time getting my body all the way over. I remembered struggling with them. Not this year. Even though I wasn't training specifically on this obstacle, my overall training paid dividends. I was able to hop up and slide my hips and swing my legs over on both of the hurdles. No drama.

The Z-Wall was something that I did have a chance to practice on at Camp Rhino. I didn't anticipate having issues with it, because I didn't have to put all my weight on my arms. And it started out alright, but I had a bit of trouble at the right angle turn; I wasn't sure if I was allowed to grab the structure itself to swing myself around. After some hesitation, I did just that (it was a wood piece, not a metal or strap support, so probably kosher). And my adopted team cheered me on as I trembled my way through to the bell on that obstacle.

And then, we came upon my nemesis. If there was any one obstacle from last year that really burned me, it was the Monkey Bars. Sure, the rope last year literally burned my hands, but the Monkey Bars surprised me by being so thick and having ups and downs. I was never able to do playground monkey bars as a kid, so when I finally learned how to do it in my 20s, I was excited. But these are no playground monkey bars. And I had been worried about these.

But they were different from last year. Still super thick, but no ups and downs. Easy, right? So I approached and started without realizing that some of the bars had really big gaps between them. Luckily, there wasn't really time to get nervous while I was hanging on to the bars. I just gave a big swing and went for it. And I made it across each of the wide gaps, and all the way to the end. It wasn't the challenge that I was expecting, but I still felt I had exacted my vengeance upon those bars.

And they led to what may have been my favorite moment of the race, after I had finished and Ambrose told me that he'd overheard guys talking about how the Monkey Bars were too big and had gaps that were too wide for those guys to do it. He was worried upon hearing that at the time, but when he told me, I couldn't help but grin like a lunatic, because I got across those hard bars.

To be continued...

Almost Spartan Time

Last Saturday was the last Obstacle Course class at Camp Rhino before this Saturday's Boise Spartan Spring. There were so many people that the class started late because everyone had to get checked in and pay. I don't know exactly how many people there were, but it was more than I'd ever seen at the class for sure.

We broke up into two groups and each group had an instructor go through one of four obstacles for about ten minutes before we rotated around. We tackled what the coach said were the most frequently missed obstacles - Olympus, Monkey Bars, Rope Climb and Spear Throw.

After a warm up, which included one of the most bizarre tasks I've been assigned either here or at CrossFit, my group started on Spear Throw. Oh, the bizarre task was to take off one shoe, then do a low bear crawl across the gym, and then come back backwards, all while balancing said shoe on one's hips. It felt weird, and was painful, but it certainly emphasized that we were not to rock our hips on the movement...

In the ten minutes, we each go two throws, and, to my immense surprise, I hit my first one. While in previous classes, they'd set up a tire target and had us throwing blunt tipped spears, for this class we had real Spartan style spears and a hay bale to impale. I didn't get my second one, but I know now that I can do it - if luck is with me.

On the rope climb, I wanted to be careful not to mess up my shoes too much more than I already did last time. The Altras are great for many things, but they do not stand up well to descending a rope. So I only really did one climb, because that is where I feel most comfortable at this point. I did try a bit of legless rope climbing, but I'm definitely not there yet.

Then my group switched instructors and went over to Olympus, which is a barely tilted wall with a variety of climbing holds, holes and chains with which one can grasp with one's hands while traversing across the wall. You can't put your feet on the holds, and the wall is slippery as heck, even for my sticky soled Altras. I did a little better on this obstacle, but I didn't make it through even the short length they have at Camp Rhino.

The Monkey Bars were my last station, and I actually felt good on them. I know the Spartan Race will have a longer set, but I felt strong as I went up and down on the thick bars. And I improved on my second try, even daring to swing bar to bar one time, instead of getting both hands on a bar.

A lot of people stayed for the boot camp afterwards, including me. We had a 400 meter run, plus a hill run, then 30 burpees for a buy-in. After that, two obstacles of our own choice, a spear throw attempt with a 5 burpee penalty for missing the target, and then a hill run. Repeat ad nauseum.

I tried to choose obstacles that were challenging. I did a heavy hoist. I did the six foot wall a couple times, the Monkey Bars a couple times, and I even tried the Olympus again, though I didn't get far. Altogether it felt like an awful lot of running.

I'm not really anticipating doing a whole lot of running for the Spartan Race. I'm a slow runner as it is, and I'm not going to be in a hurry. My main goal is to get through and minimize burpees, so if that means walking more than I run, that's what I'll do. I've been training with running up hills, so I'm hoping that will allow me to get through the race in my own time.

I've been preparing for this thing for so long, I can hardly believe it's almost here... I'm a lot stronger than I was last year, but am I stronger enough? That's what this test is about. I don't think I'll be doing this race again next year though. It's a lot of prep, and right around the time when I want to be focused on backpacking. Maybe I'll look into one that's in the fall, even though I'd have to travel. Even early spring would be better. And I might just start working on the trifecta with a longer race.

OCR Improvements

I didn't get to the OCR class when I had originally planned to go in March because I wasn't feeling the best that month. But I wanted to get there at least once, so, even though I could feel myself coming down with something, I went last Saturday.

The interesting thing about the class was that it was listed as having a substitute instructor. So, it wouldn't be the same guy that I'd seen the last few times I went. I hoped that wouldn't mean it was harder, since I wasn't feeling one hundred percent.

The class felt pretty large, though there were only about 16 of us. It felt bigger, in part because there were other people in the gym and they kind of jumped in and out of doing the obstacles. The warm up let me know that I was definitely coming down with something, because running around the gym, doing small sets of burpees and squats, should not have made me feel so achey and tired.

We started with rope climbs, though the instructor allowed a small group to start on the monkey bars instead. I thought about going with the small group since I'm pretty comfortable with rope climbs by now, but then I decided to stick with the ropes. I shared a rope with two others, including one girl whose name I don't remember - I do know that she's been at the other OCR classes I've been to though. We took turns going up the rope. I started out pretty shaky, but managed to get several three-pulls once I warmed up.

Then the group as a whole went over to the monkey bars, and I made my way across the "normal" bars without too much trouble. I couldn't go very fast, or hand over hand as I had last time. But I made it. And I tried to coax a nervous girl into giving the bars a try. She did eventually try, and dropped almost immediately. But the cool part was that she did (after more coaxing) try again, making it to the second bar. Even cooler, when she tried one last time, she made it through about five.

I was nervous to try the large multi-level bars, but I did it anyway. And, even though I was feeling ill and nervous, I made it across. I am getting stronger in my grip and with my body control. I did try the multi-level bars a second time, but I did the exact same thing I did in the Spartan race last year - I reached out for the higher bar, missed it and swung back. Well, it wasn't exactly the same, because I managed to recover and hold onto the first bar - but I dropped rather than try again.

I think I'll be okay for the Spartan Race this year - as long as I don't come down with something the weekend of!

Sublimating Frustration

I've finished 15 weeks of my Spartan training plan. I don't feel that I'm ready yet, and that's why I started so soon. I mean, most people prepare for their Spartan Race with training 6, maybe 8, weeks before the race, right? But I know that I took nearly 11 months to get my first pull-up with a weekly training plan.

So I knew I'd have to start early. And I also knew, from the previous training, that I'd run into frustration. Sure, I'm slowly increasing my weights, but the changes are slow and incremental. And my progress on the Sunday training is a bit back and forth. I haven't made much progress on the single arm holds or the monkey bars. And I still can't do a single peg on the peg board with any consistency. Or rather, I might be able to move one peg just before my feet hit the ground - no control.

I'm taking a week off of the training to rest a particularly sore triceps on my left arm. I had that happen before, too, when I was first working on getting kipping pull ups. I'm still doing CrossFit this week, but I'll try to give that arm a bit of a break.

Next week I'll be starting week 16, and I know I just have to keep grinding. Progress will be slow, but then I'll get to the obstacle course training class and I'll be able to do more things. Not everything, but more. I'm chipping away at a big block, and it takes time.

I just have to keep reminding myself of that.

Spartan Obstacle Training

Last Saturday I went back to Camp Rhino Boise to do another round of the Obstacle Course Race class. This time, after a vigorous warm-up, we started with rope climbs, and then moved onto a combination of slip wall and Olympus training. On the rope climbs, I was near some nice folks who are also doing the race in Boise in June, and we ended up chatting quite a bit. I was able to help one of the women get an idea of what kind of underwear one should use on race day - not the kind of tip that abounds on Spartan Race how-to's.

I'm definitely improving on my rope climbs. I have a lot more comfort with them than I used to, and I can get up, most of the time, with just three pulls. I'll take that at 5 foot 3. Though I do have a fancy that, maybe, someday, I might be able to do it in two if I jump really high. The woman I was sharing a rope with was a complete beginner to rope climbs, so she worked on standing with her feet in the hold, and I could see her improve as we continued to work.

Then we headed over to the slip wall, which is an angled wall with optional ropes. The ideal is to just run up it, but it is acceptable to use the rope to walk up it. I wasn't sure I could just run up it, but I did, albeit with less grace than some other folks. Once we reached the top, we were supposed to drop on the other side, and make our way across a small distance and climb back up, then walk down the slip wall. The other side is on its way to becoming an Olympus, which is an obstacle in Spartan Races that has a very slightly angled wall with a variety of handholds. The idea is to get up on it in a squat and use the handholds to traverse across without dropping to the ground. I am not good at that - yet. I'm hoping better shoes will help out, but for now I'll just keep working the strength angle.

All 15 participants went up twice, and then we headed back to the ropes to finish off the class. When the instructor asked who would be staying for Obstacle Course Boot Camp, a session that was not offered the last time I went, I asked if I would need to use another punch. He said no, so I decided to stay.

I had brought a sports drink and an apple to snack on after the class, but I decided to leave them in the car. I guess so they'd stay cold? That meant I didn't have them to eat between the regular class and the boot camp, and on that decision I blame how much I dragged in the boot camp. Pro tip: have a snack before the boot camp!

Saturdays are usually a rest day for me, and I don't consider the Obstacle Course class to be a "workout" though it is to an extent. But the boot camp is like a combination of a CrossFit Endurance class with obstacles sprinkled in. It was HARD.

Partner workout, split reps as seen fit, work at the same time: 100 air squats, 80 wall balls, 60 burpees over the bar, 40 calories, 20 dumbbell box step overs, 10 thrusters, 5 pull-ups and 5 dips each, 5 pull-ups and 5 dips each, 10 thrusters, 20 dumbbell box step overs, 40 calories, 60 man makers, 80 wall balls, 100 jumping air squats. Oh, and after every set, do two obstacles.

My partner, a young woman, and I, got through the air squats with dispatch and then came the hard part. See, this was only my second visit, and I'd only ever done three obstacles before. There were some that I simply didn't know how to do. So I kind of made her take the lead on picking which ones to do. As we made our way through the torture, she got, I think, a bit frustrated at that, and we did end up splitting up on some of them. For example, I did a rope climb, and she did something else.

But the cool part about the boot camp was that it gave me an opportunity to work on obstacles while fatigued. And I made it across both the flat monkey bars and the up-and-down monkey bars in the middle of that workout. I was even able to go single handed on the flat ones, which I am particularly proud of, because that hasn't been a part of my skill set ever before in my life.

I also got to try a traverse wall, the cargo net a-frame, a net climb thing where you roll over the top and then drop down to a bar and then to the ground, a slack line, log balance steps, and two different weights of hoists. We also did the 4 foot wall a few times when we couldn't think of anything else to do.

We didn't make it through the whole workout in the allotted 50 or so minutes. We ended in the man makers; I'm not sure how many she got through of the 30 each we had, but I got through 13. It's definitely something that I'll do again next time, with a little better planning.

I didn't notice this until I got home and felt it stinging. I'm not entirely sure what caused it, but I'm guessing it was the lip of the slip wall from the first time I ran up it and didn't get my whole body to the to at once... 

I went hand to hand across these narrow diameter black bars. 

It was hard to see where the bars were in my original picture, so I added some highlighting. I had to put both hands on each bar to get past this one, but I did it, which was pretty thrilling. 

Workout Review: Day 3 Open Hour

I had to take a week off of my workout, because I had some things going on. Also, not this past Sunday, but the one before, after I had completed the workout of the day, I found I was in too much pain to keep going. I usually do the workout first, and then do my Spartan preparation workout during Sunday's open hour at my CrossFit box, but I felt like I was going to vomit and I went home instead.

So, I took a week off, and the numbers I put up this last Sunday, the last day of week 13, were not exactly where I wanted them to be. But they do look a lot better compared to week 1, so I'll focus on that.

This day's workout is grip intensive, and it starts with a bang. A tabata of alternating single arm holds. That's 20 seconds on, 10 seconds of rest, 8 times, which makes 4 times each arm. I'd have to say that this one is a pretty big struggle. The first time I tried it, I was able to do okay, maybe hang on the full time once with each arm. But after that, I found that I wasn't able to hold on very long and I ended up going onto my toes for support. At this point, I try the first round for each hand as long as I can, and then go to toes for the remaining rounds. In week 12, I managed to complete those first two rounds, but last Sunday I was not. It's a hit or miss kind of exercise for me right now.

Next, I use the two staggered height bars to do some monkey-bar'ing. I go forward and then back down, and completing both of those counts as one rep. For this, I've definitely improved my form. I can feel that I'm stronger in my ability to stabilize with one hand low and one high. But I haven't really grown my number of reps. I can get two pretty easily, but then I get tired. I got 5 once. I've been thinking about trying to turn around so I'm facing forward going down, but I haven't quite gotten the nerve up for that yet.

Then I spend some time trying to hold onto the bar with my arms bent (L's). Ideally, I should be able to monkey bar with L's, but I'm not there yet. But I have improved my hang time from 11 seconds the first week to 30 seconds. And one of my friends took a picture of me hanging from the bar like that because she thought it looked cool.

Next, I attempt to hold onto a climbing rope for as long as I can with my arms close to my chest, not straight and extended. The first week, I maxed out at 4 seconds. Week 12, I got all the way to 19 seconds (a mere 14 seconds last Sunday). I have lately been having issues with this one because my hold squishes whichever index finger is under the other hand. Squishes it so much it stays squished for like 30 seconds after I let go, so that's not pleasant and I need to figure out how to adjust.

Then I do 1 to 5 rope climbs. Well, that's the plan. I started doing 1, and then moved to 2, and in week 12, I did 3 (using only 3 pulls on each climb, which, if you don't know what that means, is really good for a short person). Last Sunday, I only did 1, because I kicked myself off the rope on my first attempt and figured I shouldn't push myself. Have I mentioned I also have a cold/sinus thing going on?

Peg board holds come next. I don't have any illusions that I can actually climb a peg board, but I can hold onto the pegs. I started this one using straight arms, but my times were getting pretty long, so I started incorporating bent arm holds as well. My first straight arm hold came in at 36 seconds. The last one was 84 seconds, and my longest bent arm hold is clocking in at 39 seconds.

I do actually make an attempt to move the pegs on the board, but I haven't gotten any farther than moving a single peg before falling. Yet!

Two grip carry exercises come next. First, a farmer carry with kettle bells, and then a pinch grip with plates. I started with the 53 pound kettle bells, but now I'm using the 70 pound ones, which makes me feel like a badass. I mean, that's almost my body weight I'm carrying for a good 70 or so steps. With the plates, I'm still working on the 25 pound plates. They are thick enough that the pinch grip is hard to hold with my small hands, so they remain a challenge. I also try to use that grip to carry weights during everyday workouts, because I'm weird.

And, finally, it's time for GHD sit-ups and GHD back extensions. I started with sets of 10 and have been steadily increasing by a single rep at regular intervals. Week 12, I was up to 14, but last Sunday I scaled back to 10 because of not feeling one hundred percent.

It frustrates me that I can't just do all the things I want to do. But by looking back at this, I can at least see that I have improved. Even when I was feeling sick, I still increased most of my hold times. And the monkey bars are feeling easier, even if I lack stamina. I really need to find some good monkey bars to practice on, but most parks don't have the kind that go up and down, or ones with thick bars like the Spartan Race has. Still. The motion should help.

I also need to get out there and practice the spear some more, but I figure that can wait until it's not quite so cold. And once it starts getting light out around 6 in the morning, then I'll start doing some running after CrossFit instead of stretching.

Workout Review: Day 2 Rec Center

I'm entering my fourteenth week of doing my Spartan race training. I've been doing three days a week of workouts. Two of them are completed at a normal gym, and the third I do at my CrossFit box during open hour. I'm going to look back at my results from the start and compare them to the most recent one.

The exercises are all pretty upper body focused, with a smattering of core focused work added in for stability. I try to push myself when it comes to weights. The idea is to push to failure, and I try to get close without risking injury.


My second gym day starts with some max sets of push-ups on the Bosu. I do one set with my hands flat and one with a side grip, for variety. I get more reps on the flat ones, but that might be because I do them first. I should probably try switching it up and see if there's a difference. Then again, I'm using different muscle groups for each one, with the side grip being wider and the flat being more of a triceps push-up.

The first sets I did back in late October I got 12 reps flat and 14 with the side grip. Last Thursday (in week 13), I did 30 with flat palms and 26 with the side grip. I find as I get over 20 reps on the side grip that it's useful to use a bit of chalk. Otherwise, my hands slide off the side of the platform before my strength runs out. The numbers fluctuate more on the side grips, but I've been pretty steady in beating my last set by one or two reps each time on the flats, and most times on the sides.

Next is a balance task: single leg Bosu ball balance; I do 30 seconds per leg, three times each leg. To simplify timing, I use a Tabata timer and set it for 6 rounds of 30 seconds each. That gives me 10 seconds to switch legs and reset. For the most part, I do pretty well on this. I've only dropped off before the 30 seconds a few times, mostly when I'm feeling under the weather.

Then I get to do a traditional Tabata (8 rounds, 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest), alternating between Superman holds and swimmers (which are like Supermans in motion). I push through that every time, but it started hard and stayed hard. I think I'm getting stronger, and that's why it still feels just as hard as the first time - because I'm using my muscles more.

The next two exercises use a cable cross machine. When I first started, the gym was never super crowded, so it wasn't hard to find an open spot. But in January, the gym gets some influx, so I don't always have a choice about which machine to use. There are several machine that I can use, but I prefer the one that always me to add weight in smaller increments - which happens to be the metric one. See, on one machine, I can use pounds, which I have a pretty good sense of, but the only option is 10 pound increments, and those are pretty big jumps for me when it comes to upper body. The metric machine allows for adjustments in 1.5 kilogram increments - much easier to build up.

I started in late October at 17.5 kilograms for my single arm row and reach. That's about 38.5 pounds. I stayed in the 40 pound range for a while, but when I used the metric machine, I could start to ease the weight up without skipping right to 50. I did go to 50, but then I started preferentially using the metric one, since I wanted the smaller increments for the next exercise. Last Thursday my heaviest set on these was 29 kilograms - nearly 64 pounds.

I was even more hesitant to go up with the low to high twists, because even 40 pounds felt really heavy. I stuck with close to that weight for 7 weeks. But on the day I wanted to go up with them, the metric machine wasn't available. So I bit the bullet and did 50. The next day, I could feel soreness in my lats, and I knew I had to make that jump and keep pushing on these exercises. Last Thursday, I did a set at 25.5 kilograms, which is touch above 56 pounds. And those reps hurt.

At first, I went directly to the 30 assisted pull-ups, as is written on my sheet. But lately, I've taken to giving my forearms and grip a little break first. So, I do my hip flexor exercises, which allows me to catch my breath and mentally prepare for the set of 30.

I wasn't sure where to start with the set of 30 assisted pull-ups, because I'd never even attempted 30 strict pull-ups, never considered what it might take to get me there. I started at 70 pounds of assistance (and here, higher weight means I'm getting more help, so I want it to go lower). 70 pounds was really tough, and I stuck at that weight for 8 weeks. But going up on the twists gave me the confidence to try and go up on this one. In week 9, I succeeded at 60 pounds assistance. Week 10 I tried 50 and went to failure after 29 reps. I figured that was a good place to stay and work.

It was only week 12 that I finally completed a full set of 30 with only 50 pounds of assistance; basically I'm taking a third off of my body weight to get through the sets. Last Thursday, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to finish all 30 again, because I was feeling tired and I'd done a 5 am workout that involved a total of 50 pull-ups. I did those kipping, but it's still the same muscles. And I'd went heavy on my twists, so I approached the assist machine with a bit of trepidation.

To my great surprise, the entire thing was easier. I kept the wide grip longer, and when I had to go narrower, I never went to the narrowest part. Instead, I stayed on the rubber coated area, though I did get right to the very edge. And my arms were limp noodles at the end, but that happens every time I do the sets of 30. Good thing that's the last movement!

Workout Review: Day 1 Rec Center

I'm entering my thirteenth week of doing my Spartan race training. I've been doing three days a week of workouts. Two of them are completed at a normal gym, and the third I do at my CrossFit box during open hour. I'm going to look back at my results from the start and compare them to the most recent one.

The exercises are all pretty upper body focused, with a smattering of core focused work added in for stability. I try to push myself when it comes to weights. The idea is to push to failure, and I try to get close without risking injury.


The first exercise is wrist extensions. I'm not sure if I should maybe go back down in weight again to try and build up strength on these. I started out using a 5 pound dumbbell, then moved to 7.5 pounds and yesterday I used a 10 pounder. With the 10 pound dumbbell, I definitely struggle on the back half of each set, and my form would probably be better with the weight backed off a bit.

It's almost the same story with the second exercise, which is wrist curls. I started with 10 pounds, and I'm up to 17.5 as of yesterday. But those are also pretty difficult at that weight. And there's something weird that happens with my wrists when I do the wrist curls, even with lighter weight. My wrists pop as I lift the weight, and they don't stop popping. Lift, pop. Release, pop. It feels weird, and does start to hurt, so I try to avoid it, but I think I'm not getting full range of motion when I avoid the popping. Again, dropping the weight might help.

The next thing I do is go to the lat pull down machine. Rather, to one of them. There are two at my gym; one is downstairs and the other is upstairs. The downstairs one has a narrower bar and can be adjusted in 5 pound increments. The one upstairs has a thicker bar and can only be adjusted in 15 pound increments. I find the upstairs one much harder to use; I've discovered that I have about a 10 pound difference between the two machines. At the start of this project, I used the upstairs one more often, but towards December the gym got less crowded and I used the downstairs one more often. Now, in January, it's a lot more crowded and sometimes (like yesterday) I have to wait for a machine. Rather than do nothing, I skip to the next exercise and then try to find an open machine again.

In week 1, I did 50 pounds on the upstairs machine. Last week, I did 100 pounds on the downstairs machine. And yesterday, I struggled with 80 pounds on the upstairs machine and went to failure on 95 pounds on the upstairs machine.

Usually, the Eccentric Biceps Curl comes after the Lat Pull Downs, but yesterday I had to switch them. For those, I have two different ways of approaching the exercise. I can use two lighter weight dumbbells and do both arms at once, or I can use one heavy dumbbell and do one arm at a time. The heavy dumbbell should be one that I can't curl without the help of the other arm. As an added stress to my grip, I try to go upstairs and use the dumbbells with the thick handles for these.

I started with two 20 pound dumbbells for the light weight and one 25 pound for the heavy. Yesterday, I did one 30 pound dumbbell, and last week I did two 25 pounders. So I'm making a little bit of progress on those free weights. I'll have to try doing a chin up one of these days and see if there's any improvement.

My last machine stop is at the seated row. Again, there is one machine downstairs and one upstairs, but the difficulties are reversed. The downstairs seated row is much more difficult than the upstairs, which has two independent handles instead of a single handle. I can switch out the downstairs handle, but there's still only one pulley, so it's just as hard.

I started at the upstairs one and really had no idea what to use when I started. The first day, I tried sets at 40, 50 and 60 pounds. Up to 70 pounds the next week and continuing to tick up, slowly but surely. Yesterday I did a set at 105 on the upstairs. But I only got 90 pounds last week on the downstairs machine.

The last exercise on the plan for this day is a tabata (8 rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest). Plank, right side plank, left side plank, bridge, repeat. I feel stronger on this one. I'm doing straight arms for all the planks, and doing a full bridge. I could have just done a hip bridge, but I've got the flexibility for the full and I'm enjoying doing something a bit gymnastic in the routine. I definitely feel better in the bridge than when I started. It's easier to breathe and also to adjust myself.

One thing that I've added to the routine is some hip flexor work. At the gym, that's usually some seated leg lifts. I think I might add in a goal about doing a hanging L sit, but I'm not sure what kind of goal would be realistic; at this point I can hardly hold an L sit long enough to count.

Overall, I'm experiencing steady improvement with these exercises. I've got a lot more time before my race, so if I can keep this up, I should get a much better result for myself - the official goal is an obstacle pass rate of at least 70%. If there are 8 burpee-penalty obstacles, like last year, then that means missing no more than 2.

Spartan Training Update January 2019

I am moving forward with my Spartan Race training plan. I completed the 11th week of training on Sunday and not this past weekend, but the one before, I went to a new place for obstacle course training.

Sometimes my progress with the weekly training feels like it is going nowhere. I might increase some weights here or there, but then I have other areas where I'm not holding on as long. It's a long, slow process to get my upper body into the kind of shape that can tackle Spartan monkey bars with my short arms.

The obstacle course training that I went to was out of Camp Rhino in Boise. They also do CrossFit there, but I'm happy doing CrossFit at Arbor. The draw of Camp Rhino for me is that they have obstacles to practice on, and I hoped the atmosphere would be not too intimidating. I thought about trying to drag other people along, but decided I should go by myself. After all, I raced by myself last year and this couldn't possibly be any more intimidating than that.

Well, I didn't get off to a good start. I had an upset stomach the morning I planned to go, and may have set a record for number of times going to the bathroom in an hour. But I made it to the facility (where I had to use the bathroom one more time), and got checked in without any issues. I was a bit uncertain about what to do after that. People were milling around in the workout area, which was quite large, with one side devoted to more CrossFit style equipment and the other more obstacle course oriented, and Ninja Warrior oriented, with a warped wall and a salmon ladder in addition to ropes and walls and monkey bars.

The receptionist had pointed out the instructor so I kept an eye on him, briefly introducing myself before the class got started. When the class did get started, I surprised myself by being one of the quicker folks during warm-ups. Why, there were people there who didn't know what burpees were! So that was a nice boost of confidence for me.

The first obstacle we worked on was rope climbs. I said that was moderately good at them, and that proved true enough, I think. I can get myself up a rope, for the most part. I just failed horribly when it came to last year's race. So the more practice I get on them, the better. I didn't know what to call my foot wrapping technique, because I always forget what I'm using (I use the J-hook). But I could demonstrate it.

And after we worked on ropes, we moved on to walls. Now this was what I came here for!

We started at the 4 foot wall, which the instructor explained to us was the one where the most people got injured - more than the 8 foot wall - because of overconfidence. So, we all treated it very seriously, except for the one guy whose legs were so long he was practically stepping over it. He ended up catching his toe and stumbling once.

I was able to get over the 4 foot wall with ease and even try the speed technique the instructor demonstrated, which is almost like doing a roundhouse kick over the wall so as to fling your body towards the next obstacle. Fun.

The 6 foot wall was harder, and yet, it was also not as hard as it was during last year's race. I am, in fact, stronger than I was last year. My technique isn't very fast, but I was one of only two women to get up and over the 6 foot wall without assistance. Once I get my forearms on top of the wall, I can get an ankle up, and then it's just a matter of leveraging myself onto the top and sliding down.

The 8 foot wall was not so easy. Last year's race didn't have an 8 footer - just a 7 footer (just!). I had nothing to compare this one to. And I couldn't get myself up and over. I could grab the top with my hands (with the help of the kicker), and I could lift my legs while holding on, but my shoes offered no purchase on the wall, so I couldn't get myself set up to fling an ankle over the top.

I did get to go over the 8 foot wall once with a partner method. I felt pretty nervous about coming down from that one, but I took it slow and remembered to land on my toes as instructed. Plus there was a mat.

That was that. After the class, I talked to the instructor a bit more about my experience and expectations for the class, and my plan to come in once a month. He said they usually do ropes since many people have issues with the rope climb, but that we could do rings next time I came in. I hope that happens, because I think I just need some practice to be able to get past the Spartan multi-rig.

Of course, I also need to work on monkey bars, and the inverted wall, and the spear throw (which I really need to do some time soon). But training is proceeding apace. I'm on track for what I want to do. Strength now, running as the race gets closer, maybe try to cut weight in the 6 to 8 weeks before the race.

Goals Update

Blogger is being difficult. I had a bunch of pictures uploaded and ready for captioning for the Tour de Meadows Day 4 post, but all the jpgs are breaking and I can't re-upload and even the jpgs on the page that I'm using to edit this post is broken, so I'm totally blaming Blogger for these issues. I don't want to post that write up without the full slate of pictures, so here's an update on my goals for the year, and the Spartan Plan.

The first goal was completed back at the end of the 2018 CrossFit Open. That goal was to complete 2 or more workouts in the Open as prescribed (Rx). I completed all 5 Open workouts Rx.

The second goal has also been achieved, as I had a witnessed set of 12 kipping pull-ups back in June and have since done a set of 12 linked in a workout (where I did 21 in under a minute, woo!).

The third goal was to hike the section of the Idaho Centennial Trail that would link my prior two sections. That one is also done, and plus, because I also hiked as far as I could into the Frank Church and still get picked up by my husband (with a hefty dose of luck considering he had to break an evacuation to get to me).

And the fourth goal is complete as well, because I finished the Boise Spartan Sprint in June. Gosh, I didn't leave myself much more to do this year?

Well, I do have an unofficial goal of making Commitment Crew at Arbor CrossFit every month in 2018. And I'm 10 for 10 so far, with 2 months to go. So I'm still reaching for that goal at least.

And after the Spartan Race, I came up with a plan to do better next year. Because doing 210 out of a possible 240 penalty burpees might technically count as finishing, but I want to do better.

That plan was to get some personal training in October in order to start doing extra workouts specific to what I need to improve in the Spartan Race. That's mostly the upper body stuff that involves holding my own weight up. And I have done that. I've already completed a week of my new training routine and I'm sore all over.

The next step on that plan is to sign up for the race, but that will wait for January when they have the New Year's sale. So I'm on track for my Spartan Plan.

I guess another goal would be to stick with my personalized exercise plan and make sure to get out to the archery range with a spear at least once a month. And to haunt playgrounds every now and then to practice my monkey bars!

Spartan Race Recap Part 2

continued from Part 1

She neglected to mention that there were actually two "next" hills. The first wasn't so bad, but then it was back down and back way, way up. Near the bottom, it was close to flat and two guys caught up with me. It was here that the ground held a fascinating array of old bones. I tried for a Monty Python reference, Look at the bones, man! But they didn't get it so I said they were the bones of mine enemies .

Then it got really steep, and one of them fell behind. He kept stopping to catch his breath or something. I didn't stop. I turned my feet out and duck walked, short little steps. I beat one guy up that hill anyway.

Next was the Herc hoist. I wasn't too worried about this one, but I wasn't counting on being able to complete it. I eyed the bags and chose a rope to pull. I gave it an experimental tug to get a feel for the weight. It wasn't all that heavy for me. I didn't even need to lay down to pull it up. I just grabbed it, squatted real low, and then walked my hands up the rope. Repeat. I did step on the rope once I'd pulled enough of it down so I could have a failsafe for grip failure. But it was a really undramatic obstacle for me.

The spearmen were next. I had no high hopes for this one. I picked a strawbale to throw at and then the wind picked up. I wanted to wait until it died down a bit, but it refused. So I took a few steps back and heaved the spear.

Just. Short.

30 more burpees. Then more running downhill past a photographer.

After getting down off the hill was the next obstacle. I kind of thought I might be able to do Olympus, which is a tilted wall that needs to be traversed by a variety of handholds without touching the ground. I had watched a video that advised using the chains so as to keep the feet at a right angle to the wall. I tried that, but my legs were no longer in any shape to do things. I managed to hop myself over about four handholds in and then dropped. 30 more burpees for me.

I wasn't worried about the Atlas Carry, because I can pick things up and carry them. Sure, it might be a bit heavy, but I could do it. And I did. For this one, you have to pick the heavy stone up, walk it a set distance, put it down, do 5 burpees, then bring it back. Bringing it back was a lot harder after those burpees, but I did it without incident.

Next was the barbed wire crawl. Apparently, last year they sprayed this section with water. Not this year. A bone dry, dusty barbed wire crawl for me. And I did crawl. A lot of people rolled, but I'm short enough that I could stay below the wire and just crawl along at a good pace - faster than the rollers. It wasn't entirely pleasant on my knees, but I did it. And I was super glad to have the gloves for my hands.

Next was the 7 foot wall. I gave it a try without using the kicker, and although I did manage to grasp at the top of the wall, I couldn't hold onto it. So onto the kicker I went. From there I was able to get my forearms up, then my ankle. And I was working on scooting my hips closer to my ankle to finish when someone gave me a push. Fine by me. I finished getting up and over and thanked her.

Then came the monkey bars. I can do monkey bars now, though I never could as a child. But these are not monkey bars. These are freakin gorilla bars. The bars are wider around than my wrists. It just isn't built for me - at least not at the level of strength I'm at now. Still. I gave them a try. I got from the first bar to the second. Second to third went up, and I managed to grab the third with one hand only to lose my grasp and swing back to the second and thence to the ground.

30 more burpees. Ugh.

But the rope climb was next. I can climb a rope! I've done it at Crossfit. Often! And I only had to do it once here. No problem, right? Right???

Wrong.

These ropes were made of special super-slick cotton or something. I could hardly grab onto them. I grabbed on, wrapped my foot and stepped up twice. On the third attempt to re-wrap my foot, my hand slipped and I slid down that rope, burning my fingers and tearing skin away from my left index finger. It hurt a lot, but I was going to give it another try while wearing the gloves - until I tried wrapping my foot again and got a cramp. So I went and did 30 more burpees instead. Very disappointing.

There were some people ahead of my on the A Frame Cargo climb hung up at the top. I couldn't figure out why. I just went right on up and right on down. That one was fun. I could do it all day.

Then more mud, where Ambrose finally had the camera phone out. He kept telling me how to do it and I wanted to do it my way but I was too tired not to give into his nagging (which may have been correct but who's counting?).

The dunk wall was a welcome respite from the heat and dirt. And then I jumped over the fire. I was surprised they had real fire this year, because I saw in videos from last year that they had hay bales, presumably because of fire restrictions.

And that was it. I crossed the finish line. I accepted my medal, a FitAid, a banana and a Clif bar. I walked through the corrals to collect my t-shirt. I found Ambrose in the festival area and he led me to a place to sit down and eat and drink.

Then I took a few minutes to bawl because of the pure emotional overload of having set out to do and then having done something so very difficult. I was never supposed to be the kind of person who did these things. I was supposed to be the one who watched and wished. And now I'm doing. I'm doing so many things that I could never have imagined I was capable of. So I cried. And then I ate my banana and drank my FitAid and Ambrose bought me a snow cone.

I got my victory picture taken. I did several poses, ending with some truly Spartan yelling that the photographer loved - he even told the pair that had posed before me that I was doing it right.

I changed clothes and finished the snow cone and we walked back to the car. I kept my hands above my head the entire drive home because that and clutching the Gatorade bottle were the only ways to keep them from burning unbearably.

Absolutely worth it. I will be back.

Spartan Race Recap Part 1

I finished the Boise Spartan Sprint.

I'm still having trouble believing that I finished.

And I'm already planning on how I'm going to do better next time - though whether next time will be next year or not, I haven't yet decided.

The map was released a few days before the race, and I estimated that I would have to do no more than 180 penalty burpees. I was counting on being able to do the rope climb and nothing else. Though I did have high hopes for the rings.

Ambrose and I started the drive out to Payette about three hours before my scheduled start time. This was a good move, because I didn't start to panic when we ran into a long line of cars waiting to get in and park at the Thomas Pence Ranch. We just inched forward and got to the parking area when we got there. Next was a long walk to the festival area where we were stopped at the entrance.

Someone had lost track of a child and no one was being allowed in or out until the child was found. So we got to stand in the hot sun, watching racers who started earlier climb over the cargo net and into and out of the rolling mud. I envied them the cool of the water.

Then, when we were all released, there was a long line to collect packets. Ambrose waited with me, and then he went to the spectator line to get his entry wristband. I waited in a narrow line of shade next to the registration tent because I was tired of the sun - I'd be getting enough of that later.

We walked around a bit, but still had more than forty five minutes before my start time, so we found a place to sit. I figured I should rest my legs while I had the chance. I was carrying three energy gels and a hydration pack filled with one quart of Liquid IV for the course. I planned on getting water at every water station, but the stuff in my hydration pack would have sugar and minerals to help me on the course. I also had gloves packed in there, but I wasn't sure how useful they'd be for gripping things.

When it came my time to get into the starting corral, I had to remind Ambrose to wish me our traditional "safety fun." He must have been a bit worried about me to forget something so crucial, but he did wish it after I reminded him.

As I entered, I learned that if you show up for a heat time that isn't yours, you have to do burpees. I was glad to be on time.

You also have to get up and over a wall to get to the start. It was probably a 5 footer, so I could do it with a good jump to get my arms straight above it.

Then there was a hype ritual of yelling and shaking hands. I ate one of my gels and took a sip from my hydration pack.

And then we were off. I kept to a slow jog, watching my step in the rough, grassy terrain. This was not about finishing fast; it was about finishing.

The first two obstacles were more walls like the one at the start, so I was able to get up and over just fine. Then came the rolling mud number one. I wasn't expecting to get my shoes wet quite so soon, but that's the way it was. I was immersed past my waist in muddy water, and splashed some over my shoulders for the cooling effect. I also waved to Ambrose and mimed at him that he should get the camera out and take a picture, but he didn't.

Then it was time to climb. The hills weren't listed as obstacles, but they were definitely a challenge. I slowed to a walk so as not to jack my heart rate up, but I also didn't take rest stops. If there's one thing I can do, it's hike uphill - especially without a pack on.

Of course, once we reached nearly the top of the hill it was time for the sandbag carry, so that was kind of like a backpack. I heaved a sandbag over my shoulders and started up the next hill. On this obstacle, I managed to pass a lot of the folks who had passed me by running at the start. I passed people on the way up, because I didn't stop, and I passed a whole bunch of people who were resting at the top. This kind of obstacle was my jam, even if going downhill was a bit slower/harder what with it being so dusty and steep.

More climbing and then came the inverted wall. Based on watching videos, I thought I'd be able to do this one, but I made several attempts at climbing it and failed because I couldn't get a hold of the top. The board at the top was a good four inches around, and I just couldn't get my whole hand around it. Luckily, some Spartan solidarity worked in my favor, as a guy helped a girl up and then she got the guy to help me up.

At the first water station, I gave another girl the good idea of pouring water on her head. I drank about half a cup and put the rest on my head. Although my feet were still squelching in wet shoes, the rest of me was drying off rapidly in the wind and sun.

The next obstacle was the plate drag. I picked a lane that didn't look too bumpy or obstructed and started pulling. The weight was heavy, but not too heavy for me. I got it done and dragged it back without feeling overly strained.

The slip wall had ropes going almost all the way to the ground, so I wasn't worried as I approached it. I just grabbed a rope and hauled myself up, trying to keep perpendicular with the wall to prevent a quick slide. I almost lost my footing near the top, but steadied and managed to swing a leg over. I kind of butt slid down the other side, rather than turn around and down climb. It just felt right at the time.

I tried to slow my breathing and heart rate as I approached the multi rig, though since I had been walking since I started the hill climb, neither was particularly elevated. I had such high hopes for the multi rig. It was just rings. I could swing on rings, right? I'd developed sufficient upper body strength to conquer this, hadn't I??

I started out well. I transitioned from ring to ring. And then one of my hands just slipped off. One second swinging, the next sitting on the ground. About two rings from the end. I got a high five from the volunteer for a good effort and went to do my first 30 burpees.

The ground was dusty, and I ended up eating a lot of dirt as people upwind did their burpees and poofed dust in my direction. I got through the burpees and went on to the hurdles. The hurdles are "walls without the wall part." They were tall enough and awkward enough that I had a little trouble getting on top of them, but I managed to get over both of them with some yells of encouragement from strangers.

For the 6 foot wall, I decided to try the technique I had seen on a youtube video. Run at the wall, kick up and try to grab the top. I made it, barely, and I hung there for a moment with just my forearms on the top. Then I swung my right leg up and hooked my ankle. And hung there for a moment. I scooted my arms and hips closer to my ankle and then I was able to use my ankle to get my hips onto the wall.

After I dropped down, another racer came up and over the wall. He congratulated me on my attack of it and I hung back to exchange a high five with him before continuing on.

Another water station was next, and then the twister. I didn't have high hopes for this one. But I knew I had to try.

I did a sideways approach, but I couldn't bring myself to go one handle per hand. I went one hand forward and then let the second join up instead. I surprised the heck out of myself when I made it past the first section. But in the middle of the second I could feel myself running out of energy and I dropped to get my next 30 burpees over with.

Next was the bucket brigade. This time, we would be carrying our weight downhill and then uphill, opposite of the sandbag. The buckets were sealed, which took care of my worry that I wouldn't fill my bucket properly or that I'd drop it and spill. I wrapped my arms around the bucket and grasped my left wrist with my right hand and got started.

Like with the sandbag carry, I didn't put the weight down and I never stopped walking. I did switch which wrist was being gripped about halfway through, but I never stopped. I can hike with weight.

The race continued downhill for a while to another water station, where the volunteer told us the Herc hoist was just at the top of the next hill.

to be continued...