Ninja Run!

A while ago I saw a livingsocial deal for the Ninja Challenge, and somehow thought it sounded like a great idea... As it got closer and I had to sign the waiver of liability for serious injury or death, I started to question that decision.  Especially given my lack of ninja-like balance.  But some similarly crazy friends had signed up with me, so off we went to Fuquay for my first obstacle race. 


The race started on a cross-country type path, and Patty took off pretty quickly so I just stayed with her.  When we got to the first obstacle - several wooden hurdles - everyone was stopped and waiting in line because only two people could go over at a time.  After clearing the hurdles, there was a little more room to run thanks to the bottleneck, and I made my way past a few others to the second obstacle.  This one was supposed to be like climbing through windows, and was basically ducking through some cutouts in plywood. Very easy.  If all of the obstacles were like that, I figured it would be a piece of cake!  After that the obstacles became more difficult though, with a few balance beams, monkey bars, and tons of things to climb over.  One wall was about 8 feet high and I realized I wasn't going to make it on my own, but fortunately the guy next to me offered to give me a boost.  After making it over I heard him struggling, so I ran back around to help him over as well.  Good ninja karma, I guess!  By the time 10:00 rolled around it was starting to get pretty warm, and I am really glad we signed up for the early wave.  I was actually happy to see the ice bath obstacle, which entailed using a rope to climb up a wall and then jumping off into some water.  As I climbed out of the tank I noticed the recycling logo on the side... it was a dumpster!  Fancy.   

A few more obstacles and a little more running before crossing the finish line in 38:33 (24th of 851 female ninjas).   Cheered on my teammates to the finish and then enjoyed the nice post-race festivities and my free beer.  My legs were covered in bruises (which are now a lovely shade of yellow) and my quads were really sore from all of the climbing and jumping off of walls, but I was not seriously injured and it was a fun thing to do with friends so I definitely classify the day as a success! 

Monday: AM - Circuit; PM - Ride in RTP with Ellen (21 miles in 1:21)
Tuesday: AM - Swim with Jeannelle (1200m); PM - Track with Jessalyn and Lane
Wednesday: AM - Cycling, Run with Lora (5M, 42:03); PM - Fullsteam run with Caren (4M, 34:02)
Thursday: AM - TRX, Run with Sara (4M, 31:37)
Friday: AM - Swim with Jeannelle (1500m)
Saturday: Ninja Challenge
Sunday: 12 miles on the ATT with Ellen, Jessalyn, and Megan; TRX
Monday & Tuesday: Conference in Nashville... never saw the light of day!
Wednesday: AM - Circuit, Swim with Nicole (1200m)
Thursday: AM - TRX; PM - Bike (50 minutes), Run with Ellen, Jessalyn, and Caren (8M, 1:04:32)
Friday: AM - RPM Cycling