Camp Gladiator Games 2013 (Pre-lims)

I came, I saw, I conquered. Well, not really. 

As I mentioned in my last post, last Saturday I was headed back to improve my times in a nationwide fitness competition, the Camp Gladiator Games, to try to place in the Top 50 and advance to the finals where I would compete for money.

And, damn it, I gave it my best effort. Saturday I re-tested in all 6 events and improved in all 6 events (even the bear crawl which I initially didn't think I improved in). But, my best wasn't enough and I just missed the cut.

As competitive as I am, and as frustrated as I am that I did so well in some events but so abysmal in others, I am proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something new. Until a few months ago, I had never done half of these activities, and if nothing, I learned there are definitely DIFFERENT types of fitness. I may be able to do an Ironman or go run a marathon, but I sure as hell can't run 100M fast and I sure as hell suck at the bear crawl.

Thanks for my expert photographer and awesome husband for taking the time out of his morning and coming out to cheer me on!

100M Dash: This was my worst and the most frustrating event for me. People I beat by several minutes in the mile, just cleaned my clock on this event. I had the hardest time going from a standstill to full out sprint. I felt like I needed a running start :)

If it looks like I am in pain, it's because I was.

 400M Run Carrying 50pd Sand Bag. This, and the mile, were my best events. I had hoped my high scores in this would carry me enough to overcome my scores in the other events, but no such luck.

Agility Cones: This was a very technical timed event. You had to shuffle back and forth (DQ if you cross legs or turn body) and turn over and put up the cones 20 times. If the cones touched the white line at all you were DQed. I did much better than I thought at this event.

Add caption

The Bear Crawl dragging 50 pds the length of a Football Field: This was another disappointing event for me. I have endurance and strong legs so I really thought I would do well in this event. It was much harder than I thought it would be. There was definitely a technique to be successful at this that I did not master despite 3 attempts. 

Hating life.

 Sandbell Toss the length of the football field: This was another technical event that was much harder than it looked. Also, another event that hurt me as I needed to be a good 10 seconds faster. There were several rules (i.e. had to be a chest pass, feet could not leave ground while throwing) that I became so focused on not breaking that I wasn't taking advantage of my full speed and strength.

Suck it Sandbell!!

Mile Race: This was the one event I was excited about -even though in my running mind racing a mile is still wayyyy too short - but I knew it was really the only event that I was somewhat comfortable with and might have a chance to excel. 

Finally leading the pack at something! :)

I am excited to come back next year and try my hand again now that I know what to expect. I do think that there is also some strategy to it all and I became such an eager beaver that I just wanted to try everything over and over that I wore myself out by the end. There were several opportunities to test and re-test so a lot of people would come and only test in 1 or 2 events and then come back another day when rested to do others. I have such an endurance monster mindset - all or nothing I guess - that I thought nothing of trying to cram my best efforts into all events on the same day. Heck, I warmed up 4 miles before the event even started. Maybe not the smartest move, but I am not always the brightest ;)

Thanks for reading!