Day 2
A 6am start with clear bright skies and jogging up the hill with lots of racing and interval training is about the opposite to how I spend my Saturday mornings- the only time I'd ever be up this early is if I hadn't been to bed yet!. Yawning I chase after the other girls, placing on heavy foot in front of the other. Breakfast is a meagre bowl of muesli and then we're loaded onto a coach. After a 30 minute snooze I wake up to find we've arrived- and gleaming out the window is the sparkling Devon sea, with sandy dunes aplenty and seagulls cawing overhead.
We spend the next two hours strenuously circuit training and rope pulling, and I'm particularly appalling at the tug of war challenge, getting all girly and not wanting to break a nail. Next we take a seriously looong hike along the coastline, but thought he view is beautiful my hip flexors are really starting to ache- we've hardly begun and already I'm feeling tired and sore!
Lunch was veggie frittata and salad with herbal tea, plus about a litre of water. We're constantly reminded to drink more water and though I hate the stuff I'm so thirsty all the time it's starting to taste like Cadburys, trickling deliciously down my throat.
Next up is a curious exercise in the field, but this time I'm not so bothered about the cow dung- because I'm blindfolded! No, we're not doing strange trust exercises, we're doing group tasks in the dark. Four of us are placed at different end s of a twisted rope and we have to make an equal square- cue shouting, arguing, and stumbling., once the masks are off Jon tell us this is an interesting way to assess who makes natural leader, and how constructive peoples comments are in team building. It's very interesting and I assess just what kind of team player I am- I never expected to be challenged mentally as well as physically!
Next a round of circuits in the courtyard focusing on arms strength, so lots of lifting weights and press ups which has me feeling weaker than a Teletubbie running low on E numbers. I'm struggling to lift everything and being shouted at doesn't cheer me up. This is where support from Sam, the team manager really helps, as she's the god cop to Jon's bad, and her sunny disposition and motivational phrases help me push through to the next level.
We're told we have ten minutes till we need to meet in the courtyard with bag and extra layers and that we can shower-what a joke! I spent eight minutes flopped on my comfortable bed before I grab my stuff. There's a coach waiting to take us to an undisclosed destination and I grab 40 minutes of snooze on the way.
I wake up groggy and disorientated but immediately perk up when I see signs for treetop climbing and zipwires - unbelievable
Jim, of Jim Oakle Adventures, an ex marine, takes us through various stages, of abseiling and rock-climbing, and my sleep addled brain is slow to learn the knots, but I soon perk up when the adrenalin kicks in. Finally, something I can really enjoy, and that almost feels like I'm five years old on holiday. Everyone challenges themselves mentally as well as physically as a lot of people find dropping themselves down the side of a cliff face a little outside their comfort zone. We really bond as a group here, encouraging each other across rickety rope bridges suspended through the tree- and all learn that we can really push ourselves onto a new comfort zone level.
Dinner is barbecued kebab skewers with bulgur wheat and a couple of exhilarating ziplines before the long ride home. I'm tired , sore, hungry and bruised all over but a lot more cheerful than I've been in ages. Roll on tomorrow!