In April, Colleen McCormack participated in American Ninja Warrior's Miami competition. She made it to the course’s third obstacle and shared her experience with the Plant City Observer.
To get through the Fly Wheels, a mini trampoline is used to jump to the first hanging wheel, where the athlete will then be hanging from a small lip. The wheel spins, and the objective is to build up enough momentum to release from the first wheel, catching the lip of a second wheel. Again, momentum must be built up to then release to a third and final wheel. The final wheel, however, does not spin — it swings like a pendulum —changing the momentum. For a final time, the athlete must build up the momentum to then land on the landing pad. The distance between the first two wheels is about five feet. The distance between the second and third wheel, however, is about seven feet.
I got through the first two wheels easily. I actually built up too much momentum releasing to the third wheel and hit my face on it. Since it was further, I wanted to make sure I got there. Getting from the third wheel to the landing pad took a little bit longer, though. Since I am so light, it took me seven swings (most of the heavier competitors did it in three) to move the wheel adequately enough before feeling confident in clearing the landing pad. Since the third wheel moved differently, it was harder to build up the momentum. My triceps were pretty sore for a few days after!
The moment I hit the landing pad, I was beyond excited. I remember looking down at the water while I was hanging from one of the wheels and thinking to myself, "You are not landing in there!" My focus was maintained and it paid off.
The third obstacle, called "Razor's Edge," was a balance obstacle. Generally speaking, ninjas dread balance obstacles the most as balance is a very difficult thing to train. And like all the other obstacles, the balance obstacles are continually changing, so no ninja can ever truly be prepared for what is to come. I think the scariest part about the balance obstacles is the level of commitment. There is no room for error; the opportunity to correct a misstep does not exist. The balance obstacles over the past few years have been geared toward foot placement combined with speed, so a single moment of hesitation will result in failure. Thus, once the first step is taken, full commitment to the obstacle must be made.
Razor's Edge consists of three rectangular spinning "blades." The athlete must run across the top of the blades to make it to the landing pad on the other side. From the sideline, the placement of the blades looked like a straight line. Once I approached it, though, I realized I was wrong. The blades were much more staggered than I was anticipating, and I had to take a moment to map out my foot placement. "Should I do left foot, right foot, left foot on each blade? Or do I take a two-step approach, left foot, right foot on each blade?" After gathering my thoughts, I took a breath and took the three-step approach. Sadly, I was not moving fast enough.
The lack of speed caught up with me and, upon getting to the third and final blade, it started to spin underneath me. I dove for the landing pad and managed to get my arms on it, but not enough to be able to pull myself up. Into the water I went!
I came up with a smile, though, happy to have achieved my goal. Of course I wish I had gone all the way, but how great I felt on the course as a whole gave me the confidence to know I will make it all the way to Vegas next year.
Oh, and did I mention it was 2 a.m. when I ran the course? The episodes are filmed overnight, so that adds to the nerves and pressure that are already in place!
One of the things I love about American Ninja Warrior is that there is no "end point" in training. There is always room for ways to improve, to gather the mental strength to keep going, to build confidence in yourself, and push yourself farther than before. That can be applied to all aspects of life.
Now, another year's worth of training begins.
Colleen McCormack is a Plant City resident, bartender and regular American Ninja Warrior competitor.