Savages

 

sav·age

1. Not domesticated or cultivated; wild: savage beasts of the jungle.

2. Not civilized; barbaric: a people living in a savage state.

3. Ferocious; fierce: in a savage temper.

4. Vicious or merciless; brutal: a savage attack on a political rival. 5. Lacking polish or manners; rude.

n.

1. A person regarded as primitive or uncivilized.

2. A person regarded as brutal, fierce, or vicious.

1. To assault ferociously.

2. To attack without restraint or pity: The critics savaged the new play.

 

 

“The Race Built To Kick Your Ass”.

Yep. 

 

As most of you know, a couple of weekends ago Mike and I, along with our friends, participated in the Florida edition of the Savage Race in Dade City at Little Everglades Ranch.  The venue was beautiful and the event was very, very organized (a plus in my book!).  There were over 15,000 participants (runners and spectators) and it seemed as if it went off without a hitch.

So, really, what is the Savage Race?  Well, according to their website it’s “an intense 5-6 mile obstacle run with 25 world class obstacles, mud, fire, and barbed wire. Completion requires teamwork, courage, and the will to push your limits farther than you ever have before.  Run individually or create a team!  Savage Race is challenging fun that will give you and your friends an adrenaline buzz that lasts for days.” I would have to agree.  Except the 5-6 mile part.  We found out our run was actually 7.1 miles as we were on the starting line!

 

 

I loved that everything was spelled out a head of time on the Savage Race website and there were no surprises.  Bib pick up was quick and easy and the bag check area was well organized, too. Two thumbs up in the check-in category – that’s an important part in my book!

 

 

After arriving about an hour and a half before our wave time and meeting up with the rest of our “team” we got our race bibs and timing chips and were ready to get going!  From what we could see of the course, it looked awesome and we knew it would be a challenge…but we were up for it.

 

 

Our wave time was 11:40, although we actually didn’t get to start until the 12:00 wave was released.  The starting procedure was the only hairy part of the whole day; although we had to wait 20 minutes, I don’t know of a better way they could have done the corral corralling.  It was just a bit of craziness, but fun craziness.

 

12pm wave start–waves were released every 20 minutes throughout the day.

 

Since our friend Jenny (the lone caveman’s wife) is pregnant, she volunteered to be the team photographer for the day.  She used Lynn’s “big” camera and got some great shots!  Thanks Jenny!

 

The course was a 7.1 mile route throughout the ranch with about 25 obstacles of varying difficulties.  Jenny got our start and then we met back up with her at mile 6 for the last 5 or so obstacles. 

And we’re off!!!

 

The obstacles were a mix of ice, water, mud, sand and hay combined with crawling, climbing, balancing, wading and swimming.  Our team wasn’t the fastest (mainly because the ladies weren’t as spry as the gentlemen) but we did run to every obstacle and give every single thing a try.

Mike and Jason were even featured in the official Savage Race Florida highlight video – so cool!  They were filmed while climbing the 8 foot wall.  It’s about 51 seconds in and you will see Jason climbing up the wall and Mike yelling as he goes over the wall.  It’s quick, but cool nonetheless!

 

 

 

As for the obstacles there were a few that stuck out:

The Shriveled Richard:  Absolutely horrible.  This was the first obstacle and it was soooo cold.  As we approached, there were three Reddy Ice trucks there just pouring ice into the troughs of water.  It was the coldest I have absolutely ever been in my life and to make matters worse, there was a divider halfway through that forced you to go under.  Unreal.

I don’t know this man, but I know how he feels. Frigid.

Colon Blow 5000-I thought this one was one of the toughest and definitely not for anybody who suffers from claustrophobia!  The tubes were small and (except for Lynn) we had to crawl on our stomachs or sides to get through the tubes.  I definitely had to channel my inner gerbil.  Did I mention it was pitch black inside?  Crazy.

 

Mud and Guts

Thick, dirty and long!  This was the toughest obstacle in the crawling obstacle in my opinion.  By the end I was pooped (and looked like I had rolled around in some, too!).  Luckily this was one of our last obstacles, which probably contributed to the fatigue.  To make matters worse, there was barbed wire above us and sprinklers hitting us in the face as we were crawling through. 

D-I-R-T-Y.

Sawtooth Bars

First of all, let me say that monkey bars,  in general, are hard.  Mike and I practiced a bit on our neighborhood playground and I wasn’t the best (although I don’t think I ever was), but did get a little bit better every time we practiced.  I knew that this obstacle, along with Collosus would be the biggest challenges for me…and I was right.

Kudos to Jenny for getting this cool picture of Lynn and me just seconds before we hit the water!

 

 

Davey Jones’ Locker:

This obstacle was all about heights.  If you don’t like them, you wouldn’t like this one.  As you can tell by my face, I was not loving it, but jumped anyway and had a blast once I hit the water.

Tuller apparently loved it!

 

Colossus:

One word.  Ridiculous.

Colossus is our signature obstacle, usually positioned near the finish line. No other race event comes close to building an obstacle as impressive as Colossus. From ground to flag pole, Colossus stands tall at an impressive 40 feet above the ground. This quarter pipe and water slide combination obstacle sets out to challenge your upper body strength, your climbing ability, and will test your fear of heights. We should also mention that the slide drop begins with a sheer vertical drop, so expect to reach extremely high speeds.

 

So, to be honest, I was scared of the ramp side of this obstacle from the moment we signed up to do the Savage Race.  But it wasn’t until I tried to climb up, almost made to high enough to grab the guys’ hands, lost my footing and then slammed against the ramp and slid back down that I really got scared.  I thought I broke a rib.  No joke.  I hit the wall that hard.  Ouch.

Luckily, it was just a scare and after a few minutes of catching my breath I climbed back up (on the side ladder) and finished the slide side of the obstacle. 

 

While sliding down this part of Collosus, we were told that we could reach speeds of 25 MPH!  This was a fun one!

 

 

Blazed and Tazed:

The fire jumping obstacle was a quick and fun one (those of you who know Mike know that he loves to jump fires) followed by one that was not so fun!

 

 

The very last obstacle was called Tazed…and that is exactly what it did!  The yellow wires hanging down were “live” with electricity and when it touched your skin it would basically taze you.  Luckily, none of the ones that his me were live, but as you can see from Tuller’s face below he definitely got “lit up”!

 

 

 

And finally…the finish line!

 

 

Savage Race Finishers 2013 – Team BAM BAM

After a quick “shower” we dried off and tracked down our free beer that came with registration.  Beer never tasted so good as it did after we finished!

So, why do the Savage Race, or something like it?  For me it was a chance to do something that pushed me out of my comfort zone and gave me a reason to continue to try to get back in shape after having a baby. 

I will say that signing up with a group of friends is a must.  It’s so much more fun with people you know and love.  It was crazy, dirty, nasty, tough and awesome.  I loved it.

 

 

And yes, it definitely kicked my ass.

 

 

Next up in the quest to get back into shape after baby?

OUC Half Marathon on December 7 which is getting very close!!!

Remember to just take a risk.  Do something you don’t think you can.  If you keep setting goals, one day you will get there!

Menu Monday

 

Weekend Highlights:

 

First of all, the best part of the weekend was the cool weather… yay!  I loved bundled up babies!

 

This weekend was a fun one that had us here, there and everywhere!

Saturday started off with a 4 mile run followed by some Halloweeny errands. Since we were headed to a Halloween get together Saturday afternoon at our friends Lynn and Tuller’s house, we had to act quickly and finish our costumes early in the day. We had most of our costume items ready to go Friday night, but there were a few odds and ends that were a must; and luckily we found everything we were looking for.  Whew!

The vision for our costumes this year came from Mike.  We love the TV show The Office and have always joked that Everett would make a killer Dwight Schrute.  Well, the other night when we were throwing around ideas, Mike said, “I got it.  I’ll be Jim (Halpert), you can be Pam (Halpert) and Everett will be Dwight.”  I almost rolled on the floor laughing…I loved it.

 

 

After looking for inspiration online we decided to dress up as Jim and Pam, just like they dressed up on one of the Halloween episodes of The Office.  Pam was a cat and Jim was a 3 hole punch.  If you watch the show, you can totally appreciate those costumes.  We knew dressing E up as Dwight would be hilarious enough on its own.

 

 

Luckily we already had most of the pieces and parts of our costumes from our own closet, and what we didn’t have we found easily at Target, Goodwill and Dollar Tree.  I was also supposed to have a painted on nose and whiskers,but forgot the face paint at home.  Oops.

 

 

Everett’s outfit came from Once Upon a Child and with a little tweaking to his shirt, he was a dead ringer for Dwight Schrute.  We printed a Dunder Mifflin name badge from Walgreens and sewed it on his shirt and added a great pair of glasses from Dollar Tree (which we still can’t believe he left on his face!).

 

 

After a very full day of errand running, playing and dressing up, E was a trooper, but very tired.  He made his way around the party for a bit and then headed to bed before the rest of the guests arrived.  It’s tough being such a celebrity.

 

 

After the little guy went to sleep and the sun went down we enjoyed a beautiful fall night outside with food, friends and football (patio TVs are a must this time of year)!

 

 

We feasted on chili (with rice or on hotdogs) and cheese sauce followed by a crackling fire and s’mores!

 

Deeelish!

 

Sunday morning started off with our little guy sleeping in – yay!  I woke him up at 8:15 just so he wouldn’t be too far off of his normal schedule…he’s usually a 7am kind of guy on the weekends.  He apparently partied hard the night before!

After a quick breakfast at Panera, family trip to Publix and a wonderful 2 hour nap (for all of us) we headed out for the afternoon.  We were originally planning on celebrating our friends’ daughter’s 2nd birthday, but her Great-Grandmother passed away and the party had to be rescheduled for a later date. 

We took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed to the newly opened East End Market in the Audubon Park District of Orlando. Our friend John is the owner and has been working on this amazing local foodie hub for two years now.  We are so excited that it is open and LOVED the urban, funky, and organic vibe (so did everyone else – it was packed!).

 

We met Lynn there for some treats and had a great time exploring all that East End has to offer.  I can’t wait to blog about all of the amazing details in this renovated space, but until then I can tell you that E loved it about as much as we did!  He had a blast!

 

Pumpkin Gingerbread Smoothie and Beet and Ginger Juice from Skyebird Juice Bar.

 

After saying goodbye to Lynn we had one more stop on our mind…pumpkins!  We had yet to make it to a pumpkin patch and knew that there was a huge pumpkin patch on our way home.

We stopped by the St. John Lutheran Church Pumpkin Patch and were definitely not disappointed!  There were not only tons of pumpkins, but tons of people.  There were food trucks, bounce houses and lots of things for the kiddos (I can’t wait to bring E when he can actually participate in the activities!).

 

Somebody was pretty excited!

 

 

Everett liked touching and slapping the pumpkins, but he really loved playing with the grass and hay.  He was so interested in the ground and luckily didn’t even try to put it in his mouth.  We realized that this was actually his first time actually sitting in the grass and he loved pulling it up and putting dirt all over his pants.  Total boy.

 

Somebody was getting a little sleepy!

 

Mike picked out our family pumpkin, he had certain attributes he was looking for and I think it weighs more than all three of us put together – it is huge! 

 

Holding that gigantic thing actually kind of reminded me of being pregnant!  Yowza!

 

Kudos to our Chicco stroller – I think we definitely exceeded the weight limit on this one!

 

 

As for this week, it seems pretty normal.  Mike is back to playing soccer and working overtime along with our normal half marathon training runs.  Hopefully the fall weather is here to stay…it makes afternoon runs so much more enjoyable! 

We also will be celebrating our third anniversary soon and might have something planned this weekend – since it’s Mike’s year to plan (we switch off every year) I have no idea what is planned (he probably doesn’t yet either !)

 

As for our menu this week – here it is-

 

M:  Pot Roast Baked Potatoes

T:  Taco Salad

W:  French Dip Paninis w/ Roasted Carrots

Th:  Steak and Veggie Kebabs w/ Chopped Salad

F:  Chicken Tetrazzini w/ Broccoli

Sa: Anniversary Celebration?

Su:  Black Bean Soup w/ Yellow Rice

 

Have a great week!