This past Saturday I had the privilege to embark on a rather interesting adventure with a group of friends. The Warrior Dash. A course full of running and obstacles. The money goes to help St. Jude. In this picture: top row-AJ, Zach, Jon Read; bottom row-me, Terry, Jennifer, Lisa, Stephanie. This is our before (clean) shot. Later will come a muddy shot of all of us.
This course was 3 miles long. Let me explain to you what all we did...13 obstacles were involved.
First: We ran a full mile. Okay, some of us tried to run this entire mile...some of our group was better qualified for this part. I'm not trying to make excuses...but let me explain what happened to me. I ate too early. That sounds weird...but by the time I got in line to go with my group...my stomach began eating itself, but I knew it was to close to eat at that time. So my energy was really low at the beginning, plus running, it was just no good. I learned that maybe interval training was not the best idea to prepare for the warrior dash...where I could usually run .25 mile at a time, this time I was all over the place with the heat, terrain, and hunger. My husband chose to stick by me the entire way.
Second: Hell's Hills. This was the hardest one for me. Don't laugh...lol. If you saw the obstacle course on your own, you might laugh that I struggled with this the most. However, it really was hard for some of us. We had to run a full mile, then climb on of the steepest (not-so-smooth) hills I've ever seen. However, right at the top was a water station. You should have seen the difference it made in me. I took a cup of water, and everything changed. I felt so much better. I do think they should have provided water at the halfway point of the mile run though.
Third: Pit fall. This was interesting. Didn't take much strength, just strategy. Picture an obstacle that involves climbing and balancing. We had to climb up a wooden crate-like object, probably 5 or 6 feet high. In front of us, on this flat platform, were several wooden boards going across and empty area, like tight rope walking, to the next flat platform. Below the thin, wooden boards was muddy water. Obviously the goal was to balance yourself across. I was slow at this, but conquered it eventually.
Fourth: Trenches. This obstacle simply involved crawling through some trenches underneath some wooden tree trunks. I was stuck behind Terry on this one...I feared he would let one rip on me. But, to my knowledge, he didn't. One of the best parts of this entire event was that everyone stuck together and encouraged one another in our group.
First: We ran a full mile. Okay, some of us tried to run this entire mile...some of our group was better qualified for this part. I'm not trying to make excuses...but let me explain what happened to me. I ate too early. That sounds weird...but by the time I got in line to go with my group...my stomach began eating itself, but I knew it was to close to eat at that time. So my energy was really low at the beginning, plus running, it was just no good. I learned that maybe interval training was not the best idea to prepare for the warrior dash...where I could usually run .25 mile at a time, this time I was all over the place with the heat, terrain, and hunger. My husband chose to stick by me the entire way.
Second: Hell's Hills. This was the hardest one for me. Don't laugh...lol. If you saw the obstacle course on your own, you might laugh that I struggled with this the most. However, it really was hard for some of us. We had to run a full mile, then climb on of the steepest (not-so-smooth) hills I've ever seen. However, right at the top was a water station. You should have seen the difference it made in me. I took a cup of water, and everything changed. I felt so much better. I do think they should have provided water at the halfway point of the mile run though.
Third: Pit fall. This was interesting. Didn't take much strength, just strategy. Picture an obstacle that involves climbing and balancing. We had to climb up a wooden crate-like object, probably 5 or 6 feet high. In front of us, on this flat platform, were several wooden boards going across and empty area, like tight rope walking, to the next flat platform. Below the thin, wooden boards was muddy water. Obviously the goal was to balance yourself across. I was slow at this, but conquered it eventually.
Fourth: Trenches. This obstacle simply involved crawling through some trenches underneath some wooden tree trunks. I was stuck behind Terry on this one...I feared he would let one rip on me. But, to my knowledge, he didn't. One of the best parts of this entire event was that everyone stuck together and encouraged one another in our group.
Fifth: Teetering Traverse. This one is best explained by a picture...this was one of my least favorite ones as well. The small planks that we had to walk up were so thin. I would step on it, and it would bend down. However, I improvised and slid down on my butt when I got to the other side :-)
Sixth: Mud Mounds. This was absolutely hilarious for all of us. I picture this obstacle as, like, a dirt bike track. There were three hills/trenches that we were to climb up, then climb over to the other side where there was muddy water up to at least your hips, then back again to climbing another hill, then to the other side. However, because it was so wet and slippery, almost all of us slipped at one time or another. I actually got mud in my contact at this point, it was pretty funny.
Seventh:Barricade Breakdown. AJ helped me a lot on this one. (He always helped when necessary). This one simply involved jumping/climbing over tall, vertical, wooden walls.
Eighth: Capsized Catamaran. This was most people's favorite. We got to swim!! We had to climb over a huge plastic barrier, into the creek type water, then back over another barrier and swim to land. However, the plastic barriers were so high, that some of us had trouble getting up. Thus, Jon Read and Zach went over first. AJ stayed on the other side and pushed the girls up by their feet and the other boys pulled us over. Anything that involved upper body strength, I struggled with. In other words, I was grateful for the boys on this obstacle. It was refreshing because the water was cold, too.
Ninth: Storming Normandy. This one involved army crawling under barbwire. funny conversations happened under here for our group.
Tenth: Chained up. This one was awesome. You remember those hemispherical domes that we used to climb as kids on play ground? But would be scared to climb past the top because we feared going face first? Yep. This was similar. Instead, we climbed up horizontal chains to a horizontal plank, and were required to climb down the other side in a similar fashion. I went up face first, it took a lot of strength to balance. One foot on bottom chain, hands on third chain, next foot on second chain, and move up. Once I got to the top, I flipped around and went butt first down the other way and I used a similar strategy to go down.
Seventh:Barricade Breakdown. AJ helped me a lot on this one. (He always helped when necessary). This one simply involved jumping/climbing over tall, vertical, wooden walls.
Eighth: Capsized Catamaran. This was most people's favorite. We got to swim!! We had to climb over a huge plastic barrier, into the creek type water, then back over another barrier and swim to land. However, the plastic barriers were so high, that some of us had trouble getting up. Thus, Jon Read and Zach went over first. AJ stayed on the other side and pushed the girls up by their feet and the other boys pulled us over. Anything that involved upper body strength, I struggled with. In other words, I was grateful for the boys on this obstacle. It was refreshing because the water was cold, too.
Ninth: Storming Normandy. This one involved army crawling under barbwire. funny conversations happened under here for our group.
Tenth: Chained up. This one was awesome. You remember those hemispherical domes that we used to climb as kids on play ground? But would be scared to climb past the top because we feared going face first? Yep. This was similar. Instead, we climbed up horizontal chains to a horizontal plank, and were required to climb down the other side in a similar fashion. I went up face first, it took a lot of strength to balance. One foot on bottom chain, hands on third chain, next foot on second chain, and move up. Once I got to the top, I flipped around and went butt first down the other way and I used a similar strategy to go down.
Eleventh: Chaotic Crossover. See picture to the left. This was hilarious. The boys in our group literally walked across this thing, I didn't have the balance at this point to do that. I tried first to crab walk. That was bad. Then I went face first and used my hands and knees. That seemed to work best. Lisa and I were going at the same pace on this obstacle and ended up falling into each other because we both placed our hands in the same spot, so the ropes went in. This one was fun. I have bruises on my knees from this.
Twelfth: Road Rage. This was the traditional tire run. I didn't fall over!
Thirteenth: Warrior Roast. This is what many people see on the warrior dash website. There lies about a 5 feet wide 3 feet high fire pit. We jump over two of these. Our group thought it would be fun to hold hands and all jump over it at the same time. We began this way. However, Jon Read went beast mode and began sprinting as fast as possible and I had to let go or else I would be thrown into the fire!!! (Okay, that was dramatic. I thought I couldn't make the jump that fast...lol). AJ and I jumped each fire pit together, holding hands. :)
Thirteenth: Warrior Roast. This is what many people see on the warrior dash website. There lies about a 5 feet wide 3 feet high fire pit. We jump over two of these. Our group thought it would be fun to hold hands and all jump over it at the same time. We began this way. However, Jon Read went beast mode and began sprinting as fast as possible and I had to let go or else I would be thrown into the fire!!! (Okay, that was dramatic. I thought I couldn't make the jump that fast...lol). AJ and I jumped each fire pit together, holding hands. :)
Fourteenth: Muddy Mayhem. Finally, we end by swimming in muddy water underneath some more barbed wire. This was the finished product... (Zach and Jon Read already rinsed off)
I loved this. I loved the Warrior Dash. I love that all of the guys stuck with the girls as much as possible, though they probably wanted to move forward faster. I did hear one person say to another this weekend "Yeah, me and ------ basically finished the whole thing. But the girls slowed us down." And to that? I say...well, I won't say anything. Because I'm nice:-) I was very paranoid about holding AJ back. I continued to tell him that he could move forward with some of the faster people in our crew. I kept telling him to move on. He continued to say "I signed up to experience this with YOU, I am having fun with YOU." Can he get any cuter? I don't think so.
I am blessed to have been able to complete this with my husband, and with some of my favorite people on this planet. I learned a few things. I learned what I need to do to better train for this next year. Though it's not about time, I know I can do better to beat my time from this year with the proper training. I also learned that it's okay to lean on others. I wanted to badly to complete this without anyone else's help. I probably could have, honestly. But I probably would still be there completing it now, lol. So thankful for this opportunity. I learned how absolutely precious my friends are. Lisa and Jennifer. So precious to me. It was fun being able to complete this together with our husbands.
If you're thinking about completing this in the future...please just do it. At least once.
My time: 1:13:48.05
AJ's time: 1:13:47.20
Now to consider The Gauntlet....
If you're thinking about completing this in the future...please just do it. At least once.
My time: 1:13:48.05
AJ's time: 1:13:47.20
Now to consider The Gauntlet....