On ENDEAVOR
Wow! What an amazing experience Chris and I shared during the Endeavor Team Challenge. The backdrop of the challenge; beautiful mountain terrain, plush green trees and sparkling lakes made the huffing and puffing to 9,000ft well worth it.
While I expected the altitude to be tough, what I didn’t realize was the terrain would be just as challenging during the Crucible Footmarch which spanned 17+ miles of serous elevation gains and included a swim with equipment across Lake Alpine. Spending long hours training with a pack on my back on the pavement of Brunswick County (at sea level mind you) was nowhere near the experience I encountered trekking vertically on loose rock, dirt, and uneven terrain at a beginning altitude of 7000 feet!
Upon completing the Crucible foot march, which took us about 7.5 hours our next challenge was the day orienteering course. Here we had to prove our ability to navigate to points with a map and compass.
Chris dialed in his Ranger skills and we found our first point in less than 20 minutes!
From there we moved on to the Mountaineering Course, which was by an exhilarating experience. Here we were tasked with climbing a rock wall, crossing a suspension traverse, and a controlled rappel down the face of a rock which felt to me was never-ending. The height of the rock wall & traverse I still don’t know but I am proud of myself for not screaming like a girl (as I am secretly fearful of heights).
Our next mission was to complete three courses on the competitor’s field. First up with the strength event: competitors move assorted objects (a railway tie, 24 inch box without handles, two long wooden and not that heavy beams, and two 5 gallon buckets filled with water) from one place to another using strength and teamwork. This was OUR EVENT! We joked leading up to the event that we should have changed our name to Team Beefcake as we were clearly the heaviest team on the course. The majority of the competitors were Ultra Marathon Runners (who actively trained at high altitudes, I believe there were only 3 other teams from the east coast). These guys and gals RAN the majority of the Crucible even with the 6 bricks each team was assigned to carry along with the contents of our packs. Even with the added weight of their packs, Chris and I still have an extra 50 or 60 pounds on EACH of them. Anyway, we planned to prove our fitness on the strength event and did so with one of the fastest times of all the teams (not to mention the fact the teams we were up against were primarily male/male).
The most impressive thing to note, as far as we were concerned, was how quickly we were able to recover after the strength event when nearly every other team was flat on their back. The same goes for the steep trek(s) during the footmarch. We may have been huffing and puffing to push to a horizontal piece of land but we certainly got our breath back in a matter of seconds!!. To me, the hardest parts felt like a 30 second airdyne sprint, (a feeling I had become familiar with during my 6 months of training leading up to the event) and felt good enough to press on after resting 20 seconds or so. This is a true testament to our coach James Taylor!
The next event was the Obstacle course. At this time Chris and I had to make a decision, do we continue or do we call it.
On FAILURE
A few weeks before the challenge I had “tweaked” my knee during a Stone workout. I believe the pinching of my knees, while lapping the 120lb+ stone is what caused the “pop” I felt as I walked away after my last rep. I didn’t tell Chris about my knee until a few days before we left for the trip because I honestly felt good. I had some minor swelling and tightness and but I felt as long as I didn’t have to squat I felt I could complete the course.
The first step I took during the initial hike I knew I was going to be in pain. Each and every step thereafter I felt a sharp pain in the back of my left knee. Going up was bearable but coming down the trails was excruciating. I pushed through, but Chris knew something was up because I was slowing us down a great deal and beginning to limp.
My concern moving into the O-Course was the inability to jump down from the 10ft high obstacles without control. My biggest fear was doing any further damage to my knee that would keep me from A). completing the rest of the challenge (roughly another 25 miles of uneven terrain and running) and B). not being able to continue to train when I got home. You see, I’ve already been through an injury caused by “pushing through” when I knew I should have stopped (A 12+ hour GoRuck event that resulted in long thoracic nerve palsy + a winged scapula). The only thing that experience taught me was how expensive rehabbing an injury can be, how depressing it is to not be able to train for 6+ months and that the glory of the finish was meaningless.
When I told him my biggest concern on not finishing was coming home and telling everyone that after all the time, effort, and not to mention $ I’d invested in this race . . . I didn’t finish. Chris’ response: “Who the f@$k cares what anyone thinks?”
Chris made the call for us to withdraw from the race because he knew I wouldn’t.
I don’t think of our withdrawal as a failure. The decision wasn’t made because we weren’t fit enough to finish the race, but because we are smarter than our egos. And at the end of that very long day, I had already accomplished more than I had in my entire life.
On FRIENDSHIP
I am thankful to have had the opportunity to train and compete with Chris. He truly is the brother I never had. (I would say father figure but he doesn’t like when I tell people he is my dad).
“Brotherhood is the very price and condition of a man’s survival.”
I believe this applies to the “sistas” as well. I find that Chris’ confidence in me is what gives me the confidence to be the athlete I never thought possible. I hold a great respect for Chris, now more than ever and am forever grateful for his friendship.
On WHAT’S IMPORTANT
My primary fear of failing to reach my goal of just finishing was in disappointing others (Chris included). However, I know that the people most important to me; my family, my friends, my teammate and my athletes are most concerned with the disappointment I might have in myself than they are actually disappointed in me.
As for anyone else outside of the people I care about, I came to the conclusion that I should not be driven by other’s expectations of me but by what makes me happy: the process. I truly enjoyed every training session I put in over the last 6 months, the investment I made into hiring a coach, every long run, every time I put the pack on my back, the early self-taught swim lessons, working out for hours on end alone, the two-a-days, facebook messaging with Chris daily about training . . . And making it to the top of that ridge line in California!
I am not an endurance athlete . . . Not in the least. But that’s not important. I didn’t let that stop my from stepping out of my comfort zone and away from the things I am best at (picking up the barbell). Just possessing the fitness to do almost anything is exhilarating enough in and of itself.
I may not have finished . . . But at least I started.
-KC
FITNESS
A. Three sets of:
Front Squat x 8-10 reps @ 30X1
Rest 60 seconds
Supine Ring Rows x 10-12 reps @ 2111
Rest 60 seconds
Double-Under Practice x 60 seconds
Rest 60 seconds
B. Two sets for times of:
500 Meter Row
Push-Ups x 30 reps
Sit-Ups x 20 reps
Rest 4-5 minutes between sets
AIM
A. Front Squat
* Set 1 – 50% of possible 1-RM x 5 reps
* Set 2 – 75% of possible 1-RM x 3 reps
* Set 3 – 85% of possible 1-RM x 1 rep
* Set 4 – 90-95% of possible 1-RM x 1 rep
* Set 5 – Test 1-RM
* Set 6 (optional) – Exceed Set 5 weight;
B. Two sets for times of:
500 Meter Row
Ring Dips x 30 reps
Toes to Bar x 20 reps
Rest 4-5 minutes between sets
SPORT
Rest Day
CROSSFIT MOMS
Rest Day