World Record Attempt

One night I was out drinking wine and a Facebook invite pinged on my phone.  It was an invitation from my friend Kim inviting me to join an event attempting to break a Guinness World Record.

Yes!  Accept!  Count me in!  I'll do it!

I accepted the invitation before thoroughly reading what the record was and what I had to do to break it.  Oops!

Turns out the record was the largest circuit-based personal training session, which in layman terms (or should I say lazeman terms) means working out.  Early in the morning on a Saturday working out...oh the humanity!

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not as unfit as my white bread Midwestern upbringing would have you believe.  I've gotten my rear in gear enough the past 13 years since leaving home to be able to handle a cardio ass whoppin' every now and again.  But at 7 a.m. on a Saturday...damn!  That's not usually how I roll.

It turns out this record breaking attempt was also a charity fundraiser, so there was no socially or morally acceptable way to back out.  It actually sounded pretty fun, and with a few fun peeps to do it with me, getting up at the crack of dawn to workout didn't seem like such a bad idea after all!

Me & the crew working on our fitness

Here's a bunch of pictures I took from the Muscle Up for MND Facebook page:

My favorite parts were hula hooping and cardio dancing.  We danced the Macarena, Gangnam Style and Thriller, which I would happily do any day of the week.  I hadn't attempted to hula hoop since I was a kid and was pleasantly surprised to learn I can actually do it.  I was even more surprised to learn it's a kick ass workout!

The event was held at The Gabba, which is the cricket stadium (is that the right word?) here in Brisbane.  There were 10 stations set up around the field (is that the right word?) and you'd workout at each station for 4 minutes.  Then you'd have 2 minutes to rest up and get to the next station.

Four minutes doesn't sound like a lot, but when you're doing lunges for 4 straight minutes, trust me, that's a long time.  I was sore the next day!  And a few days after that.  It was worth it for a good cause, and of course brunch afterwards.  I don't get my ass out of bed on a weekend unless there's the promise of brunch at the end!

If you haven't guessed by now from my casual avoidance of the topic no, we didn't actually beat the world record.  But we attempted it!  It's the thought that counts, I say.

We heard through the grapevine that we were 400 people short, but that hasn't been confirmed by a source more credible than randoms in workout gear walking down the street near the stadium.  There were 1,810 of us which is still a highly commendable effort.

I had a super fun time, and could always use more exercise (have you seen how often I hashtag beetus on Instagram?), so I'm very happy to have participated.  But this has opened a great big, gaping hole in my life's bucket list.  I want to be in a Guinness World Record!  I don't care what, when, where or how.  I just want in!