Astonishing ~ I was amazed at the obstacles I was able to tackle. From scrambling over a 10-foot pile of jumbled-up tractor tires to scaling a stack of three ginormous hay bales to sliding down the hatchback of a car I had just shimmied over, I was astonished at myself as I reached the other side.
Encouraging ~ Whether it was the camaraderie of fellow runners, the "atta girl's" from my brother, the cheers from the race course attendants or the enthusiasm of my family as I slogged through the final mud bog, I was buoyed by the generous encouragement.
Nauseating ~ I suffered an intense episode of "nervous nelly-belly" for about an hour prior to the 9 o'clock start. Too many unknowns and wavering self-confidence kept me pacing and chewing on my lip. Then as I shuffled up to the finish line, muddy, tired and spent, my nausea returned ... this time as a result of exhaustion. Gratefully, a little water and a little more walking settled down my stomach and then I could enjoy my finish.
Parched ~ The trail was rutted and rough across the stretch of desert. Dry and dusty hills to trot down and dry and dusty hills to climb back up. While we did tromp through several muddy streams, I was never so grateful for my first glimpse of the water station. As I wobbled my way across the log bridges, I kept my balance by focusing on those precious cups of water. Then as we headed down the final stretch toward the finish, trudging along the dusty path, I was motivated by the knowledge that a bottle of cold water awaited my parched throat!
Challenging ~ I wasn't sure what to anticipate and so I could only focus on one stretch of trail and one challenging obstacle at a time. That was good for me as I would probably have been overwhelmed by the big picture, while I could tackle one hurdle at a time. My goal was to simply finish with a smile on my face and I think I was successful because I managed to handle every tree trunk, every section of fence, every concrete culvert, every muddy quagmire and every thought of "you can't do this" with determination. And a prayer for Jesus to help me up, over and through!
Empowering ~ I felt a few inches taller at the end of the race and not just because of the amount of mud I'd accumulated on my shoes! There is something incredible about accomplishing something that you never thought you would ever do. Ever. And it's even more incredible when you realize you'd do it again!
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| Pre-Race Hugs |
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| Waiting for the Start ... with a Penguin |
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| Final Stretch |
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| Mud Bog Finish |
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| We Survived ... and We're Still Smiling! |
I loved doing this with you. And just love you. Thanks for the birthday fun!
ReplyDeleteYou're awesome, loved seeing you accomplish that and enjoyed cheering you on! Maybe I'll join you all someday! Maybe.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome!!! Congrats to you! I have this as a goal, but I'm doing Color Me Rad first in October, so maybe a mud run will be next! :)
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