Heeding the warrior call...

Two days to go before the Warrior Dash, the event that got us in to the whole 'mud run' thing.  The race re-cap will be the official 'Launch' of the our Team SFM blog, giving us about a year to prepare/train/fundraise/blog/whine/plan for Tough Mudder.


Warrior Dash will be held in a place called Quarryville, PA.  Yes, it's probably in the middle of nowhere.  Good thing, too, because thousands of people are going to be descending on the place for the race Saturday and Sunday - waves of 500 going off each half hour.  And not only will they be muddy and sloshing their (one) free beer, they'll be carrying turkey legs and wearing hats.


Pointy, pointy hats.  Pictures to come.


There may also be turkey legs.


I consider Warrior Dash a preview of Tough Mudder.  The course is 3.15 miles, with 13 obstacles. Considering the size of each wave, I'm pretty sure the course won't involve much running... we'll see.  After a week of rain, the weather is supposed to be awesome: sunny, mid to high sixties.


So... what's the plan?


We're meeting up with the 6s to leave around 9am.  We're taking Matt's element, which is nice... hoseable interior.  We should get there a little before 11, which gives us just over an hour to get everything and head to the start.


The actual race logistics are hazy.  We need enough time to park, get bibs, etc, BUT parking is 1/3rd mile from the race site and they don't want people to walk.  There's a shuttle.  This would be fine, except they require photo ID to pick up the packets.  Sooo... there's a trip back to the car, since I don't plan on carrying anything.  Whatever.  We're warriors.  We'll improvise.


Here's a list of the obstacles.  I'll review them in the race summary:

1. Tunnels of terror - crawling through tunnels.  Check!
2. Tanker Trouble - this involves climbing over abandoned trucks.  When I saw this, I remembered my tetanus booster is long overdue.  My arm hurts now, but I'm a little more prepared for this challenge.
3. Hell's Hills - climbing 'mounds'.  Like... the indian burial mounds of the Ohio River Valley?  Mounds Bars?  The map isn't big on specifics.
4. Hay Fever - climbing over big bales of hay looks like fun!
5. Cargo Climb - I have no idea how to climb over a cargo net.  Going up, I got it.  Going down, cool.  But the transition between the two?  Hopefully it will not involve sudden acceleration.
6. Walk the plank - over a gully/ditch/thing.  I hope there are crocodiles.
7. Blackout - this maybe looks like a slip'n'slide?  The description ("dive into darkness and escape the trenches") is no help.
8. Mossy Maze - running through trees seems like it will be fun
9. Breathless Bog - this is basically walking/swimming through a bog, and pulling ourselves over floating logs.  The trickiest bit of this might be having a few people trying to get over a log at one time.  
10. Warrior Wall - I'm a little worried about climbing a wooden wall.  I can't even do a pullup.
11. Slithering Swamp - this seems like a trot through the mud.  If I see something slithering, I promise I will throw it at Matt.
12. Fire roast - jumping over fire!  Hopefully I'll be wet enough from 9 and 11 that this will be no problem.
13. Muddy Mahem - aka, mud and barbed wire crawl.  At first, this seems like it wouldn't be that bad.  However, I've read a few race accounts where people actually got a little messed up during this.  Yay vaccinations!

Once we're done, my plan is to find a hose, clean up (relatively speaking), and then watch the 6s finish.  Maybe get back to the car if we have time to change.  

Are we ready?  Well...

Warrior Status:  I'll let Matt speak for himself. My arm still hurts from the tetanus shot, but I think we'll be fine.  Hydration plan is in effect!

Warrior Mentality: since I'm verging on stress-mania and sleep deprived, attaining that wild-eyed, muddy, crazed look should be easy.

Warrior Spirit: although I thought about selling it for a cup of coffee this AM, it is still in my possession.