No Man's Land: I'll Be Back
16th of August 2019
I celebrate my first DeathDay in many ways. One of those ways is to try new things. Last year after my death, I did the Over the Edge. To replicate that as best as I could, I decided to do the No Man's Land Trench Run put on by the Iowa National Guard. This would help fill the physical challenge that I decided needed to be done for my DeathDay. However, I may have pushed it too much, but I will do it again next year anyways. I wasn't able to finish the race on my own. I'm disappointed in myself because I should have finished. However, I didn't want to overdo it since my ICD went off during the race.
It happened right after the underground trenches at about Mile 4, 4.5. I decided to keep going regardless. More on that later. It was a humid day, and the temperature was getting hotter by the minute. The start of the race, I jogged a little to get something going. I lasted longer than I thought I would, and I felt confident. I walked for a while, and some barricades about waist high was ahead. I could either walk around them or jump over them. Of course, I jumped over them. There was one obstacle in which I carried a fire hose up a flight of stairs and back down. Then, I went up some stairs where there was a riot police waiting. They yelled something, but I couldn't hear them. They were only yelling where to go, and I was caught off guard. Then came some water to walk through. There was knee high and waist high. Of course, I went waist high.
Then came the trenches I mentioned earlier. I was still feeling good at this point. I climbed down into the trenches, and I ran through them. It was a maze, but it wasn't a trap like maze. It was one that looped together moving you forward regardless which direction chosen. I took the quicker one, but I just followed a cute girl in front of me. When I got out of the trench, I felt a little tired but still all right. As I went on, I felt something wasn't right. I slowed down for a bit, and when I thought I was better, I picked it back up. Mistake. That's when the ICD went off. Normal people would throw in the towel. I'm not normal people. In fact, I'm anything BUT normal. I went on, and there was more water to walk through. Some was knee high, and some was waist high. There was lots of it, too. I was getting annoyed with how much water there was in fact. I got through the tough parts, and all that was left was getting out of the water by using a rope. This part was the deepest of mud. So deep, that when I tried pulling my leg out, my right calve pulled like crazy. I got out, and then I saw the steepest hill that I had to climb. I had to make a tough decision. I had to get a ride back. I told them what had happened, and they called for someone to come get me. On the way back, we took the rest of the route of the race. There were no back roads to take. I saw what was left of the race, and I was pissed. All I had to do was walk, and there wasn't many hills. There were some, but I still feel I could have finished. When I went to the doctor (protocol after ICD goes off), they said I made the right decision.
Next year, VENGEANCE IS MINE!!
