Today
a group of NerdStrongers and I did something that I didn't think I'd
ever do my entire life.. I did a Warrior Dash. Warrior Dash is a 5K Mud
Run with 12 obstacles in
Prado Regional Park, Chino.
If you told me I'd be doing this a few years ago I would have laughed
but with the encouragement of friends and the hard work I've put in at
NerdStrong I felt comfortable and capable of completing this.
I
carpooled with several friends Rob and Pooja. And met up with more when
we got there... Anne, Micah, Brian, Lindsey and Josh, also Naomi,
Josh's girlfriend, Rob's sister and her boyfriend come out for moral
support.
We
took to the starting line and the gun went off.. or I should say flame
throwers shot Fire into the air. We ran for almost a mile before hitting
out first obstacle, "Mud Mounds". These are exactly what you think they
are.. large piles of dirt. There are three sets and in between each set
is a pool of muddy water. As I was going over the first one I noticed
that lot of people were going to the left side which didn't have much
water. I thought to myself.. hey it's a mud run I'm going to jump into
the middle of the water.. what I didn't know is that under the water was
about a foot of mud that I sunk down into and when I went to pull my
foot out my poor shoe almost came off. It took some effort but I managed
to get out of the bog and over the other two mud mounds. My shoes were
completely covered in this thick layer of mud that we fling all over the
place as I ran. It also added a few extra pounds to my shoes.
We
then ran a short distance to the next obstacle called "Under the Wire".
Here we had to get on our hands and knees and crawl under barbed wire.
It was probably about 20 feet we had to crawl to get to the other side.
It wasn't that bad.. just had to keep your butt down.
After
Under the Wire we reached second obstacle and it's not listed on their
web site so I don't have a name but we had to walk across 2x4 over pools
of water while ice cold water poured down on us. This took great
balance as you didn't want to fall into the cold water but you also
didn't want to hold up your team and take forever.
Next
was "Diesel Dome", which was this large monkey bar type structure made
out of wood. This wasn't to difficult.. you just had to take your time
and make sure you had a good hold of the wood. I think the trickiest
part was when you got to the top and having to then turn around and make
your way down the structure.
We then had to run a good
distance to get to the next obstacle, "Chaotic Cargo". This took
patience and you had to go fairly slow so you didn't fall through or get
tangled in the cargo net.
I'm sensing a pattern here.. all these obstacle require you to go slow.
Next
obstacle was called "Giant Cliffhanger", this one took some arm
strength as you had to climb up this vertical incline with the help of a
rope and then back down the other side. I didn't do to bad with this
one. I think the hardest part was waiting for someone to finish a head
of you before you could make your attempt.
We
ran for a bit before hitting the "Trenches". These are exactly what you
think they are. At first when you get on your hands and knees the
outside area looked dry but as soon as you go under the tarps it's a
muddy mess and at points your just pulling your body across the mud. I
had a great time getting muddy in this one. I think most people were
trying to keep themselves out of the mud.. I was trying to get as muddy
as possible.. I mean it is called a mud run.
Next we
went through the "Pipelines" this was a rope type thing. As you wait for
your turn you are watching people do it several different ways.. just
crawl through on hands and knees, or scoot on your back or go head first
and use your arms to pull yourself across. I choose the last one and it
was tough. Might have been better to have just crawled across.
We
then came across the "Shocktop Unfiltered", which is just a sponsored
obstacle. We had to climb over, under, over, under, over under and over
various obstacles. This wasn't too difficult.. I think the worse part
was crawling over grass that had some sticky things in them.
Next
as "Fisherman's Catch", you had to walk across a cargo net while ice
cold water as sprayed on you. They had rings and handles you could hold
to help steady yourself but being only 5'3" I couldn't reach them so I
have to get down on my hands and knees and crawl across the cargo net.
We
then came upon "Goliath", this was a huge slide that dropped you into a
muddy pool of water. You had to climb to the top and then slide down.
What you don't know is that the pool is pretty deep and the water is ice
cold, so as soon as you hit it you want to get out of it.
The
final obstacle was the best but also the hardest... it's called 'Muddy
Mayham" and this is just a big pit of very deep mud. It was like trying
to get out of quicksand. There are so many people in it that you have
feet in your face and other's behind your trying to drag themselves
closer by using your legs. Don't get me wrong.. it was pretty awesome
but extremely trying. I remember looking over at Lindsey and the look of
exhaustion we exchanged was priceless. I don't know how but I manged to
claw my way to the other side and once Lindsey was out my NerdStrong
companions all clasped hands and walked across the finish line together.
We
stood in line to take a picture with the official DASH WARRIOR sign and
then headed to the showers, which was really just a power hose. You
can't really get that clean, you just hope to get off the big chunks.
Luckily I had brought a change of clothing so I wouldn't dirty up my
car.
Overall the experience was amazing. The running
wasn't bad and all of the obstacles were a blast.. if not cold. I do
wish they had more water stations, especially towards the end, and I was
really looking forward to the final obstacle which was us jumping over
fire, but for whatever reason they didn't have that obstacle.. and on
last thing.. the shower situation wasn't great but other then those
minor issues I had a blast and I can't wait to do my next one.
After
Under the Wire we reached second obstacle and it's not listed on their
web site so I don't have a name but we had to walk across 2x4 over pools
of water while ice cold water poured down on us. This took great
balance as you didn't want to fall into the cold water but you also
didn't want to hold up your team and take forever. 
We
then came upon "Goliath", this was a huge slide that dropped you into a
muddy pool of water. You had to climb to the top and then slide down.
What you don't know is that the pool is pretty deep and the water is ice
cold, so as soon as you hit it you want to get out of it.
