Warrior Dash Recap

one of the Craziest Frickin' Days of My Life!!!

Saturday was Warrior Dash and TGIM and I killed it on the course. If you're not familiar with Warrior Dash it is a 5k with a series of obstacles along the route that include rope climbing, mud, water and all other kinds of craziness.

The run started with us being corralled at the starting line for our 9:00am heat. We all counted down and headed out for about a half mile run until we came to our first obstacle the "Rubber Ricochet". This was a bunch of tires hanging from ropes that you had to navigate through all while running through tires. It wasn't too hard except when you were swinging tires one way someone else was swing their tires your way so you could have potentially gotten your head knocked by a tire. I was savvy enough to avoid that.It was like this only with tires on the ground too!

The next obstacle was Road Rage. We had to run over cars and then run through tires. This too wasn't very difficult. You just had to make sure you didn't slip when you were on top of the cars. After making my way over two cars and a shit ton of tires, the course wound its way down a ravine and into a lake. TGIM was about six people ahead of me until we got into the water then I was right behind him. He turned around to warn me about a huge rock he had just tripped on and just then I tripped over the rock. Thinking that it was just a big rock, I went to go step over it but this wasn't just any rock. It was long, jagged and rectangular so every time I went to try to go over the rock I'd fall. At one point, I reached out while falling and grabbed the back of Brian's shorts and pulled them down. By this time I am chest deep in the water doggie paddling and the man next to me grabbed my arm and pulled me up to shore. Thank goodness for strong Warriors.

After about another quarter mile run we hit our next obstacle which was an A framed structure that you had to climb up one side and repel down the other side on a rope. I don't know how to repel so once I got up the one side and started to go down the rope, I just slid down the rope causing some terrible rope burns. These rope burns I sustained at the beginning of the course, caused me a lot of pain along the rest of the obstacles.

The next obstacle was the "Chaotic Crossover" which was a cargo net laid out vertically about four feet above the ground. It took some common sense to figure this one out which I noticed many of the Warriors that were dashing did not have. The best way to cross over this obstacle is on all fours crawling. But there were some people trying to scoot on their butt, walk up right or slither across like a snake. I used the support beam in the center as stabilization and crawled across on all fours. I was across Chaotic Crossover in no time.

At this point the obstacles were spaced out a little closer together so it made me think less about running and more about climbing. My hands were blistering from sliding down the ropes so climbing the next obstacle "Giant Cliffhanger" wasn't easy.

I think this was one of the harder ones for me because I had to use my upper body strength to pull myself up the angled wall which causes you to be in a really awkward position in which your butt is sticking out and you're kinda hunched over. But, I got up it relatively fast and I thought TGIM was still waiting to go up so once I got over it I looked back only to find him standing ahead of me waiting on me! He's such a gentle Warrior always waiting for me to make sure I made it over the obstacles safely!

By this time I was sweating, tired and thirsty. I walked to the next stop which was a series of chains we had to go through and then wade across a mucky river. Most of the times when we reached an obstacle we had to wait on other people to complete it before we had a chance to get our turn. It wasn't a long wait but everyone would rush to the next thing and then we'd have to stand there for a minute. It gave us time to catch our breath. Trudging through the mucky river wasn't bad. But some people were acting like they didn't want to get wet. It's Warrior Dash. Jump in! Get dirty! And Go!!!

After coming out of the second water/mud run my shoes were feeling heavy. My clothes were soaking wet and it made trying to get myself over the other obstacles kinda tricky. But, relief came when I reached a tube that was filled with mud that we had to slide through like an enclosed slide into a bunch of mud and netting that we then had to crawl past. This one wasn't hard so I was able to regain my composure and get my head back into the running game.

We ran down a paved trail which was nice because most of the time along the run it was gravel or grass and I had not been used to running on that surface. I eventually came to a rock climbing wall which is scurried up and over in no time and then came the hardest obstacle of the day for me.

It was another rope wall only the rope was hanging about six feet up from the ground. So, in order for me to grab onto the rope I had to jump up, grab the rope and then try to pull myself up the rope on the vertical wall. This wasn't easy. It's really hard to jump up, grab a rope, hold on and pull yourself up. It took me about two tries to jump up and reach the rope and be able to hold on long enough to pull myself up to the top platform. Once I got to the top the only way down was to slide down a pole. Easy enough, right? Well, I wrapped my legs around the pole and went to slide down but before I could even think I was hitting the ground with so much force TGIM was sure I had broken my tailbone. I guess I will never be a stripper!

Next was the cargo net that was easy to get up if you stay to the sides were the wooden beams were. I was up and over that in less than a minute and then it was time to jump over two large bonfires that the flames were about three feet off the ground. I think my inner thighs got singed. And now this is where the competition between TGIM and I gets tricky.

TGIM was ahead of me the whole race by maybe a car length. He'd reach and obstacle, conquer it and then wait for me to make sure I got over it before he continued on. He seemed to think that after he jumped over the fire the race was over even though the finish line was clearly indicated with a huge FINISH banner and a gigantic mud pit. TGIM says when he jumped over the fire he heard a beep which made him think time had stopped so he started to walk. I, on the other hand, knew I still needed to go through the mud pit so I started sprinting it leaving TGIM in the dust.

As I got to the mud pit there were chains and barbed wire hanging low to the ground so you had to squirm under the chains into the mud to get through it. I was excited about getting down and dirty even more so I dove right under the barbed wire and wriggled my way through the mud like I had been living in mud my whole life. Once I got out I ran as fast as I could to the finish line and completed my first Warrior Dash in 50 minutes and nine seconds. My goal was to complete it in an hour and it felt great attaining my goal!! TGIM followed up behind me with a time of 50 minutes and 28 seconds. We were both covered in mud and could hear the Marble's cheering us on as we came across the finish line. It was a really fun time and I strongly encourage everyone to find a Warrior Dash event in their area and sign up!!!