I didn’t get to the OCR class when I had originally planned to go in March because I wasn’t feeling the best that month. But I wanted to get there at least once, so, even though I could feel myself coming down with something, I went last Saturday.
The interesting thing about the class was that it was listed as having a substitute instructor. So, it wouldn’t be the same guy that I’d seen the last few times I went. I hoped that wouldn’t mean it was harder, since I wasn’t feeling one hundred percent.
The class felt pretty large, though there were only about 16 of us. It felt bigger, in part because there were other people in the gym and they kind of jumped in and out of doing the obstacles. The warm up let me know that I was definitely coming down with something, because running around the gym, doing small sets of burpees and squats, should not have made me feel so achey and tired.
We started with rope climbs, though the instructor allowed a small group to start on the monkey bars instead. I thought about going with the small group since I’m pretty comfortable with rope climbs by now, but then I decided to stick with the ropes. I shared a rope with two others, including one girl whose name I don’t remember – I do know that she’s been at the other OCR classes I’ve been to though. We took turns going up the rope. I started out pretty shaky, but managed to get several three-pulls once I warmed up.
Then the group as a whole went over to the monkey bars, and I made my way across the “normal” bars without too much trouble. I couldn’t go very fast, or hand over hand as I had last time. But I made it. And I tried to coax a nervous girl into giving the bars a try. She did eventually try, and dropped almost immediately. But the cool part was that she did (after more coaxing) try again, making it to the second bar. Even cooler, when she tried one last time, she made it through about five.
I was nervous to try the large multi-level bars, but I did it anyway. And, even though I was feeling ill and nervous, I made it across. I am getting stronger in my grip and with my body control. I did try the multi-level bars a second time, but I did the exact same thing I did in the Spartan race last year – I reached out for the higher bar, missed it and swung back. Well, it wasn’t exactly the same, because I managed to recover and hold onto the first bar – but I dropped rather than try again.
I think I’ll be okay for the Spartan Race this year – as long as I don’t come down with something the weekend of!