Fitness Face-off Friday: Rattlesnake Challenge

First off, a recap of last week's faceoff:

I spent the evening with my amazing, lovely friend, Meghan S.  (Obviously we are some sort of soul mates since we both have the H.  Or our parents are baby name soul mates?)  She paints, tutors math, does ballet...

Graceful Meghan

And is pretty much coocoo for cocoa puffs...er, karate...

Butt-kicking insane Meghan

So last week she convinced me to tag along with her to the DoJo.  We started things off with a picnic inside Whole Foods (yes, gotta love Seattle summer weather) - most of our food was healthy...until Meghan yelled, "Oh my gosh!  Organic maple bars!!!"  Then she tried to walk away but I was already hooked.  We split one.  Soul mates ^ 2?

Then off we toodled to Z Ultimate for a private lesson followed by the tail end of a group class.  I have to say, karate was way more fun and much less intimidating than I'd expected.  There were a few traditional rules, like bowing a certain way when walking in the door, but for the most part, everyone seemed really chill and just focused on getting a good workout and having a good time.

I learned a series of 8 blocks, and then had to put them together with footwork.  Nothing fancy, but coordination of this sort is not my forte.  Then I had to try to kick Bob to the ground.  Bob weighs about 200 pounds...so I never quite succeeded.

BOB

If you want to test your Bob-kicking powers, you can buy him on Amazon.
Then I got to punch and kick our sensei.  He had pads and such...plus I'm tiny and not very scary.  Meghan worked on her super awesome sequences that were very fast and made her look like part of a ninja video game.

We headed to group class after that, and got to kick and punch each other, and one of those big punching bags.  Meghan actually kicked me in the leg once...she felt bad, but I felt VERY cool for taking a real kick and not screaming like the little girl I am.

All in all, I would highly recommend Z-Ultimate.  If you aren't sure your life calling is to become a black belt, you should still check out their women's self-defense classes.  You will work up a sweat and gain a ton of confidence along with useful, real-life skills.  And that's what fitness is all about, right?

This week's face-off: The Rattlesnake Challenge

A family friend has been hosting this killer event every summer for several years.  This will be the 4th one...and I've missed every R.C. so far.  Italy, weddings, etc. kept getting in the way.  Tomorrow, that's all going to end. 

The challenge is thus:

• Run 2 miles
• Bike 6 miles
• Swim 200 meters
• Hike up Rattlesnake Ledge

You can do it alone, or as part of a team.  My dear friend Bethy and her husband Kyle asked Jared and me to join them.  We're still working out whose leg is whose (limbs are so confusing!) but it looks like I might end up with the swim.  Yikes!  I have a serious looking swimsuit and I've done the Dara Torres ab workout from a magazine...but I'm not really a swimmer.  I guess that's why it will be a challenge?

If I don't drown, I look forward to posting photos of this crazy shindig.

Happy Friday!  Get moving this weekend!