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| Muddy, sweaty and rain-soaked but happy! |
And did I mention the hills?!
Like my friend Katherine (who I met on the Up and Running spring 10k course) who was also running the race, I got to about the 2km mark and knew I wasn't going to run the whole thing. I had to be wise about how I used my energy, especially in the first 5km. The terrain was very uneven with a lot of inclines and I wanted to be able to get through the whole race - and I certainly didn't want to get injured. With this kind of race you really have to watch where you're going, you can't just put your music on and switch off, so my mental concentration had to be super sharp as well.
I wasn't feeling particularly energetic that morning. I'd only got back from Australia one week earlier, was recovering from a head cold and hadn't been for a proper run for about three weeks. I'd done three training runs over the week since my return and while they hadn't been disasters I wasn't on top of my game, so to speak. I knew I couldn't expect miracles.
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| image courtesy of alpro |
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| image courtesy of zest magazine |
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| image courtesy of alpro |
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| image courtesy of zest magazine |
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| image courtesy of zest magazine |
I ran for a while and then found myself at the end of a rather large queue for the "slippery wall" which you had to run up and over. Thankfully there were people at the top to help us over if we got stuck...and when I say "we" I of course mean "me"!
It was kind of weird, having the race come to a standstill like that, but I really liked the non-competitive atmosphere of this race. Everyone was there to have fun and the etiquette seemed to be that you joined the queue for the obstacle and went when there was an opening. Nobody seemed to mind waiting their turn. I liked that; it made the whole experience a lot more fun and less stressful. But if you were taking it a bit more seriously, the marshalls told us we didn't have to stop for the obstacles, or wait our turn necessarily, it was a race after all.
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| image courtesy of zest magazine |
The next obstacle was....a swamp! Lots of floating slats that we had to jump across to get to the other side. But these were incredibly wobbly and you ended up with wet feet no matter what you did! I ended up falling in as I had a foot on two different slats that were slowly growing further apart, forcing me to do some strange kind of splits that I just couldn't hold! I did swear, very loudly. I hope no one minded!
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| image courtesy of zest magazine (this runner was far more graceful than I was!) |
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| image courtesy of zest magazine |
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| image courtesy of zest magazine |
Balance beams next....which looked a bit wobbly, but I summoned my inner Tadasana and went, shakily, across.
Finally, the spider's web. Not that tricky, in the end! Then it seemed we were finally on the home stretch. Another mountain of dirt to climb over...and another damn balancing beam to cross on the other side...I was a bit wobbly at this stage and asked one of the women running next to me to hold my hand as I got on and stabilised myself, which she kindly did.
It was now raining and they had closed the bouncy castle finale at the finish line for safety reasons, so I was spared...but a little crushed as I'd been really looking forward to it. I haven't been on a bouncy castle since I was about 12. Never mind! Safety first!
And then there was the finish line and I had done it. Woop woop!
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| image courtesy of alpro |
Despite it being a real challenge (well, the clue was in the title!) and quite gruelling in parts, I really enjoyed myself. I would have liked to have felt better physically going into it on the day but I did my best with what I had. Sometimes life just gets in the way and your preparation for an event might not be ideal but if you know you have the core fitness to pull it off, don't chicken out, just swallow your pride and do whatever you need to do to make it to the finish. I've never regretted showing up for a race even if my preparation could have been better. You'd be surprised what you can do - never give up!
There were women of all ages and abilities doing this race and everyone seemed to be having a great time. That was what made this race for me, really. Running through the woods with heaps of other women, looking around and grinning at each other, as if to say "hey! We do this for FUN! We do this because we CAN!"
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| image courtesy of alpro |
My finish time was 1:31, only 25 minutes slower than my very satisfying 10.5k race in Bologna a month earlier. Considering all the walking, hills, stopping and starting as I waited my turn at the various obstacles, swamp dramas and wet shoes, I think I did OK! But time really was the least of my concerns on the way around the course - I just put it out of my mind and concentrated on getting to the end.
It was enough to have finished and be on the other side, with a medal and a goody bag. And what a goody bag. It was probably the best one I've ever received!
There was a little bit of chatting to camera with the Alpro team too, which was fun!
Thank you Zest for a great day and of course to Alpro for putting me in their team of bloggers to take on the challenge. It was brilliant :)
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| image courtesy of fellow team alpro runner Nichola of nicsnutrition.com |
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Being interviewed for Alpro TV prior to the start, wearing my now quite famous hot pink Lorna Jane jacket! |
Thank you Zest for a great day and of course to Alpro for putting me in their team of bloggers to take on the challenge. It was brilliant :)
And the runner's reward afterwards.....BEER! :D
What's been your biggest fitness challenge lately?