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RBW Camp - Day 3

November 16, 2014 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: COLDER

Comments:
Another COLD day: around freezing or less in the AM. I ran with the group in the AM: uphill repeats. We did about a two-mile out and back on some more gnarly West Texas Hilly Country rock and gravel. The mentors gave some good nugz on uphills. I was gonna tell the campers - after the first repeat, where everyone HAMMERED - about sustainable, long uphill climbing gears - but didn't get the chance. NBD.

Fun to run and chat with Dom and Nosaj. It was good stuff...Dom was trolling Nosaj WAYYY more, like, all weekend. And I think it was because, well...Nosaj is *a little arrogant*...and more than a little egotistical.

It's weird: he's this combination of really nice guy, but...with a degree of self-absorption and ego (about his ability, his races, his sponsors) that, ultimately, made me shy away from him a bit. Just felt a little uncomfortable. It's so off-putting in "The Community"...but I think because he's not horrible self-promoting - and really genuninely *nice* - that it goes unnoticed. But I noticed it.

So when Dom kept trolling him about Altras and Vitargo, I enjoyed myself. :-) In fact, I had a much better time with Dom than I ever thought I would. I think he does act out of insecurity a lot, but...I dunno...maybe in that environment, he wasn't? But I thought, top to bottom, he was a solid, solid guy to everyone all weekend. He was fun without pushing the edge of being a dick, was positive and helpful to the campers, and was as sincere - and grounded - as I'd ever experienced him.

After the AM run, there was lecture #3 for me, then another run, doing technical trail running. I ran way in the back again, first with Nosaj, Dom and Max, and later with Paul's sister, Nicole. This one got cut a little short when I had to help a camper with an ankle injury, so he and I walked back about a kilo to his cabin. It was good to connect with this guy, a pretty young vet. I enjoyed those one-on-one moments when I had them.

After lunch, another short nap - I was TIRED, and - seemingly - a little "down". Not sure if it was allergies or what, so I took a zytek. Gave my last of four nutrition lectures. Today I added a nug about Mike: what he did with the combination of diet changes PLUS the changes to exercise intensity. What was cool way, Mac Smith was there as a testimonial. He's gone through the same process after he came to see me, and has lost weight, improved his MAF and is all-round feeling a lot better.

In all, the chance to lecture was a fantastic opportunity that added a lot of value to the camp for ME. I enjoyed being able to be useful to folks in three dimensions: as runner, as a "nutrition scientist", and as a PT.

The late afternoon featured the signature event: the obstacle course. I'd heard vaguely about this: I knew the campers were doing it, and it was "optional for mentors". By late afternoon, it was cold as shit and blowing a hard, frigid wind, reminiscent of Midwest late fall. I manned some slalom trees section, so that was all I saw.

At first, I told myself, "I'm not running this". But then I realized that I owed it to these campers - as an "elite" - to show up and run as hard as they did. So after they finished, I hustled back to the cabin to suit up.

The entrants list was solid: pretty much all the elite mentors on the guys side ran...and I'm not sure any of the women did! LolZ!

Again, I was going into this COLD: physically and logistically. No clue what was going on, or even how long it was. Weird, but, "well, fuck it!"

The race got out HARD, with little Ford pushing across an open field toward the downhill driveway. We ran through some rocky shit, the along an thin rockwall, and onto more rocky trail. Max and Jason were out HARD, with Ford trailing. The rest of us weren't sure what to think, so me, Dom, and Nosaj, along with the others, hung back a bit.

We ran up and over a steep ramp, then up another steep, techy hill before getting to a string of big boundary rocks - all between 1-3' high - which we had to run OVER. By then, Max and Jason had a sizeable lead, and I found myself behind Dom, with Nosaj pushing past us just before the rock wall.

The trio of us hit a logjam at the tire swing. Fucking Nosaj gingerly climbed trhough while we had to wait. I said, "Fuck it" and dove head first through the hanging tire, about 4' off the ground. I trailed Nosaj by a little bit when we got to the slolam trees.

It was there that both Nosaj and I missed a tree cluster: groups of trees bound by flagging that you had to slolam through. Neither of us realized it, but Dom called me out on it, so I had to go back and repeat two of them, which got me behind him. I stayed behind him for quite a while, then got more behind when we had to go through the fucking "MINE SHAFT" - a completely pitch-black, ~200' down-sloping culvert slide. That was freaky!

After that was what Jason was talking about beforhand. He said something about, "If you don't make it across the ropes, you have to do 20 burpees". Well, it was about a 20' (ball) pit with about 8 ropes and two rope ladders that you had to SWING across. Well, we're a mile into this fucking thing, fully anaerobic, and I get to this, sight unseen? I said, "Fuck it", and jumped in. Walked acrross, then did my burpees.

20 burpees is TOUGH AS HELL, especially anaerobic and trying to go fast! And they still took forever!

I got out in front of Dom, who also had to do them, but Nosaj - who somehow made it across - was long fucking gone, as was Max and Jason, who also roped across.

From there, we had to grab a big plastic sled and haul it up a 100' hill, then slide down a fast wooden slide, then haul ass for a good 800m along a rocky river bank, up and down a few structures, then back to the fire pit to finish.

The results:

Max 18:xx
Jason 19:xx
Nosaj 20:xx
Ford 20:xx
Me 20:xx
Dom 21:xx
Paul 21:xx

It was a BLAST. It was SO HARD, but very interesting! I think the key to an OCR is to realize it's a total fartlek, and that you can push ALL-OUT at times, because you'll have to slow down. And...well, it helps to know what the fuck is coming up.

PM: dinner, then some closing remarks and a social. Good to chat with several folks. Big day, big weekend!