Navy Seals!!

A normal Wednesday for us usually consists of a 45 minute run and the day to rest. This Wednesday was just a bit different. We were headed to Coronado for a morning of Navy Seals training. As we passed over the bridge in our entourage of Olympic Training Center vans, we admired the beauty of the city of San Diego but we were all a little unsure of what exactly we were getting ourselves into.

We got a wakeup call as soon as we pulled up to the Naval Base. The minute everyone was out of the vans we were off running. You could see in everyone’s facial expressions that this was going to be a long day that we weren’t quite ready for. After a short introduction and tutorial about the Navy Seals, we were back outside looking up at the daunting obstacle course of ropes and logs and barbed wire.

We were split into four groups of 6 and led to different obstacles. This was actually my favorite part of the day. I love obstacle courses because they test you mentally and physically. We did everything from crawling under barbed wire, to jumping over logs, to climbing ropes (….lots of ropes), to climbing over walls. It was really cool to watch everyone figure out all the obstacles, as well as come together to help our team get through it all.

The next part of the day really tested us all as a team. In our groups, we all had a log (it was basically a piece of a telephone pole). Each group had to pick this pole up, put it down, pick it up again, do squats, lunges, and sit ups with it. In between we repeatedly heard “Wet and Sandy!” This was the most grueling part of the day. (For those of you that don’t know, it means jump in the water, completely submerged, then roll in the sand until completely covered… including your face). Add some crawling through the sand and a little run down the beach, and we ended the morning physically and mentally exhausted.

But we made it as a team. We made it together. The lessons we learned were great. We would have not been able to complete the tasks and challenges put before us if it wasn’t for our teammates right by our side. We learned just how far we can push our bodies, and that when you think there is nothing left, there is. In fact, there is about 40% more. Most importantly, we learned that simple things can take you to the top. Keeping things simple and doing the little things well, one at a time, that is what makes you successful. Doing each task in the moment. For us it’s about winning and losing. To a Navy Seal, losing is death. We all represent the United States of America and we have to give everything we have each time we get the opportunity to compete.