One Weary Warrior

It's been almost a week since I completed the Newcastle Stampede but the day is still very vivid in my head, and a constant reminder of what a fat, stiff 51 year old can achieve when she puts her mind to it. 

So following on from my last post HERE I left the house and went out into a very sunny, and very windy Northumberland to meet the rest of the team at Gosforth Racecourse.  The walk form the carpark to the main building was almost a warm up as the wind was pretty strong. I remember being thankful that we would be sheltered behind a lot of trees for most of the event.

We all met in the main area, grabbed our free red British Heart Foundation T-Shirts, gaffer taped our trainers to our feet and pinned our race numbers to our black Assert Fitness 'Warrior' T shirts, kindly provided by Dean our trainer.  A dab of war paint, a couple of toilet visits and we were ready to go.

The Assert Warriors ready to Stampede

 Dean got us mentally and physically prepared by putting us through our usual warm up drill and a prep talk telling us all to just enjoy ourselves....somewhat difficult when we were watching the runners crossing the finishing line to our left, exhausted and covered in thick mud.

We then had to do a second warm up from the very radgey, shouty army man, (never met a forces PTI who wasn't.) who had us running around in a circle like a herd of sheep being chased by an excitable collie.

and then we were off....

It started with running.  A lot of running.  A lot more running that I expected and it was out in the sun and the wind until we eventually went into the wooded area.  I found myself settling into a stride, having conquered my breathing and running alongside Astrid, who does a lot of running, but who was happy to help me along with a bit of chat.  The rest of the warriors were mostly in front of us, but a few were behind with a lot of others, so I felt pretty good at that point.

The first couple of obstacles were easy, tyres and hay bales giving me a few seconds break to catch my breath from running.  Then more running. By this time my legs had disassociated themselves from my brain and were just running by themselves.

Then the trench.  A very long trench filled with waist high smelly water - booby trapped with tree roots and boulders to make sure you get wetter than you'd like to be.  There was a couple of 'crawly under wire and plastic sheet' obstacles that we had been thoroughly prepared for during our Sunday Stampede sessions, so knees and elbows were rough and ready for the bear and belly crawling.

More hay bales, tyres and a couple of water stops and we started to hit the biggies.  I did a rather spectacular 'trip over and plunge' into what was the thickest, muddiest obstacle of the whole course, leaving me literally covered from head to toe in mud.  Thats what you get from laughing at someone else's misfortune, ie the bloke in front who did the same. I should have watched where I was putting my feet instead and I'd have missed the boulder that got us both.

A short run alongside the main road - very disappointed that drivers didn't toot in support...or maybe they thought we were just idiots?

An amazing water slide down the hill, not as much water as I'd liked, meaning I didn't get right to the bottom, but that was due to having a few 'people pile ups' earlier so I heard. I was glad to get wet again as the coating of mud I was sporting had started to dry and I was picking off slabs of clay as I ran.

My favourite part was Sheep Dip Alley. Several troughs filled to sometimes chest height with water, very slippery banks to slither in and out of and pipes to climb or swim through. Some runners chose to by-pass this part, but there was a fair bit of waiting your turn, so we all started to get pretty chilly in the cool wind, despite it being gloriously sunny.

We knew we were wall past half way so that spurred us on to run up the hilly field, over the high hay bale stacks and round the last part of the course where we could hear the cheers from the finishing line.  Throughout the course a group of four of us had stuck together. Astrid, Lesley and Helen and I. As we summoned up every last drop of energy in our bodies we held hands and crossed the finish line to cheers and applause.  Not quite Olympian but I felt pretty damn awesome at that moment in time. Wrapped in a sheet of bacofoil, bar of fudge and medal in hand, we gathered together with the rest of the Warriors. We had trained hard, overcome our challenges and conquered Stampede.

The Assert Fitness Warriors - Stampede 2014

We completed the course in 1hr 55 minutes, under 2 hours which was much better than I expected, and we had spent quite a lot of time waiting at the last couple of obstacles.  

However, one of the biggest challenges of the day was the part where we were soaked to the skin, frozen to the marrow, caked in mud and stinking to high heaven and forced to get changed in the car park in winds that had to be around 60 mph. I'm afraid I may have flashed a bit of flesh, had anyone cared to notice but I was too busy wrestling with a towel while peeling off clothes that were glued to my skin to care. 

A long shower followed by a long warm bath got rid of most of the mud and grime, but not the smell, which lingered in my nose for a couple of days.  Clothes and trainers spent most of the weekend in a washing cycle while I suffered the effect of a post trauma migraine.  After feeling on top of the world for a couple of hours, I then retired to a dark, cool bedroom for the rest of the weekend  Not the ending to an amazing day I had expected.

Would I do it again?  Definitely. That day I reminded myself what I already knew, but often ignored.  I CAN do much more than I think or often want to do.  I struggled to run a couple of km previously. I ran close to 9km that day because of two things.

1.  I wanted to prove to myself that I could, and wasn't going to waste the opportunity by walking or stopping when I got tired or uncomfortable.

2.  Other people - being there, encouraging me and planting a voice in my head telling me that I can.

I'm now looking for the next challenge. Something that will spur me on during the cold winter training sessions at the beach.  Any suggestions?

NB I hope to add more photos from the day when they are available.

Warrior on the Loose Part 1

I'm finding it difficult to sit still this morning. Since waking up at around 5am, I tried to go back to sleep but the nervous energy flowing through my body forced me to get up and do something.

Today is the day I signed up for several weeks ago. Remember this post?

It's Stampede day and I'm a little nervous, a little anxious but more excited that I'm doing this. It's a long time since I challenged myself to something. In the past I have swam for Breast Cancer but nothing that needed me to train and prepare myself physically beforehand.

I totally believe that things happen for a reason and you need to take opportunities when they arise. For some reason when I was feeling fat and old and miserable three months ago I googled 'Boot Camp Northumberland' and Assert Fitness came up along with a few others.  I liked the look of the website, I read testimonials and what Dean Coulson had to say about his training methods and decided there and then that I was going to join.

I know that had that his website not been there I would have hummed and haa'd undecidedly and moved on to Pinterest or Twitter and might still be feeling fat, old and miserable now. I would not have lost weight, become more energetic, more positive and certainly wouldn't be waiting to don my mud run gear and go do something worthwhile for me and a charity.

Four things have kept me going.  

• The difference in how I feel generally from exercising three/four times a week.  I no longer feel still and inflexible. I move like I did years ago, I feel more energetic and can even walk up the 14 fights of stairs at the football match without my lungs screaming for oxygen at the top.

• I have lost less weight than I would like, but that's down to me not following the plan 90%. I don't doubt that if I had, I would be a stone lighter than I was by now. Dean's healthy eating advice and recipe suggestions however have made me more aware of the effect of food/water on my body. I eat more fruit and veg, less caffeine and avoid wheat/cows milk as much as possible because I know how they affect my body. Despite not following the plan as I should, I am much more toned and look better in my clothes.

•  Fitness Camp. I call  6-7am a 'no excuse' time of day. I can be up at 5:15, out for an hour, shower, get the kids ready and be off to work at my normal time.  Had it been an evening camp, I'm sure I would have found a bucket load of excuses to prevent me going.  Of course I wake up, see the wind and rain and think "urgh" but once I'm up and have my trainers on I'm in the zone and ready for it.  The rest of the gang are great, really supportive and we have fun. 

• Dean the machine. I have never met anyone who enthuses with passion for fitness and healthy living so much. Not in a pumping iron and 10 mile run way, but a subtle, get's into your head without you knowing kind of way.  He's lively, funny and encourages you to do your best - as long as it's at least 100%.  His camps work you hard but are never boring -every session is different and often ends leaving you wanting more. His support via email and Facebook throughout the week is fantastic. It's like having your conscience in your phone. "How are you doing with your goals guys?" pops up just as you're thinking of having a biscuit...so you have an apple instead.  He expects a lot from you, but only so he can help you achieve your goals. 

It's now 7:21am. I leave the house in an hour. I have a few butterflies now I've started to think about it again. I'm going to get dressed and then have some porridge just before I go.  I'm picking up a couple of others en route and should get to Gosforth Park about 9:00, park up and get in line for registration. Dean's warm up at 10:00 and about 10:15 the big warm up before starting the run at 10:30. I'm sure there will be several 'toilet' stops between now and then too.

So wish me luck and wait for 'Warriors part 2....the muddy bit' later today.