OCR - Fat Girl Fit

Category: OCR

Spartan OCRs

Later in the year I am doing the Spartan Beast obstacle run and I am doing it with a friend who has not done a Spartan event before.

I completed by trifecta last year and so know the races well and am looking forward to going back again this year.

Spartan races offer open heats for all fitness levels, as well as competitive and elite heats for those with something more to prove. The main events are the sprint, super and beast. The sprint is 5km+ and 20+ obstacles, the super 13km+ and 25+ obstacles and the beast 20km+ and 30+ obstacles. When you complete all three distances in the same year you have earned your trifecta.

There is loads of information on the Spartan website including details on the races and a free workout that will help as part of your training. There are also training videos and tips for the various obstacles.

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You can also register to download a free couch to sprint plan and the website says:

You can run a Spartan Sprint. All you need to do is get off the couch and start to move. No more excuses. Download this Couch to Sprint training plan, and we’ll see you at the race.

And it is true!

I love obstacle running and I’ve said before I am not the best and cannot do some obstacles without the help of team mates and some I cannot complete at all but I am trying and I give it my all. When I ask people who are in the elites of obstacle racing what they believe has helped them in their training there are three things always mentioned. They are running, strength training and climbing.

Unless you are completing an urban OCR (my Spartan sprint last year was an urban run) you can pretty much assume it will be trail running of some sort with a mix of terrain (grass, mud, wooded areas, water etc). My first OCR I did in normal trainers and I would definitely recommend trail shoes – will save you sliding around like bambi! I wear Salomon Speedcross but there are many out there to choose from.

Strength training can come in various forms though for Spartan I would include burpees. I know very few people like burpees but at Spartan if you are unable to complete an obstacle you are given a 30 burpee penalty so why not practice during your training with them. Also push ups, planks, squats, carries of some sort and if you have a pull up bar – they are all good ways to train for these types of races.

Climbing I will admit is not one I have used in my training but from athletes I follow on social media, who also take part in these sort of events, I notice a lot regularly take part in climbing/bouldering and this will be a massive help for strength, agility and also grip strength too.

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I’ve attached a Spartan Obstacle Training Guide (link below) that is really useful. It includes a breakdown of the various obstacles that are a signature to Spartan races and how you can train for each of them. This also includes a number of bodyweight exercises that you will benefit from doing in your training too.

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I will be sharing some more plans that can be used on a week by week basis in the run up to the various Spartan events also.

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Category: Events, OCR

The Elements Obstacle Race

At the weekend the sun was shining and I headed to Southborough in Kent with two fellow Mudd Queens and friends for the inaugural Elements OCR.

There had been a lot of hype about this new OCR in the run up to the event including the fact that they had purchased some of the obstacles from Dirty Dozen. I had never taken part in a Dirty Dozen race and so was quite excited that I would get to try some of them out.

So what did I think of it? I have one word, disappointed. I am disappointed for you if you didn’t get to take part because it was awesome!

Registration was easy though no bag drop but the parking was not far so we left our bags in the car, which was no problem. The centre of the event had various merchandise stalls and some places to get food and drink and was right by the start/finish so had a great atmosphere. The MC was the lovely Stuart Amory and, as usual, he got everyone warmed up and kept the commentary going as runners were leaving and coming back to the finish. You were given your technical tshirt at the start of the race which was a nice touch as a lot of people opted to wear theirs as they were running the course .

The event gave the option of four distances (8km, 16km, 24km and 32km) so something for everyone, which were made up of laps. That was great as it meant you were on the course with lots of other runners and everyone ended up speaking to each other along the way and giving encouragement. It’s one of the things I’ve said before that makes me love OCRs – its like a family at the different events – there’s always a supportive hand at some point.

The course used the surrounding natural terrain and that is something I like in OCRs, with urban offerings never really winning me over as much, but that is personal preference. The course took on lots of trails for running, lots of hills and lots of uneven terrain to be careful of but made the course really challenging and interesting especially running through the streams. There were lots of different obstacles – walls, irish tables, climbs, carries, monkey bars, water slide and pontoons are just some examples and finishing with Mount Smeverest – a large a frame climb with a cargo net at the top.

Really well organised event, awesome obstacles, amazing marshalls on hand with sweets and punishments as well for obstacles not completed, and if you were not aware it was the first event for The Elements you would never have guessed either as it was executed perfectly! Also loved that the Mudd Queens played the floor is lava around the course and the marshalls got involved too – hilarious when you are dragging a tyre up and down a hill and have to jump on it and balance!

I will be back next year and in the meantime will be getting a team together for their upcoming event, The Storm, in December. I would recommend this for sure!

Category: OCR

My weekend at Nuclear Races

I’ve had the best weekend! I spent both Saturday and Sunday at Nuclear Races.

On Saturday I took part in the 12k Nuclear Rush obstacle run with the amazing team Scrambled Legs and as per usual they were great and Nuclear did not disappoint.

I’ve written several posts about Nuclear before and so won’t repeat what I’ve already said as I can sum it up by saying it’s awesome so if you’ve not done it before, get involved!

What I love about Nuclear is that they are constantly making new obstacles and changing the routes so it’s never exactly the same. I was looking forward to trying out some of the new obstacles and yet again was not disappointed. Some of the new obstacles included:

I am yet to see someone exit this gracefully where you crawl into a moving tube and across a gap to the next moving tube (over water) and then out the other side, where most people plopped out.
Rolling pins – moving over water across a beam that moves around (I ended up in the water).
Cage Rage – moving cage like structures finishing with moving rings to navigate across.
The Mega Monkey – a giant rig finishing with
The Waffle – a fence to traverse across but its not rigid!
The Mudd Queen inspired rings which were so much fun to get across!

I completed Isotope! Isotope is an obstacle where you climb up a chain link fence to a platform and jump across to the next and grab pole then repeat and finish by coming down a moving fireman’s pole. That was my one mission for the whole weekend. I’ve been up that many times and never completed it as I have lost my nerve but thanks to the amazing marshalls I did this weekend.

I then got to see my nephew and nieces after they had taken part in the Rookies course – sharing the mud loving in the family!

On Sunday I returned to marshall for the day. On this day as well as the Rush event there was also Oblivion Extreme. Oblivion participants sign up to complete multiple laps of the 12k Rush course with 8.5 hours. They’re crazy fit, determined and amazing. They are all in personalised orange vests with their name and number and so very easy to identify.

I’m what you would call a fun runner – I take part to complete and not to compete and seeing these guys in action was pretty amazing. They set off in the first wave and so were ahead of the other runners but on the following laps both Rush and Oblivion runners were on the course at the same time. The Oblivion runners were given priority and everyone was perfectly happy to do so. People cheered, clapped and gave words of encouragement. The guys running Oblivion were always smiling and grateful to the marshalls and it was a pleasure to help them.

I was marshalling at the lake on an obstacle called Surf Time where runners would take a boogie board and head into the lake, out to an orange buoy and back again – it sounds easier than it is. I lost count of the number of times I was asked for a board with a motor.

Close by to me was Scotty PT from The PT Barn who was set up at the halfway point on the course to give encouragement and support to the Oblivion participants. This is Scott’s passion and he is genuinely interesting in helping the OCR community and so if you are looking to get training in any way for an obstacle race he’s your man and I’m sure the many Oblivion runners of yesterday would agree.

So even though I ache – I mean it hurts my arms to reach around and undo my bra (why?!), I now cannot wait until September for both Blast and Blackout and my friend Emma who took part on Saturday has agreed to come back for me as she loved it too despite the fact that she was our new bambi falling and slipping over actually nothing! I did have one lady complain that there was too much mud and water and said it was ridiculous. It’s a mud run. That is why Nuclear have the hashtag #lovemud

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#thisgirlcan #thisgirlcanessex

Category: Fitness, OCR

My second 6 week course with the PT Barn

I did a blog post towards the end of last year talking about a 6 week body transformation course that I completed with The PT Barn (post can be found here). I signed up again and have just completed the second course.

I explained a lot about what the course covers in my original post so won’t repeat everything. The course is structured the same with Monday and Tuesday evenings having a 1 hour bootcamp session, Thursday evening having a 1 hour ‘strike’ session, which I have described as cardio boxing and then a 1.5 hour bootcamp session on a Saturday morning. I did mention in the original post that over the 24 sessions not a single one was the same and again on the second course not a single session was repeated and I mean that in total as in over the two courses so 48 completely different sessions.

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One of the biggest things I love about the sessions is the originality that they include and by this I mean that Scott uses the outdoors to the maximum! We’ve had ropes tied between trees to traverse across, we’ve had cones either above or under trees as a mini obstacle course in the wood where we either climbed or crawled and we’ve used ditches and streams in country fields too.

I’ve tried to explain what the sessions are like to many people and I think most assume they must be similar to a gym circuit class. Couldn’t be further from the truth. I took a friend, Laura, to a recent session and at the end she understood what I meant. She loved it by the way.

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At the beginning of the first course I could hang on the monkey bars but couldn’t move. By the end in our final session I completed three monkey bars, which was epic for me. I can now do 18.

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I started one of our weights sessions picking up a 5kg plate and slowly moved up to 10kg depending on the exercise, I am now given a 15kg plate or a 20kg sandbag.

I started with a 10 minute timed run seeing me complete 14.5 laps of the football pitch and finished completing almost (but not quite) 16 laps.

During the course I ran the London Winter 10k Run and got a pb for my 5k (28 mins and 44 seconds) and a pb for my 10k (58 mins and 22 seconds).

I’ve lost 8.1 kgs and 6.8% body fat!

I’ve gained so much confidence and even though I may not be the fastest or the strongest I am getting there and trying not to compare myself with others as everyone is different and my journey is mine. Before these courses I would have walked into a similar setting and seen others of a better ability and run a mile (maybe not run but walked off quickly).

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I’m finishing the course running a half marathon with a lady I met on the course who is now a friend and I am running it to support her – I never thought I would be able to help someone else with something like that.

I am actually quite sad that I cannot complete the next 6 week course but I have to turn my focus onto the bike so I get in enough training for my next big event in June which will see me cycle almost 200 miles in Sweden in an event called the Vatternrundan but I will make sure I still attend the Saturday sessions.

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I would highly recommend this course! It’s hard work, it’s tiring (as the above photo shows in my face – that was following 50 burpees and although I look completely done in I absolutely love this photo), it will test you both mentally and physically but you will get results and it is worth it.

And you get to train with such a great bunch of people – being part of that team really gets you through, everyone is so supportive!

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Category: Events, Fitness, OCR

Full Day Bootcamp with The PT Barn

Yesterday I took part in a bootcamp. Not just any bootcamp but a full day bootcamp and by full day I mean six hours long. Yeah….that. A lot of people asked why and the answer is that I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could make it through the day without breaking.

This was put on by Scotty PT from The PT Barn, the same coach/company from the body transformation course I have previously blogged about (I’m on the second course as we speak so there will be another blog post about that in the not too distant future).

The full day event was described as 6 hours of full on bootcamp fun! I read into this a little more as I was pretty sure that Scotts idea of fun and mine could differ. We were to expect a wide range of exercises and activities and these would range from individual performances, team fitness challenges and a range of cryptic puzzles to get the most out of your body and mind giving the perfect mix of fun and fitness! Sounded fun, but I knew how intense the bootcamp sessions can be and so expected six hours worth to be more than just hard, especially given the cold weather and the fact that I had already had a hard hour and a half bootcamp session with Scott the previous day.

We received a wristband with a barcode and it had a number on it – I was 123280. We were to memorise that number and would be asked throughout the day – this was one example where if you gave a wrong answer you would get a punishment of some sort. I was last back to the field in a group of five and this saw me doing 50 burpees. I was asked what Scott’s favourite colour was and I said black because at the time I was thinking like your soul (I hate burpees) and this left me with another 10 burpees.

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We had not one but three coaches and the first part of the day was pretty much a three hour beasting! No one is exempt from this – everyone is treated exactly the same. There is screaming and shouting from the start from all coaches. I knew this would be the case in advance and also knew that I would need mental strength to get through and that is weaker than my current fitness levels. The ploughed fields are relentless, making everything harder work, zapping your energy in the process.

Now my blog posts are about my journey trying to get fit and lose weight and are brutally honest (I’ve got a long way left to go) so I will admit that I go into most events assuming I will be the slowest and least fit so not exactly positive mental attitude but something I am working on! That being said I was worried that if anything would break me it would be the first half and I am not too proud to admit that it almost did! I thought on more than one occasion I really shouldn’t be here but there is a massive mix of abilities and it was the support of fellow team mates that really made me dig deep and push on.

The moment when you want to quit, is the moment when you need to keep pushing.

After changing into dry clothes and getting some much need refuelling around a fire and some hot drinks in us we go to the second half of the day, which was structured around team activities and saw us working together pulling a van out of a field, climbing in and out of trenches, huge tyres, through tables, stretcher carries and much much more.

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I almost don’t want to give too much away for those that may be interested in signing up for a future event like this. And you should. It’s bloody hard work, it’s testing both mentally and physically, you will not like the coaches on more than one occasion in the earlier session I am sure, but then the team work builds you straight back up again and I am grateful to have been on this with so many amazing people.

I feel like I achieved something pretty big by completing this and if I am totally honest it left me a bit emotional both during and after (also slightly broken). I did it, and to give a taster look how we finished the day off – pulling a monster truck up and down a field!

https://www.facebook.com/www.theptbarn.co.uk/videos/1843842145861495/

Category: Events, Fitness, OCR

6 week Body Transformation course with the PT Barn

I’ve not posted in a while and the reason is that I have been absolutely knackered!

Six weeks ago I started a 6 week body transformation course with Scotty from The PT Barn. The 6 week course is an intensive course with four sessions a week; three of which are bootcamp sessions and one is strike, which I have described to people as cardio boxing (pad work). I knew this was going to test me and push me way outside the limits of my comfort zone but I hit a plateau earlier in the year and was determined to change things up so signed up for the challenge.

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I knew Scotty from Nuclear and so I knew fun Scotty, I knew Scotty covered in mud playing at the Nuclear summer party running around and going head first down the Death Slide. I am not sure I was prepared for Scotty PT who is there to get results for every member of the group. I feel like Scotty PT is Scotty’s alter ego – he is harsh and he shouts and means business. Scotty we can put Christmas baubles in his beard and he smiles.

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I am the girl who doesn’t like to go to the weights section in the gym because quite frankly I have no idea what I am doing, I won’t go to a class for the first time on my own, I am easily intimidated and I am also generally telling everyone I am the slowest etc so even signing up to this for me was a pretty big deal.

However, there were 22 people on the course and one massive thing for me was that they were all lovely! The course is really geared around teamwork and is done in such a clever way that it caters for people of all abilities so you never end up in a situation where you feel you are always last or people are waiting for you. For me in terms of confidence this made a huge difference. Now obviously you know who is stronger, quicker etc so I didn’t come away thinking yeah I am like Usain Bolt but I didn’t come away thinking oh god I’ve held up 21 other people – this matters!

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Over the 6 weeks there were 24 sessions and I missed two but this was due to an OCR (Nuclear Fallout 12k) and a duathlon, both of which I was already signed up to. Out of the 24 sessions not a single one was the same. Every session was structured differently so you had no idea what to expect aside from knowing you were there to work hard and push yourself. The bootcamp sessions are held on a rec site and surrounding woods so involves running on grass, hills, trails, difference exercises, intervals, weights, stretchers and many more.

Never before have I played ultimate frisbee – its frisbee but not as you know it! A coded message to navigate through the woods for clues using a map and walkie talkies doing exercises as we got to check points before collecting tyres of varying sizes and stretchers and navigating back.

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It’s not just about weight loss, or strength training, its also about getting healthier all round. There is a private facebook group for those on the course including those past members and so there is a lot of chats, exchanging of hints and tips, general chat and food ideas and again really supportive. Scotty is also part of this group and available for support whenever you need it.

In addition to the sessions there are sets of exercises to complete daily in the morning and evening and access to some equipment should you need to borrow it. There are stretches to be done in addition and you are given a therapy band to use for some of the sets and stretches.

Prior to starting the course everyone completes a consultation with Scotty and you go through what you want to achieve, set goals and also get weighed and have body measurements done – such a lovely process that anyone who has had done will know involving callipers to check body fat and if that did not motivate me then I don’t know what will!

It was not easy and I am not going to say it was as that would be a lie. It was intense, it was hard, I am not sure I have ever sweated as much as I did in some of the sessions, I got used to that feeling of thinking I may be sick at some point during most sessions and I may have had a complete wobble at the start where I messaged Scotty worried I was not good enough and was out of my depth to which I had a lovely reply reassuring me that was not the case and so I gave myself a mental slap and got on with it.

Pad work for me was something totally new and I am still looking for where my power is hiding but I am giving it a good go and pads and gloves will be purchased soon so I can work on this at home too.

At the beginning of the course I ran 14.5 lengths of the football pitch in ten minutes and on the last week I was 1 meter short of 16 lengths in the same time.

In the last session at the barn we tackled monkey bars – before the course I could basically hang, literally no movement and in the final session with a lot of encouragement from my team I managed three in the barn and whilst I realise a lot of people can do loads more I was chuffed with that as it is progress and I moved and didn’t fall in a heap on the floor or on my arse!

All of the above for £150! Have I sold it to you? I’ve signed up for the next course in January as I am still part way through my fitness and weight loss journey – lets do this!

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Category: Events, OCR

Nuclear Fallout

As you know I absolutely love Nuclear Races. I love the events, love to participate, love to marshall, love the atmosphere – literally can’t get enough of it (in case that wasn’t clear – I love it).

This time last year I took part in the 12k Fallout event and at the weekend I went back for more.

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Once again I was part of the amazing team Scrambled Legs – an amazing group of people and I couldn’t imagine doing it with anyone else. We start together, we laugh our way round and we finish together.

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The 12k course has 100 obstacles and the route had been amended by the Nuclear family to allow for what was feared to be pretty rubbish weather. So it was no surprise that as we arrived it was raining. And cold, I guess I should mention it was cold.

Parking up, registering, bag drop, collecting ordered items everything is always easy and hassle free at Nuclear and so after parking up we were in the event village with the team in no time.

When our wave was called we headed to the start pen and joined in with the warm up and off we went.

Nuclear is known for its mud and as usual (especially with the rain) there was mud in abundance! A couple of our team were new and wearing road trainers so were sliding around like bambi on ice, not that we laughed (much).

Really nice touch to have a couple of fire pits going, jelly babies being given out and hot juice as well – we started dancing whilst drinking those next to the fire and almost didn’t want to leave – was a nice warm up after a plunge in the lake following the Death Slide, which was really cold but my favourite obstacle so no way I was missing it!

Was also following an obstacle being run by Scott from the PT Barn who I am currently training with as always good to see a friendly face and some words of encouragement.

As always there were many Mudd Queens either running in the event or marshalling and as I’ve said before this is a group I am part of for ladies who take part in OCRs and such a supportive group of people, many of whom are now friends, that the Mudd Queen love was amazing as we made our way round the course.

I am a tad gutted with myself that I didn’t even attempt the obstacle Isotope but it freaks me out – one day I will have the courage!

I should apologise to my team members for any feet to the face moments – I am very grateful to their help in getting my up and over a wall or two and don’t intentionally kick them in the face (Adam) – next time I will have more control over my feet.

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Some of the team were lucky to collect their Mudallion medal as well as the medal for the event as they had completed all of the Nuclear events this year (I missed one due to holidays) but I will get that next year!

I am now aching and covered in bruises – possibly too much information but most sore part is always my legs and arms that take a battering but also my stomach and boobs! I think I land on my stomach a lot and boobs just get in the way! They seem to perch going over things and then get stuck as you’re trying to get down the other side – and that’s just on the obstacle course then you have the whole other issue of trying to get off a sports bra whilst muddy and wet, which is a whole other ball game that should get its own medal – pesky boobs! But as always it was definitely worth it and I cannot recommend it enough!

Thanks as well to all the marshalls at the event without whom it would not be possible but their encouragement and energy is so very appreciated!

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#LOVEMUD

Category: Events, OCR

Mudd Queens Hit The PT Barn

At the weekend I signed myself up for a day of training with the amazing Mudd Queens and it took place on Nuclear Races ground at the PT Barn.

Now I’ve spoken before about Mudd Queens – they are an all female OCR network and the most positive and supportive group I think I have ever been part of. Nuclear is one of my favourite places to spend the day and so I need say no more on that front. The PT Barn I had not been to before and so was pretty excited. I know Scotty, who runs the barn, and he is lovely but with one thing and another I had never been to the barn, but wanted to so this was perfect. Their website says if you’re bored of conventional training then this is the place to try and it is true.

The day was structured so that it started with a class to develop skills in the barn, then a bootcamp session, then a team building session and then afternoon tea.

Now whilst I love OCRs I am the first to admit that without friends by my side there are some obstacles I will just not complete. Scotty said something I can really relate to and something that is part of the reason I love Nuclear. There are no egos and there is no shame in not being able to do something. They have a real family feel and are really supportive and so much fun. Scotty said everyone has their own goals and that could be to either compete or to complete. I am the latter. I do these to complete them. That in itself is a challenge and I have great fun doing so and I am perfectly happy with that. I also have huge respect for those that compete and think they are amazing too!

In the hour session in the barn I learned some techniques that I will use going forward at OCRs. I managed to move across the monkey bars – usually I am pleased if I can just hang. But I moved! I actually moved across! I also learned how to climb a rope – an actual rope. If you see me any time this week I may tell you I can climb a rope. Do me a favour and look impressed – thanks.

If you do get bored with conventional exercise – I do unless I have my good friend Emma telling me exactly what to do and how – the bootcamp with the lovely Tracey was great fun. All outdoors, getting muddy. In and out of ditches, using tyres – amazing! I think there is an advert with Mo Farrah where he says if you have fun while working out it doesn’t seem like working out and its true! The team work session was all outdoors with different obstacles, all whilst carrying someone on a stretcher. Working together around a course as a team.

This was followed by afternoon tea in the PT Barn from Little Pinkie Vintage Afternoon Tea. Quite odd to see that place you had earlier been swinging across monkey bars and climbing ropes in have a long table with pretty china, tea pots and cakes laid out for us, once we’d cleaned the mud off of course.

Yet another amazing day with amazing ladies and amazing teachers!

I will be back to see Scotty and to the PT Barn and will let you know when and why in another blog post, watch this space…….

Category: Events, OCR

Spartan Beast complete – Trifecta done!

As explained in a previous post I had set myself a goal for this year to earn myself the Spartan trifecta. The trifecta is earned when you complete the Sprint, Super and Beast races within the space of one year.

The Sprint is a minimum of a 3 mile run (was actually 4.5 miles) with at least 20 obstacles.
The Super is a minimum of an 8 mile run (was actually 8.5 miles) with at least 25 obstacles.
The Beast is a minimum of a 12 mile run (was actually 16.7 miles) with at least 30 obstacles.

I’d completed the sprint and super and at the weekend the beast was waiting for me. Naturally I was nervous as this was the longest distance in the Spartan trifecta and would be the furthest distance I have ever run. I was lucky that yet again I was taking on this challenge with my two lovely friends Helen and Stacey.

The beast was set in Windsor Great Park a stunning setting that provided nicer ground underfoot than the super in Peterborough. This was a trail run through the forests on bouncy ground for the most part aside from the tree roots and rabbit holes to dodge. Gorgeous park I will make sure I go back to visit – only managed to glimpse the deer briefly as we ran past and to be honest they paid very little attention to us as if a bunch of crazies running through mud and taking on obstacles was something they saw every day.

Most participants of obstacle runs know vaguely what they have in store when signing up and by that I mean Tough Mudder sees large quite extravagant and fun obstacles, Nuclear sees mud and fun with lots of obstacles making use of all the land they have in the best way and Spartan sees obstacles that require upper body strength and the beast did just that with quite a number of carrying obstacles and lots of walls.

The biggest thing I love about OCRs is how everyone comes together to help – I am lucky to complete such events with friends and have no shame in admitting I would not complete half the obstacles without assistance but complete strangers help where they can as well – I stood on some poor bare chested mans shoulder to get over an 8 foot inverted wall (poor guy) and was helped down a 9 foot vertical wall by a kindly gentleman – neither of whom I know but both of whom I am grateful to.

I am very pleased to say two obstacles that beat me at the super didn’t manage to do the same at the beast. I’d like to say I made them my b*tch but that was not the case. The slack line cargo net across the trees I got up and over (even if the crowd waiting to tackle the obstacle was about 20 people by the time I got to the top after exclaiming that the top line was in my vagina – classy as always)! And the rope climb up the wooden wall I managed (just) – this was the one I got to the top of at the super and then less than gracefully slid down the whole thing but not at the weekend (although nearly) I did make it.

We met a lovely lady part way through, called Kelly, who joined our threesome for the second half and we completed the event with her.

We met Tristan Steed who is part man part machine and generally wins these races. He had won the sprint on Saturday (again) and the Super on Sunday and we caught him at the second sandbag carry on his second lap – you know just for fun, with a weighted back pack too. Sadly he was not adorning the pink unicorn/rainbow leggings, which I told him was disappointing and he joked he didn’t want to get them dirty. He even stopped at a tree climb to offer assistance to a man who was cramping and offered to carry him down off the tree. This is the essence of obstacle runs. Tristan can run and race and win time and time again but stopped to help as it was needed and that is why I love these events.

The run was longer than we had originally thought and it was such a feeling of satisfaction to jump over the fire pit at the finish line and get our well earned medals. Even more so to do it with amazing ladies by my side.

I would also like to take a moment to remember the toe nail that was lost on this journey – totally gross but totally worth it. It survived the sprint and super but the beast claimed it – RIP toenail we had good times together.