Mud. Sweat. Beer.

Mud. Sweat. Beer.
My new mantra! Matt, Julie, and I ran the Warrior Dash this past weekend and appropriately, got dirty! And, I do like to sweat (!) and in my felt dress, I certainly got to do so! (yes, I ran in a dress!) But first....Believe it or not, I am a procrastinator; a trait I got from my father (he used to say he was going to join the Procrastinator's Club of America....but never got around to it!  hee hee...get it?). Anyway, it took me until a few days before the race to finally read up on it. Yes, we signed up back in like MARCH, but whatever. I then realized that COSTUMES were encouraged for this race. Anyone who has run the St. Patty's Day GREEN DRESS run with me knows that I LOVE a good costume (and while I may never WIN races, I can win costume contests - Including this year's GREEN DRESS!). Being that we only had a few days, Julie (who also loves costumes) and I came up with a few options and then had to figure out how to convince Matt that he had to wear one! Now, the theme is WARRIOR, so we came up with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Caveman Warriors, or Devils (as we do jump through fire. Weak idea, I know).  We were afraid our turtle shells would get caught on the barbed wire (really!) or would disintegrate in the water crossing, so we opted for Cavemen! (would Cavepeople be more politically correct?). Surprisingly, Matt took NO convincing. Here is a pic PRE-race:

People apparently thought I was going for the Flinstone 'Bam Bam' look as I did get a few "Yabba Dabba Doo's" along the race! In case you are wondering, Julie wore a real dress and I made my and Matt's costumes from a body-pillow cover found at Target! A few of you on FB said you thought I was more of a leopard print kind-of-girl. You are indeed CORRECT and if they had LEOPARD, I'd have gottten that one! I'll be sure to dress in THIS next time!  :)

There was mud. There was fire jumping. There was creek crossing. There was rope climbing. There was wall scaling. There was plank walking. The three of us stayed together and Matt grabbed our pony tails and tried to drag us like the subservient women we are.

That's the AFTER shot! The race was held in a Paintball park, which added many interesting features and obstacles! Great place to have the race! We enjoyed some food, beer and good friends after; also bumping into Rachel, Jose, and Sam!

I hadn't planned on running Monday. But, the weather has been so perfect that I went for a short ZEN run in Wissahickon yesterday! Before beginning my training for this ULTRA, I always considered myself a Zen runner. I just ran through the woods. No care about timing. No care about pace. Enjoy the scenery. Enjoy the forward movement of my body. Enjoy the runner's high afterward. While I am now 'training' for my first race, I don't want to lose that Zen. Yesterday was perfect for that. Ended with a perfect night grilling on the roof deck!

To Come:
Hill Training tomorrow (kayaking today!) 
Media 5 Miler race on Friday
Running with Julie Saturday (she banged up her knee on a creek crossing Sunday, so IF she's up for it!)
Long run with Marty MONDAY! Whew!