A Few Little Races

For someone who hates running, I've been doing a lot of it lately. But lest you think I've gone mad, just remember that I still don't do races where all you have to do is run. Boring! Last Saturday I ran two 5Ks, and yesterday I did the Spartan Beast. Aroo! We'll start with last Saturday. In the morning, I woke up way too early and got downtown for the Color Me Rad 5K. This was a ton of fun—a Zumba warm-up, lots of colorful chalk, loud music, and friends. Here's how we looked after the race:

 And here's how a few of us looked during the race:

 

Karmel (she's the one in front) said we look so happy it looks like we're doing Zumba. So true. But how can you not have fun when you're wearing funky '80s sunglasses, people are throwing colored chalk at you, and then you get to throw some at all your friends? I'd definitely recommend this one to everybody.

During breakfast after the race, we learned there was a zombie chase 5K that night. It promised obstacles, running through haunted buildings in a ghost town, and lots of zombies—all under a full moon. Hello! Of course we decided to do that one too! Too bad it wasn't anything like the advertisement. There was one obstacle, there were a few zombies, and there was one "haunted house" that looked like something the neighbors had put together with stuff they found in their garage. Total waste of money. The moon was cool (super moon!), but we could have stayed home and seen that for free. OK, lesson learned: no signing up for 5Ks the day of without properly researching them.

And then we move forward a week to yesterday and the Spartan Beast up at Soldier Hollow. This one I was really nervous about: 12 miles, 25+ obstacles, up and down mountains—and just to throw in a little more fun, it was going to be about 100 degrees. What had I gotten myself into? Whatever it was, I wasn't backing out now. So up I went to the race course, and there I posed for a before picture, you know, just in case I died on the course (which they warn you is a possibility in big, bold red letters on the packet you get).

I think we're showing off how girls can be totally tough and totally sexy at the same time, even though my "sexy" is a bit more like goofy. Anyway, off we went, up and down mountains, through obstacles and lots and lots of mud pits (which were very refreshing in the heat), with a few dozen burpees thrown in for fun (because I still can't climb a rope or hit a target with a spear). And then at the end we got to roll through 50 yards of mud and rocks under barbed wire. Yep, that's half a football field, people. I've never had so many bruises in my life. But then it was just one more wall, over the fire jump, and through the gladiators to the finish line. Boo-yah! Finished, baby, and under the five hours I was hoping for (4:50:18 to be exact). I didn't die! See, look, proof, with a few more of our team members (two of whom were super fast and had already had time to shower).

Awesome, awesome feeling to be done—and I couldn't have done it without help from my teammates and friends. It was great racing with them. And here's proof that I have the most fantastic mom ever: she decided to be a volunteer on the day of the race so she could get in free to see me when I crossed the finish line. Totally awesome! Now the wheels start turning. Leslie and I have done two of the three races we need to get the Trifecta medal; we've done the Sprint and the Beast, so all we need is the Super, which is only 8 miles, so we could finish it no problem. There's one of those in Illinois in three weeks. Hmm, birthday accomplishment this year? Sounds good to me.