Oh what a race! Have you ever tried something, then looked back and ask yourself. “Why did I let my friend talk me into this?” Well this is one of those times. Don’t get me wrong I was very glad I was able to finish. Just not so thrilled about the “during” section.
The pre-race activities were the same, you check-in; get your bib number and all that good stuff. Then your swag bag, but the swag bag is kind of crappy. I think the only good thing was the $1000 off the purchase of a land rover. Not to sure how many people from the race will be going out and purchasing a land rover in the coming weeks. I was not as nervous as I usually am before races, so I felt that was a plus. Oops guess I spoke to soon! Once we started to line up in our wave, the butterflies started in the stomach region. It took all I could not to start shaken. Usually with a 5K you know what you are getting into, but with this race you had no clue. Yeah, I am going to be biking and running, but you don’t know what types of elevations you will encounter or the obstacles you will face at the exchanges. So, I was pretty damn nervous. The first three waves are off and its time for my wave to hit the trail. Mike decided that it would be best if I rode the bike first, due to the nasty hill after the 2nd exchange. The starter pistol/horn went off, can’t remember which, because my brain did not let me hear. I saw the person in front of me go, so I started peddling, the first leg of the race was awesome. I did not try to go all out, because there were a few more miles to run. Arrived at the first exchange, but the bike up and jogged over to the first obstacle. It was a 7” climbing wall. I pretty much realized I don’t have the upper/lower body strength to help hoist myself over a wall. As the volunteer who was manning this station looked away, I casually walked around this obstacle.
Starting the run portion was not too bad. I just kept it to a jog/walk. In my head I had to tell myself “slow and steady; slow and steady”. Since, Mike was in the 5th wave it was inevitable that he would catch up to me. He stopped running and chatted for a minute (words of encouragement). Then he was off, I kept with my slow and steady pace thinking Shannon and Courtney were going to pass me on the bike. I came up on the 2nd exchange and Mike was standing with the rest of the runners waiting on the bikes. I hit the exchange, crawl through the maze obstacle and then stand with Mike and wait for the girls. I was pretty freakin excited that the girls did not pass me on my run. Hell, Mike was pretty excited.
The third leg of the race was pretty hilly. I jumped on the bike and started to head down the hill determined to make it down with out getting a flat or bending the rim of the tire. As I start my descent I am cutting a good line down, missing rocks and runners. Then, the hill starts getting steeper. I notice people with bikes walking, but I keep going until I see the reason people are getting off and walking. The hill grade gets a little crazy, so I jump off and walk my back down with the rest of the inexperienced people. The wives catch up to me towards the bottom of the hill, but as soon as I get to the bottom I am back on the bike. We cross a field and I peddle over a creek as past I could, then we start going up hill. I figure “what goes down, must come up!”, but I was not expecting the up part to be so horrible. We pretty much descended into a valley, now we have to climb back out. I jumped off the bike, because my legs would not push my 300 pound body up any further. So, the hill is pretty steep, but I figured it would not take that long to ascend this beasts. Well, I was extremely wrong!!! I just want this thing to end, because quieting was not an option. The wives caught up to me and my wife stayed with me while Mike’s wife blow past us and kept pushing. I had to stop at the flat spots to take a breather. This hill had many flat spots and every time you look ahead you thing “I am almost done!” it would trick you and turn a corner to go up some more. I thought this part would never end. I could not fathom what kind of shape you need to be into ride your bike up this whole thing. Finally we get to the top of the hill and I just want to stop, but I tell myself “If I stop there is no way out of here. I will have to be injured or passed out!”. I pass the Cargo net/Inflatable slide obstacle. I believe the volunteer told me to keep going, but after the race Mike and his wife told me that I was suppose to do that obstacle. I think I will stick to my think that I was told to bypass the obstacle.
I walk the bike over to the aid station to grab some water. I keep taking and the volunteer kept giving. So, I drank my water bottle of water and then had 3 more cups. I hop back on the bike for the last leg and I push myself hard, because this is the last leg of this monster of a race. As, I power up the hills, I feel a strange feeling in my stomach. I slam on my brakes as the water in my stomach decides it does not want to be there anymore. I should have known drinking that much water was not going to be a good thing. I figured I needed the water because of the cramping in my calves and my left hamstring, but my body/stomach had other plans. After I finish with the departing of the water, I start riding again. I notice another competitor hanging over there bike up-chucking, so I stop and ask if she was o.k. She said yeah, I hope of my bike and walk with her for a few and then I spot someone else in the grass off to the side of the trail. I stopped walking to make sure they were o.k, she says she was just taking a break. I walk some more, then I decided to ride the rest of the race. I hope bike on the bike and I spot people walking back up the trail and ask “how much further to the mud pit?”; The say ”Not mush further, you are almost there”. After this exchange, I see Mike walking back up the rode. He starts shouting words of encouragement as I ride towards him, then he jogs beside me pushing me (literally, he actually pushed me a few times). I finally get to the last bike drop before I meet up with my wife to climb the rope wall and run trough the mud pit. I skipped climbing the rope wall, but my wife did and I was pretty dame impressed.
The mud pit was pretty interesting. There was a little hump with a cargo net over the hump. You pretty much had to crawl under the net into the pit. Which, I decided to slide down into the mud. My shorts decided to stay at the top of the hill, but I thought I was smart and did a roll on to my back to pull up my shorts. Well, I am now covered from head to toe in mud. I figured since I was already muddy, I might as well military crawl the rest of the way. I get to the end and stand up and try to walk out of the pit. I slip and face plant into the mud. I’ve almost lost my shorts and now I have mud in my eyes. I think next time I will wear goggles. My wife sis already out of the pit, she gives me her hand and pulls me out of the pit as I do a penguin slide down the final hump. I felt I should try to get even muddier. As we cross the finish line my both legs start cramping. I am extremely glad I was able to finish this race. Also, I am glad I did as well as I did the first two legs of the race. Going up the monstrous hill took all my energy, but I was able to push myself and finish. I felt it was a good day.
Pictures will be posted later.
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