I ache all over. Muscles I didn’t know I had are sore. My legs, bum and hands are covered in scratches, abrasions and bruises. My toes feel like I’ve been kicking a wall barefoot. I’m hobbling.
Meanwhile my face hurts from smiling and I just can’t wipe that smile off my face!
Taking part in the Wolf Run was not what I expected. More obstacles, far more mud, more swimming and much, much more fun. I climbed towers of hay bales with strangers hauling me up the tricky bits. I crawled through tunnels covered in cargo nets that left only enough space for my face to stay out of the liquid mud. I swam under barrels through filthy river water, climbed up and down rigging as high as a two story house; navigated countless deep ditches and waded through waist level mud. I ran through torrential rain, hail and sunshine and swam across a freezing lake; balanced on slippery logs and tractor tyres, climbed over hay bales and towering log structures. I left the monkey bars and vertical walls out but threw myself blindly down a water slide, taking my fabulous team mate and some other poor sod out as I did so. Gave sympathetic looks to those who sobbed uncontrollably on the sidelines, yelled encouragement to others bravely facing challenges and gratefully accepted every hand that was offered as I got suckered into bogs or didn’t have the courage to jump such distances at great height without assistance.
The course was a creative masterpiece, balancing natural features with enormous built structures. The marshals yelled encouragement, offered hugs and collected lost shoes. The pork roast bun I had, after hose-piping the worst of the mud out of my hair and changing into blissfully clean, warm clothes, was heavenly. Great slabs of pork with stuffing, cracking and apple sauce in a bun. I can’t even…
So what’s next? As I hoped in my last post, I’ve got a different perspective on what I’m capable of now. I want to build on that. I want to get to grips with the fantastic work Katy Bowman has made available and I’d like to explore the whole MovNat practice. I’m going to keep up with trail running, for pleasure; and I’d like to keep pushing my physical limits. Because I can. And it feels damn good! Who’s with me?