The night before the race and I was so excited I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve! Not only was I going to get to run with my friends, but a bunch of my Corn Fed Teammates were going to be at this event AND we were getting our new custom race jerseys!!
I woke up super early full of nervous energy and excitement! I probably didn’t even need my Monster Energy drink, but it’s my favorite and I knew I had a long day ahead of me — after all, I had proclaimed on the Corn Fed group page that I was going to run this race twice, so I was going to need as much energy as I could get!
I pulled into the event with so much giddiness (I always get this way when I drive up to an event and see the event signs — I’m such a dork). I got checked in and started looking for friendly faces. I see a Spartan Warrior walking across the grass and knew immediately that it had to be Michael Bacon!
We created a “home base” for everyone to gather and leave their stuff so no one had to deal with the gear check. Slowly, Corn Fed Spartans started to show up… and finally Jonathan and Laura arrived with our new race jerseys….YAY!!! Just like Christmas morning, we all ripped open the plastic, held up our jerseys with big grins and then put them on!
It finally really felt like we were a team. It was really cool to see people all around us with the jersey on — we all seemed to be beaming with a large amount of pride! We are CORN FED!!!
I was almost sad to have to take it off almost as quickly as I got it on — I had promised my girls, Lori and Jamie, that I would wear what they were wearing for round 1 of Warrior Dash. We took the traditional before photos and headed off to the starting corral with Tyler (my best running buddy that stayed by my side thru Tough Mudder)…we got there just in time to go…
I felt pretty confident about this run for a couple reasons: 1. Jamie hadn’t run since April and we promised not to leave her behind — so the pace wasn’t going to be an issue 2. I had actually been running at least 3 miles every day since June.
The course was fun and a little challenging — note to self, do more hill repeats when training — The course this year was completely different from last year, and I believe it was even better!
We made our way thru all of the mud pits, cargo climbs, over things, across things, under things, swim and fire jumps…whew…smiling the whole way (of course!)….Round one was complete!
As my girls went off to wash up and get a beer, I threw on my Corn Fed Jersey, ate a protein bar, and Tyler and I jumped back into the starting corral….Round 2….
The people around us thought we were a little crazy! I believe this was our fastest run of the day, we were already warmed up and we knew the best paths thru the course.
We ran into John and Maureen — GO CORN FED — and later ran into a larger group of Corn Fed Spartans…it was really an awesome feeling to see the jerseys and recognize our teammates out on the course!!
Great big grin as we crossed the finish line for the 2nd time!! We went to wash off in the lake and headed back to the group. I was really excited that I had completed 6.2 miles of mud and mayhem! Time for a banana–thankfully I brought one with me 🙂
As we reached our home base, we ran into Jonathan and Brian — they were about to go out for a third round– my legs had had it, there was no way I was…..next thing I know, I am heading to the starting corral for a 3rd time with Tyler, Jonathan and Brian — oh boy…they assured me we would just catch up to Michael and Jason and then take it slow…..
Uh huh…We could hear Michael and Jason before we could see them — if you know Mr Baconator, then you understand! We started yelling back and forth as ran to them. The boyz had me going at a pretty fast pace to catch up……and then pass Michael and Jason. Yep, we passed them… Apparently they were going too slow…
The boyz never left me behind and always checked to make sure I was with them — this meant more to me than they probably realize –LOVE THEM!! The only place I really suffered, and admittedly had to walk, was up the hills….grrrrrr (I will do hill work before my next event!)
As we got to the finish line, I went busting past the boyz so the pictures look like I beat them heehee. Again, smiling and loving every minute of it! I was so excited that they made me do it a third time. I was tired, but I felt GREAT! I had completed 9.3 miles of mud and obstacles — I really am a badass! Lol!!
Thanks to all of my friends — what a blast it was enjoying the day with you and earning my Warrior Dash Trifecta! 🙂