June 25, 2010

The Warrior Dash

Please don't ask me questions about where/when this race is, because I've been bombarded with those questions on facebook. All info can be found at www.warriordash.com.

That said, I'll summarize the weekend and post some photos. My friends Mercedes, Sarah (from Arizona), my husband Jerry, and I all were going to drive to Joliet, IL together on Friday and meet up with my friend Renee and her husband Dave. Renee booked the hotel months ago, and I noticed on Friday morning when I printed out the itinerary that she only put 2 people down for our room. Which is bad when you need 2 beds!  I called the hotel and they said they were fully booked and our room had a king bed. I was NOT happy when I heard this, because there were 4 of us (my husband and 3 girls) so could it be any more awkward?  Mercedes ended up bringing her queen-size air mattress.  Anyway, Renee wound up with 2 double beds, and it was just her and her husband in the room, so we traded with her.  Everything was good then with the sleeping arrangements.

Friday was kind of boring. We got there at around 2 pm, and we went to a liquor store to buy beer for the hotel, and then we went to dinner at Red Lobster. I got tilapia, and it was SOOO good... and my dinner was only 6 points. We went back to the hotel and played some silly games while we had a few beers.

The next morning (the morning of the Dash) we got up at 6 and discovered a note under the door. Apparently a pipe had burst and we had no water in our room. Frickin awesome, right? So the hotel "upgrades" us to the jacuzzi suite... which only has a king bed and a jacuzzi. LOL, so we ended up setting up the air mattress anyway.

The Warrior Dash.... SO not what I expected. It was MUCH harder than I thought, but also much more relaxed, if that makes sense. Nobody took it seriously. However, I got really emotional during the race, and it was awful.  Everyone else had so much fun, and I felt like a total Debbie Downer, but it was not fun for me. Let me start at the beginning. We left the hotel early, which was good because it took us forever to find out where we'd be parking. Finally parked and got on the shuttle (school bus) that took us to the race. Sarah wasn't doing the race, so she was just along for the ride and to watch. When we got there, we were stunned at all the mud. The mud wasn't just a part of the race--it was EVERYWHERE, and it was ankle-deep. Sarah was bummed that she ruined her shoes, but she still enjoyed herself.  We picked up our packets and waited for our race time (11:30).

When the race started, Mercedes took off. Jerry was right next to her, and once he realized I was behind, he fell back with me. The entire course was ankle-deep mud, and I just couldn't RUN through that. We jogged for about the first mile, but after that, Jerry and I walked the whole way. The obstacles totally wore me out. It was really difficult. There was this one REALLY steep valley with muddy water below (and mud covering the sides, of course) that I almost made it up to the top and then slipped and fell all the way back down into the water. That sucked! But it was actually a little fun :)  Here is a pic from that:


Now, imagine trying to run after getting all that mud on your legs and shoes! I felt SO HEAVY. Which made me feel how I did when I was 253 pounds. And that is what caused all the emotion. I was getting really teary and panicky because of that sluggish, heavy feeling and basically being super FAT again. It makes no sense now, but it was difficult mentally for me.

I was bummed that Mercedes had left us, and it seemed like everyone else was passing us too. I'd just lost almost 100 pounds, and I was STILL being passed up?!   My heart wasn't in the race for the second half of it (it was 3.5 miles total).

Then at the end, I got to the fire. There is a line of fire that you jump over, then another fire to jump over, and then you crawl through mud under barbed wire to the finish. I'd completed all the obstacles up until this point, but the fire scared me to death. It was HUGE. And you have to get a running start through MUD with heavy shoes and try to jump over it. I freaked out and just went around the fire. I "couldn't" do it. I crawled through the mud and finished.
Me and Jerry before the race

Everyone ditches their shoes, because they are pretty much ruined

The guy in the loin cloth ran the race like that--with nothing underneath! ;)

Jerry and me--you can see how fake my smile is here


Jerry and I after getting rinsed off with the hose

Renee, Dave, Jerry, and me

Feeling like a total failure after skipping the fire

Jerry jumping over the fire

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