As the first wave of squalls from Hurricane Irene started to hit Raleigh, Jenster evacuated west to Charlotte with 2 missions:
1. Party up with my Charlotte friends
2. Complete the Warrior Dash with my trainwreck work friends without injury
Upon arrival at my Charlotte host’s home, we started attacking mission #1. Obviously the partying up on Friday night was going to be limited – it’s too warm for hungover running (hungover running in the cold usually works for me!), and I only intended on buying one round. However, the Party Gods threw a curve ball in that plan when I closed out the first of what turned into many rounds.
I am morally obligated to drink more after getting this tab!.
I have no idea what time I passed out but the night was full of dreams about missing the race. Not cool! So when the 7:30 alarm hit I popped up. Our wave wasn’t until 11, but when I signed up for Warrior Dash in December, 11 was the earliest wave. My friend, Ellie, is one of those weirdo early birds and wanted to try for an earlier wave (you may remember Ellie – I kept her company on her first half marathon). I met Ellie and her sister at their hotel and we carpooled together. The race charged a $10 parking fee. Wow these people know how to make money.
Parking was fairly painless and packet Pickup was uneventful, which was awesome given the number of people.
The waiver for this thing was ridic! I havent had to initial so much since I closed on my condo!
Ellie and I amused ourselves while waiting for Julie and her sister.
Me and Ellie getting ready for battle
Cant keep the horny chicks off me
Yes, My shirt says Dirty For 30! Bday is actually 9/3 but close enough!!!
Mass Casualty Evacuation Transport. Thats comforting.
Finally the group is together!
We ended up in the 11am wave anyway, which was good because my hangover had subsided during the wait (SCORE!). We agreed to try to stay together but as the corral started to crowd, we decided to run, and wait for each other at the obstacles.
I felt really good during the mile run to the first obstacle. I got passed a lot in the first 400 meters but passed more and more people as I worked my way up. I didnt wear a garmin but I was feeling like I was in a really great groove. I honestly wished it was a straight running day because I was feeling so good. I reached the first obstacle…and waited.
Cheering and commenting on costumes was fun, but I was eager to tackle the obstacle course. Once the group was whole again, we worked on jumping over waist high walls and crawling under barbed wire…followed by climbing in and out of dumpsters and running through tires. I was disappointed with how easy it was. Granted I had the rest…but I felt like I was just throwing my leg over or hopping slightly.
The rest of the race was the same – run to an obstacle, wait for the group. I wonder how hard it would have been without the breaks…but I know the obstacles wouldnt have been as fun alone. It was like being in elementary school again and playing on the playground – playgrounds are not fun alone!!! Honestly, I had fun with my friends, but I was disappointed with the lack of a challenge. I wanted to be sore, tired, spent…..something!! Instead, I felt ehhhhhhhh.
My good side.
If you want to experience Warrior Dash:
- Run a mile around a play ground
- Climb the jungle gym a few times
- Do the monkey bars
- Run another mile
- climb the cargo net then slide down a pole.
- Find an empty dumpster and climb in and out of it 4 times
- Run another mile
- Wade through a nasty pond that smells like cow poop
- Play on the playground some more
- Roll through some mud
- Put on a furry helmet because you’re a Warrior!
Again I know I had breaks, but I was expecting to have sore arms after. I ended up going to Body Pump the next day and adding to my reg weight on the arm tracks!! WD is nothing compared to a sprint tri or an aquathon. After RunDanRun’s post about Tougher Mudder claiming marathons were for sissies and they offered the real challenge, I’m calling shenanigans (I know its an ad…but what liars!!!). There’s no way Tougher Mudder is harder than even a half-marathon unless their obstacles are a squillion times harder….because I def could have done WD 4 more times.
Dirty with the girls
Obviously I dont think it was very physically demanding (but I dont think that it was made for short legged peeps!). I hope that means my weight training has paid off! But I dont think so. I use my legs when I climb – my arms are just for balance. I’m gonna keep lifting. Hopefully soon I can say I’m officially Nitro-ed for Philly. I need to fill out my Gladiator cosume 😉
Jenster's Adventures 