Obstacle Race Recap

wet, muddy, and cold :)

Saturday we participated in an obstacle run. I did the 5k version while Mr M helped the kiddos complete the 1/2 mile kids version. This race was run at the same park that my February 5k was run at, but most of the course was different.

The 5k course had a giant teeter totter, hanging tires (so much harder than tires laying on the ground), over/under ropes, walls to climb, monkey bars, mud crawl, balance beam, hay bales to climb and jump from one to the next, steeplechase pool and jump, and a 100 foot water slide.

It was cold (mid 40's) but sunny, with a breeze that made everything colder, especially once you got wet. Thankfully the wet parts were right at the end of the race.

Lately I've been leaving everyone home while I go run races. It's a lot easier to get out of the house in a timely fashion and we don't have to deal with tired, cranky, cold children. Win-win for everyone.

Since this race had a kids obstacle race and didn't start super early, so we all went to this race and had a lot of fun. Well, I don't think Ocean had much fun since he was in the stroller the whole time, but everyone else had fun. The results haven't been posted yet, but I'm pretty sure River was the youngest participant. Sunshine ran her first race at about the same age he is now, but her first race was a lot shorter.

Sunshine running her first race in January 2009

River running his first race

The kids race was basically the last half mile of the 5k course, but they skipped the balance beam that was right at the start of their race. So they climbed the hay bales and jumped from one to the next. Or swung from one to the next, in River's case.

They also did the steeplechase pool and jump, though I didn't get pictures of that since I was getting in position to take pictures of them coming down the 100 foot water slide.

Sunshine coming down the slide.

River got stuck and stopped sliding half way down, so he stood up and walked the rest of the way. We were all worried he'd slip and fall head over heels, but he made it down in one piece.

Mr M coming down the slide. He took off his sweatshirt and tried to keep it dry by holding it up in the air, but it didn't work- it still got wet.

This 100 foot water slide was just plastic and water from a local fire engine truck with a little soap mixed in, but it was lots of fun. One thing though, this hill that was so fun to slide down was a pain when we had to run up it at the end of the February 5k. What am I saying? I didn't run up it, I walked up it.

Sunshine finished before River, but came back to help walk him through the finish.

The kiddos had fun, but the cold made things a bit iffy at the end when they were soaking wet. Despite getting chilled at the end, we all had fun and look forward to doing this race again. It was a spur of the moment decision to have River run it, so next time we'll plan ahead and make sure he's dressed more appropriately.

I hadn't run since my March 5k two weeks earlier, so once again I was just going into this with the goal of finishing. Yet another round of crud has again put a crimp in my training plans. This round of crud ended up in my lungs, which was lots of fun. Between the lack of training, lung crud, shinsplints (from sprinting into the finish of the 4k walk), and wearing old shoes without orthotics (I didn't want to ruin them in the water portions of the race) I had no expectations. And I knew that the obstacles would slow things down anyway, so I was happy with my 44:06 finish time. My lungs didn't bother me too much and neither did my shins. The softer surfaces of grass, gravel and dirt were a lot easier on my shins than pavement or cement. Overall, I felt pretty good, though the hanging tire obstacle showed me I need to work on my upper body strength. 

Last week I didn't manage any treadmill time since I was feeling crummy. I did manage to hike the same loop we did two weeks ago. There was one uphill portion that had me shaking a bit when I finally got the stroller to the top. Three months of illness has really sapped my strength and endurance, which is so frustrating.

1.21 mile hike + 3.1 mile race= 4.31 miles for the week

7 Races in 2016

Month	Event	Time
January	New Year’s Day 5k	33:01
February	Frostbite 5k	37:37
February	Mud Run	1:35:37
March	4k Walk	33:19
March	March 5k	33:49
March	Pi Day Virtual 5k	1:01:30
March	Obstacle Race	44:06

18 races towards my 40 by 40 goal

	Date	Event	Distance	Event Type
1.	July 2015	4th of July 5k	5k	Pregnant
2.	August	4 Mile Fun Run	4 miles	Road Race
3.	September	All Terrain	5k	Mixed surface
4.	October	Hill Valley Half	13.1 miles	Virtual half marathon
5.	October	Corn Maze 5k	5k	Corn Maze
6.	October	Kilted Trail 5k	5k	Kilted race
7.	November	Trail Half	13.6 miles	Trail Half
8.	November	Turkey Trot	5k	Road Race
9.	December	Veteran’s 5k	5k	Mixed surface
10.	December	Army Virtual Marathon	26.23 miles	Virtual marathon
11.	January 2016	New Year’s Day 5k	5k	Road race
12.	February	Frostbite 5k	5k	Cross country race
13.	February	Mud Run	4.8 miles	Mud run
14.	March	4k Walk	4k	Walk
15.	March	March 5k	5k	Road race
16.	March	Pi Day Virtual 5k	5k	Virtual 5k Walk
17.	March	10 mile race	Not applicable	Water stop volunteer
18.	March	Obstacle Race	5k	Obstacle run