Warrior Dash 2012

All the elements were perfect for a stinky smelly muddy 5k obstacle course. We could smell the swamp as we entered into our destination. But the sunny skies and warm temperatures made this event more enjoyable to work myself into.
This was my first obstacle course race. The Warrior dash is one of the "fun runs" that I have put on my race schedule to do.

We went out in the 12pm corral. Each corral holds about 100 people. I appeared to mesh well in my bright green tutu, argyle socks and warrior face paint as I looked at the other costumes. We had super heroes, rainbow tutus, kilts, men in compression shorts and a team with hot dogs on their heads! We had young kids, old people and people of every shape and size in that corral with us also. It was like going to a People zoo!

"5-4-3-2-1 GOO!!" And we were off. The first mile has no  obstacles in order to separate the pack.  Andy lead this most of the way. Austin was struggling a few feet behind us. He got embarrassed when I asked how he was doing and decided he wasn't going to run with us because his pride was hurt.
I loved the trail running. It felt so good to be running on grass and dirt. Your feet mold into the earth and you feel such oneness as the trees buzz pass you and the heat of the sun warms your skin.

The first obstacle was 5 walls you had to jump unto and climb over. I was flying over these like a monkey. The trail opened up to a small lake..Oh crap I have to swim! I am not a strong swimmer. I can make it look pretty enough to fool you but eventually your gonna notice when I flip around to do the back stroke!
Andy took off..He left Austin and I in the dust here. You had to swim to a thin dock and then from there to the shore. By the time I got to the dock I was half drowned by my tutu and annoyed by the guy kicking me trying to get on the dock. I looked out for Austin and noticed he let his tutu sink to the bottom and he was looking pleased to have gotten rid of that thing! His head was back in the game as he had mud and smiles painted across his face.

As my feet hit the shore Austin and I were trying to catch up to Andy. I was trailing. I felt like a drowned rat. I hate swimming but it was quite refreshing. My shoes weighed 5 lbs a piece and water was draining out of my skirt.

There were many more obstacles. I loved the ropes, the tires, the walls but not the thick black murky mud. It was as black as the ace of spades and you had to wade through it. You felt like a pig trudging through their pen. The smell reminded me of the scent from the local dairy farm. NASTY.  The girl in front of me slipped and went into it with the side of her face, as thick as pudding. Only it didn't look like pudding and it Definitely didn't SMELL like pudding either!

We ran through trenches, over motto hills, and finished jumping through about 3 feet of fire....Real Fire...Hot Fire...Fire that I was scared was gonna catch hold of my TUTU and turn my Tootsie on FIRE!
But it didn't and when I saw the final watering hole before the finish I knew I would have been OK.

As we finished and found mom and dad I had to laugh. It was at this moment I realized how muddy and disgusting we were simply by the expression in moms face. She looked repulsed! And she is such a lady. She had a chiffon peach blouse on with WHITE perfectly pressed capris. She was not getting very close to us!

 We removed our shoes and donated them to the pile of donated shoes as we head to the showers.

We finished up with a outside sprinkler system that was 20 feet in the air, about 30feet long and shared by all the runners. The filth just continued to drip down my body. Eventually you just had to give up and call it good enough.

I would totally do it again. It was a great family event.

 

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Last weeks miles-46 miles

Monday:  Tough run. I saw a girl running about a block ahead of me and decide to try and catch up to her to give me a little UMPH! I caught up to her mostly because quit running and started walking! 

• Distance: 5 miles
• Time:40 min
• Pace:8:00

 Anita