A day of mud and water and friends

Pre-Dash

Warrior Dash 2012 – check.  What a blast!  Aside from the no joke 1+ mile hill that starts the course, that is.  I had heard some grumbling about the previous day’s Dash.  Apparently there were some serious bottlenecks at the obstacles and competitors who were reaching for personal records were thwarted with waits of up to 20 minutes.  Luckily, Karen and I had registered for the second wave of the day on Sunday and we experienced only minimal delays on a couple of the (surprisingly) fun climbing walls or water-based challenges.

This was my second year earning horns and I have to agree with other participants that there could have been more variety in the obstacles.  I really enjoyed the walls that had to be scaled – and heights are not really my thing. It just felt good to hold that rope and pull my body up and over those wooden walls – very empowering!   The mud was kind of stinky and I am convinced that one of the pits we had to wade through doubled as the dumping ground for the porto-potties.  Proving that I am even more of an idiot than I am a warrior, I swam right through it anyway.

There had been a healthy rainfall the previous day and I often wondered during the run how much of the mud was natural and how much was manmade.  Believe me, there was plenty o’mud to go around!  I came this close to wiping out during my last mile as I slipped on some pesky mud, but, I remained on my feet and recovered with only a slightly wrenched shoulder (naturally, my bad shoulder).  It ain’t easy being a warrior!  Other injuries include a bloody knee due to my graceful, yet balls out, belly flop technique to negotiate the water slide and a bruised tailbone from sliding down a wooden “bridge” on my boney ass.  Medals of honor, that’s what I call them!

We are dirty girlz!

We stuck around post-run to grab some photos and drink some beers. The weather was perfect, not too hot or humid and the crowd was really fun.  I have to say, it isn’t often that I have that good of a time busting my ass on a Sunday morning before noon!  I got some great pics for the Times Union SEEN gallery – check them out here.

I ended my day being completely pampered at my friend Will’s place.  He set me up on a water rotation of outdoor shower, a dip in the pool, lazing on a chaise, another dip, a soak in the hot tub, and a final outdoor shower.  I felt completely spoiled and utterly indulged in h2o after my day’s adventures. Bathed in mud and showered by a friend’s thoughtfulness – what a spectacular day!