Just about recovering ... I think ... drove to Bristol on Saturday for a 90-minute all out beasting on a military assault course by an ex-Army PTI. who I'd tasked with putting me through my paces to prepare me mentally and as much as he could physically for next weekend. Entered into a Spartan race and er still slightly lacking on the skills front in a number of areas, figured it might help
I enjoyed the first two minutes of the warm-up before the heavens opened and it lashed it down with rain for the rest ?.
He was in full drill-sergeant-stood-in-the-rain mode ! He'd mapped out a tough course, monkey bars super-wide and greasier than cooked brekkie in Bradford in the rain. Managed a couple but really couldn't stay on no matter how much abuse I was thrown ! Traverse wall was makeshift wooden pegs and leaned a bit towards you. My supposedly sticky rubber soles slid around the footholds like an icerink. I did a lot better after a few attempts but still couldn't finish it on the really hard bits at the end. Sandbag hoist was thick rope friction over a high wooden frame, no pulleys here. Nearly finished me off ! It was a blessed relief to don a soggy 25kg weight vest and run round the course for a bit, and carry 32kg of dumbbells up and down a hill !
Well over an hour into all this my spirits were lifted when the instructor demonstrated how to master a horizontal traverse - long rope suspended above a pond you had to make your way across hanging upside down with your hands and feet around it. Bonkers amount of rain recently had got the better of the rope and all 90kg of him was half way across when a god almighty snapping sound was followed by the truly hilarious sight of him plunging into the water still clutching the rope. Was truly a You've Been Framed moment. Of course I completely lost it and ran round to the other side to offer him his beret that was now also soaked inside by the rain as he spat out pondweed
. And so the mood changed as I escaped a dunking yet again, we both got the giggles and his persona slid back into to its "civvy" form !
Vaulted a few fences, climbed up a rope, flipped a couple of tractor tyres, threw some mock spears and ran up a ramp to grab a rope to the para jump. It was good to end with some successes ! He told me afterwards what I'd been given to do was in many areas harder than I'd likely get next weekend as their course is designed to be hard, so that was a relief. But then again we shall see !! Got home a tad marked, rope-burned and battered but got away very lightly all things considered.
Went for a 10k run Sunday morning before driving family to some gardens, and did a bootcamp today. It's all catching up with me and now officially knackered. I am taking tomorrow off
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