I almost died

Seriously.  I did a 5k race this weekend.  You're thinking, "Oh, 5k, no biggie...that's 3.2 miles (and you are thinking in miles instead of kilometers like me, because you are probably not a communist either)."  Well, it was actually 3.2 miles of hell.  I did The Rugged Maniac.  Look it up.  The 18 obstacles that I had to complete weren't bad (crawling through mud, climbing tall things, climbing rope nets, running (or in my case walking) through a creek, and some other cool stuff).  The 3.2 miles of running up hill, sucked harder than...uh....I don't know...something that sucks REALLY bad. 

How long do you think it should take me to run 3.2 miles.  30 minutes or so?  Yeah, this took me 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Have you ever tried to kill yourself for 1 hour and 15 minutes?  Try to think of your most physically challenging physical activity and image doing that for 75 minutes. 

(Source)

At the end of the race, I was so tired and I coud see the finish line and I had 2 walls to jump over (I don't know how tall they were...8 ft??- see above pic).  I was so tired I was irrational.  I leaned my head on the wall and wanted to cry because I couldn't figure out how to get over it.  My dad was there and I hear him say, "Conni- you're almost there.  GET OVER THAT WALL!"  Like in that you- better-do-this-right-now voice that my dad sometimes used when I was a kid.  Long story short, I got over the wall.  He also yelled at me when I put my leg in a weird position on this other obstacle because he said I was going to break it off.  Anyway, while my little girls watched, I finished the race.  I did not enjoy the race- I forgot to mention the race was at a ski resort, so I ran UP hill the entire time and I didn't plan or train for running up hills.  I have to admit that The Ex and my dad had to convince me to actually run in the race because the night  before, I got nervous and almost backed out.   I am battered and bruised from the obstacles and I did not enjoy that 75 minutes of my life, but I am still glad I did it. I have been planning on running in it since January, and when the day came to run, I ran.

This is what I looked like at the end when I was about to jump in a mud pool under barb wire while pulling myself with a rope through a slick tube.  After that slick tube is when I faced the wall.

 (I looked so happy!)

My friend and workout buddy killed the race and came in at an hour and 9 min.  In her defense, she could have definitely gotten a better time had she not waited on me while I pouted and puttered through the hills.

**A picture that I don't own of me jumping over the fire pit can be found here

To sum it all up, I finished a short race that took me too long to run, but I did come in 1242 out of 2400 runners.  I am halfway from the top and bottom.  I'll take it for my first shot. Maybe next year me and The Ex can do it together?

**Mom, I'm sorry you missed it. I promise if I do it again, I'll tell you about it.