Today started with a written test to get our national b license. Was pretty easy and I passed. Then we had a short chat with a sports psych who, as it happened, is also the psych for Liverpool! That was super sweet talking to him about Stevey G among others. Next we headed to the national circuit for some laps with an instructor in the 370z. This proved quite useful as it will likely be the track we use for the final race on Friday, should I make it. After that we came back to Stowe, which is where the race camp is, to try our hand in a full on race version on the 370z. It was really really fun and once again, I learned a lot. In between sessions in that car one of the main judges (Rob Barff) had a chat with me and gave a valuable tip and also said that I was doing really well in all the competitions and to keep doing what I'm doing. This is pretty rare for a judge to say so I was very pleased to hear it. When done, we headed off to the mud mayhem army course. On tv it looked like all fun and games but I assure you was anything but. We were put in groups of 3 and I was stuck with Braylon who can't run worth **** and Alex an ex marine so it wasn't all bad. I think they put me with Braylon to see if I could be a good team player with someone I had such a huge issue with yesterday. The course started out ok and we were in the lead right off the bat. Heading into these friendly looking balls to run through, life changed. One of the army guys through a full on military concussion grenade right into the obstacle with us. It rocked my world! Braylon feel right over from it and Alex and I were badly disoriented and nearly deaf for at least 30 seconds. We toughed through it though and continued to pull a lead on the other teams. A couple obstacles later we got to the electrical wires. The one before that was a rope thing through deep water do were great conductors. From watching past seasons I thought it would be just a gentle buzz, but it was more like the electric chair. I'm not sure if the shock knocked me out or if it made me smack my face into the ground, but either way I woke up in the middle of the wires with a face that felt like a ran into a wall. Undeterred I trudged on. A few obstacles later Braylon started to die out and thus began mine and Alexs biggest challenge. We had to start supporting Braylon along through the rest of the obstacles. Still, we made it to the finish line well ahead of the other groups. After a 2 min rest though we had to start it all over again lap 2 (the final lap, thank Jesus). By this time we were more prepared and accustomed to the concussion and smoke grenades so we made great time through the first 4 obstacles. Then onto the wires part 2. Basically the exact same thing happened as before only this time I'm pretty sure I was out for a while. I woke up with the instructor yelling at me "Keep moving! You can NOT lie down in the course!". That had the benefit of reminding me where I was at least and I gave a mighty yell, and crawled through the rest of it without getting knocked out again. A few, more simple, obstacles later and our lead had stretched immensely but Braylon was in really rough shape and could barely take 2 steps without falling over. Alex (who's quite small but fiddle fit) and I then basically carried Braylon (190 lbs at the least) through the rest if the course which, even without dead weight, was no easy task. We beasted through it though and on the last obstacle (rope climb over a greased up wall) I didn't even waste time with the rope and ran right up the wall barely grabbing on to the top. Alex helped push Braylon up part way and I grabbed him from the top to help the rest. We won by a solid 2 minutes! This determined the start order for our challenge after dinner, the pit stop challenge in the Juke R at national. We all had to drive 2 stints and change the tire 2 times. Alex, who's now a mechanic did awesome on the first two tire changes while Braylon drove. Then I changed the tires while Alex drove and although I didn't do all that well, we had a big lead of about 15 seconds going into the last 2 stints. Braylon (not from lack of effort) screwed up huge both times. It was, I'm sure, because he was still so tired from the mud mayhem. It turned our big lead into even a bigger loss and we finished dead last. This meant that tonight someone from our team was going home. I'm sure I don't need to tell you who, as it was likely the easiest decision the judges well ever make. 4 down, 7 to go. Xoxo
better than Stephen King
