We are Warriors!

I have gotten behind on our race re-caps.  Last weekend we ran 2 races and this weekend we ran another.  It’s hard to believe I’ve run so many races lately because my training has been atrocious!  The week Carter had an ear infection I only ran once because I wasn’t getting much sleep and was exhausted.  The following week I got sick and didn’t run until the Warrior Dash on Saturday.  This week I only ran once before our next 5K because of all the family stuff we had going on.  Needless to say I am ready to get back into a routine and get back in shape!  Let’s start with last week’s race recaps. 

Saturday was the Warrior Dash.  My dad, brothers, Ty, and I were all signed up for a 2:00 heat.  My mom had planned to come to watch Cater while we raced, but my grandma wasn’t doing well so she decided against it.  I’m so glad she made that decision!  I really wanted to run the race with Ty, so we decided dad, Jeremy, and Thomas would all run the 2:00 heat and Ty and I would jump in a later heat.  We would take Carter with us and dad would watch him after he finished.

Carter sleeping during dad, Jeremy, and Thomas' heat.

It ended up working out really well because Carter got hungry shortly after their race start and I was able to nurse him.  Jeremy won the heat in 29:05 and ended up finishing 6^th out of 920 in his age group!  He came over to us after he finished and in his tired state put his arm up on the stroller, dripping mud onto Carter’s head.  Carter didn’t even blink.

Jeremy coming up out of the mud pit.

Dad finished next in 34:30 which put him 9^th out of 126 in his age group.  We watched him finish and then Ty and I hustled over to the start line just in time to make the 3:15 heat (the last heat of the day was at 3:30).  We missed Thomas finish in 37:36 good for 148^th out of 920 in his age group.

Dad finishing.

The race was a blast!  I love running with Ty and an obstacle race was the perfect time for it because we weren’t worried about our finishing time and were able to enjoy running with each other.  I had only done one small obstacle course race before (read a little bit about it here) so I was a little worried I wouldn’t be able to complete some of the obstacles.  I was surprised that none of them required much in the way of upper body strength, so I was golden!  

The course was pretty hilly, which was an obstacle in itself, especially with my lack of recent training.  My favorite obstacle was called “muddy mayhem”.  We had to crawl/swim through mud and water and underneath barbed wire.  My least favorite obstacle was walking across a plank that was about 12 feet above a water pit.  I couldn’t stop looking down and the plank was wet and muddy.  I was so sure I would fall in!

Family picture after we finished!

Ty and I finished in 43 minutes.  That put me 100^th out of 1,003 women in my age group and Ty was 325^th out of 920 in his age group.  I know I could have done better.  I really took my time on the obstacles.  I was more concerned with finishing them than finishing them quickly.  I also took it pretty easy on the running segments.  It was a bit rough coming off of 2 weeks without running and then running a hilly course with obstacles!  I had a blast and I loved sharing the experience with Ty and then getting to see Carter’s precious face after we finished!

Dad gets the award for the most extreme warrior, true warriors bleed!

Ty had signed up for another obstacle course race the next day called the Camp Loughridge Xtreme 5K because they are a client of his company.  He planned to run the race with a couple girls from his work.  As he was getting ready I decided I wanted to run too.  My younger brother, Thomas, was still in town and he said he’d watch Carter as we ran.  I looked at Ty and asked when we needed to leave and he said in 10-15 minutes so I started rushing around getting ready.  As I slipped my shoes on I realized they were still wet from the Warrior Dash.  During the race I discovered there were also small rocks still in my shoes which moved around as I ran and ended up under my feet.

As we lined up for the race we looked around at the other runners.  It was a small race and we thought I might be able to do pretty well.  I had planned to run with Ty and the girls, but decided if it looked like I could be a top overall female finisher I’d go for it.

We took off running and the first obstacle was a mud pit with extremely thick mud.  I lost my shoe and had to turn around and really tug at it to pull it out.  I almost got run into by quite a few runners and Ty was one of them.  I definitely wasn’t going on without my shoe though, that was a $30 shoe!  I finally pulled it loose and continued on.

There weren’t as many obstacles as the Warrior Dash and the obstacles weren’t as challenging.  It was a hilly course, but not nearly as hilly as the Warrior Dash.  I finished first overall female in 32:17.  Ty finished with the girls from work in just under an hour.  I was interviewed after the race by a local news station and a clip was on the news.  Check it out here.

This Saturday we ran a race hosted by Ty’s mom’s church.  Last year was the first year they hosted it and we ran it last year too.  It brought back memories because we told Ty’s grandparents we were pregnant right before the race start last year.  

 

Hanging out before the race.

It was a small race with 138 finishers.  I had figured I should be able to run under 25 minutes and finished in 24:30.  I was 1^st in my age group, 2^nd female overall, and 14^th overall finisher.  Ty ran with a friend and they finished in 27:22.  He was 8^th in his age group and 25^th overall.

Carter with his great grandma at the race.

The best part of the race was spending time with Ty’s family and friends.  His parents drove us and we met up with his grandma and aunt at the race.  His friend he ran with has an almost 2 year old and we had a blast playing with her!

Carter with his great grandpa the next day.

We don’t have any races coming up.  The next race we plan to run is in August, but I bet we end up running a July 4^th 5K.  It will be nice to have some time off racing to get back in shape!