5 Life Lessons from an Obstacle Course Race
Two years ago, I got inspired to train for an obstacle race. I don’t recall a specific reason other than “this might be fun.”
One of the first things that inspired me about fitness was the physical challenge to push myself to try new things, learn them, and conquer them.
Conquer the Gauntlet gave me the opportunity to do all of those things!
Of course, I want to share the experience with others, so last weekend 3 of my girlfriends and I went on a short road trip to tackle this race.
Everyone except me was a first-timer, so I was excited to help them see that they COULD DO THIS too!
The race was HOT, fun and challenging. I didn’t expect to notice so many “life lessons” on the course.
Here’s what I learned or observed:
- Just do it. I realized that I was hesitating to some degree at every obstacle. The most notable was the “caught on video” monkey bar “waggle” that lasted like 30 seconds. When I saw the video, I laughed and then I thought – “omg, where else do I do this in my life” {note to self to notice that!} I watched others hesitate even more than me and some not hesitate at all! I’d prefer to be on the low to no hesitation side of things!
- Show Up. Even if you’re scared to fail, or scared of heights, or scared of embarrassing yourself, if you SHOW UP, then you get to have an experience and conquer {or at least face} your fear. Often in life it’s easy to “stay home” and skip events because it’s not a big deal. When we SHOW UP anyway, we get to form stronger relationships and grow as individuals too.
- Start so you can see the next step. It’s okay if you don’t have a plan for the entire obstacle. Sometimes you have to attack the first few steps that you can see to get to a point to see what’s next. This was SO TRUE at the top of a 15 foot wall. I knew it was going to take a strong tall person to boost me up the wall, and I didn’t know what I was going to do when I got up there alone. In the past, someone was at the top to grab my hand. It was scary, but I didn’t die!
- Graciously receive help. Even more than the challenge, I love the people who show up to help others. It’s so rewarding to offer a word of encouragement to others or hold someone’s hand through a swamp. Say Thank you. Don’t apologize. Most of the time, people are craving the connection of doing this life together!
- Be brave. 90% of the time your mind is making the obstacle 10x worse than it actually is. Take a deep breath and GO FOR IT.
