You know how sometimes in a professional players' contract they forbid them to do certain activities like skate boarding, pogo sticking, or motorcycling in order to avoid injuries that could cost the player and the team a lot of money? Well, Karen E. went skiing in January and this is what happened to her:
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| Karen's personal escort down the mountain. |
She ended up needing knee surgery and not getting to train for the race. She was a great sport though and actually came with us, mostly for the free swag bag and beer, but we really appreciated the fact that she drove us to the race and took some great photos. Below is a picture of the 5 of us pre-race:
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| Divas from L-R: Holly, Me, Karen, Marcelle and Kellyn |
Before the race, the four of us who were actually running that day made a pact to end the race together. I was to benefit from this pact because the other Divas are actually faster than I am at running. Another fact of note is that I had to psych myself up for the run since I knew the course all too well having done it 3 times during the Danskin Triathlon in the past. I don't like the course, period. It is more like a trail run up and down hills with large pieces of wood mulch that spread all over the course to prevent it from getting too muddy in case it actually rains in Austin. The course is also quite hilly with large and small rocks scattered all over the place and hazardous to people like me who are prone to twisting their ankle on a flat surface just merely walking down the sidewalk. Even with all these things against me, I was determined to run the entire time and knew that the other three ladies would be there to encourage me.
The first obstacle was fairly easy and consisted of walking across a balance-beam type maze raised about 8 inches from the ground. If you slipped off the beam you were supposed to go back and start again...this rule was not really enforced, but I made it across the first time so it was no big deal. The second obstacle you can see in the photo below:
We had to run through the inner tubes on the ground like football players while simultaneously trying to avoid getting knocked to the ground by these pink Hoppity Hop or Jumping Balls that had these oddly wicked looking smiley faces on them.
A couple of the next obstacles were similar and had us ducking under those plastic flags woven over a maze or bungie chords crisscrossed throughout a wooden frame. My favorite 'challenge' came next and was a tent without a top on it and was filled with bubbles! One of the odd obstacles, in my opinion, was when we had to pick up a small log and run up a hill then down again ala the movie An Officer and A Gentleman. I was wearing my Nike Fuelband and decide to just carry the log under my right arm to be sure to keep my left arm moving in the proper motion because I was getting as much credit for this run as possible!
One of the last 'ground' obstacles featured 5 rows of those plastic barricades that we had to maneuver over which brought us to the last hill of the course. My guardian angel, Kellyn, noticed that I was pretty far behind our pack and came back to encourage me up the hill and to keep moving. When we came up the hill and around the curve, I could tell it was the final leg because we were next to the water. The breeze off of the water was refreshing and because I love to be in the water, I really enjoyed two of the last three challenges. The first consisted of five long buoys floating in the water that we had to hop over and then in the second water challenge we had to grab an inner tube and place it around our waists then go out into the lake a short distance around some pyramid shaped buoys and return to shore. The very last obstacle was a wall made of rope that you climb up one side and down the other. The hardest part of this one was making sure not to get kicked by someone trying to throw their leg over the top of the wall. I met up with Holly and Marcelle on the other side and we all waited for Kellyn to get over then we crossed the finish line together.
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| We Made It! |
Not my favorite photo but Whateva!
We all enjoyed the experience so much we are planning on doing it again next year. Dressing alike like other participants in matching outfits including but not limited to tu-tus, tiaras, matching socks etc. is still up for debate.
Next Post: Bootcamp AKA Torture Treatment
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