Warrior Dash!

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"Craziest Fricken Day of Your Life!? That's for sure. Almost two years ago I was talked into running the Philadelphia Half Marathon. I remember thinking I was the craziest person alive for doing this- I am NOT a runner by any means. I've never ran more than maybe two miles without stopping. Well, I ran it! And since then I've been addicted to running and trying to beat my times. I've run three half marathons and countless shorter races. When I saw that the warrior dash was being held at the Skirmish Paintball fields- in my 'backyard' I just had to sign up for it. It's 3.5 miles long with obstacles strewn throughout the course. This seemed right up my ally!

It was an amazing experience. It kicked my ass! I ended up finishing 64th in my age group for the day. Not terrible at a 44:10 time. I couldn't believe people finished it in under 30 minutes! The course ran through the woods with no clear flat path. (Although after a few thousand people ran through it a path started to emerge.) It winded through the coolest of Skirmish's paintball fields; including two castles, structure fields and the tunnels course. I grew up working these paintball fields as a photographer so I feel like I had the 'home-field's advantage" but to tell you the truth I felt no advantage.

My preparation for this included a little bit of running and the Insanity workout every day. I felt pretty prepared for this, confident that I could compete it in around 40 minutes. WRONG! It kicked my butt! I think the best way to prepare for next time is to run through the woods.

It's the day after the race and my knees are ripped apart from the obstacles. I have some nasty bruises and shin splints. Running on the uneven surface was a killer!

Overall- BEST experience ever! I've run enough 'normal' races and from here on out I think I wanna run the fun runs. Next challenge; Tough Mudder!

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