Rugged Maniac

Neal and I bridged in the wold of "mud races" this past May. Our first adventure was the 'Rugged Maniac' 3.1 miles, 31 obstacles. I'll admit, it was a lot more fun than I imagined. Being part of a team again, pushing yourself to test the limits of your own strength and the feeling of accomplishment when you complete something you thought impossible...we have definitely caught the "mud races" bug and keep signing up for more and more!

Just a little jump over the fire. Its hard to tell in this picture, but I am already completely covered in mud and we aren't even to mile 1. No one else is covered in mud because I am the graceful one who slipped in the mud crossing and went completely under. All the way, mud dripping from hair into eyes for the ENTIRE race! Thankfully Ryan had a dry spot on the back of his shoulder and he let me dry my eyes as needed ;-)

Neal was a little ahead of the group so he went back and repeated the fire jump multiple times to get the "perfect" photo!

Just a little crawl through the mud with barbed wire over it. Again with Neal hamming it up for the camera. I wonder if he enjoyed himself?!?!

Balance beam over a pool of water.

Sliding down the waterslide and running for the finish. (I find it funny that behind Neal running like he is trying to beat the crowd you can see Cindy and I walking casually because in fact we have already finished.) Again, camera ham!!!

Gina, Cindy and I sliding into the finish!

I made it. First time in my life I have ever run 3.1 miles in any sort of consecutive fashion. We finished in 1hr 10 minutes which for a team of 6 and the waiting at obstacles, I'm pretty proud of that!!

I wish they would have had a person at the ring obstacle. I am so proud that I was able to cross the hanging rings over the pool of water!

After we got home from this race, we set out to find more to sign up for. In July, Neal and I did 'Race the Reeper.' This one was 6.89 miles (only supposed to be 6.2) of uphill insanity!!! It was hot, there were bees and lots and LOTS and L O T S of hills. Neal finished in like 1 hr 40 minutes, I was a little behind...like an hour! with a finish time of 2 hr 45 minutes. But man, I did it and didn't die though some of those hills made me feel like I might.

Up next, Neal is off to run the Inferno at the end of this month. It involves lots of swimming and well, if you remember from the Cozumel post I swim in circles on my back so trying to do it around other people with a timed component isn't probably my best idea. After that we both are running the Warrior Dash, 3.1 mile mud race with 12 obstacles. Our last race thus far on the calendar is an actual 5K. I'll be honest, I've completed all of these races but they involved stopping to complete obstacles and wait for the people to go ahead of you. This is just continuous running, for 3 miles!!

You might say we are hooked, but there are worse things to be hooked on right?!?!