In reaching out to other fit folks and people that have gone down this path before me, one of the best nuggets of advice that was given was to give myself a goal. A goal outside of weight loss or inches lost. I needed to be preparing for something tangible. Some people said they needed to drop a certain amount of weight before a vacation, a wedding, or some other thing that I don't really have the inclination to do at this time. But in doing some reading I saw that a lot of people signed up for 5ks,10ks, marathons and whatnot. I am pretty confident but not an idiot so 10ks and marathons were not an option. I'm not in a movie montage preparing for the greatest achievement of life so I can win the girl and save the community rec center! But I needed something so a 5k seemed to fit. It's not really my style to wake up at 6am so I can go job behind some couple pushing their kids in a stroller through downtown Austin. Too wholesome...After some Google time, I found the Zombie Run. It was at night. It was badass. It was Rock N Roll. I was in.
Now, being fit and eating healthy will teach you a lot about who you are. No doubt. But Never having run a 5k before, much less a 5k running from Zombies...You learn a lot more about yourself. Here is what I learned about myself running through 3 miles of darkness and zombies.
1. When survival is on the line... Integrity is relative.
Running against other runners to see who is the fastest, or against the clock is one thing. The name of the game is speed and fair competition is warranted. But I wasn't running The Juice Box 5k. I was in the middle of a fucking zombie apocalypse. From the moment you arrive they push to get you into the true spirit of things, so I did just that. What exactly did I do that people may think fall into the realm of "cheating"...well some things that I will hold to myself because they are strategic in my mind and not up for debate. I did not hide my flags. I did find some extras on the ground as I went and those may or may not have been used to replace ones I lost to zombie ambush. In the actual ZA, you can't tell me that you would not pick up whatever you could to prolong your life. When survival is on the line...integrity is relative.
2. When survival is on the line... You are capable of more than you think.
I signed up for the race about 3 months before it actually happened. I was optimistic and felt I had plenty of time to prepare. And in a way I did prepare. I went to bootcamp consistently 4-6 times per week. I went and worked on my running...but not much. I had really never ran 3 miles. And up until the day of the race, I still had not run that distance. Procrastination was my enemy. It was there to take me down. I was sure that a few hundred yards into the run I would have lost my flags and breath and had to walk out of there head hung low and tail between legs. The one thing I did have on my side was the foresight to rest, fuel, and hydrate properly. I warmed up like I would for bootcamp, dressed accordingly, and kept my mind optimistic even though a small part of me was struggling. In fact the few days before I even tried to think of a way out of doing it. But I was invested $80 bucks and had already told a bunch of people...had to follow through. Standing at the starting line, alone, but in a crowd of 200 people, I looked up and saw a meteor flash across the sky, break in two, then disappear. This was a sign. It sounds lame, but I needed whatever I could get at that moment so I took it. It was a sign for me and 200 other people. So what. Shut up.
We lined up. "Mind your breathing. Watch your pace. Stay vigilant." I reminded myself. It was time to start. With a scream from approaching zombies, we were off. Running for our lives in the first 100 yard stretch straight into a wall of flames that we had to jump over. This was just the beginning. My blood was pumping. Adrenaline exploded in my veins. It was on.
By the time I made it to the first mile marker, I was barely winded. I jumped, juked, spun, ducked, and jumped around obstacles and zombies like I was on a mission. Every hill climbed, dark corner navigated, and zombie left behind seem to push me harder.
My insecurity about the whole things faded and now it was do or die. I did and I did not die.
3. When in a Survival Situations, Some people are best fed to the beasts.
Aligning yourself with a group is great, if not just to offer some people up as sacrifice so you may advance.
This seems harsh but in the game of survival, a weakling will get you killed. If not you, then someone else or multiple people. One of my strategies was to follow groups of people into zombie zones in and in the midst of the of the chaos, use them as a distraction to move forward. A couple of times I may have given someone a little nudge in the wrong direction so that I could stay alive. When no one is watching your back, and you are defenseless, you gotta do what you gotta do.
4. When strategy Is not an option, one must use brute force.
As I came to the last stretch of the run, there was one lone Zombie standing in my way. It was just me and him. It was too late to turn back and align with a group. I stopped running for a second as he was about 50 yards away. I took a moment to catch my breath and size him up. He was there to take any remaining lives the runners had. He was not going to take mine. My brain calculated different routes to run around him and moves to avoid his hands. The course was too narrow at that point. The was no way around him with sacrificing a life. The only option I had was to go straight through him. I put my head down, made eye contact and ran as hard as I could directly at him. In true character he stood his ground thinking there would be a last minute juke move but when I got close enough he could smell me, he dove out of the way. This time I was on the offensive and he wanted no part of it. Sometimes you just have to run head on into what you are facing, calculate the risks, and accept the consequences. For me, it was 3 flags still securely Velcroed to my belt. I survived.
Never really thought Zombies could be so insightful. But to me, that run represented how I handle things in life. Sometimes life is about survival and you do what you have to. When you are alone you find ways to make it through each obstacle. You find ways around people standing in your way, or you run them the fuck over. At the end of the day it is about making it through with all your flags in tact. You don't have to win the same way someone else wins...You just have to win.
No comments:
Post a Comment