moving on to primalcon. day 2.

and the fun continues................. really, day 2 rocked.

we woke up so. sore. oh. man. it was hard to move. i know, i know..... as soon as we start moving, we'll feel better........ so on to day 2. and, it was worth it..........

first, breakfast at the hotel. omelet bar. bacon. sausage. more bacon.

first activity of the morning was the primalcon 2011 camp survivor challenge........ 3 teams were posted against each other for time. there was mind games, physical tests, sand, sun, sweat, tears and laughter. let me think................... we elected a team captain to keep us on track. we had to find a weight vest and witstick to start. they had to be on/held the entire challenge (found out later we ended up with the heaviest weight vest and heaviest witstick. hm.).

photo courtesy of primalcon 2011

a kettlebell was hidden, like an easter egg, and had to be carried to home base. had to find a 55 gallon barrel at the top of a sand dune......... take it to the ocean. fill it up with water ..... about 1/2 way, carry it back to the top of the dune and use 5 gallon buckets to carry water to fill the rest of the 55 gallon drum. use a pvc pipe, with holes along the length of the pipe, to fill a 5 gallon bucket with ocean water. stack 10 beach rocks. we had to dig a hole until a camp counselor said "when."

photo courtesy of primalcon 2011

a list of scavenger hunt items. hunt 2 "carcasses" (a.k.a. camp counselors) ..... capture and carry to the top of the sand dune for bonus points............... totally worth 200 bonus points.

side note here ....... i was with 4 of the guys on my team and watched as we figured out what or who the carcass was..... it was about the same time that the carcasses realized they were being hunted. it honestly looked like lions hunting antelope. our guys looking at each other using eye contact to communicate their plan of attack, the look on the carcasses faces, just like antelope, when they realized they were now food. and then, in a flash, it was a full out chase and hunt until the carcasses were corner and tackled........ i'm telling you..... it was like lions hunting antelope.

on with the survivor challenge.......... throw five tennis balls into the 55 gallon bucket from 20 yards (they bounce. it wasn't easy.)

photo courtesy of primalcon 2011

dig in designated team sand box looking for large trash bag treasure with puzzle pieces in it

photo courtesy of primalcon 2011

....... when all other tasks were complete, as a team, we could work on putting the puzzle together. there was one piece intentionally left missing that had to be hunted by clues.

photo courtesy of primalcon 2011

when the puzzle was complete, the entire team had to cross the "hot lava" walking on wood planks..... as a team.

photo courtesy of primalcon 2011

i was pretty oblivious to the competition. it was so.much.fun. we finished 2nd in our group of 3 teams. i don't even know how we finished compared to the overall 6 teams. we finished. it was fun.

my fingers were literally raw from digging in the sand.

next, we did gorilla ninja training and vitamove training with angelo. we bear crawled. we crab crawled. we gorilla hopped. using hands and feet on the ground to move forwards, backwards, sideways....... more core. sounds ridiculous. it was superfun. and, i will definitely remember to incorporate some of these moves at home!

photo courtesy of primalcon 2011

vitamove was a tai chi, yoga, warrior wellness type stretching session. and, by now, we needed to stretch. aaaahhhhh........sttrrrreeeeeeeetttttccchhhh..........

snack lunch. same as friday. same deliciosity.

first up after lunch, was an amazing session with barefoot ted. barefoot ted is pretty much the guy that started the barefoot running movement. and he's awesome. he gave us the run down on how to do it. how to run barefoot. a few key elements. you run kind of on the pads of your feet.... not your toes exactly, but the pads....... and you bring a new awareness to your feet and the earth. it challenges your core (again, with core). it connects you to the earth. the earth that is a moving, living existence. i have always been a barefoot girl. i love the idea of running barefoot. i have worked out barefoot most my life and have been yelled at by every employee at every gym i've been in. so, this was easy for me to get into. if you've read my blog, you know i bought my vibrams about a year ago. i do go barefoot as much as i can (i do have vibrams, and my new balance minimus........ but even those are only when i need them......). getting to hear barefoot ted in person. getting to ask him questions. getting to run with him. another primalcon life changing moment.

photo courtesy of primalcon 2011

next, we moved on to primal blueprint fitness challenge with camp director brad kearns. fitness challenge was push ups. bunny hops. lunges. spidermans. sprint. grok crawl. push ups. squats. overhead press (jack knife push ups). sprint. i think my time was 4:22 min. if you want details of the workout, mark's daily apple posted it as workout of the week last week.

by now, to say that we were exhausted is an understatement. don't get me wrong, it was a good, superfun, complete exhaustion. we took a few minutes to lay in the grass. to roll on the foam roller. to do some yoga. our next activity was ultimate frisbee. eh. i have never played ultimate frisbee. i don't like or generally participate in team sports. i haven't thrown a frisbee in at least 3 years. i was tired and sore. i was the one to talk vibram boy into playing ultimate frisbee. we were all beginners. this was not a world championship game. it reminded me of watching 5 year olds play soccer. and, despite all of that, it was ah.some. i haven't run up and down a field like that (um... sprints...... so sneaky....) since 5th grade. i am ready to find an ultimate frisbee team. we played until the first scored 10. we won. v.b. and i made an awesome play for our 9th score and v.b. scored the winning point!!! confession......... i didn't figure out actual defense strategy until point 7. then, it clicked.

photo courtesy of primalcon 2011
also note, this was not my team in the pic. :)

and, to end the afternooon, we had a cooking session with chef rachel. that was a great way to end the day. v.b. is the house chef and really does love to cook. chef rachel taught us how to parboil vegetables (blanche). she says they taste better (and are even better nutritionally). then, she showed us a few primal dips to go with our new tasty veggies. one was a macadamia nut based dill dip, the other was an cashew based chipotle dip. they can be used as salad dressings and marinades. then, she showed us amazing little chocolate dessert from date and coconut squares, covered in baking chocolate. yeah, it's still primal ...... well, so long as you stick with baking chocolate (or high quality dark chocolate......... watch the sugar). the dates are so sweet that the baking chocolate works. no added sugar. she made them into little truffles. more ah.some.

photo courtesy of primalcon 2011

dinner to close day 2 was so de.lish. i mean..... so.delish. it was a mediterranean inspired meal. i could have eaten my weight in the lamb kafta. mmmmm....... the carrots were a little spicy. the grilled chicken was delish. fennel/lime/avocado salad. oh, it was all so good......

v.b. and i, and our new friends went to the hot tub. no ocean plunge. once was enough. and there was samba lessons with esther (the posture guru)......... but, even i couldn't last through samba ..... and i love a good dance. the hot tub was calling my name. so was my bed.

happy primalcon saturday.
vibram girl