I had every intention to post this right after the new year!!! (sigh) But after Tough Mudder, I got a bad cold and then we started to do more running events...... I will not update you on that yet!!!
Time for me to get back on track! So with that said - please (pretty please!!!) read on to see why I've been behind getting my blog updated.
Thank you SO much (from my heart) for continuing with my blogging journey! I really appreciate it!!
My very best!
~ AZGEMFOODIE
Happy New Year my dear readers!
I hope everyone had a wonderful and happy holiday and has started the new year with a bang!
I know I last blogged in October letting you know that my blog is still very much alive and I promise it is!! In fact, I did go to a foodie event today with a friend and will be posting that as soon as I get my others finished.
In the meantime though, I wanted to share what I have been doing that has slightly taken time away from my blog.
This started in August of last year. My best friend, my pea, wanted to do Tough Mudder in February of this year. We had talked about this the year before and we didn't do it. I told her if she registered for a team that I would sign up and we would do it.
Most of you, I believe are familiar with Tough Mudder or have at least heard of it. But those folks who are not....it's a totally insane 10-12 mile obstacle (20-25) course designed by British Special Forces. Did I mention that there is mud, water, ice baths, fire, walls, monkey bars and electroshock to just name a few??? OH!!! And the best part, an awesome orange headband and beer at the finish line!
Since she created the team, we've had 13 peeps brave enough or totally bonkers join. So we started training. We've done everything from hiking, yoga, bootcamps, running trails, cross fit and 5K's.
In October, a few of us signed up for the Zombie Run 5K.
Who knew that in October that it would still be in the 90's (degrees!!).
That WAS certainly an experience.
I've learned a lot since that first run. Things like read to see if they give details of the terrain/course and if it's not mentioned to email the event to ask. I wore my Nike Flex and I had wished that I had worn my trail running shoes as we ran through the desert! OUCH!!
In November , a few of us signed up for the Color Me Rad 5K. Which was fun and messy. We all started clean and finished rainbow colors!
While running on the course people (runners) were throwing color bombs at other runners to give them more color and there were color stations where the staff would bomb you with color!
If you've not done Color Me Rad before -you should!
It was a blast!
Then we saw a deal for MudFactor. We thought that might be a perfect intro as to what to expect for Tough Mudder, just a mini (ok super-mini) of what Tough Mudder would be like. LOL!!!
This was their first time out to Arizona so we really didn't know what to expect.
5K obstacle runs can be challenging and by that I mean the wait can suck depending on how many participants. But we still had a great time!
In December, a few signed up for the Hot Chocolate 5K. It was friggin COLD that morning!! This by far was the coldest run we had done so far.
I don't know about the other girls but I had to remind myself that I would warm up and there was a REWARD at the end!!!
Mug of chocolate goodies was worth it!
Will run for chocolate!!! LOL!!!
And last weekend we did the PF Chang Rock'n'Roll Mini-Marathon (5.4 miles). The Mini-Marathon is new to the Rock'n'Roll series. Not all the cities have this and the distance varies as well.
We figured "eh, we've been doing 5K's what's another 2.3 miles... o_O
We had a blast. It was SO much fun and was the most put together event that we've done so far.
I wanted to share the craziness that has been going on ~ training, hiking, 5K's that have kept me from sitting down and working on my blog. It not only takes a physical toll but for me a mental one as well.
But things should and will start settling down. I do have several blogs in draft but I don't feel that they sound like the me that you all have read before and if it's not good enough for me...then sorry folks, not good enough for you either.
This has been such a crazy amazing journey. I've made some new friends and have grown closer to old ones.
We did decide or at least started talking about possibly doing a 1/2 marathon and have our sights set on the PF Chang Rock'n'Roll New Orleans 2014!!!!
We have one more 5K race in a few weeks and then.....Tough Mudder!!! AAAHHHHH!!!!
***** UPDATE -
Well, you didn't expect me to leave you hanging until I got all caught up did you??!! Did you??!! o_O
So after PF Chang I mentioned that we had one more 5K race and then the mother of it all Tough Mudder. That was the D-Backs Race Against Cancer. That was totally cool as some of the players and coaches ran that too!
We got our picture taken with Luis Gonzales a.k.a. Gonzo!! He's so humble and such a sweetheart. That was the highlight of the run and what a way to end our day!
And FINALLY we come to Tough Mudder!!! OMG!!! Can I just tell you that was....well not sure how to explain what that was!! It was awesome, it was crazy, it sucked (but in a good way), it was mentally and physically challenging.
But we set out to do this and we poured our blood (literally for some), sweat and tears (truly) into this.
Our team was amazing! We had two friends come from other states to do this with us.
(Thank you Jeff and Zee!!!)
I can honestly say that I've never in my life experienced ANYTHING like this. The worst obstacle for me was "Walk The Plank" (middle picture). It was 15 feet tall and the water was 12 feet deep. That was more a mental challenge for me. Did I tell you the water was friggin COLD?!?!?!
The first obstacle was the Arctic Enema (picture on the lower left corner) also know as the ice bath. The initial jump into it wasn't as bad as I thought ~it was diving into and under the divider to get to the other-side that SUCKED!!! And getting out was worse cause we were FREEZING!!!
Fire Walker (picture on the top right corner) was no picnic...jump over flames only to land in 4 feet of muddy water and try and wade your way to the end only to claw your way out.
The doozy, frustrating most annoying was Everest (picture on the lower right corner). Kinda looked like a skateboard ramp. The funniest part was the DJ that was doing the MC at this obstacle kept telling people "Don't run AT it, run UP it." People would get a running start and then hesitate as they got right up to it.
And we get to the crème de la crème...the grand finale. The Electroshock Therapy (picture on the upper left corner). HOLY CRAP!!! I'm not sure what was worse. The fact that you could hear the current pulsing in the live wires or getting zapped!!! I got zapped on the neck and had to take a knee - I think I may even had black out for a second, I'm not sure. But I got through it and I finished with my pea. After we crossed the finish-line we proudly went to get our orange head band and well deserved BEER!!!
We found the first group by the finish area and did a head count to see who else was still out there. There were four more teammates still out there. We wandered back over to the Everest obstacle and a little later we saw the final four of our team. We cheered them onto the finish-line. Waited for them to get their prized headbands and beer and met the rest of the group.
We all started together and we did get separated into three groups but EVERYONE and I mean EVERYONE on our team finished! No man or woman left behind!!
So proud of team MudderSuckas!!! Job well done!!!
TEAM MUDDERSUCKAS TOUGH MUDDER 2013
Jimbo, Monique, Brian, Me, Jo-girl, Jeff, Dave, Loca, Pea and Zee
we are missing Brian and Jennie
(Brian had a huge gash on his leg and Jennie had a black eye-both needed tending)
and honorable mention Aaron
(Aaron had injured himself a week prior to Tough Mudder and was unable to attend)
