3 Miles Up, 3 Miles Down or How to Conquer Curahee Mountain
On Memorial Day, 2015, we loaded up the car and headed out for a day trip to Toccoa, Georgia. Although this Blue Ridge region of the Peach State has many spectacular places of interest, I was only focused on finding one particular landmark: Currahee Mountain. Currahee is a Cherokee word meaning “stand alone”. Most likely the name was derived from the mountain’s prominent peak that extends higher than all others within Stephens County. Currahee Mountain, which rises abruptly above the Chattahoochee Forest, climbs about 800 vertical feet above the local terrain and its summit is visible for many miles on a clear day.
(more…)Posted in Adventure Fitness, Adventurous Places, Historical Journeys, North America and tagged 506th Infantry Regiment, Band of Brothers, currahee, Currahee Mountain, Toccoa Georgia, WW2 by Big John with 10 comments.
Navy Seals Land in Atlanta for BATTLEFROG, 2015
My latest quest for Adventure Fitness carried me clear down to the Peach State where I, along with Rebecca and the boys, competed in the Navy Seals’ BATTLEFROG O.C.R. (obstacle course race).
Visit battlefrogseries.com for the next BATTLEFROG race near you.
Going into this particular O.C.R., I didn’t quite know what to expect other than one hell of a challenge. The fact that the course was designed and ran by our most highly trained, bad-ass members of the United States military was an intimidation factor all of its very own making. This 8 kilometer course definitely lived up to its founders’ reputation and certainly wasn’t created for the faint of heart! The course encompassed swamps, streams, tunnels, open fields, forest, walls, ladders, ropes, slides, and yes… lot’s of mud and water!
Look at Rebecca muscling those jerry cans 35 minutes into it. She is fit as a fiddle! (more…)
Posted in Adventure Fitness, North America and tagged Battlefrog, Navy Seals, OCR by Big John with 3 comments.
Goodwill Mud Run of Spring 2015
I find it’s very difficult to get the most out of adventure and travel if my current level of fitness is holding me back. I am one of those types who gain weight far too easily and practically have to kill myself to take any of it back off. It’s hardly my fault though – beer is just plain good!
Recently I’ve made a decision to take my health back and do whatever it requires to reach those self-imposed fitness goals. In doing so, I’ve created a new category in Big John’s Adventures in Travel titled Adventure Fitness. For my first post in this new, motivational category, I will take you to my hometown of Greenville, SC for the Goodwill Mud Run of spring, 2015.
The Goodwill Mud Run, presented by St. Francis Sports Medicine, is a 3.5 mile long race with 35 muddy obstacles for teams to compete in. Rebecca and I entered this event for the first time together. Our two-person team “Wanderlust” may not have been the fastest, but I definitely believe we had the most fun!
Team Wanderlust (Rebecca & Big John) feeling all clean and neat just before the Goodwill mud run. (more…)
Posted in Adventure Fitness, North America and tagged goodwill mud run, Goodwill Mudrun, Obstacle Course Race by Big John with no comments yet.