Fish & Mud Equals Fun

I have to say the past weekend has to have been one of the best we've had in awhile as far as everyone in the family loving their activities. The husband woke up early Saturday morning & took off to fish with his buddies since the salmon are in the river. I hit up the wear blue run with a friend for a quick 3 miles. While the boys enjoyed the cartoons & video games. Then Paul & I headed to Portland, Oregon for the Warrior Dash. This was Paul's first ever OCR with me & I was excited!

I loved that we got to sneak away to spend a night together which is rare. We stopped along the way to do some shopping and had a good drive. After we got checked in we headed to dinner to meet up with our friends who where running with us on Sunday. We enjoyed a fun dinner before heading to bed to get ready to run. Of course I popped right up early Sunday morning, grabbed some coffee while I let Paul sleep for another hour. Then we where all off to wear our blue at the Warrior Dash.

 

Here we are all shiny clean, that didn't last to long.

This course had a lot of hills & switchbacks that really killed the legs towards the end. I was really feeling the short 3.12 miles by the time we crossed the finish. A lot of it had to do with the fact at the first obstacle I nailed my left leg on the floating barrels. I have a nice size bruise now. The freezing cold water made the muscle knot up & it just didn't stop until after I got myself warmed up over an hour later. 

 Before the pain....

Paul went over the barrel face first got a little wet & muddy...

Off from there we hit up a nice tall wall, cargo nets, barbed wire low crawl mud pits, & fire jumping. It was fun & we made sure to wait at the end for our teammates so we could cross the finish together. We completed the course in 50 minutes flat! Paul was so great making us laugh along the way & helping out several different people when they had some issue at obstacles. Josh pushed the pace a little faster then Ashley & I ever went- but we did our best. It was a fun race!

The big finish!

 He still loved me at the end! He said he would do one a year with me- so happy!

 Another OCR in the books for this group & sadly the last one I am registered for at this time. 

You might ask what the boys got out of our little get away that was their favorite thing?

Well of course we stopped off at Voodoo Donuts to grab them some bacon maple bars.

If your wondering about all our blue go to wear blue: run to remember

we wanted to remember all our Fallen Heroes . We run for them because they can't anymore. 

I loved my weekend with my husband & friends but now I'm ready for bed.

Zombie Apocalypse

Today found me waking up at 4AM to begin getting ready for the Run for Your Lives 5k in Onalaska, WA. I was so excited for this fun run as my team had signed up to volunteer first as Zombies on the course. We arrived at 6:45AM & headed to the make-up tent. Since we where some of the first zombies the make-up artists where excited to get their hands on us,  they had a blast! They did an amazing job transforming us into brain chomping zombies.

Here I am all medical zombie girl

 Our whole team the Brain Chomppers

We had a great spot on the course that came as the runners came down a hill into a nice shady area. We where suppose to be stumblers but a few times we got excited when some of the runners where a little mean to a fellow Zombie. Yeah those people got chased & their flags taken! I was shocked at how depressed and frustrated most of the runners where on this course as they came by our station. We of course where having a blast! One runner was guarding his flag & in the process elbowed poor Ashley in her jaw. It hurt so bad she got a headache & needed a minute to recover. Another runner slapped her arm so hard we heard the pop but at least he stopped to apologize.  I think some of the runners it was really natural instinct to scream and slap at people grabbing you. Others where just down right mean & nasty.

Here I am laying at my section on the course. The runners thought since I was on the ground they where safe. Little did they know if they stopped by me I would reach up & grab their flags! It was so fun! We volunteered for three hours and by the end of our shift we where exhausted! We actually didn't care when the last of the runners came by because the heat had wiped us out. Today it was 89 degrees on the course. Way hot for WA! We where hungry & feeling a little dehydrated by this point. We headed to the line to sign out, drink some water, eat a snack , and run the course.

We soon learned why the runners looked so sad & upset by the time they reached our section of the course. The course was on a BMX bike track so there was a ton of hills with huge crevices. Running was almost impossible. We witnessed several rolled ankles & hurt arms as people tumbled down. We decided then & there to walk most of the course I knew I had to many more runs to get hurt.. We ran the sections that where safe but it was so hot with the sun we really felt awful. My head was pounding from lack of water & food. I do believe we should have sat down in the shade & ate for awhile before we ran. Lesson noted for next year. A lot of the zombies we found weren't following the rules & where grabbing more then one flag at a time from the runners. I think this is why a lot of the runners where upset as well . 

All in all my morning was a blast!! I loved the make-up & capturing flags with my team. The run was a 4 on a scale of 10- with 10 being the best. If you are going to just be a runner I'm afraid you will be disappointed at least in the PNW. I say volunteer to be a zombie & do it in the very early group! If I do this run next year it will be because I loved the volunteer time on the course the best. I am glad they cut our registration fee in half for volunteering. We met a lot of fun zombies along the way . Here are a few more fun picture.

 Our lost zombie nurse 

  A really creepy clown who was super nice! 

Finished OCR #9 as Zombie Wonder Woman

GIRL POWER!!

Oh and I have to add that my make-up artist was so excited with my "perfect" bone structure for being a zombie-LOL Not sure if under normal circumstances that would be a compliment ?? But for today it ROCKED!

 

Running Scared

 

I started back to the gym yesterday after being pretty lax with my workouts over the past two weeks. I did hit the fitness center twice while in Hawaii as well as we snorkled almost everyday. But I have not been doing my hard workouts much this month. Now I find myself feeling a little unprepared as Saturday's Run for Your Lives race approaches. Another 5K Obstacle Run that I have been looking forward to running. Three of my OCR ladies & one friend have signed up to volunteer as stumbling Zombies then race afterwards. We get to keep our cool makeup on they do for us during our race. So I am thinking I'll wear my Wonder Woman outfit & become the zombie version for our race heat. It should be great fun! I'm sure it won't be my best PR but it's really about the fun. Today I am off to the park to try to get in a good workout so maybe I won't feel like I'm dying on Saturday. Look for some fun pictures this weekend .

Rampage at the RAC

 

I was so excited for today's 5K that my good intentions of going to bed at 9:30PM to get extra sleep back fired. I laid there until mid-night then popped up at 6AM this morning! I wasn't tired I was ready to RUN!! After we got everyone picked up we headed out to Lacey,WA which is about a thirty minute drive from our town. We linked up with our two other military runners & started having fun! Thank goodness there was no rain like they had fore casted but it was only 55 degrees, brrrrrr! After a few snap shots of our "clean" group which had 6 ladies & one Army husband we got ready to run! 

 I was actually surprised at how easy a pace it was for me to keep. The course was pretty flat with only a couple of hills & one that was really steep. Nathan thought he'd be funny & grab the cow bell we had to ring on the steep hill , but I finally got him to set it back down for the rest of us-lol I have to say the funniest obstacle was the Slip-n-Slide! I mean who didn't love this as a child? Let me tell you still just as fun as an adult!! I did end up running into poor Randi's behind & knocking her into the side wall- but it was still a hoot! The fire jumping wasn't anything to bad this time, nothing like the Warrior Dash. The mud pit was just as slimy,gross, & cold as usual - but FUN!   We all did the race in under an hour. I think I could have done a little faster but we waited for a few members of our group here & there because it was about fun more then time today. I finished right around 43 or 44 minutes- we aren't quite sure as of now. Better then I ever ran before & not to tired. All the hard work outs really paid off today! I hope you enjoy the pictures- NOW get out & MOVE today!!

 

The ladies- all ARMY Spouses.

 

Bekah's husband Nathan ran with us- Brave soul!! 

 

Almost time to go under the wire in the MUD!

Randi got a nose & mouth full of mud here-lol

A little cold & muddy!!

ALL DONE!!

Freezing Cold Water to wash off.....YUCK!

Sort of clean, but to cold to care.

 

YAY- WE ARE DRY & WARM!!

Down & Dirty

Yesterday marked the second year in a row I participated in the Fort Lewis Down & Dirty Mud Run. Yes, I ran 3.1 miles & attempted some obstacles on the course all so I could crawl through two huge mud pits! This year Bekah and I where joined by her daughter Amber who I believe is eleven maybe twelve. We went with the 80's theme " Let's get Physical" based on the fun workout style of the 80's & Oliva Newton John-LOL
We had a good time arriving in the 48 degree rain to get our registration packets all picked up. Another good friend came along to photograph the run & the mud carnage at the end.
 We finished at 1 hour & 15 mins covered from head to toe in mud! This year the obstacles weren't as hard in my opinion as last years but the mud was WORSE! The mud pits have a zig-zag rope over the top that you have to low crawl under to get through.Last year we where able to bear-crawl, not this year. We had to pretty much lay completely flat & try not to get mud on our face- it didn't work! Amber enjoyed it alot more then the running sections, especially the water cannon from the fire truck that sprayed us down half way through our run-BRRRRRR! Bekah got caught behind an eight year old girl on the last mud pit that had already gone through it twice. But wanted to keep coming back to crawl through the mud. It would have been fine, but she kept going super slow in the icy mud & shaking mud from her shoes in Bekah's face. So Bekah being the more  mature adult did what any cold, muddy, & wet person would do. She picked up huge handfuls of mud & flung them at that little obnoxious girl's head! Yes it was hysterical !
All in all it was another successful Mud Run & we are debating the July 7K. We must definitely log in more running on the trails around our lake if we decide to take on that course. You may think I am crazy after you see the pictures, but I never knew how much I would enjoy the obstacle course type runs until I competed last year. Now I've finished two Mud Runs & The Warrior Dash! They are so fun & a great stress relief with all the laughter that goes in them along the run trail. So if you love to run you should look up some of your local events & try them out. Enjoy the pictures from the day & have a wonderful Sunday.

                       Channeling Chrissy from Three's Company

                                    Material Girl Bekah

                                   Nice & Clean before the run
 

                

                               Off I go with my pigtails flying!
 

                                                Mud Pit Time

                                                        All DONE!

                             Rinsing off in the freezing water

               Our wonderful photographer even got muddy

                                             We earned our shirts