Training Day (and Week and Month)

For some reason I keep thinking that I will have more time on my hands when outrigger season ends, and for some reason I magically am surprised when it does not come true.  Actually, I guess I expected it, but I'll keep fawning ignorance.

I have been training, training, training still but it's not longer in a canoe, it's at the gym, on the road, and up and down stairs.  The fall/winter line-up is:

*Carpinteria Triathlon (Olympic Distance) - September 30
*Tough Mudder Las Vegas (Double Header, Saturday & Sunday) - October 6 & 7
*SLO Mud Mash (10k) - October 28
*World's Toughest Mudder (24 Hours Obstacle Race) - November 17

I honestly don't know how to begin to be ready for the World's Toughest Mudder, but I'm excited, I think it's going to be a lot of fun, and my only prayer right now is to stay injury free.  I want to be smart, which means not going totally crazy.  We'll see how that goes!

I lift every weekday morning at 6.  I do some kind of bike, run, or swim most evenings.  On the weekend if I can, I'm doing long distance.  My goal soon is to do three distance runs (maybe 10 or 15 miles) 3 times on a weekend, one Saturday am, then pm, then Sunday am.  If I can work up to that I think I'll feel much more confident going into the 24 hour race.

I also joined Crossfit for the month of October, and am looking forward to training with teammates there.  I have to remember to rest, though usually my body lets me know loud and clear when it's done for the day.  Balance, balance, balance.... hurrah!

Ka Nai'a Outrigger Videos!

Over the 3 day weekend, I finally got my butt into gear and made some paddling videos that have been waiting for me a long time.

First, a little montage from Ka Nai'a Outrigger's training paddle out to Santa Cruz Island.  We left in the wee hours of the morning Friday, paddled 30 miles, then stayed on the island 2 nights before paddling back home.  The ocean was rough on the way over, but placid and beautiful on the return.  The fog totally surrounded us, so you couldn't even tell which way we were heading.  Surreal, and on top of it a massive pod of dolphins came out to play with us!

The second video is from a race I wrote about here, the Dana Point change race.  You can see (towards the very end of the video) exactly how close the race was in the final miles, before the other team pulled away, finishing one minute ahead of us.  (Aaahh... epic!!)

CATALINA CROSSING is this weekend.  I can't believe how this summer has flown.

More Splatter

Went paint balling again this weekend, despite the dire heat of August.  Had another great time and an equally fun turnout.  We did pretty well, though the field was crowded, I think the local Groupon stuff made the place hopping popular.  (Happily avoided the little kids birthday party.)

My "fans" at the field are trying to convince me I'm good enough to play in some kind of organized team? Pffft no I don't think so.  (Unless that means I can play for free??)

I have some very pretty bruises from the experience, though I think each of them was pretty well earned, and I took out a couple people most games, probably due to how crowded the field was.

I'm now "scouting" the interwebs more frequently for deals on paint, because man that expense can add up quickly!  Happily we have some pretty good places around here that stock it high on occasion, you just have to go at the right time.  Looking forward to more frequent trips to the field when summer officially ends.

Capoeira!

Capoeira!!! "As if you needed another activity."

I know, I know ... but it's just so darn fun!  Okay, so backing up, what started as a 5 week Groupon deal resulted in me committing to joining a Capoeira studio for weekly classes.  For those of you who not know, Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that involves music, dancing, sparring, culture, and gymnastics.  It dates back to African slaves who trained in secret, disguising their fighting techniques in dance and music.  It is incredibly fast paced, utilizing speed, power and creativity.  The SB Batuque studio Chris and I joined is a small space in Goleta that shares the week schedule with a ballet studio.  It's lead by a true character of epic proportions, Mariano Silva.  (Pictured below ... that was his outfit at this year's solstice.  If you care to look up more, they are all equally or more intense.  He may have the most continuous energy I've ever seen in a single human being...)

The long, long history of this art/sport is quite fascinating, and close to impossible for me to simply summarize here.  There was a period of time in history when anyone caught practicing Capoeira or fighting for any reason would be arrested by police, possibly tortured and mutilated.  It's a dark but rich legacy that we as new students are only barely scratching the surface of, and it's exciting.

Because Capoeira was so underground, it has become a tradition over time for students to receive a nickname (like a undercover identity) at their initiation ceremony (the Batizado) from a master.  I was given the name Allegria (Joy), Chris is Ferugen (Rust) and Ben is Sorriso (Smile).

Our timing when joining was a little strange, because we were swept up in the tail end of the training year just prior to new students receiving their belts.  So essentially, a bunch of folks on our same "level" have been training for nearly a full year, so we are not nearly as sharp as they are.  I feel particularly clumsy at times since this is also the first martial art I have ever tried out.  The music appeals to me greatly.  The people at the studio are friendly, laugh easily, and welcoming.  I am looking forward to getting to know everyone a little more.  The classes are intense and challenging.  Chris has discovered that going to them is having a positive effect on his Su Bak Do work, and I have found that no matter what is going on, I feel light, unstressed, and loose after every class despite how difficult it can be.  Sometimes my shoulder starts to bother me after too many cartwheels, so it is possible I will have to really take it easy during the current intense period of paddling.  So far once a week isn't toooooooooo bad.... hopefully I can stick with it long enough to be able to feel confident when I get to play in the roda.

Change Season - Dana Point 2nd Place!

So in change season, typically our tiny team runs two gender crews in the "minor" races before the Catalina US Championships.  Everything, of course depends greatly on logistics with our limited budget and paddler supply, but either way change season has always, always been my favorite part of the sport of outrigger.  You go crazy long distance, you have to think strategically, you have to go crazy all out yet you have to be ready to be in the canoe for a very, very, long time.

This past week was the Dana Point 9-man race (change race) and the first of this season.  To our delight, we were told we would be running co-ed with our top people.

Expectations were pretty high, but happily we had an amazing race, during which we had first place a few times, but ultimately were bested by a large club from down South.  This 2nd place tasted very sweet nonetheless, and reminded all of us once again why we love this sport so much and that hard work really does pay off.  As our coach said as we were out on the water, "These are the moments that make coaching totally worth it."

A few of us stayed behind for the afternoon to collect our bling.  (Which included a really cool plaque made of island wood of some kind ... it was very special, so we decided to give it to our coaches.)

Only a couple months ago many of us would have said Ka Nai'a was going to have a laid back, more relaxed year which was less focused on being competitive and more focused on building its base.  Oops? :)

Anglican Youth Retreat

Finally got the Youth Retreat video done.  Check it out!!!  (My video programming software is a moody little PITA!  But it spit out a result at last.)  I am getting used to using my video camera again after the first one broke - I forgot how much time it takes to sort and edit footage!

So, on to ANGLICAN YOUTH RETREAT 2012!

The camp this year was great.  Instead of Sacramento area we were up in Washington, at Warm Beach, which is a false, slanderous name, not only because it was indeed not warm but because it poured rain on us Monday.  Bah!  The green of everything was great though, and I was ecstatic to have an actual grassy long sports field, as well as an amazing view of the ocean and the distant islands that are so quintessential to Washington.

The students contemplated some ancient and modern arguments for the existence of God, heard a bit of ways in which Christ is revealed in the Old Testament, and discussed their personal struggles with having their faith questioned and attacked in their lives.  It was interesting to hear that for the most part many of them struggle more with learning how to appreciate and accept (not "tolerate") the other faiths and beliefs of their friends, family, classmates, etc.  The group bonded very quickly, and though I spent a pathetic amount of time recovering from paddling by taking cat naps, I was very happy I was there.  A huge ropes course was a new element we have never seen, which was by far one of my own highlights since I looooove playing up in the trees.

The students were incredible diverse for such a small group, full of unstoppable energy and smiles.  As usual, summer retreat more than anything makes me wish everyone lived closer.  Praise the Lord for email and social networking. :)

Paintball!

I know, right? Pffft ... studs.

Something else fun recently: PAINTBALL!  Okay, so we've played a few times, but there is a field that opened up in Oxnard that made for an especially exciting day.  This was the second time Chris and I were able to try out our guns, which worked great.  (Though I totally forgot to turn my hopper feeder on ... oops.)  I shot some guy in the hand who apparently didn't think a girl with a gun was much of a threat.  Uhm... yeah that was silly of him.  There were quite a few folks there, including some itty bitty kids that made me smile.  Most of them seemed to know each other and no one was hyper competitive, which added to a pleasant atmosphere.  The one thing that was a negative against the Oxnard field was it did not have a burrito truck to service the hungry players in the middle of the day.  (We got spoiled by one of the giant fields out near Six Flags.... we are suckers for food!)

I am looking forward to going and playing again maybe next month.  I could see it being a very addictive activity, especially when you get a group of friends together who work well together and talk to one another. It makes the game easier to win, and when you win, you don't get hit.  (At least, that's what I keep telling the girls who are too scared to play.)  At some point we are all thinking about doing a round in some abandoned field or something nearby with friends only.  That seems to be less intimidating to the other folks I know who just aren't quite ready to commit to the activity. Pew pew!!

Outrigger Iron Season

Normally I'm so good about updating after a race, but life has just been nutty.  So instead of a race post, I'm going to do a "season thus far" recap.  First, I went into this season thinking it was just going to be fun, and not so competitive.  I was excited to meet new people, train hard, and play on the beach.  I was so wrong... turns out we had more folks return than I had ever imagined, and we were all ready to work hard, so we got pushed, and pushed, and pushed.  The competition among teams has been fierce, especially against one behemoth club down South.  (Maybe the only huge club in SoCal this year... but they are monsters.)

Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was delighted when our ladies boat won 1st in short course in the first race in San Diego.  (Complete with 2 newbies.)  I doubled a couple races after (paddling both short course followed immediately by long) and got a 4th place mug for short course in the 3rd race.  At our home race, the Rig Run (of which I had the honor of being chairman) the ladies short course boat took 3rd, open co-ed took 2nd.  That was kind of mind blowing ... double races and double places!  I was grateful when that event was over - it was a ton of work and I was tired of getting called by the city of Santa Barbara. :P

Then the REAL work started.  Coaches decided to beat the living snot out of us for the month of June, gearing up for the Iron Championships.  We won the co-ed open race last year, but we knew it was going to be much much harder to even place this year.  In the past big clubs have gone gender, but "the enemy" was openly, unabashedly placing crews in every division with the intention of taking 1st and 2nd in everything.  It's a little nuts... but whatever.  We were getting up for 5 AM practiced on M, W, F and in the evenings on T, TH.  Then distance on Saturdays.  Correct.... six days a week of paddling.  I was not allowed to cross train (my road bike whimpered at me daily) and I slept like some kind of rotting dead log every night.  It was stressful and exhausting.  Tensions among the team were a little high, and the great unknowns of the future were looming - the pressure was really on.

I didn't know how the championship race went, even when it was over.  It was hard; very hard.  The start was a little wonky and a bunch of boats jumped out early on us when the line was not straight.  The swells were enormous.  We caught the women's pack so fast it was hard to keep track of what boat was what.  It was hot.  We had a great glide at the finish, but I knew we didn't take 1st.  I was so grateful to hit the water when it was all over that didn't even bother me.  I didn't think we had 2nd.  I was convinced at the end at best we had 4th or 5th place.  (Still nothing to sneeze at.)  I had to catch a plane that night for Seattle, so my mind was wandering a bit and I was just happy it was all over.  Then I got a text message from a teammate who stayed behind at the race site.

2nd place.  Wow!!  So great when hard work is rewarded... :)

I also just have to add that it has been fun having Eric on the crew this year.  He has such a great epic face in all his race pictures!!!

Rawr! The face of a champion!

Overall the team has been great.  Wonderful new energy, and I can't wait to hit the island with everyone and dive into change season.  Huzzah!

Paralegal!

As many of you know, two years ago I started the UCSB Extension program to earn my Paralegal Certificate. And now, I'm all done!  Yup, they gave me amazing grades and I am officially certificated.  It's very exciting, and the first time since Chris and I got married that neither of us will be in school taking classes.
Yippee!

The program, in general, was actually a lot of fun.  I learned quite a bit, though I don't think I can say that every class was "worth it" but all in all it was an excellent educational experience.  My favorite class was actually Business Law because the teacher was so fun; she made everything about making money and was interactive and engaging.  It was also fun because business students were in the class, instead of just other paralegal students so there were some new perspectives bought into the mix.  I did a project about a business idea proposal, where I floated the concept of doing an "in home" nutrition session for people (specifically parents with teens) and got wild feedback from the class.  So if this paralegal thing doesn't work out, I have a business model on the back burner ready to go. :P  The only critique I got was that apparently I wasn't planning to charge people enough ... haha!

It's a little weird that college was sooooooo much harder.  You almost had to try not to get an A in most of these courses... however I greatly appreciate the fact that everything was modeled after working folks, so all the classes were at night.

The most surprising class was Bankruptcy not only because I knew zippo going in, but I was also convinced it would be horribly boring and in fact it was not.  Again, the teacher made quite a bit of difference, but it was pretty amazing to see how ignorant I was about the subject that I think most people believe they at least have a general knowledge about.  Among the other goodies were Real Estate and Probate.

So what now? For now I'm staying at my current job, though I don't want to limit myself.  We'll see if any little fishies come to nibble, and I'm focused (as usual) this summer on paddling and all the other exciting activities... and will go from there.

Just so happy to be DONE! :)

Seattle!

Returned recently from Seattle, Washington.  The "travel bug" that lives inside me gets very impatient from time to time, and every now and then I simply must feed it.  Chris and I had not been on an airplane together since our honeymoon to Alaska, so it was time for an adventure.  I had never been to Seattle before, which is in some ways surprising since I know so many awesome folks who live there.

Happily, the sunshine followed us from Santa Barbara and gave the locals their first sense of Spring all year.  We went downtown with my cousin to check out the world famous sites of Pike's Market.  We had more coffee than I can even recall, but in doing so discovered a little shop that was Firefly and generally sci-fi themed.  There, I had the best latte I've ever tasted, which was laced with ginger, apple and cinnamon.  It was called the "Muad' Dib Latte."  (Name that nerdy reference!)  I wanted to go back to try the "Mudder's Mocha" or the "Kobayashi Maru."  Maybe next time.

Seeing Hilary for the first time in ages was splendid, and she was an excellent tour guide.  We explored artsy shops, tried some free chocolate samples, ate amazing Thai, visited the University of Washington and their amazing blooming cherry trees, as well as the impressive library building.  We met the Fremont Troll, and went hiking on a day long adventure.  We had to take a blustery ferry to the trail head, and had spectacular views of the city, the Olympic mountains, Mount Rainier, and the glory that is the great Northwest.


We ate at a place called "Beth's" that was made famous by defeating the star of Man vs. Food.  I understand why ... we ordered a 12 egg omelet and split it among the three of us.  (No problemo.)  You could doodle as you ate, and display your artwork on the surrounding walls!  We were introduced to some of Hilary's writing buddies, who I felt connected with immediately.  (An entire crew of NaNo contenders! How awesome!)

For Easter we visited Father Davis and his parish of St. Bart's, which was lovely.  I got to see all the camper faces I miss so much during the year, and ate a fantastic home cooked Indian meal afterwards at one of the member's homes.  It was a delightful reunion, full of memories and funny stories.  We are not sure what is going to happen with the Youth Retreat this year, but there is a good chance I'll be traveling back to beautiful Washington sooner than I ever expected!

The weather gave us an amazing opportunity to go for a long hike, and we could literally see everything for hundreds of miles around us.  From Mount Rainier to the Olympics to the distance city of Seattle, it was an incredible vista, complete with a blustery ferry ride.

All in all Chris and I had a blast, and decided we are very fond of Seattle and its inhabitants.  It's always a good feeling to realize you had so many more things you wanted to do, but simply didn't have the time!  Everyone was trying to convince Chris to move and take a job up there, and if he's honest he'll admit he was a bit tempted.  I don't know if I could handle actual winters... brrr!! But I gotta say, I wouldn't hate it ... not even a little.

Road Biking

Ooodalili, got myself a road bike! (Chris: "Uuuugh not another activity!") I know ... I know... I'm sorry! (Kind of?)  No one ever told me how addicting these things are ... and granted, I kind of always thought of road bikers as snobs in an elite club.  Stalking up and down the roads in their sponsored uniforms... pfft!  However, my racer friend Ben was signing up for the Santa Barbara triathlon and let him convince me to do it as well.  I had been wanting to do a tri here for a while, ever since Chris did a karate demo at the Carpinteria one, but I didn't want to race with my mountain bike.  The same thing when it came to duathlons, I didn't want to feel like a brick on the road with my mountain bike.  (Part of the reason the Muddy Buddy was so appealing... trail riding!)  But lo, I broke down, and now I have a zippy little Quintana Roo tri bike I found on Craigslist that is a little thing of beauty.  I'm still learning, but was able to go on a little group ride around town and learned things like hand signals and how terrifying turning is when you are going fast.

 I have not yet ridden to work from the house, but it's on the list of things to do next week.  I think it will take a little under an hour, which will give me plenty of time since I usually try to allow myself 2 hours of gym time before work on many days.  With the time change this has been much harder, but it still happens often enough to keep me from feeling like a lazy slug at my desk.

TOUGH MUDDER EXTRAS...

Just for fun, a few more shots from the event, and a link to the official video. :)

So happy at the START line!

"Not the face!"

"Forget it! Just go faster!

"What the...!!! That kind of sucked...!"

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

"We have to what? Ohhh... that guy just got pwnd..."

RaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaWWWWWRRRRRR!!!!

(This picture is now famous on Pinterest....haha)

"Well, I never!"

THE TOUGH MUDDER

Known as the "toughest event on the planet," with the tag line of "because marathons are boring," the Tough Mudder is based off of an obstacle course that was created by British Special Forces and is completed by thousands of crazy people all over the United States yearly. The specific event I participated in was located at Vail Lake, near Temecula California and was about 11 miles long which included 21 different obstacles. The "shock and awe" obstacle being the finale, an electric gauntlet of peril as well as 12 foot walls, log carries, dramatic jumps off platforms into water and crawling through itty bitty trenches and beneath barbed wire.

Quite a few folks run this event in teams, but there is a credo you recite at the start of the race which basically says you will help your fellow Mudders tackle the obstacles, that it's not about time, and you'll be willing to assist others when they need it, carry the wounded, etc.  I couldn't resist the call to glory long ago when I heard about this event.  It not only sounded fun, it sounded like a great challenge.  I am very pleased to report it was everything I had hoped and more fun that I had dared to imagine.

This event was, in summary, a giant adventure playground for adults.

THE EPIC TRAINING

Before I go into the details of my race experience, I must first take a moment to talk about the training I was a part of before the event even began.  A friend of mine found out I was signed up for the Tough Mudder "all on my lonesome" and hooked me up with an incredible pack of women who were doing the same race (one day earlier) as a group.  They are all part of a local Roller Derby team, the Mission City Brawlin' Betties.  These ladies are rockin' badass fabulous, and I'm forever grateful that I had a chance to meet them and train for this crazy race with them.  They raced as "Team Pretty."  It took me a little while to get used to their "derby names" but before I knew it I was on the phone with my Mom saying, "Oh yeah so tomorrow I'm carpooling up with Havoc, Misfit and Queefie to Crissy Bang-Bang's Dad's house so he can kick our asses up and down some gnarly hills."  Bang-Bang's Dad has property in the Middle-of-Nowhere National Park (okay, Los Olivos) where he trains students in Aikido.  For the love of his daughter and her team (and tag-alongs like myself) he took 3 weekends to get us ready for the big race and let all of us pay him in the form of pie and beef jerky.

I must admit, that man got the best of me.  Not only did we do crab walks, hill runs, log carries, Aikido strengthening, crazy push-ups and hundreds of jumping jacks, the final session we did all of that while he sprayed us down with a garden hose.  Let me tell you, after training with him I felt VERY prepared for ANYTHING.  At one point, lying on my back in the dirt and thistle, holding my legs 6 inches off the ground, then 12 inches, then  back to 6 trying to count to ten and getting gallons of water spurted up my nose, sputtering and shivering, the thought did cross my mind that I was indeed a little crazy.

That thought made me smile.

THE EPIC RACE

The weather was perfect.  The atmosphere was buzzing with excitement.  I have been asked several times if I was nervous, and generally speaking no, I really was not.  I knew that come what may, this was going to be a great day.

I was joined by 5 friends (most of whom were veterans of the SLO Mud Mash and other similar events) that were just as jazzed to take part in the mayhem.  I was specifically talked into it by my brother-in-law, Sean, who had a not so pleasant Tough Mudder experience last year in Snow Valley.  (Where it actually *snowed* on his race day....)  Since we weren't an actual team, I didn't expect to see most of them for the duration of the race.  However as it turns out both Sean and my friend Ben were all able to keep about the same pace up, so we stuck together.  I think their company made the distance seem very short, and I was undeniably grateful for their aid on a few of the obstacles.

Did I mention there was an obstacle *before* the Starting line? Yeah, just to make sure everyone is serious... so here is a pic of me on that wall, next to The Flash! :)

Last week I was a little disheartened because my planned training schedule had fallen short, since I got sick as a dog the second week of February and rolled my ankle slightly during trampoline dodge-ball on Valentines day.  I was feeling great race day morning, however, and had been chomping at the bit all week to get to that starting line.

The race is so popular 500 people leave in "waves" every 20 minutes.  There was an MC to entertain the folks for a little while before taking off, where you recite the Mudder Code and get pumped up with lots and lots of "Oorah!"  The philosophy and atmosphere make the race very unique, in that you feel very connected to the folks around you and you know that if anything were to happen, all the strangers around you would be at your side ready to help out.  the event is seen as a "challenge" instead of a "race" so time doesn't matter.  There are no chips to record your time and teamwork is highly encouraged.  There were costumes everywhere - I followed The Flash and Superman for the majority of the event; among other notable team names were "The Motorboaters," "Mudder Prison," "Team Trojan" (wearing red tutu skirts) and "Team Merkin: We Got It Covered."  Quintessential guys in Speedos, weird wigs, and I have to mention my teammate Ben running in "Jesus sandals."

My taste of TOUGH came immediately at the second obstacle, which was a low crawl under barbed wire fence.  Sean crawled under the obstacle like Spiderman, showing off his Army Strong training.  I tried pathetically to keep up with him using the inch worm strategy, and lifted my butt in the air just high enough to snag my pants on the very real barbed wire.  All it took was a light snag, and TA-DA! I was mooning everyone behind me.  My pants had a hole in them over my right butt check the size of the palm of my hand.
 

"Holy monkey... I'm on the first mile and I'm already wanting to quit since I don't want that hole to get any bigger..."  But oh, miracle of miracles! What was I given with my bib number at registration? (Sing the following with the "12 Days of Christmas" tune...) FOOOOOUR SAAAAFETY PIIIIINS!!  Praise!  I pinned myself together (two smallish holes were much better than one huge one) and kept on running.  (In the photo there you can kind of see the hole peeking out as I am jumping across giant muddy trenches in the ground.  Family and friends were gathered at certain obstacles to watch the crazies and cheer us on!)

I gingerly stepped around rocks in a dry river bed, climbed and rolled under logs, found some very narrow trenches, and then hit the first (and one of the worst) obstacles: crawling through dangling electric shock wires.

Mother Fraking Mudder, these things were crazy.  Saying they "hurt" isn't really the right term ... it's more like they punch you really hard.... like a really strong gnome is suddenly slamming his tiny rock hard fist into your body as fast and as hard as he can, and it somehow makes whatever muscle he touches spasm.  I got a really good one to the back that made me roar like a man, all the while volunteers are screaming over us  "Don't stop! Crawl faster and it will be better!"  But holy cow I'm just not a very fast crawler! Ben at my side kept yelling as I heard the snap, crackle, pop noises all in his general direction.  It was like my friend was getting tortured! (And he wasn't wearing a shirt... hmmm..)

Haha but somehow it was still fun ... I know, I know ... but it was!  More hills came after that, and more trenches, and daring leaps over giant muddy holes in the ground.  There are snarky signs posted all along the course to "motivate" you.  I took it easy on most of the uphills, saving my energy for whatever was around the next corner.  There was a giant ice bath that was alarmingly cold - it made my entire body feel like it was gasping for life, and once I was out the lingering tingle stayed with me for about another mile.  At least, until I got to the plunging tower, where you took a leap off a 20 foot platform into a giant muddy hole.  I have never had a problem with heights to I just went for it, and there was that little moment once I started falling that made me think "Oh my ... this is actually really high! Squeeeeee!!!"

There were some pretty big gaps after that which were flat or hilly and just for running.  I felt so good running, I think because it was something I was good at and there was nothing being slung my way.  It was a bit dusty, and the hills just never seemed to stop.

Little by little we made progress, and mile marker after mile marker kept us going.  We carried wood, we slogged through mushy lake crossings, we shimmied over water traps and balanced on 2x4's.


My favorite obstacle was probably the giant Slip N' Slide.  It had big bumps and a jerk with a fire hose who sprayed me in the face the entire way down.  I was grinning like an idiot as I slammed at who knows how many miles per hour into the giant pool at the bottom.  I wanted to turn around and do it 10 more times!  By then you could see the finish, hear the fun blaring music, and I was certainly ready to get the little pebbles out of my shoes, so I decided to keep going.  There was still a lake to swim in, and Everest to climb.  "Everest" is a big half pipe that you have to run up and either grab the edge on your own, or hope you have someone there to catch you and help you over.  I had been a little intimidated by the thought of this obstacle for a while, so I was incredibly grateful and happy that Ben and Sean were with me and I trusted them enough to not drop me on my face.  They both made it look so easy ... even Ben with his non-tread sandals!

Success on the first try!  (Thanks to the boys.)  Then it was on to the finale, and the most well known obstacle, the Electro Shock Therapy run.  If you have never seen any videos of these runs, you really should check it out, it's both horrific and hilarious.  Of all the people I invited to join us for the event, this was hands down the number one reason everyone gave for not wanting to come.  "Oh hell no, you guys are crazy" was probably the most popular line, followed by "Electric shocks? You PAY for this race?"  Yeah ... well... I mean... it's hard core! Right?

My Uncle went onto the website after I told him about it during Thanksgiving, and came back to me with wide eyes.  "Megan, have you actually seen the website for this event?"  Yes, I'm all signed up.  You kind of have to visit the website to sign up ...

Anyway, there were hay bails in the way, so it wasn't exactly a straight shot to the Finish, which you could actually see on the other end.  The folks who went in front of us all seemed to biff really bad... their backs or legs would get shocked and they would fall down hard, face first into the mud.  I guess a few people had even broken their arms earlier in the day!  It made it worse to just stand and watch, so once the coast was clear we all just took a deep breath.

My mantra was simple: DON'T FALL DOWN.

I got hit by one bomber hard in my left quad towards the end; felt the after effect of that for about an hour, but it didn't stop me. (Whew!)  Sean let out at least one banshee good scream and his body twisted towards me in a convulsion, but he made it through as well!

So, does everyone see Superman and The Flash standing behind us in the charge photo? Yeah, so the age old question of "Who would win a race? The Man of Steel or The Flash?"  The answer is, Megan, Sean, and Ben! Haha.  I think we finished in about 2 hours and 45 minutes.  The clock wasn't really anywhere obvious so that's just what I was told by our crowd of fans.  (Oh, and Bruno, my Muddy Buddy ...  finished nearly an HOUR ahead of us....animal!)

I'm already looking at signing up for another race in Las Vegas this October ... maybe even signing up to do both race days on Saturday and Sunday.  Double the fun!!  This more than any other event makes me truly believe that everyone is stronger than they think they are - don't run from an opportunity to surprise yourself, and never be afraid to look your fears in the face and grin right back at them!

Trampoline Dodgeball!!!!

So, when was the last time you did something that was "ridiculously awesome fun"???  

For Valentines a friend of mine organized a trip to SkyHigh Sports in Camarillo, a sports facility that is nothing short of a mega ninja hopping trampoline paradise!  I have been wanting to go to forever but had never bothered organizing anything.  There was a special 2-for-1 deal for couples, and I was stoked at the chance to play trampoline dodgeball.  I have to admit I had very high expectations as to how fun this would be, and my expectations were utterly blown away.  I had an absurdly good time.  We played for two hours (a whopping $20 per couple) and everything I was wearing was drenched!

The dodgeball pit was pretty simple, roughly 8 or so trampolines per side, squishy colorful kickballs being lobbed around, and a ref to make sure people weren't cheating too bad.  There were inevitably some little kids (and a couple guys that took the game waaaay too seriously) but all in all it was an excellent group.  I got nailed in the face a couple times ... that stung a little... I think they should use something more punishing for us next time...haha!

There were other pits in the area, one that was big and open and another one where you could jump into a huge pile of foam for a soft landing.  The foam was really hard to climb back out of, but it was fun to go flying into it!

BOYS!

LADIES!

In summary the evening was simply labeled a complete success.  I want to go back (as do most of us) for more.  They teach an "Airobics" class that I'm afraid I'm going to have to test out ASAP.