The icy water hits me in the chest like a punch. I steel my nerves as best I can, and duck under the wooden board, fully submerging myself in the 39 degree pond.
As I struggle to pull myself from under the frigid water to the surface, for a second, it feels as though my heart has stopped…and I think… this, is what it must feel like to be dead…..
But I lived…..
And finished the PA tough mudder race in 4 hours, 16 minutes.
The story of the birth of my daughter is a story I and friends alike have told as a cautionary tale to the expectant mother who better know way before the trip to the hospital about their level of pain tolerance…long story short…no drugs, a too quick transistion to full dialation and a nurse practically on top of me telling me to “calm down” while others outside my room send shuffling wide eyed fellow moms-to-be away from the sounds of me screaming bloody murder….let’s just say I have a history of being a drama queen when its comes to any kind of pain or discomfort.
Now put said chick above outside, in 50 degree weather, where she is to run 11 miles up and down an ankle twisting ski slope, belly crawl thru tunnels of mud and stones, climb 12 foot walls that caused a few broken ankles, and water that sent more than a few partipatants to the hospital for hypothermia…have her do this next to real athletes, 20 pounds lighter and 20 years her junior….2 days past her 40th birthday.
Yes, I finished. I still can’t believe I finished. It was the hardest thing Ive done in my life. I wasn’t able to do all the obstacles (the monkey bars were a no go as well as the walk the plank with a 50 yard swim, shit… Im not that crazy..(see broken ankles/hypothermia above).. I knew I had my crew waiting at the top and we all finished together. I think I had a very small glimpse of what it must be like to be part of something big, like soldiers who bond together in war time and people who have survived big hardships. Its not strength or courage that got me through it, it was simply people who reached out their hands and pulled me up and pushed me forward and waited for me to join them to the end.
What an amazing journey this has been…..thanks to my girls…..you have reminded me that many things are possible with the power of friendship…..
Now if I could just stop falling over from random charlie horses and get the mud scubbed out from my skin….its going to take a lot longer for my body to agree with my heart….
Off to down more ADVIL and wash my mudder shirt to wear proudly….everytime I work out….:)
Congrats to all Tough Mudders from this week, you rocked it!!!!!!!!
The Target dressing room mirror is a filthy liar 
Congratulations!
Thank you! Its amazing how much you can push yourself even if you think you can’t…there was no turning back and having a team of my good friends was so motivating and hysterical!
Very awesome and double congrats! I know you felt GREAT at the finish line! Now I feel like a wimp only doing my little 3 mile Warrior Dash!
Thank you!!!! If I would have know what it was going to be really like (pictures and maps didn’t do it justice) I think I would have run screaming in the other direction….I never felt that kind of exhaustion in my life at the end…but it feels really good to be able to wear the orange mudder head band (you can’t buy them only finishers get them…)
You have to do it with a group, there was no way I would have made it otherwise….hey warrior dash is a good race, and all races are a challenge!!!
Yay!! You did it! I’m so excited for you! My Mudder is in a couple of weeks and I wouldn’t be doing it without my friends either. Thanks for posting!
Thanks! My advice, carry at least 3-4 packs of the gu enery gel….they were a life saver when I thought I was going to drop dead from exhaustion!!!!!!!! Oh and don’t wear any cotton, just drag u down – I would go with all tek wick – we had a nurse in the group tape our ankles which was a big help in the rocky trails and duct tapes our shoes at the laces so we didn’t lose them in the mud pits…. the electric shock was not as scary as we thought – just run as fast as you can with your arms straight out in front of you, less crossed wires/less shock! The best of luck to you!!