(B)East Coast 2014: Part 2

Sunday was the last day of the event, and my favorite day. We all headed out to Great Falls (Virginia side) to play in the woods and barbecue in the park. We got there late morning and lay out on our blankets to relax for a bit, then a very interesting game started...

The game was dubbed frisolleyoccer. I'm sorry, what was that, A? You heard me. Frisolleyoccer. A combination of frisbee, volleyball, and soccer. We stood in a circle of about 15-30 people (people came in and out) and played catch with the frisbee, while also attempting to keep the volleyball in the air, and kicking the soccer ball back and forth. Because we can't just play one game... that would be boring. It also sounded like an auction because in order to keep track of the ball people would yell the name of the ball as it came near them or as they got rid of it. It got really overwhelming when all three came your way. I was scared I'd get hit in the face but it was so much fun! Quite the mental & physical workout too because it was so hard to keep track of things.

After our epic game of frisolleyoccer (I really just like saying that word..), we ate some hot dogs & burgers and then headed out for a hike.

Group Photo @ Great Falls, VA
Photo Credit: Mike M.

We started along the trail until we got to the giant rocks along the water where we could climb around and play (see below). There are tons of different levels here which is what makes it so perfect. The climbs range from little taste of adventure to crazy scary. I also find this part of the day highly entertaining because our group tends to do the same climbs as other people with ropes... except we do it without any equipment. Sorry we're that cool?

I'm that spot in the distance with neon green shirt & hot pink shoes...
Photo Credit: SH

I was proud of myself this weekend because I did a few climbs that were really challenging for me. I don't know what it is but I feel so comfortable out on the rocks. It's like I flip a switch in my brain and go into primal mode, climbing around on all fours and scrambling up the rock face searching for the next grip or foothold. My mind was completely free and I was just absorbed in my movement.

We did a few awesome climbs as we made our way up and down and up and back down to the water again. While we were on a rock near the water, we took turns laying down to stick our hand in to cool off. Don't worry, we held each other down so no one went flying in. The current was so strong that when you stuck your arm in, it felt like the wind pressing against your arm when you stick your hand out the car window. I wanted to put my head under to cool off so I had someone hold me down as I bent from the hips, held the rocks next to me, and stuck my head down into the swirling water. That was exciting! It felt so good though. Definitely worth it.

We kept climbing around, feeling refreshed after our mini bath, and continued pushing ourselves as we chose new paths to get up the rocks. Every now and then we would pause to sit and enjoy the absolutely beautiful view around us. Ah, nature. Sorry for the lack of photos, but we were too busy enjoying ourselves to document the adventure.

After a while, we decided to head back because we lost most of our group and a backpack somewhere along the way. As we ran back, striding from rock to rock to tree root to rock, we kept an eye out for the lost bag. Finally, we saw it sitting on a rock by the water towards the beginning of the trail. Naturally, we wanted to race for it. M stayed at the top and I heard someone yelling at me to be careful as I started down but I was in primal mode, mind blank, like a lizard scurrying down the rocks and striding across them once I got to the bottom. Of course, as we learned at the Savage Race, I'm not very good at like... walking... or standing. I made it to the bag first (which is kind of amazing) and then threw my arms up in triumph... and flew back onto my ass. Luckily, nothing was hurt. Only my dignity. I really wish we had that on film.

We collected the bag and made it back up the rocks to the trail so we could head back to the BBQ area. When we got back, we lay down in the grass and did nothing for the next few hours. It was absolutely perfect.

I had the time of my life this weekend and met so many amazing people. Not only is everyone in the parkour community incredibly talented in their own unique ways, but they're also just really cool people. As my roommate said at one point this weekend, we're really good at fun.

It's always sad to say goodbye but I'm sure most of us will meet again. At the very least, there's always next year! Thank you to M2, Ryland, and the entire APK crew that made this weekend possible. I love being a part of this extraordinary community. Never stop playing!

(B)East Coast 2014: Part 1

APK Girls at (B)East Coast 2014
Photo Credit: Peter Waterman

It's that time of year again. A time for all ninjas, traceurs/traceuses, freerunners, and all around crazy athletic acrobatic people to get together and jump on things. This weekend was APK's annual national parkour jam, (B)East Coast. It was a long and relatively sleepless weekend but it was pretty much the most fun... ever.

What's a parkour jam, you ask? For my non-parkour readers, start with the idea of a jam. Musicians get together and jam, yes? Well, instead of getting together and freestyling with instruments, parkour people get together and freestyle by jumping and climbing on things...

The event started Friday night with an open gym session at Primal. I was working with a few other volunteers at registration so I was safely behind the tables with front row seats to the madness. There were a ton of obstacles set up all over the gym and people everywhere. At one point, I had to go upstairs to get more wristbands and it was like a video game just getting through the first part of the gym. I was weaving in and out of people, trying to avoid getting kicked in the face or run over. That being said, there was some really cool movement going on in there. I just preferred to watch from a distance...

I checked out early Friday night since we had to be at the park early Saturday morning to start setting up. We spent the day on Saturday at Gateway Park in Rosslyn. It's already an awesome park to train in but APK brought a whole bunch of new obstacles to play on, adding to the fun. I was at check-in again so I got to see everyone as they came in and have a dance-off with the other check-in volunteers. Here's a few of us being normal long enough to take a photo:

We also got bored and did random challenges like this high-five push-up trio:

This year, we wanted to find a way to include more women in the event and also make new-comers feel a little less overwhelmed so we had a mini women's meet up at the beginning of the event. There were almost twice as many women as last year which was great to see!

Women of Beast Coast 2014
Photo Credit: Kaitlin V.

We also had a female run the fast contest this year which is awesome! My roommate, M, who kicked ass even though she was running on a strained achilles and a huge rip in her hand from the night before (it's hard to tell her to take it easy). Hopefully we'll continue getting more and more women into contests like this where they can push their limits and show the world how badass girls can be. I know, I know, I should be doing the contest too if I'm preaching about more girls doing things like this but I tend to freeze up and trip over my own feet (more than usual) when there's an audience involved so uh.. I'm working on it. Maybe next year.

My roommate, M, being awesome like usual
Photo Credit: Peter Waterman

In addition to the fast contest and random playing, jamming, etc. we also had a couple of workshops on various aspects of training. One of these was led by professional parkour athlete/freerunner Jesse La Flair. Jesse is a super chill guy who's famous through his YouTube channel and took second in the Fast Contest this year. His seminar was about unique and weird movement. He talked about how all of us come from different physical backgrounds in parkour (gymnastics, ice skating, dancing, hockey, rugby, etc.) and each of us tends to incorporate our previous training into our parkour movement. He encouraged us to "get funky" basically saying don't be afraid to get a little weird and try new things.

Jesse (middle on the obstacles) demonstrating a new movement @ (B)East Coast

Jesse (standing on the far left) hanging out while (B)East attendees try out some new moves after the seminar

It was a long and fun-filled day, but it wasn't over yet! We refueled with smoothies after a relaxing cool-down/stretching session in the grass and then headed over to the National Mall for some glow-in-the-dark frisbee. I wish we had more photos of this but you'll just have to trust me that it was a blast. Each team had glow sticks in different colors for their uniform and we had a light up frisbee so we could still see it in the dark.

Glow in the Dark Frisbee Game! Thanks for the photos, JJ!

Glowstick Creations

Glow in the Dark Frisbee Game on the National Mall

I don't generally consider myself an athletic person when it comes to playing games like football, basketball, etc. because I tend to have horrible hand-eye-coordination. But somehow I managed to keep up with the frisbee game and even got our team some points. Every time I was part of an awesome catch or pass, I would yell to my team (our name was Poetry in Motion), GUYS I DID SOMETHING! The games lasted an hour or two (I think... I had no concept of time this weekend) and then we headed home to hangout for a while and maybe get a couple of hours of sleep before the next day of activities at Great Falls, VA.

To Be Continued...

Mud, Ice, and a Little Shock: Savage Race 2014

I remember going to bed Friday night thinking, "why am I doing this? Who let me sign up for this?" as I prepared myself for the Savage Race the next day. Savage is a 5.6 mile run with 25 obstacles spread throughout the course. I realize that overcoming obstacles is kind of my thing as a traceuse, but I don't often encounter barbed wire, live wires, and muddy lakes that I'm required to wade through while carrying 2x4s on each shoulder. Well, not in DC I don't... my parent's house in Maine isn't too far off from this. Just kidding (kind of).

Anyways, there were a lot of extreme challenges in this race—both mental and physical—but it was a hell of a lot of fun. I went into the race with zero expectations. I just wanted to complete every obstacle to the best of my ability and have fun with my team. Mission Accomplished.

"Big Ass Cargo Net"

Six foot walls dropped into a pit of muddy water

Me in the middle making my "why am I doing this?" face...

I won't go through all 25 obstacles for you but I'll try to cover the best and the worst of them. Most of the obstacles were challenging in an awesome kind of way, but there were also obstacles that I desperately wanted to skip. I don't know who was in charge of naming these, but what part of "Colon Blow 5000" makes you want to dive right in?

Before the race, when the dirt was dirt instead of a mud lake

I made a team member go in front of me AND behind me to talk me through this one because I was terrified of getting stuck inside. This and Tazed were the only two obstacles that I paused in front of... and felt like crying beforehand. The first one because of the small dark space and the second because, well, who likes getting an electric shock? I ended up turning and rolling sideways through the wires with my hands over my eyes instead of crawling through. I only got shocked a few times but it was so disorienting rolling around, eyes closed, getting zapped by random wires all over my body.

The other serious mental challenge for me was crawling under the barbed wire (yes, it's real... we checked). Nothing like a spiky canopy to make you stay low.

Me on the bottom left with my teammates

Staring at the barbed wire hoping it doesn't cut me as I pull myself out...

I was impressed by my crawling skills on the first few barbed wire obstacles (above)... until my knees were so raw on the last one (Thanks to CB 5000) that I started dragging my entire body through the mud using my arms. I looked kind of like this with less speed:

I finally made it out from under the last barbed wire only to enter a giant pool of quicksandy mud. I don't know what's wrong with me but I am completely hopeless when mud is involved. I just can't manage to stay vertical. I figured this out early on in the race after the "Nutt Smasher." This obstacle was super easy for me (it's basically just a balance beam over water) until I got to the other side, stepped into the mud, attempted to catch myself, and then gracefully flew backwards onto my butt...

I proceeded to fall in the mud over and over again throughout the course. It's amazing that I can beast out on 8 ft. walls with no assistance...

8ft. wall climb

...I can jump over fire or into a pool of ice, but I can't manage to stay standing when the ground is slippery. Oh well, I can't be good at everything, right? Walking isn't important.

Let's get back to the part where I kicked ass. My two favorite obstacles were the "Sawtooth Bars" (monkey bars over water pictured below) and "Pipe Dreams" (see below).

Again, pre-race/pre-mud lake on either side.

Testing out the obstacle - official Savage Race photo

Both of these obstacles take some serious upper body strength so I wasn't sure how I would measure up, but I wanted to push myself. I wanted a girl to have the strength to succeed on these obstacles. No feet, no falling.

It was extremely difficult and I was worried it might be slippery but the dried mud on my hands helped me keep my grip a little bit. Sawtooth was especially hard at the peak when I had to swing up and then back down on the monkey bars. I paused a few times on both of these but I knew I could do it and I kept pushing until I made it to the other side, triumphant and proud of my accomplishment.

I think the best part of the race for me was when our team high-fived one another after each obstacle, congratulating each other on getting this far and fueling us to keep going.

Overall, it was an amazing experience. I was proud of myself for running the whole thing, making it through every obstacle, and overcoming the physical (monkey bars & pipe dreams) and mental (tazed and colon blow) challenges throughout the course. Thanks, Team Primal for an awesome experience!

Post-Race Team Photo (me in the middle #2933)