Fit Company Challenge
When was the last time you did something for the first time? For me, it was Saturday, September 13. I was a contender in the 2014 Fit Company Challenge. Back in July, a secret admirer nominated me to participate and I accepted.
The challenge would consist of three courses: Strength, Agility, and Endurance. I figured I had endurance covered with triathlon training, but I joined a neighborhood boot camp, Lifestyle Revolutions, to train for strength and agility. When the time came to sign up for an event day time slot, I picked the earliest possible, 9am, assuming the day would be a typical Austin September day - HOT. Wouldn't you know it, a freak early season cold front came through overnight, giving us low 60's, overcast skies, and light rain. The low of 66 degrees broke a 55 year record!
Trying to stay warm before the start.
The challenge was very spectator friendly, allowing your friends and family to follow you all along and cheer. My fan club consisted of husband Jeff, friend, fellow athlete, and photojournalist Lynn, coworkers Erin (EK1) and Anna, and Anna's 6 year old daughter Avy.
And so the challenge began. All pictures courtesy of Lynn Sparks.
Challenge Course 1: The Board Room
Focus: Strength & Power
This course consisted of 7 stations. I had 2 minutes to do the required repetitions at each station, and a 30 second break in between each station. Score is based on the time taken to do the required reps, timed with an old-fashioned stop watch and written down on an old fashioned piece of paper.
Station 1: Inverted Rows with Suspension Trainer - 30 reps
Female: Using a suspension trainer, contender lies in supine plank position with legs bent 90 degrees at the knee and performs a row with elbows reaching chest level at the top of the rep and arms reaching full extension between reps.
This was one of the exercises that I never could figure out how to practice ahead of time, and I was worried about being able to do it. Turned out I could do it, but at the end of 30 reps, I don't think I had any more in me. My time was 1:10.25.
Station 2: Plyobox Weighted Step-ups - 40 reps, 15 lb. for female
Contender holds a weighted Hyperwear Sandbell and steps up on an 18 inch plyobox and then steps back to the ground. Both feet must be completely on the top of the plyobox from toe to heel, and then completely on the ground for each rep.
Warming up now. Hard, but doable. My time was 1:37.53. You can see Jackie, my assigned volunteer with her clipboard. Jackie followed me through all of Course 1 before handing me off to course 2.
Station 3: Pushups - 40 reps
Female: Perform a modified push-up starting in plank position with knees supporting lower body and hands placed slightly wider then shoulder width. Perform push-up with chest touching the floor and arms reaching full extension per rep. Hands must break contact with the ground after chest touches for rep to count.
I whipped out 40 push-ups in 1:15.13, thanks to boot camp training. Yes, I did girly push-ups. There was lots to save my energy for.
Station 4: Kettlebell Swing - 40 reps, 25 lb. for Female
Contender starts in standing position with feet shoulder width apart holding a kettlebell down the center of their body with both hands. The contender swings the kettlebell to shoulder height and then back down between the legs for each rep. Kettlebell must break the vertical plane of the heel on the way down and must break the horizontal plane of the shoulders going up.
Another boot camp favorite, although 25 pounds is a lot! My time was 1:11.97.
Station 5: Sit-ups - 40 reps
Contender starts in sit-up position with knees facing out and feet behind the cone. Contender starts with back on the ground and must sit up and touch the cone in front of their feet and then lie back down on the ground and touch the ground behind their head to complete one rep.
Sit-ups make me silly! Piece of cake. Knocked 40 of them out in 1:22.38.
Station 6: Burpees - 20 reps
In standing position, the contender will squat down and place both hands on the ground and then kick their feet out behind them into plank position with chest touching the ground. Once their legs are fully extended and chest is touching the ground, contenders must stand back up and jump in the air with both feet leaving the ground along with their hands touching over their head.
See the nice rubber mat? See me doing burpees next to the mat? This was where I had a little glitch. First burpee I went into plank position and my left hand slipped on the wet mat, subluxating my shoulder. Ouch! I immediately stopped and the shoulder popped back into place. And so I continued, on the less slippery ground. That white top was an unfortunate choice today.
Station 7: Plank hold - 2 minutes
Contender begins in plank position with forearms on the ground and feet together. The contender proceeds to hold the plank keeping their hips even with the rest of their body forming a straight line. Contender holds the position for the entire 2 minutes for a full score on
the station. If contender breaks the plank before 2 minutes elapses, the time they break their plank is recorded as their score.
Planks is something I've had lots of practice at. 2 minutes is a really long plank, but I'd done it twice in the prior week, so I knew I could do it. As I held the plank position, somewhere nearby another competitor was moaning and groaning so much I asked if he was giving birth. Yes, he.
At this point, Jackie handed me my paper and directed me to the start of Challenge Course 2. I was allowed a ten minute break and I took it.
Challenge Course 2: The Corporate Ladder
Focus: Agility, Power, Full Body Conditioning & Speed
This course consisted of 5 stations with a 1 minute break in between. In reality, there was a lot of waiting in between stations here. Scoring in this course was time taken to complete each station.
Station 1: Agility Station
Contenders must go up and back through an agility course. The course includes up and overs, agility ladders, lateral low hurdles, and cone drills.
First, the up and overs...and unders. 10 times. My size was actually an advantage here for the unders.
The lateral low hurdles.
There was a ladder and cone drills too. My time for this station: 1:30.38.
Station 2: Power/Speed Station (10 lb. for Female)
Contenders must throw a weighted Hyperwear Sandbell over a barrier 8 feet tall 10 times. Each time the contender throws the Hyperwear Sandbell over the barrier, one rep is counted. Contender then performs sprints running to the nearest cone, touching the cone and sprinting back to the starting line before running to the 2nd cone. All cones must be touched for station to be complete.
Here my height was a distinct disadvantage and this was the other station I was most worried about coming in to the challenge. Jeff and I had arrived early and walked the course before it opened. I tried a chest throw and an underhanded throw and failed at both. The volunteer for the station gave me a priceless hint. Turn around and hurl it backwards over my shoulders. I tried it once in practice, it worked, and that was that. When it came time to start, I had a little trouble. I kept hitting the "WORK FIT" banner. I even landed the weight on top of the A-Frame a couple of times. Finally I got the rhythm and got it right. And the wonderful volunteer told me she had started the timer over after my initial failures. Avy wanted to do everything I was doing, and she picked up a 6 pound weight and hurled it over the A-Frame cross bar. See how easy Avy made it look? She's a natural!
And after the weight hurling exercise, I then had to run ladders, suicides, horses, whatever your favorite term is for this. It's where you run from the start to the first cone, then back to the start, then to a second farther cone, then back to the start, then to a third even farther cone, then back to the start, and then to a final 4th farthest cone, and sprint back to the start.
My time for this station: 1:47.43.
Station 3: Full Body Conditioning Station - 10 lb. female
Contender must complete 20 Hyperwear Sandbell slams and then perform a bear crawl up and down designated area.
Hyperwear Sandbell Slam - Contender must reach or squat down and lift the Hyperwear Sandbell from the ground over their head. The contender’s arms must be fully extended at the top of the movement. Once their arms are fully extended contender slams the Sandbell on the ground. This is one rep.
Bear Crawls - The contender must walk on the ground using their hands and feet. The contender’s chest must be facing the ground and one hand and one foot must be on the ground at all times.
Sandbell Slam is one of my favorite boot camp exercises. Slamming a big heavy sandbell to the ground is so satisfying! Lynn didn't get any pictures because she was helping the volunteer count reps.
The bear crawl is a lot harder than it looks. The distance was about 50 yards out and then back. It's really hard to go in a straight line when all you can see is grass. Also your head is down, so the blood starts going to your head. A friend who went before me gave me some advice - keep my head up as much as possible to avoid getting nauseus. I took off really quickly for the first 25 yards or so. Then it got real. When I got to the end, I just collapsed down on the wet grass. Done! My time: 1:47.43.
Station 4: Mystery Challenge!
The mystery challenge was a multi-parter.
First: Picture a 10 foot long 30 pound snake - first you have to get in plank position, put the snake on one side of you, and then pull the whole thing to the other side of you. 10 times.
Second: Pick up the snake and drag it down the field a ways until the cone.
Third: Pick up the 10 pound sandbell and throw it as far as you can. Run to it. Pick it up. Repeat until you get to the next cone. Then run the rest of the way to the end of the course.
Fourth: Run back and pick up the 10 pound sandbell and throw it back the same way you came.
Fifth: Pick up the snake and drag it back to the beginning.
Not something you can practice for. You just have to have a strong core. My time: 1:49.44.
Station 5: Weighted Carry Station - 40 lb. Female
Contenders must carry the designated weight to a turn around point and return to the starting line. Weight can be carried over the shoulder or in the contender’s arms.
No pictures of this one. I tried to lift the weight onto my shoulder, but it was too heavy so I just cradled it in my arms and ran/waddled the 50 yards out and back as fast as I could. Again, my size was not an advantage here. My time: 41.75.
And Station 2 was complete. I was allowed a 10 minute rest here too, but I didn't really want to take it. It was cold and I didn't want to get stiff. I embarked on Challenge Course 3 as soon as they were ready for me.
Challenge Course 3: Overtime
Focus: Endurance
Run 5k.
That's it. In order to be spectator friendly, the course was simply to run 3/4 of the way around the field where all the course activity was taking place, and run back. 8 times was supposed to be 5K.
The mist turned to light rain as I started the run. Ironman training has prepared me well for doing monotonous loops. I lost count after 3, right on schedule. But that was ok, I had my Garmin and the volunteer was counting for me. I used other runners as my rabbits, trying to gain on them with each loop. One woman would zoom past me then slow down and I would pass her repeatedly. I made sure not to get pulled into her games. Jeff & Lynn told me I had 2 left, but then as my back was turned I heard somebody shout there was only 1 left. I wasn't sure if that was for me or somebody behind me, so I picked up it just in case. I finished that loop and the volunteer said I was done. But I only had 2.57 miles on my Garmin. I asked if she was sure, and she said yes. So I was done! My time: 21:31.7.
I turned my score card in to the registration table and that was that. The race organizers have a lot of work to do to hand collate all that data. Results will be posted in a couple of days, but I'm happy right now with how I did. It doesn't matter to me how anybody else did.
Big thanks to Lynn for the pictures and to Jeff for being the best sherpa any girl could hope for.
And then there was breakfast. The end.