race (and vacation!) report: disney marathon relay

I just got back from six days in Disney World. Always a fun time!

This trip marks my third time traveling for Disney races — the Princess Half in 2009 and the Goofy Challenge in 2010. My Goofy Challenge partner joined me again to run the inaugural Marathon Relay this year. After two marathons and a 50K this fall, I was happy to “only” be doing a half marathon this trip.

We arrived in Orlando on Friday morning and got the (very crowded) expo taken care of. We were disappointed that there was no merchandise for the relay! Sure, it was smaller than the other races (we heard only about 1,000 teams were registered), but nothing? I would have liked a wine glass to go with the one I purchased for the marathon in 2010!

Friday night we hopped on a ferry boat from our resort to Downtown Disney, where we’d be meeting some bloggers/Tweeters at a meetup organized by Katy (the singing runner). Aside from my relay teammate, Katy was the only one I “knew” in our small gathering (originally planned for 14, we wound up with 7), but it was a lot of fun meeting new people!

We were exhausted after our day of travel, but still wanted to play and headed into the Magic Kingdom after dinner for a quick visit. Gotta squeeze in as many rides on Space Mountain as possible. It was lovely seeing the castle all lit up, but it’s January, Disney. Enough with the Christmas decorations and music!

We slept in a little on Saturday to recover from a busy day, and headed into Hollywood Studios. A somewhat smaller park, we were hoping not to wear ourselves out too much the day before our race. Plus we had an early (3:45pm!) dinner at the Italian restaurant there. Love my pre-race carbs. I couldn’t get a later dinner reservation, but it worked well. We were back to the hotel and asleep before 9pm.

With Disney races come early wake-up calls. Since we have to be on a bus by 4am, we were up at 2:30 to make sure we had time to get ready and eat breakfast without cutting it too close. I was happy for weather in the 50s at the start — chilly, but a big improvement from the below-freezing weather we had in 2010!

The lines for the port-o-pots seemed longer than they were last time around, but perhaps I waited to long. And then the walk to the start seemed more crowded and slower-moving. But that could be because I headed over later, since I was stuck in line for the bathroom. It wasn’t a bad wait, though, once I finally made it up to my corral!

Since I put in a half marathon time for placement among mostly full marathoners, I was a lot closer to the front than I otherwise would have been. Corral B! It was nice starting early. I was worried I might be too slow for this corral, but it was perfect. My pace fell right in with the crowd.

I’m still on a quest for a sub 2-hour half marathon … but I didn’t think Disney was the place for it. I haven’t been doing speedwork, but I did have a couple of good, fast 15Ks last month that made me think I might be able to do it. However, I could tell race day it wasn’t going to happen. I kept settling into a 9:30 pace, and I was OK with that. I wanted to be comfortable and enjoy myself!

As a marathoner, I felt a little lame just doing half the race. But I’ve done the whole thing here before… and it was pretty awesome knowing I was almost done once we got out of the Magic Kingdom. (Sorry full marathoners!)

My finish time was 2:04:08. That clocks in as my third-fastest half marathon, and my best time since 2010. Not bad!

Once I finished I grabbed some food and took a shuttle back to the marathon finish area to wait for my relay partner. I wandered around, sat in the sun, and watched the awards presentation. A little lonely, but it was still fun!

(outtake here!)

We didn’t leave until Wednesday afternoon, giving us plenty of time to play. I’m not sure when I’ll be back again, but I think I got my Disney fix for a while!

holiday running

My husband and I are both from New York, with most of our family still living in our home towns. But New York is a very large state. My parents’ Long Island town is about 400 miles from my in-laws’ homes in Western NY!

So, like many couples, we have to alternate who we visit for the holidays. This year we headed to what is normally snowy Rochester.

I was happy that there was no snow, and the forecast was looking pretty clear. I’d be able to go running!

We arrived on Thursday afternoon and spent the night at my father-in-law’s house.  He and his wife live quite close to the Irondequoit Zoo, where I’d run on some pathways during a previous visit. But I don’t know how I missed the pedestrian bridge across the river that led to miles of trails!

I was happy to find an official trail!

I started just across the river from #9 (the star), and ran north to #5.

It seemed a bit rainy in the morning, but it was nothing more than a misty drizzle when I headed out that quickly turned to light flurries. Beautiful! And it wasn’t even that cold out — a balmy 35F.

I wasn’t running fast, but I was having a great time. When I hit the base of a loop, it was right around the halfway point for my 8-mile goal, so I headed back.

At the half-way point

I saw another runner along this boardwalk path and wanted to see where it went, but knew I should head back. Even though I told them I’d be gone awhile and they should eat breakfast, I knew they were waiting for me!

Maybe next time ...

That afternoon we headed over to my mother-in-law’s house to spend Friday and Christmas Eve (we’d be back to FIL’s on Christmas day. Our schedule was a little weird to make sure we split time evenly!).  We had breakfast plans our first morning there, but I still had time to run! My mother-in-law’s neighborhood isn’t nearly as scenic  — just houses!  At least they had flat, wide sidewalks.

It was colder (23F!), and a dusting of snow had fallen the night before. Just enough to hide any icy spots on the sidewalk. Well, that was a REALLY slow run as I took care to keep my balance. I skidded a few times but managed to stay upright. I was glad I got some distance the day before, and just wanted a few miles.

I figured with our last day Christmas, and a long drive home the day after, that would be it for running, so that’s all I packed for. I relaxed and enjoyed time with family for the rest of our visit.

Hope you all had a great holiday! Did you keep active?

race report: marine corps marathon

Well, the race was a month ago. Oops. But I couldn’t skip the write-up!

The Marine Corps Marathon was only 15days after the Baltimore Marathon — my first time doing two marathons so close together! I’m happy with how I felt and ran on race day.

It was a very chilly morning — in the low to mid 30s in the pre-dawn hours. Since we were taking Metro to the start line and had a ways to go, we gave ourselves a lot of travel time. So of course we were in the start line area with two hours to spare.

I was glad I met up with some friends at the train, it would have been lonely passing all that time by myself! Well, at least we got there before there were lines at the port-o-potties. And in fact, I got to break in a pristine facility.  Once we were all set (for the time being), we huddled under a tent to try to stay a little warm as we waited.

Thankfully time seems to pass quickly. I ate my peanut butter sandwich. We made another trip to the port-o-pots. And then it was time to head to the start corrals!

It was my second MCM, and the second time I wound up on the wrong side of the fence while trying to seed myself. Maybe next time I’ll figure it out! We squeezed in as soon as we found a spot in a reasonable pace group. I knew I wasn’t going for last year’s speed, and lined up with my friends. We were different paces and split up within the first mile, but it was nice to start together.

I was trying to do a better job pacing myself than I did in Baltimore — where I tried to be slower in the first half, but was still probably running too hard, which made for a pretty miserable second half. I was barely looking at my pace at all during Marine Corps — I was focusing more on keeping my heart rate low. A new strategy for me, but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t pushing too hard!

I was hoping I’d be able to pick it up in the last 10K rather than fall apart.

And, well, it sort of worked.

Unlike Baltimore, where my walk breaks kept getting longer and more frequent, I kept them quick — just at the water stops –  and I resumed running soon after. I also felt good later in the race. I remember hating mile 17-18 in MCM last year (and in Baltimore it started around 16!), but I was still a happy runner this time around. I did stop briefly to stretch my hip, but got back on the road feeling OK pretty quickly.

This year, though, the bridge seemed a lot more awful than last year. Yeah, I did kind of hate the bridge this time around. But I felt better as we headed into Crystal City.

I willed my legs to move faster, and occasionally I’d glance down at my watch and my current pace *was* faster. But it seems I wasn’t holding it long enough to make a difference in my mile splits. Oh well.

Once again I was thankful for my Strider friends for being out there with gummy bears (and hugs).  Helps that they were around mile 23, so it meant I was almost done!

Those last few miles weren’t too bad, and I even managed to pick it up a little bit for the last two.  My last half mile (yikes! I tracked 26.51) wasn’t the sprint I can usually manage at the end … but I guess I probably was a little tired after a second marathon.

Overall time was 3:14 slower than Baltimore … but I was 5:26 slower than Baltimore at the halfway point.  Still not the negative splits I wished I could do, but at least I didn’t fall apart as badly!

The crowd at the finish was a lot worse than last year. Maybe because I was 25 minutes slower this year? I almost couldn’t hit the second mat due to a wall of people. And then it took forever to weave through the crowd to pick up food and get to the finish area.

I still love this race. I plan to be back in 2012!

Chip Time: 4:47:19
Overall Place: 11770 / 21023
Gender Place: 3916 / 8596
Division Place : 631 / 1309

race report: potomac heritage trail 50K

Yesterday I took on what is probably the most difficult challenge I’ve ever put my body through. There were times when I wanted to quit. There’s no shame — plenty of people cut the mileage short, and this low-key event doesn’t even record DNFs. They record how many miles you completed.

But I’m stubborn. And in the times when quitting was possibly an option, the thought ran through my head that if I didn’t finish the distance, then I would have to try again. And if I kept going, well, this could be my one and only ultramarathon.

I know at least during the first 10 miles as we ran from DC into Virginia, when I was still hanging with a nice woman experienced with this trail, there were people behind us. And while she charged forward when we hit the first rocky portions that slowed me down — trail inexperience plus the extra caution I was using — nobody passed me. Well, except for one woman who got lost and ran four extra miles by the time she passed me.

By the time we got to a short out-and-back portion that checked in at the same aid station around miles 17 and 20, I knew there was nobody else behind me. I saw all the other runners already on their way back.

I was alone. I was dead last. And I didn’t care.

My legs were aching, and I was barely running. The downhills started to hurt my knees, and the uphills just hurt everything. I would attempt to run whenever it was flat — but it was typically short-lived until I got to a stream crossing or rocky trail.

Most of my (limited) trail training was on fairly runnable trails. The only streams I’d crossed were so small you could probably jump over them. I didn’t know that much about this trail, but had seen some pictures of stream crossings and rocky terrain. I knew this was going to be a challenge, but I wasn’t prepared for how difficult this course was going to be!

Midway through probably the biggest climb of the course. I had been running along the river. Oh, and there used to be a handrail, but the boulder it was attached to collapsed in the earthquake.

I do think I got lucky — one picture from last year showed people actually wading in the water. We must have had more rain last year. I was happy there were always enough rocks to cross, and I only got my feet wet a tiny bit.

I did almost fall in a stream around mile 24, but since I caught myself, I find it funny.

Just after that crossing, I hit the last aid station. They cheered for me and offered me a ride if I wanted to call it quits. At the pace I was going, I risked not finishing before it got dark. One volunteer asked if I had a flashlight. I didn’t, just my phone’s flashlight app, assuming the battery didn’t die searching for signal in the woods.

There was no way I was going to get that close and quit. After a quarter of a PB&J sandwich and some peanut M&Ms,  I continued on the course and hoped for the best.

After crossing Chain Bridge,  I was able to run for a bit along the canal, until I got back into the woods and had a few more rocks to climb. The trails in DC are a little easier, though. While I was still walking a lot I attempted running more frequently. Still very slowly. But mentally, I was feeling better. I was in the home stretch.

It was starting to get darker, but there was enough light to see the chalk markings to find my way back. I was glad there were still people walking the trails, it might have been a little scary to be in the woods alone at dusk.

The last mile was in the street, so I didn’t have to worry about darkness anymore.

I made it.

Nine hours and six minutes later, I am an ultramarathoner.

race report: baltimore marathon

It was a beautiful, slightly-breezy morning in Baltimore on Saturday morning. I took the light rail train into the city, arriving about an hour before the start of the Baltimore Marathon.

I was surprised to find no lines at the port-o-pots. Excellent! I wandered around, chatted with runners, and made use of the facilities again (no lines at all!)  before it was time to walk over to the start. I ran into a friend and we chatted as we made our way to the start line on the other side of Camden Yards, but we were running different paces. Once we started running, I was on my own.

I know I said I was going to take it easy during this marathon. And for the most part, I did. I was quite a bit faster in the first half, but I never felt like I was pushing too hard — I just felt good! As we ran my pace matched up  with a college student running not just her first marathon, but her first race! We stuck together for a few miles and she was doing great.

Around mile four, we ran through the zoo. Zoo staff brought out animals so that was cool — I loved seeing a penguin and alligator along the course!

I know you’re never supposed to do anything new during a race … but when they had Dunkin Donuts munchkins at one of the water stops after the zoo, I had to grab a couple. Yum!

Though maybe they didn’t agree with me. I got a side-stitch during a rare downhill stretch around mile six or seven that I had to walk through. Someone asked me if I was OK even though I had only been walking a few seconds — I’m sure it was because he was wondering why anybody would ever walk DOWN a hill on this course! While I hated having to stop, it didn’t seem to hurt my pace much. I recovered and was able to resume running.

Around mile 12, there was a woman in the crowd cheering how great we were doing … and that we were almost done. Huh?  Some of the other runners and I yelled back, “No we’re not!” There was another spot on the course where a man was encouraging his toddlers to shout how we were almost done. Also not true. Just cheer us on and tell us we look awesome!

I hit the half marathon split just under 2:16. While not on pace with my PR (that I wasn’t going for, anyway),  it was definitely faster than I expected to go. Sure, my ‘A’ goal was a finish in the 4:30s … but I that would not fit with my ‘run easy’ approach.  I didn’t have to consciously slow my pace. The  was starting to get harder as we approached the halfway point.

I carried my water bottle, but was sticking to my plan to walk through the waterstops, grabbing Gatorade along the way. So by mile 15, when I noticed just a short line at the port-o-pots, I mad a pit stop.

Even before that stop, my pace was slowing down. Between the hills and the concrete streets, my body was aching. It was especially rough when the full and half marathoners merged.

The Baltimore Marathon is organized so that full and half marathoners finish together. The full marathon starts at 8am, and the half starts at 9:45. The courses are separate for the first three mile of the half marathon, and then they merge and run together to the finish from around mile 16 of the full marathon course.

For faster runners, they were being passed by half runners on fresh legs. But my pace group matched up with the the half marathon walkers. I was aching and desperately wanted to just start walking … and here were all these people walking around me. It was discouraging.

I managed to keep moving, though there was definitely a lot of energy wasted passing all of the walkers. Whenever I walk in races, I make sure I’m on the right or left side of the road so runners can get through … but it seems the straight walkers don’t practice the same etiquette.

So … I was tired and aching. My pace slowed so much during the 18-24 mile stretch that I’m sure my water-stop walk breaks got longer, and I added a few extra walks. This course is pretty challenging, and I was definitely feeling it!

I managed to pick up the pace a tiny bit for mile 25. As I was  approaching mile 26, a wave of emotion passed over me and I got a little teary. This was my fourth marathon, but its power has not worn off yet.

Mile 26 was almost back up to my earlier pace.   And for the final push (.39 on my Garmin) I was at my 5K-pace. For the last three minutes, I no longer felt any aches and pains. I was passing people left and right, and it felt amazing!

Chip Time: 4:44:05
Overall Place: 1976 / 3207
Gender Place: 657 / 1192
Division Place : 90 / 167

My ‘B’ goal was to come in under five hours. And I actually really wanted it to be at or under 4:45.

I’ll call this a success!

racing

Wow. Where have I been?

I think it’s no coincidence that I stopped blogging after my office moved. With a longer commute, I have to leave significantly earlier in the morning. Which means I have to go to sleep earlier at night.  There goes my computer time!

I ran a bunch of races in September that I wanted to write about. How my relaxed pace at the Virginia Beach Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon was so much more comfortable and fun than my just-failed attempt to go sub-two hours last year. How my first trail half marathon was A LOT harder than I expected, and I was actually happy with my 2:50 finish.  How fun it was to race and party in Nashville at the Women’s Half Marathon.

But I probably won’t get around to that.

Instead, I wanted to write about my marathon goals. Because holy cow, I’m running a marathon tomorrow!

A few months back I wasn’t sure the Baltimore Marathon was going to happen for me. But my foot got better, and I pretty much caught up with training.  Only one 20-miler and not as many as I would like in the 15 – 18 range, but I should be fine.

I’ve got the Marine Corps Marathon in two weeks, so I’m not planning on running too hard tomorrow. If I happen to feel comfortable at a fast pace, well that would be fabulous! But I’ll be taking walk breaks — definitely through all of the water stops, and possibly up hills.

I won’t go so far as to blog or tweet during the race … that’s too distracting. But I want to have a fun race tomorrow, where I don’t stress out about my pace. I’ll wear my Garmin, but I don’t have strict time goals.

I’m not planning on chasing last year’s 4:22:22 PR that blew my mind. If I can get in the 4:30 range, that would be awesome … but really, anything under five hours would be great too.

And if not, whatever. As long as I finish smiling!

Approaching the finish ... RnR Va Beach 2011

moving forward

Last week I started running again. Two short runs during the week went well — minimal pain and my legs felt good. While I could still feel that spot on my heel, it was only sporadic … and I didn’t have any pain afterwards.

I was a little nervous about my long run on Saturday. I joined a few people from my training group to run an 8K course that was mapped out for a race the next day.  It’s a cross country route, going through fields, asphalt and trails. While they’d be doing three loops, I figured I’d be happy with two.

I was hoping to run one loop and run/walk the second, but I felt good enough to run both (with walk breaks at the biggest hill … which I always walk even when racing this course).  While I was running out of steam at the end of the second loop, I finished only a minute slower than the first. I’ll call that a successful run!

Still, I’m a bit behind in marathon training. I took off three full weeks, plus the last week before the break I cut my long run in half. I know I need to be careful as I jump back into training.

While my long runs aren’t where I want them to be at this point, my base was good up until my injury. I’m optimistic that  I’ll still be able to get back on track, but I am also aware I may have to make some changes.

When looking at my calendar this week, I realized I have a conflict on the day of the 50K I wanted to run.  Turns out I have a choral performance that night; there’s no way I will be able to be ready to perform at 8pm. The race is an hour away, starts at 8am, and has an eight-hour time limit (that I may need to use all of — being my first ultra, I have no idea!).

So now I have a decision.  Do I want to find another 50K? There happens to be one the next day in Virginia, though again the concert the night before is not ideal race prep. There’s another nearby in December , but then my marathon placement isn’t right.

With my training setback, I also realize that this might not be my time for a 50K. I can try again next year or in the spring.

But where does that leave my marathons?

I originally was only going to do Baltimore (October 15), but added Marine Corps (October 30) thinking it would be a good training run for the 50K.

Without a 50K, do I still want to run two marathons in two weeks?

I can drop Baltimore to the half but would have to decide soon — once the race is sells out (it’s close!) I won’t be able to switch. If I do drop to the half, it gives me more time to get into marathon shape for Marine Corps.

Then again, my mileage will be up to ~20 miles by then anyway … so I can change my strategy and run Baltimore as a training run.

Or I can drop Baltimore to the half, run Marine Corps, and add a late-November marathon to train for the December 50K.

What would you do?

I’m pretty sure I’ve made up my mind as I’ve been typing up these scenarios, but you may be able to talk me into a more-sensible (or ridiculous!) decision!

not according to plan

I’m six weeks into a 22-week plan for a busy fall schedule:

• Baltimore Marathon – October 15
• Marine Corps Marathon – October 30
• Veteran’s Day 50K – November 12

This will be my first time running a 50K, and my first time running two marathons so close together. I’m a little nervous, but was excited to start training. The first three weeks felt great, and I was happy with my mileage.

But that 15-mile week was not supposed to be a cutback week.

I started having some pain in my foot, kind of on the inside of my heel. It would sometimes feel a little better after I warmed up, but it was still noticeable. It wasn’t stopping me from running, but it was concerning. I only ran six miles on my scheduled 12-mile day.

I took a few days off and went on a trial run the following week, but I cut it short after only one mile. I’ve run through my share of minor aches and pains, but this foot thing wasn’t going away. I was not only worried about making it worse. I also worried I might change my gait and hurt something else. More rest was needed.

Fortunately, I had a vacation planned. We spent all of last week on Hatteras Island — part of North Carolina’s Outer Banks. While I usually enjoy my beach runs, this summer they were replaced by long bike rides.

We spend our days reading either on the decks of our rental house or at the beach, so I didn’t have to spend too much time on my feet. Walking on the sand was a bit painful, but fortunately not too long of a walk.

I’m hopeful that it’s starting to feel better, though I won’t know for sure until I try running again. I’ll go on a short trial run in a couple days, and then decide if I can gradually start running again.

Hopefully rest will be enough, but I’ll see a doctor if it isn’t better soon.

In my eight years running, this is the first time an injury has made me stop running completely. It’s hard seeing people out there enjoying their runs. I miss it!

i can’t hear you

“I can’t hear you, my  music is too loud,” said the girl to her friend during the Baltimore 10 Miler.

The running-with-headphones debate has probably been around as long as there have been portable music players, but it’s definitely been at the forefront the last few years.

I usually don’t run with music, mainly because I usually run with people. It feels antisocial to play music. We usually talk throughout our run, and even though I could always leave an earbud out, I’d just as soon run without.

I’ve gotten so used to running without music that sometimes I forget it when I’m running alone. I don’t mind listening to my footsteps, but music surely does make the time go by faster and help keep you moving. Whenever I’m running in roads, I only use one earbud to make sure I can hear traffic and people around me. Safety first!

Headphones are often banned from races, but I rarely see it enforced.  (Though I have spoken with a race director who says she has disqualified people after giving them a warning.)  I always go without during races — you definitely miss out on the atmosphere, especially if there are bands on the course!

Recently, a friend was trying to pace off me for a half marathon since she has a history of going out too fast. She was with me for the first four miles or so (that were downhill), but my pace slowed as we started climbing. She kept going, but didn’t realize she left me in the dust since she had her iPod playing. Later, she ran out of steam. I passed her walking near mile 10, and ended up beating her by eight minutes.

I’ve tried to start conversations with runners wearing Maryland shirts when I’ve traveled to races, only to have them not hear me. And in races twice this spring, I witnessed music-listening runners have to be grabbed by other runners to get out of the way of emergency vehicles. One time, it was a closed course and the vehicle was a cart transporting an injured runner. The other, though, the roads were open and she was running beyond the traffic cones. Very dangerous!

If you always run with music, give it a break one day. Sometimes it’s nice to listen to nature!

And if you must wear headphones on roads or in races, please be careful. Make sure you can hear what’s going on around you!

race report: warrior dash!

On Sunday, May 22, I joined my friends for a road trip to Mechanicsville, MD to go play in the mud!

I’ve never been one to like getting dirty, but when they suggested signing up for the Warrior Dash months ago, I just had to be a part of it. Hello, fuzzy warrior helmets to all racers? Oh yeah.

I wasn’t so sure how all the obstacles were going to go, and wasn’t at all prepared for running in the mud … but I’m happy to report all went well and I loved every muddy minute!

Before. My friends decided tutus would be a good idea.

We lined up in the corral before our 1pm start and waited for the countdown. When they hit zero and started shooting fire in the air, we were on our way into the woods!

It was dry for a bit and a little dusty, but the mud wasn’t far away. I giggled when a girl shouted “Ew, it’s muddy!” near the start. I don’t think that was even an intentional puddle! I wonder how she made out …

It wasn’t long before we were struggling to keep our shoes on in thick mud that one racer likened to cake batter. Only I had to comment that it wasn’t nearly as delicious. (In fact, the mud was rather stinky.)

Through the mud, and then through a nearly-dry stream bed (there was shallow water flowing — it actually felt great!), we wound our way through the woods until we hit our first obstacle — bungee cords above and below that we had to climb through. The runners were so packed together that it felt like a teambuilding exercise. We had to help each other out. It was easier being short since I barely had to worry about the bands, but an unfortunate guy next to me accidentally took a band to the head!

I managed to stay upright as we ran through sloppy trails, except for a little slip where I needed to put my hand down to catch myself. And touch the mud — ick! But only moments later we were crawling on our hands and knees through the blackout tent.  It was constructed so you had to crawl or else you’d hit the beams (there were lights so you could see enough), though I found I could move quicker if I crouched and kept my knees off the ground!

There were also a series of barricades we had to hoist ourselves over. They were over waist height (for me!) so it took a bit of effort, and there were mud puddles to land in. Some with deeper holes. Everyone warned the people behind them about the deeper spots so I tried to land on on the shallow side for one of them. Only that plan failed. My right foot found the deep spot, and my left knee and leg hit the ground of the shallow side. It stung for a minute, and at one point I could see I was bleeding, but it fortunately was just a few minor scrapes.

Out of the woods, we had to climb over a cargo net. There was a bit of a holdup here. While it wasn’t that high, you could tell people were just freezing up and having a hard time getting over the top. Yes, it was a tiny bit scary but I had no trouble with it when I finally got my turn!

Then we had some mediocre obstacles — climbing hay bales, running through tires (though I walked, as I was sure my mud-caked body would be more likely to fall!), and a “cliff” to climb that included a rope to help us up … though it was just a wood ramp that barely needed rope assistance.

Running through the field of swinging tires was a little weird, but OK. We had some steep dirt (not mud, thankfully!) hills to run up (part of the race course was on a motocross track), where I did more walking.  And at the top there was a water slide!

There was another holdup here, as the race staff made us all stop and wait while they fixed the tarp. After a short delay, I headed down the hill. Really fast! There was a large rut on the ride side that I slid into. I tried to stay seated but fell to my back, where I managed to chafe four spots along my spine. Ouch!

Some more hills, and then we had to jump over a few rows of fire. They were pretty low to the ground, so not too scary! And then the final obstacle — the mud pit! You couldn’t get out of this one clean as they had barbed wire across the top. We had to get on our hands and knees again! Though I found it was quicker to just pull myself through the water with my elbows.

Almost done!

Out of the mud, and the finish line was right there. Woo-hoo!

I saw my friend with his camera and made sure I finished strong!

That tutu will never be the same again.

That was so much fun. And actually, a bit easier than I expected.

But I’ll definitely do that again!