No packets to pick up. No swag. No Expo. No time clock. But there was some mud.
Get ready to sweat and experience the most rewarding workout you’ll do all summer. Our Boot Camp class combines cardio, body weight and resistance training to deliver an unrivaled workout. We won’t go easy on you, but we promise you won’t regret it.
Yeah. It’s a Boot Camp & BBQ.
Registration and Cost: FREE! Hosted by Life Time (I’m a member), this nationwide club event was promoting their Boot Camp class — locally, at the Des Moines gym, they worked alongside Iowa obstacle race creator Titan Mob. This event was open to non-members as well (so long as they were attending with a LT member). Registration was online, and there was a check-in tent in front of the gym about an hour before start time.
Start line: There were several heats, which were staggered by the numbers on our wristbands. Since I was doing this alone (encouraged by my coworker who takes the Boot Camp classes and helped out with the course obstacles), I found a few women at the start line to chat and commiserate with.
Weather: Similar to my emotions when running Dam to Dam, the heat was awful (especially as this event started at 10am OMFG) and everything was horrible (drama queen).
Course: The course was on the grounds of Life Time (all outdoors) and was approximately 2 miles in length (I didn’t wear my watch). There were… I-don’t-know-how-many obstacles, which included: a sandbag carry, cement block pull WITH A CHAIN (the hardest), an uphill tube climb (I have no idea what to call this obstacle lol), tire run, about 20 hill repeats (some with weights), mud pit jump (UGH!), weight pull (from the top of the hill; you then had to walk your plate back down to the bottom, and repeat), walls, monkey bars, army crawls, another wall (a very tall one that I needed some assistance on), hay bale hurdles, wall balls, water bucket carries (while being sprayed with water, which was actually pretty nice), tire flips (I couldn’t do this one on my own, BOO!) and some overhead press/weighted squats before taking off on a sprint to the finish.
For any obstacles that you skipped (or, if you fell off the monkey bars, in my case), you did 15 burpees.
I was impressed that there were several water stations with ice and cold towels at various points on the course.
Experience: It’s been YEARS since I did a Tough Mudder, and this course thankfully didn’t have a lot of mud. The obstacles were placed well, varied in difficulty, and overall felt like it kicked my ass.
Finish Line: There was a hose to rinse off the dirt, which was nice!
After Party: BBQ! Beer from Firetrucker Brewery! Obviously, I’m not a beer drinker, but they had some alcoholic ginger beer that is gluten-free (and they gave me a free drink coupon to use when I visit their brewery in Ankeny). I was super interested in having some watermelon after finishing (as promised on the event info menu), but there wasn’t any. To be honest, I wasn’t really hungry, but I made sure to buy a protein milk in the LifeCafe so that I didn’t feel miserable later (haaaaaa!).
Famous last words, they say: I ended up breaking out in a rash all over the front, exposed part of my skin a few hours after the race because I am nothing if not totally allergic to the outdoors. I also had a bunch of these tiny scratches all over my knees and elbows, likely from the army crawls through the dry grass. FUN!
No Official Results, but it was officially a great time. My experience overall at Life Time has been mostly lukewarm, but they do a great job of hosting fun social events (I’ve already got my eye on a Bikes & Brunch next month), and I love that a lot of the coaching staff and instructors were out on the obstacle course chatting with members about classes and such.
I’m obsessed with those shorts! Looks like it was a good time!