Last night, I went to the Off Road Conditioning class offered by Unleashed. On Wednesday nights, it starts at 7:00 and goes for about an hour and 15 min, pretty much right until sundown. Last night was a gorgeous night for it – a little bit cloudy, light humidity, a slight breeze here and there and I think it was in the 60s or low 70s.
This class is no joke. Sure, I’ve trained and can run along the road for over 2 hours now (like my 10 miler) but running in these woods gives me Tough Mudder flashbacks of the never ending mountain. We cover some pretty serious hills, some with not the most firm footing, and at one point even climbed up a rock face covered in moss that I literally had to put my hands down to maneuver up.
I’ve done this class a few times now and it’s HARD. Yes, the all caps is required for this one. Maybe some other people might think it easier, like pretty much everyone else who barrels through the woods in that class, but for me personally it’s always a challenge. Kevin is always telling us we need to get our lungs open and keep the heart pumping, but I’m pretty sure my lungs are waging war in my chest every time.
For this particular class, we started at the usual end of the high school, ran up a hill, through the woods down, then uphill, stopped to do some burpees, went over to his favorite “torture hill” (or what others might just call “a hill”) where he has us just run up and down it for several minutes. After that, we went over to the bleachers and snaked them up and down, did some dips (I did push-ups due to my shoulder), sprinted up the hill next to the bleachers and then down the hill to our first burpees.
Now, this is where the actual “off road” comes into play. After this warm-up, we run across the street into the woods/trails. He does a great job at keeping us together so that all abilities can take part. We’ll do small loops of trails at a time and he’ll wait at the end for everyone to catch up before having us move in. He’ll typically throw in burpees, squats and push-ups here and there for a “breather”.
The last two classes I’ve done, we’ve been lucky enough to reach a high point right around sunset. It actually overlooks the “295 canyon”, which is where Route 295 passes through. This is also where Kevin like to have us do push-ups on his “Push-up Rock”. It’s actually kind of terrifying to use this one particular rock because you’re staring straight down onto the highway! I love it up there, though. It’s so pretty!
I’m in the orange
If you’re ever in the area, you should absolutely come to this class. It will kick your ass AND take your name. I’d be happy to come along and make you look good. I’m officially the class caboose.
Don't blink. Just run. 