September was my race month. I participated in an annual 5K to support ALS. I love this race for many reasons. One, it’s put on by wonderful friends of mine. Two, it takes place right out of their marina in historic Warren. And three… you get a free Guinness! The views are beautiful. The course is great. The friends and family around is even better.

I trained all summer for the month of September. I really wanted to do well in the 5K and beat my personal best. I tried hard. It was pouring rain and I’ve never run in the rain before. I did my personal best. 27:14. I was thrilled. Accomplishing my “rockstar” 5k made me really eager to kick ass in BoldRDash. I was ready to go. I ran lots and lots of hills weekly. I put my hamstrings and quads to the test. I even practiced monkey bars at the park with the kids. I was ready.

My dear friend had a team together from work and asked if I would like to join them. That was a no-brainer…who was going to throw me over some of those reverse incline walls? My friend and I trained together and cheered each other on day in and day out until race day.

Together we were ready.

We went right out the gate and up that mountain. Our quads burned, but it was a good burn. We were ready for our first obstacle, grabbing a bolder and running up the mountain. We nailed it and then looked behind us. Where was everyone? We waited.

Next, we climbed a wall. And then waited for everyone.

We ran some more (I seriously think we ran up and down that mountain 30 times) , crawled through mud, hiked up trails, got sprayed with fire hoses. And we waited.

We waited more.

Time was going by and we got plenty of rest just waiting. We were pumped. The adrenaline was going and we had to stand there and wait for everyone. It was infuriating! We trained so hard…and others just didn’t. It just seemed unfair. But we were a team and we had to stick together. We just kept telling each other that.  It wasn’t about getting a good time (although I really wanted to), it was about having fun. We crossed crawled through the muddy finish line together. All of us. Drenched with water, mud, sweat, and big smiles.

I must say it was the most fun I’ve had in forever!! I was ready to do it again after crossing that finish line. I can’t wait for spring so I can do another one.

And a thank you to George Ross Photography for getting some action shots.