ClayEdgin
08-13-2005, 06:06 PM
There were 11 of us out there today. The weather was threatening to rain all day and it was no more than 70 degrees all day which is a far cry from the usual 100 degrees it usually is. I weighed in at 336 on the dot and Shawn was 231.5.
First event was the tire flip. Around 550lbs and skinny. We were going to have to flip it on grass but it was changed to the street at the last minute which was cool. My previous PR flipping a tire that size for 120ft was 1:19 and I smoked that, finishing in 56 seconds and change. That's a 23 second improvement. Still, it was only enough for 4th place, with someone beating me by less than a second. Shawn finished 100ft in 52 seconds and also got 4th. All that sled pulling really paid off. On each flip I was right down on the tire again and I can honestly say I went as fast as I could for the entire course.
Next up was the truck pull. We were going to use a small (9,000lb) FedEx ground truck with harness and rope, but Joe Miller of the Freak Factory suggested we go with the 38,000lb fire truck. Everyone was all for it, so after everyone else went we got strapped in and gave it all we had. Unfortunately, the truck was parked behind a small hump that was only noticeable after the first few people went. Nobody got it over the hump. The winning distance, get this, was 1' 9". I got fourth with 1'5". In hindsight, it was definitely a mistake to use this truck, but we all had to pull it so it doesn't matter! haha Shawn finished the FedEx pull in 37 seconds and finished last. Straining to move a truck 1'5" for 90 seconds is hard work.
Farmer's was next. 200lbs per hand for max distance, with turns at 150ft. My PR in training was 300ft and I wanted to better that mark. Everything felt solid until about 250ft into the course when my left hand started to go. I finished at 287'. Shawn SMOKED the entire field. He took the 200lb implements 329', edging out everyone, and finished first in that event. I think I finished 3rd. Losing my grip was disappointing.
Super stone. 386lb somewhat coffin-shaped monstrosity for max distance with turns at 150ft again. It got muddy after being dropped so many times and although they cleaned it off it was hard to get a good grip. After hoisting it, I made it about 170ft when I hit a patch of mud and freakin slid about a foot while standing on one foot. Luckily, I didn't fall and I continued to take it 349' which earned me second. Shawn again SMOKED everyone and set a new field record, carrying the stone 379'. He is one sick bastard. When I made the turn at 300', my legs were so filled with blood and pain that I was struggling to take every step
Last were the atlas stones - 220-320 (4 stones) to 48". The first stone was about 15ft from the platform, the second was 10, third was 5, and the fourth was right at the platform. The 320 has a big flat spot and the spotters had been putting the stone on that flat spot all day for everyone and no one had loaded it yet. I requested that they move the stone so the flat spot wouldn't be on the ground and that was truly the thing that allowed me to do well in this event. 220, 250, 280 flew up, then I lapped the 320 and went to stand. My back was pretty well fried and the exertion almost caused me to crap myself, so I regrouped and hoisted it high onto the platform, finishing the event in 23 seconds and taking first in the event. Shawn loaded all four stones (160-280) but did it slower than anyone. I think he had 26 seconds. He didn't know that you don't have to be careful about putting the stones onto the platform - just throw them up there and go. He finished fourth because someone didn't load the fourth stone. Now he knows he can be less careful and will be ready for next time.
It was pretty exciting watching the middleweights load the stones. The first guy did it in 20 seconds, the second guy did it in 19, and the third guy who won did it in 18. Lots of excitement there! I was lucky enough to edge out Joe Miller by a second. Joe and Jako from the Freak Factory are STRONG dudes. Each finished the stones and did very well in the overall.
Shawn finished 4th out of 5 middleweights despite taking first in two events. The point spread between 4th and 1st was very minimal - I think only one point separated each person. I finished third, Joe Miller was second, and Jako was first. Again, the spread between the three of us was 4 points.
I set PR's in the tire, super stone, and atlas stones. Shawn set PR's in every event and as I mentioned before, really stood out on the farmer's carry and the super stone. We both remarked how much the sled pulling helped us and noted that we need to squat more. I need to work on my grip in my left hand. I was very, very excited to finish each endurance event after giving it my all and realizing that it wasn't my wind that failed me, it was my muscular endurance. In May, I was dying after each event. Shawn is excited to compete more and I think he will be a tough sonofabitch to beat.
The biggest display of heart I saw today was by middleweight Clint. He broke his hand in April, rebroke it at the contest in Albuquerque in May, and then broke it again on the farmer's walk today. Still, he made an impressive showing at the super stone and then loaded all four stones after the injury. He was in an incredible amount of pain and I don't know that I could have carried on the way he did. He said, in his thick Texan twang, that he would be "getting whiskey-drunk and taking Advil tonight until the pain goes away"
First event was the tire flip. Around 550lbs and skinny. We were going to have to flip it on grass but it was changed to the street at the last minute which was cool. My previous PR flipping a tire that size for 120ft was 1:19 and I smoked that, finishing in 56 seconds and change. That's a 23 second improvement. Still, it was only enough for 4th place, with someone beating me by less than a second. Shawn finished 100ft in 52 seconds and also got 4th. All that sled pulling really paid off. On each flip I was right down on the tire again and I can honestly say I went as fast as I could for the entire course.
Next up was the truck pull. We were going to use a small (9,000lb) FedEx ground truck with harness and rope, but Joe Miller of the Freak Factory suggested we go with the 38,000lb fire truck. Everyone was all for it, so after everyone else went we got strapped in and gave it all we had. Unfortunately, the truck was parked behind a small hump that was only noticeable after the first few people went. Nobody got it over the hump. The winning distance, get this, was 1' 9". I got fourth with 1'5". In hindsight, it was definitely a mistake to use this truck, but we all had to pull it so it doesn't matter! haha Shawn finished the FedEx pull in 37 seconds and finished last. Straining to move a truck 1'5" for 90 seconds is hard work.
Farmer's was next. 200lbs per hand for max distance, with turns at 150ft. My PR in training was 300ft and I wanted to better that mark. Everything felt solid until about 250ft into the course when my left hand started to go. I finished at 287'. Shawn SMOKED the entire field. He took the 200lb implements 329', edging out everyone, and finished first in that event. I think I finished 3rd. Losing my grip was disappointing.
Super stone. 386lb somewhat coffin-shaped monstrosity for max distance with turns at 150ft again. It got muddy after being dropped so many times and although they cleaned it off it was hard to get a good grip. After hoisting it, I made it about 170ft when I hit a patch of mud and freakin slid about a foot while standing on one foot. Luckily, I didn't fall and I continued to take it 349' which earned me second. Shawn again SMOKED everyone and set a new field record, carrying the stone 379'. He is one sick bastard. When I made the turn at 300', my legs were so filled with blood and pain that I was struggling to take every step
Last were the atlas stones - 220-320 (4 stones) to 48". The first stone was about 15ft from the platform, the second was 10, third was 5, and the fourth was right at the platform. The 320 has a big flat spot and the spotters had been putting the stone on that flat spot all day for everyone and no one had loaded it yet. I requested that they move the stone so the flat spot wouldn't be on the ground and that was truly the thing that allowed me to do well in this event. 220, 250, 280 flew up, then I lapped the 320 and went to stand. My back was pretty well fried and the exertion almost caused me to crap myself, so I regrouped and hoisted it high onto the platform, finishing the event in 23 seconds and taking first in the event. Shawn loaded all four stones (160-280) but did it slower than anyone. I think he had 26 seconds. He didn't know that you don't have to be careful about putting the stones onto the platform - just throw them up there and go. He finished fourth because someone didn't load the fourth stone. Now he knows he can be less careful and will be ready for next time.
It was pretty exciting watching the middleweights load the stones. The first guy did it in 20 seconds, the second guy did it in 19, and the third guy who won did it in 18. Lots of excitement there! I was lucky enough to edge out Joe Miller by a second. Joe and Jako from the Freak Factory are STRONG dudes. Each finished the stones and did very well in the overall.
Shawn finished 4th out of 5 middleweights despite taking first in two events. The point spread between 4th and 1st was very minimal - I think only one point separated each person. I finished third, Joe Miller was second, and Jako was first. Again, the spread between the three of us was 4 points.
I set PR's in the tire, super stone, and atlas stones. Shawn set PR's in every event and as I mentioned before, really stood out on the farmer's carry and the super stone. We both remarked how much the sled pulling helped us and noted that we need to squat more. I need to work on my grip in my left hand. I was very, very excited to finish each endurance event after giving it my all and realizing that it wasn't my wind that failed me, it was my muscular endurance. In May, I was dying after each event. Shawn is excited to compete more and I think he will be a tough sonofabitch to beat.
The biggest display of heart I saw today was by middleweight Clint. He broke his hand in April, rebroke it at the contest in Albuquerque in May, and then broke it again on the farmer's walk today. Still, he made an impressive showing at the super stone and then loaded all four stones after the injury. He was in an incredible amount of pain and I don't know that I could have carried on the way he did. He said, in his thick Texan twang, that he would be "getting whiskey-drunk and taking Advil tonight until the pain goes away"