by Lex Green » Mon Jun 26, 2023 5:54 pm
I knew that the key to completing this obstacle course would be timing myself right - not rushing, but making sure I could complete it within the 20 minutes. To do this, I decided to split the time evenly between each obstacle - seven obstacles in twenty minutes meant 2 and a half minutes per obstacle, which also left me another 2 and a half minutes in case anything went wrong or took too long. With these timings in mind, I started the course.
On my first attempt through the course, I made good time through the barbed wire crawl and monkey bars, but got completely stuck on the six-foot wall - I hadn't even stopped to think about strategies before starting the course. I eventually got over the wall by hauling myself up little by little, by I'd lost a whole eight minutes, and couldn't get much further.
Before I started my second attempt at the course, I took thirty seconds of my time to think quickly through each activity and make sure I knew what I would do before starting, to avoid the incident with the wall happening again, and then I began.
I made it through the barbed wire crawl very quickly, in just under 45 seconds (sometimes, being short had its benefits). I jumped up onto the monkey bars and got across them fairly easily - I stumbled once, but caught myself and regained my balance - finishing them in another minute. Then I reached the wall again. I used the same strategy as before, edging myself up the wall a tiny amount at a time, until my hands got to the top, and I could pull myself up, which I knew would take longer than I wanted, but was probably the most sensible option. I fell down once, but managed to get back up and over the wall in three minutes.
I moved on to the archery part of the course. I wasn't the sportiest person, but I did normally have good aim, and while it took me a few tries to get the balance right, I hit the target on my fifth arrow, moving on in another two minutes. I scrambled under the cargo net and was out the other side in one more minute, meaning I was only two obstacles from the end with over half my time remaining.
Now, I was on to the part of the course that I hadn't reached in my first attempt, and since I had enough time left, I forced myself to slow down a little and take a moment. When I was ready, I started the rope climb. It took quite a large chunk of time, and several friction burns on my fingers, but eventually, after five minutes, I completed the climb and could move on to the last obstacle, the multi-rig. My arms were aching a lot from the wall, monkey bars and rope climb, but I forced myself to jump up and grab hold of the first swinging ring. I still had around seven minutes left, so I took my time, swinging from one ring to the next fairly slowly, but fast enough to maintain the power of the swing, and after another five and a half minutes, I had made it, and swung from the last ring right to the ground in front of the necklace. I picked it up, breathing heavily, but smiling.
I knew that the key to completing this obstacle course would be timing myself right - not rushing, but making sure I could complete it within the 20 minutes. To do this, I decided to split the time evenly between each obstacle - seven obstacles in twenty minutes meant 2 and a half minutes per obstacle, which also left me another 2 and a half minutes in case anything went wrong or took too long. With these timings in mind, I started the course.
On my first attempt through the course, I made good time through the barbed wire crawl and monkey bars, but got completely stuck on the six-foot wall - I hadn't even stopped to think about strategies before starting the course. I eventually got over the wall by hauling myself up little by little, by I'd lost a whole eight minutes, and couldn't get much further.
Before I started my second attempt at the course, I took thirty seconds of my time to think quickly through each activity and make sure I knew what I would do before starting, to avoid the incident with the wall happening again, and then I began.
I made it through the barbed wire crawl very quickly, in just under 45 seconds (sometimes, being short had its benefits). I jumped up onto the monkey bars and got across them fairly easily - I stumbled once, but caught myself and regained my balance - finishing them in another minute. Then I reached the wall again. I used the same strategy as before, edging myself up the wall a tiny amount at a time, until my hands got to the top, and I could pull myself up, which I knew would take longer than I wanted, but was probably the most sensible option. I fell down once, but managed to get back up and over the wall in three minutes.
I moved on to the archery part of the course. I wasn't the sportiest person, but I did normally have good aim, and while it took me a few tries to get the balance right, I hit the target on my fifth arrow, moving on in another two minutes. I scrambled under the cargo net and was out the other side in one more minute, meaning I was only two obstacles from the end with over half my time remaining.
Now, I was on to the part of the course that I hadn't reached in my first attempt, and since I had enough time left, I forced myself to slow down a little and take a moment. When I was ready, I started the rope climb. It took quite a large chunk of time, and several friction burns on my fingers, but eventually, after five minutes, I completed the climb and could move on to the last obstacle, the multi-rig. My arms were aching a lot from the wall, monkey bars and rope climb, but I forced myself to jump up and grab hold of the first swinging ring. I still had around seven minutes left, so I took my time, swinging from one ring to the next fairly slowly, but fast enough to maintain the power of the swing, and after another five and a half minutes, I had made it, and swung from the last ring right to the ground in front of the necklace. I picked it up, breathing heavily, but smiling.