Crawfordsville, Indiana Warrior Dash Reflections

So, I posted in great detail about the warrior dash earlier this week but I wanted to do a post that was more about my thoughts of the race as well as the "official stats".

         (yes, I realize this has my full name on it, but you could find that info anyway!)

Finishing time: 41:14.45 (this is slow due to stopping for pics, a tangled camera, and eventually a camera lost in the mud)
Age Group: 98 of 723
Gender: 376 of 2795
Overall: 2024 of 6726

Overall, I was very happy with this race.  I was impressed at how smoothly things went on race day.  I wish I would have run a faster time, but I knew going in this race wasn't about setting a PR - it was all about having a good time.  That being said, I don't think I had as much fun as you could have at this race for several reasons.
1.  I did the race alone.  I wasn't able to find someone to go with me.  I think this is the type of race that is more fun run with a group of friends.  Plus, running partners would also double as great event photographers.  I think the pictures would have been much more awesome with two or three of us taking pictures (especially of each other). It was impossible to get pictures of myself doing the obstacles, which would have been awesome!
2.  I did the race at 8 am.  I signed up for the earliest wave available because I wanted to be done early to avoid the heat, plus we had a family get together we needed to be at, it was a 5 hour car ride away.  I also did this because I was afraid of some of the obstacles.  I figured the earlier I went, the less likely that the obstacles would be messy, and less muddy = less slippery!

While I was right about the lack of mud on the obstacles, I felt like I missed out by being in an early wave.  It was a VERY small group - maybe 60-75 people.  This was great because it meant that the course wasn't crowded, but it meant that the excitement wasn't nearly as high.  I think I missed out on a huge part of the event by being in that small wave.  Next time I will opt for a late morning time - say 10 am or so?  This would allow you to be done before it was terribly hot but you would also get the benefit of having more people in your wave.  As far as the obstacles, they may be more muddy later in the day but I didn't think they were that difficult to begin with, so I think I would be okay.   I also plan to make a day of it next time, I would have loved to have stayed around for the "after party."  I think when you do this type of race thats a huge part of it.  Ah well, live and learn.  Overall I would give the race 9/10 stars (they lose a star for an inadequate warrior wash station).  However, MY race experience was probably a 7/10 (due to my circumstances, nothing to do with the race). 

Luckily, I didn't have nearly the injuries or soreness that I was anticipating.  After a weekend in Michigan, I came back and had to get back on my half marathon training schedule.  I ran my 4 miles Monday evening, it did not go well and I was dreading the rest of the week.  However, I was able to redeem myself with a nice easy 5 mile run on Wednesday morning.  I was scheduled to run 4 miles and ended up running 5 and I probably could have run more without fatigue!

Thursday evening I did a run/walk combo with the half marathon class - we did 4 miles with about 1 mile of it being running.  This was a bit less running that I would have liked, but it was for great reason.  We were with the "north class" so we spent a ton of time chatting and getting to know them.  It was great to meet a few more runners who are trying to prep for the same race I am.  I would be thrilled if I could find someone to run with (at least for my long runs)!

I have 10 miles scheduled for tomorrow morning and I am absolutely petrified that it will not go well.  I am planning to go to bed early tonight so that I can get enough sleep but I have spent most of the last two days outside supervising the install of our association playground.  I am nursing sunburn and feel dehydrated!   I will be pumping the fluids tonight in the hopes of getting myself fully hydrated before my run tomorrow.   I plan a blog post for tomorrow to document how it goes.  Say a prayer for me?  Mentally, I really need a good long run to prove to myself that I can do this!

I am a Warrior

This will be a long winded and picture heavy post, I apologize in advance. All pictures are "clickable" if you want to see them larger.

We drove down to Crawfordsville Friday evening so that we would not have to wake up uber early to arrive for my 8 am wave. We went to bed kind of late, but I managed to drag my butt out of bed at about 5:20 so that I could run a mile on the treadmill to wake up and get my body moving in preparation for the race. After getting myself and the family ready we headed out around 6:30 to find the race location. We arrived just before 7 am which was perfect timing.

The parking was run very smoothly. There were no backups and they had tons of people directing you to where they wanted you to park. I was sort of annoyed that it cost $10 to park, but I knew about this in advance. It would be nice if they would just somehow build this into the fee they charge you online. After parking we got the stroller and kids all set and we were off to packet pickup. Again, everything was running VERY smoothly. This could be because it was early and there were so few people there, but from what I have heard, it ran smoothly all day. The race packet included a timing chip (which doubled as a free beer token), bib number, t-shirt, and a fuzzy warrior helmet. After picking this up we headed over to the Warrior Store because I wanted to buy some race gear. I know, lame! Falling for the merchandising, but oh well - won't need to buy next time. I ended up spending $50 to buy a track jacket, tank top, decal, and eye blacks. I honestly felt the prices were pretty reasonable for race memorabilia.

After spending hubby's money I decided to find him a place to sit with the kiddos. They had benches to sit on near the mudpit so that's where we stationed him and the kids. I wish that they would have had something between the mud pit and the fire so that he could have gotten photos of both obstacles. After putting on my bib and timing chip we took a few more pictures and it was time for me to head off. I visited the porta-potty and then went to the start corral. I knew there weren't many people in my wave, but I was sort of disappointed by how few people there were. I think there were maybe 50-60 people max. I talked with someone for a few minutes - it was her first time and she was about as nervous as I was. She said that she didn't want to finish last - I told her my strategy was that if I was slow enough it would just look like we were part of the next wave, haha. It ended up being that I didn't need to employ this strategy, but it was a nice back-up plan in my head.

(note: this pic is not my wave)

8:00 came and we were off. Because the wave was so small there wasn't a whole lot of crowding of the course which was nice, I decided to just take is slow and easy to start with. I wanted to make sure I could finish the race without walking except for at the obstacles. We ran for what felt like forever before we hit an actual obstacle. However, there were some massive up and down hills that I was not expecting. It was kind of funny to me that I was doing exactly the opposite of most people - most were walking the uphills and barreling down the hills. I was much more able to run up the hills but then practically slid down the hills on my butt for fear of injuring my knees. Well, thats not true but I was VERY slow and VERY careful. Now, they said there were only 12 obstacles in an interview I saw on tv, but I counted 14..?

Obstacle #1 - Cliffhanger (?)

I was terrified of this steep downhill, the pictures dont do it justice. For someone with bad knees, steep hills are bad enough, but ones that are dirt and crumble with each step are even worse. I finally got up the nerve and scooted on my butt and grabbed a rope and started my descent. Somehow I managed to get my camera looped around the rope here so I lost some time getting it untangled.

Obstacle #2 - Deadman's Drop

This was an unexpected obstacle and not on our course map. I banged up my shin on this one - my first and worst warrior injury.

Obstacle #3 - Blackout

This was easy, but this was the site of my second injury - a small cut on my knee.

Obstacle #4 - Chaotic Crossover

This was just a horizontal cargo net but it was harder than I was expecting. However I managed to get across pretty effectively and quickly.

Obstacle #5 - Arachnophobia

Not sure this was much of an obstacle, but hey, they call it one. The ropes were way too easy to get through, the "tangled" pattern was super easy to get through.

Obstacle #6 - Rio Dash

We actually crossed a river twice in addition to this "rio dash" but I am counting this as the official obstacle because we had to run down the stream for a longer distance.

Obstacle #7 - Not sure what this is called

Another unexpected obstacle, but it was easy peasy, didn't even use the ropes, ran right up.

Obstacle #8 - Shipwrecked

This obstacle wasn't terribly difficult but still a bit harder than I was expecting.

Obstacle #9 - Teetering Traverse

This was the final unexpected obstacle much easier than I would have expected, guess my balance is better than it used to be.

Obstacle #10 - Barricade Breakdown

Again, not terribly difficult, you had to go over the wall and then under then barbed wire. I managed to rip my bib on this obstacle so the number wasn't showing. Somehow in the middle of the race, I was aware enough to think about the fact that if my bib number wasn't showing it might be hard to find my pics, so I managed to re-pin it while running to the next obstacle.

Obstacle #11 - Great Warrior Wall

This was the obstacle I was most worried about. I am afraid of heights and after hearing about people getting hurt falling off this wall it made me even more nervous. I had hoped that i would be able to climb this wall using the footholds as hand holds too, but I quickly realized that wasn't possible so I grabbed the rope and scrambled up the wall much easier than I thought I would. I even stopped at the top to take a picture of myself, too bad you couldn't tell that I was on top of a 16 foot wall! Going down the back was super easy and I was off to the next obstacle.

Obstacle #12 - Cargo Climb

I was glad they had this back to back with the great warrior wall, I still had the courage from having just done the wall so I didn't even hesitate to climb right up. I felt like I went up this pretty quickly, but I did stop near the top to snap a picture. Again, its hard to tell I was at the top of the cargo net, but at least I have something to remember it by.

Obstacle #13 - Warrior Roast

I was really looking forward to this, I did a really high gazelle type leap over the first set of flames. I obviously didn't realize they took the picture of you jumping the second set of flames so I didn't do a cool jump the second time... oops. Thank goodness my running skirt has attached shorts underneath because it flew up when I leaped over the flames.

Obstacle #14 - Muddy Mayhem (lots of pictures because I couldn't decide!)

I wasn't really worried about this obstacle, I figured it would be hard, but not that difficult. Unfortunately I didn't get any tips from anyone before hand. I stepped into the mud pit and sank past my knee. I got scared when my second step had my sinking even further. Finally someone in the crowd screamed to swim not try to walk. That strategy worked well, but of course I had already lost quite a bit of time. Then near the end my camera slipped of my wrist. Now, this was a BRAND NEW camera so I wasn't about to leave it. Someone screamed at me to keep going because it was a race. I yelled back "my camera, I lost my camera" I started to panic when I couldn't find it. Someone yelled I hope its waterproof, I told them it was and they responded "what about mud proof" my response? "I sure hope so," Finally I found it and continued my trek out of the mud pit, It was harder to get out than I expected it would be.

FINALLY, I crossed the finish line, covered in mud and I couldn't have been happier.

Because this is so long I am going to end this post here, but I will post again tomorrow or Thursday about some of my post-race reflections and finishing stats. One last picture because it is ADORABLE (at least to me, but I am biased). Here is one of the reasons I am "running for my life." My little girl is so proud of her mommy and is already starting to talk about how she wants to run when she is bigger. And, to top it off, she
was super excited because she thought "Mommy won". Of course, we all know that I didn't but I couldn't bear to break her heart and tell her I didn't do that well.


Note: Pictures with the Warrior Dash logo on them are from the WD page on facebook, I added them to clarify areas where my pictures suck. :)

Poll Time - Warrior Dash

Not much to post about today, rather uneventful 3.5 mile run this morning. Went alright, not fantastic, but I got it done without too much pain so I will count it as a success. I just wanted to share photos of my outfit for warrior dash this coming Saturday!

Here is the whole outfit:


And the back of the shirt: (I plan to add my blog addy to the back once I get something easier to remember)


Now for question #1: Which bondiband do I wear? (I show both in the full outfit picture)

I LOVE the saying on the olive green one: "If you see me on the ground drag me across the finish?" But, the pink one is more matchy-matchy and the saying on it works as well "Pain is temporary pride is forever."

Clarity is in the Shadow?

First, weekly weigh-in time! Luckily, I finally shed the weight from my weekend of indulgence with my good friend.

Week 43: Down 2.4 pounds
Total Weight Lost: 122.8 pounds
Left to goal: 8.8 pounds

Just to summarize my running since my last post: I ran 2.5 miles yesterday morning alone and then 4.5 before/after my half marathon class. I LOVE these runs with other people, especially "L." "L" is a blast and a half, she has me laughing most of the time and its a great way to take my mind off of the monotony and sometimes pain.

I think I may have figured out my shirt saying for warrior dash, now I just need suggestions on potential tweaks of wording and a color for the shirt. To summarize I will be wearing a black running skirt and a light olive green bondiband. I would LOVE to wear something bright and fun, but what color would coordinate with the olive green? Would love to add pizazz to the back, is there a more fun way to say what its saying? And, last questions... should I keep the weight loss mentioned on the front or move it to the back? And, should I keep the wording as is or switch it to "123 pounds lost"?
FRONT:
BACK:


Now, onto the real subject of this blog - struggling with negative body image. Let me start off by saying that I am SO proud of everything that I have accomplished. I know it is a HUGE deal to lose 120+ pounds, I know I am healthier for it, and yes I feel a lot better overall than I did before (minus the fatigue, aches, and pain involved with training for a half marathon). Let me be honest though, I am 28 and I do care how I look. While my weight loss was not totally about looking better, it has played a part in it of course. I am now under 9 pounds away from my goal and I hate the way my body looks, and truthfully, I am sure it won't look any better if/when I reach my goal. It's frustrating that I have worked so hard to get to where I want to be and my body just will never look like I want it to. When I look in the mirror I either see my old body at 307 pounds and a size 24, or a *slightly* smaller body with lots of loose flabby skin. I had a realization last night running with "L" from my half marathon class. I said to her "I wish I saw in the mirror what I see when I look at my shadow while running." Her response was, "that's what I see." It's funny to me that I can look at my shadow on the ground and see what looks to me like an athletic (albeit not super skinny) figure, but I look in the mirror and all I see is fat. I wish I had the clarity in the mirror that I see when I look at my shadow. All the work I have been putting in physically is not going to be enough to kick the fat girl out of my vision. Somehow, I have to get inside my head and learn to accept myself as I am now. As my good friend told me this weekend "Jenn, its okay, they are battle scars." We all have them, I just have to learn to embrace mine and realize that those battle scars are there to always remind me why I have worked so hard to get to where I am now.

For those of you who have struggled with body image issues, how do you cope? How do you deal with those feelings of negativity?

Warrior Dash!

I am less than two weeks from the Warrior Dash and I am trying to figure out what to do for a shirt. I want to be able to toss everything that I am wearing (other than my bondi-band which is small enough to wash out). I guess it sounds crazy to wear disposable clothes, but I will be going straight from the warrior dash to a family function out of state. I can't imagine leaving stinky muddy clothes sitting in my van for 2 days! So far I plan to wear:
- old oversized black running skirt
- my least favorite sports bra
- old socks
- old tennis shoes (which I will donate at the race)
- olive green bondi band that reads "If you see me on the ground, drag me across the finish line?"
- black fingerless gloves to help protect my hands from blisters (I am afraid I will look like a dork wearing these, but terrified the ropes will tear up my hands)

I need help from my readers: what do I do about a shirt? I am thinking I will do a shirt with some sort of saying on it. I have iron on transfers, and the potential to maybe get heat transfer vinyl. I want it to be something about the warrior dash, potentially working in my 120 pound weight loss and such. HELP!?! I also wonder what color I could use for the shirt.. I don't think I will be able to find olive green, so what would match the best?

I am trying to decide whether or not to wear knee socks to protect my legs and whether or not to duck tape my shoes on. I have read suggestions of both, but just as many people suggesting its not necessary!

I am sort of disappointed to be running the warrior dash alone, but I am excited to be crossing something else off my "bucket list."

I have really been slacking on everything except my running lately, I haven't been swimming or weight lifting. It is my goal to get some weight training in at least once a week the next two weeks, maybe twice. I really want to get some upper body work in to prepare for the run.

3.5 miles down today, I finished in 30:10 - it felt really strong, even if not my fastest run. Still struggling with sore hamstrings and hoping they feel better by Saturday. Really need to work on something more exciting for this blog - but having been struggling with illness in my house (myself, my kids, and even my dog) has left me drained.