Hard Charge

Ok, so the 4 mile obstacle course called Hard Charge has come and gone. I can honestly say it's one of the most fun and liberating things I've ever done! It was a TOTAL blast and I will definitely do it again! It's nothing like the ordinary drudgery of a plain run or a session of strength training at the gym.

When we first got there and registered, we saw SO many incredibly ripped bodies that we started to wonder what we had gotten ourselves into. Shirtless men everywhere strutting their fit bodies - and then there was us - a mix of sizes and fitness levels, none of which seemed comparable to some of our fellow competitors. But, there was no pressure on us to "win" so it didn't matter. Eventually we saw a lot of other "normal" looking people just like us and it seemed like maybe we'd make it through after all.

Here is a picture of our team "got soap?" before the race.

From left to right: me, Kelly, Brittany, Sammi, & Shawn

 

Here we are all lined up at the starting line. Pumped and ready to go! From here, we got to see some of the finishers from the "glory" heat - who were in it to win. They were dirty, tired, and quite a few of them were missing shoes.

 

I had no idea of the muck we would be running, crawling, wading and climbing through! The first mile was almost all MUD and water. We basically jumped into a ditch of water up to our thighs and as soon as you jump in, your feet sink into mud over your ankles. It was really clear to see how some people had lost their shoes. We saw them laying all around the course!

 

One of the first obstacles was crawling under wires that were hovering over muddy water. If you weren't very dirty before this, you were covered in mud and completely soaked after! It really gets difficult to run when your shoes weigh about 5 pounds each because they are caked with wet mud! But all I could think about was how excited I was to see what the next obstacle was! There were a lot of walls to climb over and muddy, water filled trenches to crawl through. We had to run a lap around a small track while carrying a tire, we climbed up ropes, crawled through dark sand filled tunnels, climbed over cars and muddy mountains. We slopped through a mostly muddy track with only short bouts of rest when we got to run on grass or gravel.

 

Here we are afterwards, all dirty and ready for free beer!

I am exceptionally proud of myself for making it through every single obstacle without having to go around any. Especially the rope wall, where I was able to make it up quickly on my first try when most people around me were struggling to make it over again and again. And the very last wall was huge, but I made it over all on my own. I am in way better shape than I give myself credit for and this obstacle course was exactly what I needed on so many levels. I loved EVERY minute of it!