{we are warriors}

Oh yea baby! We are warriors!

A few weekends ago Jesse and I headed to Huntersville, NC for the 2012 Warrior Dash (my first 5k-—check!). We wanted to compete last year but couldn’t because a)we were out of shape and b)it fell on the day of my bridal shower, which I couldn’t miss as I was kind of the guest of honor...haha. This year we were very prepared and rocked it out! I was a bit nervous before but psyched myself into thinking it would be a breeze. I definitely think that mindset greatly helped because I made it through every obstacle without any help! Jesse of course whizzed right through it (darn army training) and was an awesome coach all throughout. My friend Giselle and her co-worker competed as well and we stuck together through the whole course. We were an awesome team, pushing and encouraging each other every step of the way. We were not without a cheering section either. Our parents came out for support along with my friend Isaiah (whom I had to bribe with turkey legs...haha) and his lovely wife Katie and their friend. It was so awesome to have everyone’s support; it really helped us make it through!

 We are so proud to check The Warrior Dash off our list and can’t wait to do it again next year!

Before the race we were clean, pumped, and had our most extreme warrior faces on. We were going to demolish this race!

While we were out getting drenched in the mud, Isaiah was doing his best to support us by enjoying a delicious turkey leg and an ice cold beer. Too bad he won’t have the same luxury next year when he will be competing...haha.

To finish the race we had to crawl over this horizontal rope ladder, jump over fire, and crawl under barbed wire through wet red clay mud (which was not as fun as it sounds, just ask my knees). I was watching Jesse and saw him crawl on his belly military style and thought, “oh yea, that’s how you’re supposed to do it,” so I plopped down on my stomach only to get stuck (even though I could move my arms and legs---it was as funny as it sounds). In the process I also managed to get red clay mud right in my eye (yowwwwza) so all I could see was orange. I managed to pull myself up again and stumble as fast as I could to the finish line and  water table to have Jesse flush out my eyeball. Not quite the “warrior” finish I was hoping for, but it’ll do. Next year, I will wear goggles.

Jesse and I attacking my mother with a muddy hug.

Woo! We did it!

 Now to prepare for the next race.

So long for now!

{Images courtesy of Katie Ellis, Carlos Henry, & Isaiah Wright}