Warrior Dash Aftermath

My first Warrior Dash is complete. 3.2 miles and 11 obstacles of EPIC. Check it out. (You can click on the images to see them bigger and in theater mode.)

The full course. We were supposed to have 2 more
obstacles - not sure why those were cut.

These are the thumbnails and descriptions for the obstacles we had.
FYI, Hell's Hill consisted of a big, steep hill and ropes to help us get up.

My official time was 46:37, averaging a 14:34-minute mile. Considering all the hills, the obstacles, and my preexisting crummy endurance levels, I call this a win. It placed me in the top third of female participants in the 20-29 age bracket, and in the top 39% of all 3,589 participants. More importantly, it placed me 2nd in the little group of friends I was running with. Pride = satisfied. (Now I can turn my competitive mindset back on myself!)

My clothes got a healthy coating of mud, of which there was plenty. In addition to the mud-specific obstacles, the whole trail was damp from a thorough dousing over an hour before our noon race time. I still need to hose off my shoes (and probably wash them after), but I got the rest of my clothes and my towels clean. Well, sort of. Anything white is now dingy (lucky I don't care). I had to wash that load twice, wiping the dirt out of the washing machine between cycles.

These are officially stained with awesome. (Also known as mud.)

Race bib, mud-stained socks, and finisher's medal.

That medal, while awesome, is not a prize or anything. It's a finisher's medal - we all get one. But, as participation awards go, this one is pretty frikkin' cool.

I prefer "conquered."

Finishers were supposed to get a free turkey leg and a free beer - I promise that's what was advertised at first, despite what the website says now - but we soon found out the turkey leg wasn't free. Oh well. One of my friends bought one anyway, and we all enjoyed our free beers.

Turkey leg! Beer! Fuzzy viking hat!

It was absolutely frigid outside (low 60s). Middle of the day, and I could see my breath, which usually doesn't happen until winter is upon us. Now, before the race, I thought this was perfect. I wasn't too cold, and I knew that cooler weather meant a better run. And I was right - I didn't notice the cold at all while I was running and sloshing through mud, or even when I jumped into some water that, in retrospect, was very cold. But after I finished the race and had a couple minutes to cool down, the temperature hit me hard. Getting dry(er) helped, but I definitely should have brought a sweatshirt and some sweatpants. I'll remember next year, that's for sure! (I wound up wearing the jacket in the picture for a while.)

The Warrior Dash was a lot of fun, and I'm really glad I did it. I'm happy with my time, but I know I can do better. I remember from my Cross-Country days that if you've still got energy left at the end, you didn't give enough in the race, and I could've gone at least another obstacle-laden mile. I did a lot of walking, too, which I discovered I actually didn't need to do much of once I caught sight of my friendly competition (he was jogging along, which meant I had to jog, too). I think I can shave 5-10 minutes off my time next year.

Hopefully there will be a race in Warrior, AL again next year. If there is, I'll have a better idea of how to train for the course. (Lots and lots of hill runs. Bleh.) Until then, I'll keep building strength and endurance! Warrior lifestyle, right? :)