The Best 12 Hours!

So - Melissa Byers posts this sleep-apalooza challenge over on her blog a few days ago and I join in immediately - verbally at least. I'm all down for more sleep. I work best on 8-9 hours a night, but seem lucky if I manage to get 6.5 - 7.5. A constant issue for me! But make it a challenge and I'm all over it like peanut butter on rye! But unlike the Paleo challenge, which I started the very day after hearing about it, this sleep one is throwing me for a loop. And you'd think it would be easier! But I had plans, people! Wonderfully amazing, cheesy, girl-bonding, then ass-kicking plans that I was not willing to give up just for some extra sleep! So my wild and crazy twelve hours are now done. I will tell you all about them, and then hit the hay for the first of my 30 day sleep challenge.

First up: last night me and my girls, Amanda and Sharan, rocked the HOB in San Diego! We went solely for Pyromania! The Def Leppard Tribute Band and were wholely and pleasantly surprised to be treated to an amazing AC/DC Tribute Band, Highway to Hell, as the opening act. Now, I do realize that it takes a very special kind of person to appreciate a tribute band, but both these ones jammed! And 'Angus' was spot-on! Awesome musicians, great tunes, a crapload of dancing, and maybe one too many drinks (for me) - all in all a first-rate, girl-power Friday night! Though a little late...got home around 1:30 a.m., still feeling a bit drunk (variations on long island ice teas are potent, potent beverages!), washed my face, brushed my teeth, and crawled into bed...setting the alarm for a measly 5 hours later...

And when that alarm rang I was up like a bunny, feeling relatively fine, all things considered. Another quick wash up, threw on my Crossfit duds, tossed down some Dino-chow and headed off to U.C. Riverside with Mike, a fellow CF'er, for a Saturday morning workout with Josh Everette. Yeah....JOSH EVERETT!!!...how frickin' cool is that? That is about the only thing that would have gotten me out of bed this morning!



Now Josh is the Head Strength and Conditioning coach at U.C.R., so he gets to train and torture high level athletes on a daily basis...he even has his own special area called 'The Patch'. But ever Saturday during July and August, he graciously allows CF'ers and others to join in the fun. An opportunity to get my ass whipped by Josh Everett is a no-brainer,but we had no idea what to expect. According to the email he sent when we asked for information '...For those unfamiliar with the patch the workout is a hybrid between military obstacle course & parkour'. Uhhhhh - PARKOUR?!?!?! Have you guys seen this stuff? Crazy! Still haven't had a chance to figure out how to post a link in here...next time, I promise. Until then, cut and paste and go watch this crazy stuff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEeqHj3Nj2c

So we get to U.C.R. and it's already in the 80's and climbing. There ended up being about 40 of us all together. And I don't want to give away any of Josh's secrets, so I'll err on the side of caution. But the warm ups had us all drenched in sweat and out of breathe and newly cognizant of the fact that bear crawls can apparently be performed forwards, backwards, sideways...hell, Josh could probably figure out a way to do them upside down! And then we get to the obstacle course, which is basically five different configurations of ginormous lincoln logs - all expressly designed to kick butt and take names! And in the course of the next hour, those logs were lunged under, leaped over, squatted through, walked on, crawled on, jumped on, and kicked off of. Ever went through a row of twelve stumps in the ground - probably about 20-24 inches off the ground by jumping up both feet, then jumping down into a full-on ass-to-the-ground squat, then right back onto the next in the line? We did and loved it! Though having never squatted from a high jump before, the first one landed me backwards on my hands. Definitely a core workout! Then more bearcrawls! This time across a single log raised in the air. Forward. Then backwards. So challenging! Then bearcrawl sideways across 2 logs set about 4 feet apart from each other and up in the air too...then crab walk sideways across them. Then inchworm across them, with a push up everytime you hit the plank position. It feels very weird doing that knowing if you slip, you're going to face plant a few feet below! Definitely gives you incentive to push UP! There were falls and slips and tumbles left and right...my big one was coming off a jump and not getting back far enough. I came down and my foot got caught between two logs and I continued to fall backwards. Luckily the two quick-thinking gentlemen on either side of me caught me before my ankle snapped and a third extricated my foot. Then we all finished the set! After about an hour, we then ran an obstacle course through them - which is where the parkour came in - it was all about jumping, leaping,and bounding over them. Or, as the coaches kept saying, do it 'in the most athletic way possible for you'. It was so frippin' fun! And now the hardest part: waiting until next July to do it again!