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Take that, sixth grade gym class!
Oct. 7th, 2017 07:36 pmOne more New Year's resolution down - I did the City Challenge Urban Obstacle Course today. And it was awesome!
I actually probably could have done it a lot faster than I did, but I chose to stay with my partner. Which was both more fun (it's not like I was running for time anyway) and also really helpful when I got to the inverted wall, which I could not get over without a boost. (I got up to the top and then just could not figure out how to get my leg up and over. It was like, I can hang out here for a while, there's a nice breeze, but I'm just not getting any higher than this.) I got over the 8 foot walls with a lot less trouble than I was expecting (turns out you can actually climb the hex bolts holding the supports), although the sheer number of them was vicious. Weirdly enough, the police barriers were more painful. I kicked the butt of the bear crawl and the balance beam (which was actually a series of spaced apart points you had to almost jump between followed by a inclined beam, all of which was shaky as hell). The cinder block wasn't as bad as I'd been expecting. Climbing over the cars was just fun. So was the various pyramid climbs.
On the other hand, I did have two I couldn't do and had to take the penalty on. There was the Stacy Williams carry, which we have no idea why it was called that. (We decided to call it the Gwen Stacy carry instead, mostly because we couldn't remember the real name.) You had to carry your partner halfway and switch. Unfortunately, I was a lot smaller than my partner. He carried me ok, but I got like three steps and gave up. (Actually, I initially tried to pick him up and my knees failed and I ended up on my butt laughing.) And the monkey bar-ish things actually turned out to be a series of rings, ropes, and a moving bar you had to hang from. I managed to get past the first ring and rope, but couldn't get onto the moving bar. Penalty jump squats for me.
But the one I'm really proud of is the rope climb. I have never in my life successfully done a rope climb. I have deep bad memories of gym class involving rope climbs. I totally did the rope climb. (I did it on the rope with two knots, but they were spaced out far enough you had to do a lot of the shimmy without any help. The last foot I think I did one inch at a time.) I have to say, hitting that bell was deeply satisfying.
I'm actually nowhere near as muscle-achy as I expected to be--I'm in pretty decent shape, it turns out. On the other hand...oh god, I'm covered in bruises. And abrasions. I've got rope burn on my thighs and my ankles look like someone fired a paintball gun at them at close range and somehow I have a bruise on my chin I don't even remember acquiring. I look like I've been totally beaten up by someone who was careful to avoid my face. So hopefully my coworkers don't ask delicate questions about the state of my marriage. It was worth it.
So yeah. Really fun. Will do again.
I actually probably could have done it a lot faster than I did, but I chose to stay with my partner. Which was both more fun (it's not like I was running for time anyway) and also really helpful when I got to the inverted wall, which I could not get over without a boost. (I got up to the top and then just could not figure out how to get my leg up and over. It was like, I can hang out here for a while, there's a nice breeze, but I'm just not getting any higher than this.) I got over the 8 foot walls with a lot less trouble than I was expecting (turns out you can actually climb the hex bolts holding the supports), although the sheer number of them was vicious. Weirdly enough, the police barriers were more painful. I kicked the butt of the bear crawl and the balance beam (which was actually a series of spaced apart points you had to almost jump between followed by a inclined beam, all of which was shaky as hell). The cinder block wasn't as bad as I'd been expecting. Climbing over the cars was just fun. So was the various pyramid climbs.
On the other hand, I did have two I couldn't do and had to take the penalty on. There was the Stacy Williams carry, which we have no idea why it was called that. (We decided to call it the Gwen Stacy carry instead, mostly because we couldn't remember the real name.) You had to carry your partner halfway and switch. Unfortunately, I was a lot smaller than my partner. He carried me ok, but I got like three steps and gave up. (Actually, I initially tried to pick him up and my knees failed and I ended up on my butt laughing.) And the monkey bar-ish things actually turned out to be a series of rings, ropes, and a moving bar you had to hang from. I managed to get past the first ring and rope, but couldn't get onto the moving bar. Penalty jump squats for me.
But the one I'm really proud of is the rope climb. I have never in my life successfully done a rope climb. I have deep bad memories of gym class involving rope climbs. I totally did the rope climb. (I did it on the rope with two knots, but they were spaced out far enough you had to do a lot of the shimmy without any help. The last foot I think I did one inch at a time.) I have to say, hitting that bell was deeply satisfying.
I'm actually nowhere near as muscle-achy as I expected to be--I'm in pretty decent shape, it turns out. On the other hand...oh god, I'm covered in bruises. And abrasions. I've got rope burn on my thighs and my ankles look like someone fired a paintball gun at them at close range and somehow I have a bruise on my chin I don't even remember acquiring. I look like I've been totally beaten up by someone who was careful to avoid my face. So hopefully my coworkers don't ask delicate questions about the state of my marriage. It was worth it.
So yeah. Really fun. Will do again.
