Now that I've finally been able to watch the "Confidence Course" episode, I can now provide a wee bit of background for this fabulous episode.

Unlike the Fitness Boot Camp we attended halfway through the show, this obstacle course was located on a military base and truly scared the bejesus out of most of us. Well, except for Nicole, that is.

I did not want to get out of the van. As soon as I saw the "teepee of terror" (a stacked set of logs that we'd have to scale over that rose to about 20 feet in height), I knew I'd have...difficulties.

Still, I surprised myself (and the other gals) by volunteering to go first. Actually, this was because I thought there might have been chocolate at the end, and I wanted to get their first.

What you may not realize from watching the show was that we all followed each other around the course -- so we all ran around it SEVEN times. This was also the case for the two camera crews, who lugged their equipment (not a euphemism) around the course along with us. Once we all completed the course, the crew challenged each other to race through it.

Talk about crazy.

While, through editing, it may appear that I did not complete the course. In reality, I gave it my best shot and feel I did a damn good job, even though I skipped over some obstacles, like actually getting to the top of the teepee of terror. The parts I didn't even attempt were the hanging in midair upside-down while on a rope, the jump over the wall and the monkey bars. Well. I did do the monkey bars, but I had the hunky instructor hold me up the entire time. ;)

It was hard. It was incredible. And, at the moment when Tracy got stuck on the hanging upside-down rope thingy, my heart went out to her. Here's a bit of my journal entry on what the experience was like:

"At that moment in time, she represented all of us hitting that bump in the road. The place where, every time before now, we’d all get stuck. And she had every opportunity to give up, but instead she held on. Through anger. Through tears. Through support from her friends and her coach. We all stood by and watched what I can only describe as one of the deepest connections I’ve ever felt with someone I didn’t even know six months ago.

She held on and completed every step of the course. And, because of Tracy, I feel like I completed it too."

And that's a very empowering feeling that I'll carry with me forever. Now I just have to get my butt back into the gym after being away for a week.

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