The Long and Short of Warrior Dash!

You know those running memes where one runner tries to get you to run a race, because it's only *3* miles?

Yea, that's pretty much how the conversation between my friend and I started when she asked if I wanted to run Warrior Dash with her.

It's *only* a 5k, and I checked all the obstacles. None of them rely solely on upper body strength, and none of them will require people to lift you up over things.

Ok, I'm in!

She really had to twist my arm, didn't she?

So the morning started off fairly normal, as far as race mornings go. I wasn't worried at all. I mean it was a 5k with a few obstacles. What was there to worry about? It was gorgeous weather for the beginning of August, almost fall like. It was so nice. Go figure, the obstacle course, where I was going to get filthy has beautiful weather.....

Oh little did  I know that the course was the most hilly course I have ever encountered. By the time we hit a mile, we'd already ascended 20 stories. I'm getting ahead of myself though.

So the race started off fairly easily, we were running downhill and were going at a comfortable clip. We encountered the first of some very steep hills, and since we were with the pack, there was some walking that had to be done. The course wasn't that wide. Then maybe a 1/2 mile in, maybe more, the pack had thinned a bit, and there were 2 guys up ahead on the trail that were stopped and looking at something just off the edge of the path. They tell us there's a snake.

There's a what now?

A snake. I can hear him rustling the leaves just to the side of me off the path. Nope! I'm gone, down the hill, over the creek and back up the other side of the hill. I wait for my friend. I don't do snakes, and the rest of the time we're on this course, I'm chanting just keep looking in the center of the path. Just keep looking in the center of the path. It became my mantra.

So after that, we hit a mile, and then finally encounter our first obstacle. It was a bleacher type climbing thing. It was fine. I didn't have to climb or jump really, because long legs.

Then there was the trench, which was easy for my not so tall friend, because she easily shimmied down into the trench and then bear crawled the entire length. I did not have as easy a time getting into the trench, because long legs. It took me a bit and a try or two to actually get into the trench, but when I did finally, I was able to crawl through it.

The swinging pallets were next, and quite fun. They took a bit of balancing. Thank goodness for long arms. After the pallets, was a short drop down a dirt cliff, that we slid down.

Then there was this "Fisherman's Catch" tunnel thing, which I hated. Being tall was a definite con to this obstacle. It broke my bra!! Luckily, friend was able to fix it before we continued on, but man did we laugh about it. It was a real bra buster. That last pun was courtesy of Dana when I was telling her about the race. You can complain to her. :)

Then there were more hills. So many hills. I will say I was able to "cheat" on a lot of the obstacles, because of my height. I don't feel bad about this at all. Then there was a muddy pond we had to wade through before getting to one of the obstacles. That was fun.

Then more hills. Stupid hills. There was a water stop after the sloggy mud pond, which was amazing.

Then more small mountains. and then we were at the fire pit. It wasn't the fire trench I had envisioned. It was much, much smaller and oh so easy to jump over. I did not get a pic tho. I am slightly upset about this.

After the fire, was the wall climb. The obstacle I was the most afraid of, but I did it! I didn't die!

After the climb, it was a short jaunt over to the water slide, which was way higher than I thought it'd be. Did I mention, I'm afraid of heights? Like crippling so? My adrenaline was going full bore after the climb, because I was scared, but I also wasn't going to fail. Thankfully determination is stronger than my fear.

So we get to the top of the water slide, and I'm nervous, and then the stupid volunteer at the top says watch out for the snakes. What!?!?

He says the snakes in the water. I may have told him that I was climbing down then, I don't remember, but I do remember him recanting, and then pushing my fear of heights and snakes into the pit of my stomach, because my friend was waiting on me.

Then after the dunking, we got to wade through a mud pit, which was the best thing ever! I ended up with dirt in places that I didn't know existed, but it was so very fun!

I gotta say, one of the best parts about Warrior Dash is the free photos. It is kind of a pain to sort through all of them, because the search functionality is bollocks, but they're free!

This was hands down, one of the best races I've done. It was so fun, and I got to face some fears. I can climb a wall!

I would absolutely do this race again, and maybe next time I'll get the hubs and the boys involved. Baby Girl will have to wait a few years.

Cheers!