Despite my vow to move more on day 14 than I did on day 13, it didn't quite materialise. Yet again, a late finish with work and a rather late food shop (FYI!) meant that time was once again against me. I did console myself with several pieces i.e. the whole bar, of Cadbury Dairy Milk Oreo and the knowledge that I would be putting some serious effort into my first obstacle/assault course. Not the best way to prepare but the chocolate endorphins were rather lovely all the same. Glaringly obvious lack of exercise but that choc with a cuppa was very welcome!
Saturday and day 15. Halfway. Whoop! OK, I probably really don't deserve a huge whoop as I have been a tad sporadic the past week but I'm still here, still moving & still blogging. Albeit a few days late!
Day 15 heralded my first ever obstacle/assault course race, in the form of the Zest 10k challenge. I had signed up, under duress, after being persuaded/hounded by my bestie Lorain and I also roped in another bestie, Sammy, to keep me company en route. The event was held near Henley in the grounds of the beautiful Hambledon estate; lovely countryside and lots of rolling hills. Wait, rolling hills? This could be interesting! At our wave call time, we headed to the warm up area and were put through our paces by the very fit & lively bunch of guys and gals from Gym Cube. And before we knew it, we were off.....a group of ladies chasing after a chappy on a quad bike (he was making sure we were going the right way!)
That's me in the black, in case you weren't sure!
Lorain (waving in the pink top) was running with two friends, Elaine & Leanne, and Sammy (in the green tee next to moi) were together and we had agreed to do our own thing but it was nice to all start together. The first 1km or so was a bit up & down, incline wise and then we hit the first obstacle, the tyre run. We whizzed through them tyres like prancing ponies and then it was onwards ho! A bit hilly again and the first water stop was a welcome sight....just at the bottom of a MASSIVE hill! On reaching the summit, we were greeted by the only way to get down, the water slide (2 sheets of tarpaulin & a hose!) It was ace! I skidded right off the bottom into a load of grass & mud, loved it, and it got me a little psyched for the rest of the course. I believe the words I was chanting as we tackled the next steep incline was 'C'mon ladies, we are WARRIORS!!' Sammy, however, was not feeling the warrior love and I had visions of her tripping me up, bundling me into the woods and leaving me there just so she could get some peace & quiet from my inane chat! I don't think us bickering about one of us going on ahead without the other helped but we got over that and I remained out of the woods! The tunnel crawl was next, a little tough on the knees but through in no time and we headed on. The scenery through the woods really was lovely and the forecasted rain held off. The next part was pretty tough going with a fairly steep descent which was quite hard on the legs and required a lot of concentration to prevent an 'A over T' moment! A ditch jump, a down hill run and we were met with the hay bales to tackle! Attacking them with gusto, Sammy & I were soon up and over them and on our way back into the woods. Trotting through the woods, we reflected on how the course was harder than we thought it would be (not in a cocky way but more in the way of there being way more hills than we thought there would be!) and how hot it was despite the cover of trees. We finally stopped gassing enough to get over another obstacle, which I can only describe as a raised flower bed without the flowers and just mud, a quick trot and we were queuing to tackle the next obstacle - the slippery wall. And this is where it all fell apart for me. At the halfway point. Waiting for our turn, a whopping great big old farm gate, which was not part of the course, got knocked and decided to make friends with my right leg and took a big liking to my ankle. Ooooouchie!! The marshalls checked if I was OK and I said I was fine to carry on. I tackled the slippery wall with no trouble at all and made it over in one go (and piece!), yay, go me!! And then the pain started. Looking at my ankle, a massive vein had popped (sorry if you are eating!) and on lifting my running tights, I had a few deep-ish grazes down my leg. Great! And just as I was enjoying it all too, damn it! It was pretty painful to walk on but I wasn't giving up, even if I had to walk the rest of the course. A quitter I will not be. So that is exactly what we did! Sammy did offer me a piggy back and when 'on board', we lasted about 30 secs before deciding that walking on our own was just fine, frustrating but fine. Because of my cuts, I decided against entering the muddy pontoon maze, rather begrudgingly, and became quite envious of Sammy as she waded through the muddy waters. So in an attempt to feel included, I submerged my left foot in it; my token gesture of being 'adventurous'!! At a fast paced walk, we soon hit upon the balance beams, another pontoon style crossing and then we were back in the main arena area to tackle the last three obstacles; over the horse jumps, up and across the mound of grass via beams and then it was going to be my much anticipated fave obstacle of the day, the inflatable assault course! Whoop! Despite the limp, bring it on!! However, the weather had other ideas and a torrential downpour meant that it wasn't safe for us to go on it. fBooo but Fair do's. So we skirted around it and across the finishing line in a fairly-respectable-considering-we-walked-the-last-5km time of 1:40.
Lovely Lorain and her friends were waiting for us, in the rain, despite finishing some 15-20 mins before us - how bloody lovely of them! A quick hug & checking we were OK, they were off and left Sammy & I to collect our medals and one of THE best goody bags I have ever had!
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| Me & Sammy; Our stinky trainers; Me & my medal |
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| Gratuitous shot of my injured ankle/foot 1 day on |
So, the halfway point for me is bittersweet; great that we are halfway through Juneathon and I am fairly happy with my efforts. The flipside being that I am obviously out of action for a little while as I rest my ankle. Not ideal with 7 weeks to Dublin half marathon but with a bit of rest and being sensible, I'll be fit & ready for it. So my challenge this week is to do something everyday without compromising resting my ankle. Hmm, should be interesting!
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