Monday, August 1, 2011

I can barely walk today.

This is what happens when you significantly undertrain for something called "The Warrior Dash".  The race was only a 5k, but with the heat, hills, uneven terrain, and obstacles, it wasn't really conforming to my recent couch loving lifestyle.

Stitz and Jarrett came in from StL, and Mulbery and I repped KC.  Off we went at 2pm, in the blazing sun on Saturday.  It was HOT.  Especially to be running in a field, with lots of humidity.  I remembered from running triathlons that it's better to douse your head and keep your core temperature down than it is to drink lots of water and get an upset stomach.

The race started underneath a banner with a giant flamethrower, just in case we weren't hot enough.  And it started uphill.  We hit our first obstacle about 1/2 mile into the race, and it was a bunch of barriers that you had to alternate going over them and under them.  I'm happy I'm not 5' tall, that's all I'm saying.  Short people were at a disadvantage for this race.  Anyway, the next mile or so had some creek crossings, which everyone took advantage of to get soaked/cool.  That worked great, until you had to scramble for 200-300 through rocky, greasy mud.  How there weren't people with twisted/broken ankles all over the place is no small miracle.

There were lots of hills, and a few more obstacles to negotiate before the finish.  There was a tire agility drill that was about 25 yards long, and a few rope obstacles that you had to manage either climbing over or climb across on your hands and feet, and a few 2x6 crossings where you got about 7-8 feet up in the air.  There was also a giant pile of hay you had to climb up and over, and 20-25' rope wall you had to up and over, and then jumped over fire, and dive through a mud pit with barbed wire over your head.  You can see some of that in the video below.

The toughest part was standing in line for the hose truck, as one poor guy tried to get people moderately cleaned off while the mob was angry at everyone for taking so long to get out of the way.  We probably stood there for 40 minutes.  Hopefully they brought up another hose truck for Sunday, as it was much hotter.  When we pulled up in the buses there were two hose trucks, but I don't know what happened to the 2nd one when we needed it.

It was fun, indeed.  But I am sore and will be for awhile.  I need to spin out on the bike tonight, and I'm hoping that I can make it to the car after work.  I'm going to stiffen up sitting here in my chair of despair.

Enjoy the vid, and the crazy-ass hot weather if you are in the Midwest.  I am envious of my friends in Canada who read this blog.  Summer is vastly over-rated.

 

No comments:

Post a Comment