RACE RECAP SUMMER CATAMOUNT GAMES. Many of you know I did my first adventure race last weekend. The Summer Catamount Games was an unbelievable experience. I arrived at 6am in the parking lot of Ocoee River Whitewater Rafting. I checked in, weighed my ruck at 29lbs, and a 2x2 inch piece of paper was handed to me. It was a poem in tiny print, which I quickly put in a Ziploc bag and saved in my ruck. We lined up and a woman took my hand and wrote number 42 on the back. It got real after that. We were instructed to go into the woods and find a pile of logs, choose one and attach it to our ruck. We hiked to a cement structure, and written on the wall was 50-40-30-20-10 Jump Rope/Burpees. It was grueling in the sun! We hiked a few miles until lunch. A book about Birds in the Wilderness was passed around for us to look at. We hiked some more, then came to a garden of Atlas balls. The wod was to do 30 clean and press with the ball as fast as you can. You cannot drop it from the top and if you break the ball you’re disqualified. It was 100 degrees but my game face was on and I banged them out! Next was unexpected; the task was to hike with the atlas ball. Our instructions were to go until we reached a ”T” in the road, then stop. It’s a good thing I didn’t know how long that really was. It was uphill, so each time my line of site got further I thought the “T” was coming up but it never seemed to. Finally, over 3 miles later, we came to the end. I lowered myself down and the weight of the ball made me fall backwards. I felt like a turtle while I tried to unstrap my ruck. I removed my socks, shoes, elevated my feet and laid there; arms outspread, eating a strawberry Jolly Rancher in silence. By the end of Saturday night, we completed 8 or 9 wods and hiked over 20 miles before setting up camp. but I didn’t sleep. I had a lot of time to reflect on my life, mostly my failed marriage and any fault I had to contribute towards it. There were problems over the years, and each time I was forced to “get over it.” I swept all these problems under the rug. After 18 years, you can imagine how lumpy this rug was; It couldn’t be straightened out and became impossible to walk on. It needed to be lifted so the problems could be swept away. When my ex-husband left, it was as if he flung the rug to the sky, and when it landed in its new place, the problems were gone but the rug remained lumpy. I’m that rug, and I’m figuring out how to iron out my kinks. I pondered over why I was putting myself through such hell by doing this race. Last year my life drastically changed; I was divorced and became a single parent. When my ex left I was scared to death. I didn’t know what was going to happen to me or my children. I felt helpless, vulnerable, and out of control. My logic; if I willingly put myself in a situation of fear and the unknown such as The Catamount Games, it will force me to push past my fears, and to persevere. You can’t teach perseverance unless you’ve experienced it and overcome it on your own. Between what I went through last year and this event, I’m confident that I have the tools to teach my children what they need to know and to mold them into respectful men. The next day we hiked several miles and completed a few wods. The last task was interesting! We were handed a map marked with where we were. We were instructed to go to point B, look for ankle high ferns and to find the book we looked at yesterday. We were to open the book, rip out the page number that was written on our hand at 6am the day before. Replace the book in the ferns, go to point C on the map, turn in the book page and recite the poem given to us at check in. But first, a huge crossword puzzle. First one done gets to start the race. My eyes had a hard time focusing on the letters, no matter how many times I blinked. When that was done I ran up the mountain on a 3 mile journey to point B. Finding that page in the book was awesome! I ran back down the mountain as fast as my legs would go while chanting my poem out loud. The bikers and hikers must’ve thought I was completely insane! I crossed the bridge over the river and to my left saw the guys who had already came in. They were standing and cheering me on. I wish I could bottle that feeling, because I was overwhelmed with joy. I ran up to one of the directors and recited my poem. He yelled out DONE! And I happily joined the others. I didn’t keep track of points during this event. I didn’t know what place I was in. We were only told, its close. I wanted to give 110% every minute, and that’s exactly what I did. I got second place female and am so proud of what I accomplished and learned. Although we competed, we all supported each other. The camaraderie was a great feeling. I enjoyed this experience; it broadened my horizon a great deal, and I hope I’m fortunate enough to do another Catamount race in the future. I have to say...there were 2 products that I couldnt have made it without. My Athletics8 calf sleeves were a lifesaver, as well as Homeostasis Electrolytes to keep my body leveled out and hydrated well enough to perform. ~Jennifer #thefoxa8
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 03:22:21 +0000
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