Warrior's Dash Overview!

I thought it might be helpful to debrief my Warrior's Dash experience so anyone out there curious about fundraising for St. Jude could follow these hints in the future.

If everyone who donated to my campaign was able to go out and run their own course, we could all raise $4,500 for St. Jude!

(I should also say that this post will be a preview for my upcoming reveal of the winners of the promised baked goods! I plan to send them out in time for the Holidays)

In terms of training, I knew I was already comfortable running a 5K so I really had to focus on my upper body strength and ability to alternate between jogging and other feats of strength (to put it in more epic terms). The community park outside my house was perfect for that kind of practice. I would jog halfway around the block, run up the bleachers or do jumping jacks, and then run over the picnic tables after completing the whole cycle. It actually prepared me pretty well so I felt strong and confident heading to the race.

For a race this complicated, everything was really well organized. We drove far out into the country, parked, and took a muddy school bus to the starting line.  Because I had fundraised enough money, I was able to drop my things off at the St. Jude tent and get situated. 

If possible, I would *fully* recommend doing this race with other people. Not only would it be incredibly fun with a little gang of comrades (dressed as ninja turtles or where's waldo as some examples), it would be difficult to manage the many bags of extra clothes, cell phones, etc without a helper. My mother was such a champion coming with me so that worked out perfectly. It's still perfectly feasible to run the race alone but I would get to the fairground earlier to really figure out the system for checking bags etc.

I got situated at the starting line and then balked when the announcer said the following:

OKAY Warriors! Usually our courses take 45 minutes to complete on average. This one is running at about an hour of EXTRA INTENSITY! I've been told it's a rough one so lets get pumped up.

At that moment I lost all the confidence I had earned by hopping over bleachers for the past few months. I wasn't sure I could complete every single obstacle, not to mention a race that was even tougher than the norm. Luckily I didn't have too long to think about it because the buzzer sounded, flames rose into the air, and we were off to the races.

Now I immediately realized that if I were able, I would have done a ton more trail and hill training. Unfortunately/ fortunately I live in one of the flattest places imaginable so the biggest hill available is a slight bump that forms a pedestrian bridge over the highway....

That meant that the unstable footing made my ankles feel a little precarious and the huge hills tightened my lungs to a rather uncomfortable level. My face turned bright red under the hot sun and I focused all of my energy on keeping up a forward momentum. My fellow warriors were in the fight with me - complaining about the ridiculous hills while gasping for breath. These were fit people! They wore tank tops advertising the boot camps they attended or marathons they had conquered. I was shocked to see some of them lying on the side of a hill moaning after trying to sprint... but my slow and steady method seemed to be working.

I ran every single downhill as exhausted and hot as I might be which placed me in front of the pack - facing some of the first obstacles alone. I tore through the wire trenches and saw horse obstacles with joy since it now seemed like most of the course would wind through the golden hills on a downhill (or relatively flat) course.  Then I saw an obstacle at the top of a huge hill... like a tower of doom.

It looks even taller on the top of a hill

The warrior wall is a vertical climb where you pull yourself over using a rope and very thin footholds. I was hoping it wouldn't be included in the Norcal circuit since I have a secret fear of somehow letting go and falling back on my back. At the same time, there was no way I was giving up after conquering the rocky uphills in the first third.  I tired not to stop and think, grabbing a rope and hauling myself up a few feet and scrambling to get a foothold; the strips of wood were too thin to rest there for more than a few seconds so I found myself at the top pretty quickly. That was the most difficult transition. My arms and legs were shaking (maybe a tad from fatigue but mostly from fear as I had to swing my leg over to the other side). 

At that moment a volunteer at the bottom loudly told all of us "No one has fallen off today!" Maybe it was a cavalier and silly comment, but it was exactly what I needed to hear to find my balance and maneuver my way down. After defeating the obstacle I most feared - nothing could stop me. I made it over multiple walls and hills - even an enormous cargo net. I started smiling when I could see the smoke closer and closer - knowing that the big challenge would come at the end.

Reaching the mud pit

The first few moments in the muck - realizing there was no bottom!

From what I can tell, not all Warrior Dashes have mud pits this thick and impossible. The mud was so deep that there was nothing to hold onto to pull yourself forward and if you stood up you would sink deeper and deeper - the only hope would be wrenching your foot up before it got "too far"

Even after 10 minutes wading through muck worthy of the Inferno, I have no idea how I made any progress. It was a combination of wriggling and dog paddling with only a modicum of progress every minute.

My big hint would then be to pick up some tennis shoes from a thrift store (mine were on the way to Goodwill already) so you can donate them to charity at the finish line. I think each shoe weighed almost 10 pounds by the end. Although my one goal was to finish strong (aka running) my pants were so weighed down that I knew that anything over a light waddle would have found me flashing the spectators.

I also only had one sock

The clean up at the end of the race took a long time - it would behoove everyone to plan for tons of time literally scooping off the mud before you can even contemplate getting back in a vehicle. 

Luckily we posted this picture and were able to spend that time almost DOUBLING our donations by the end of the fundraising period that night.

The St. Jude's tent hosed me down and then I spent another few minutes in the private showers in a state of amazement about the amount of mud it was possible to heap on one body.

I had some extra clothes to pull on, though I could have improved things if I had just worn a swimsuit underneath. Something to remember!  My mom and I had to stop for gas anyway so we picked up some nice salty chips and soda which put a real skip back in my step. 

I took yet ANOTHER shower and then had celebratory burgers with my wonderful mother. That evening had even more in store.

From a warrior....

 To a Halloween reveler a few hours later!

Maybe I've been a little over-eager to commit to absolutely everything recently, but I couldn't be anymore thankful. I wouldn't be able to embrace all of these things with such purpose and conviction without the year o' cancer.