I beat my very first obstacle course!!

[Agidyne]

The Barber Beast on the Bay is a 10 mile obstacle course AND I BEAT IT!! Yaaaaay!

 

I was so so so excited when I signed up for it a year ago and as it got closer...I became nervous and almost didn't even go!  I was afraid I'd be bad at it and judged by the other participants.  I also was originally going to run it with a friend but during the weeks leading up to the Beast, we had a falling out and aren't friends anymore and I knew that'd be awkward seeing them.

 

But I really wanted to cross that finish line.  And I had already told all my other friends, my boyfriend, and my coworkers I was doing it.  I knew I'd feel terrible if I backed out, especially when I knew everyone was going to ask me about it.  And my boyfriend asked me the night before what made me feel better: thinking about crossing that finish line or not going because I "might" be bad at it.  And then he told me to quit thinking about it as a competition and to just have fun.

 

And so I went!  I saw my ex-friend there.  It was awkward.  But then I made friends with a complete stranger and teamed up with them and we ran it together, motivating each other.  And I was able to do more of the obstacles than I thought I could.  I'm MORE proud of myself that I did it alone and not with my ex-friend because I may have relied on their help when I didn't even need it.  I proved to myself I was more than capable, and I want to do it again next year to see if I can do it even better!

 

And no one judged me at all (at least not openly lol).  Everyone was very kind and I found myself talking to a lot of other runners as we went through the course and so many people were helping each other and it felt like one giant team effort even though we all signed up individually or in smaller groups.

 

...Though the swamp part was really gross.  I never thought I'd willingly wade into a swamp, let alone into a swamp that got as deep as my waist.  It smelled like poop and I'm pretty sure something touched my ankle.  Ick.

 

But the worst part wasn't the distance or any of the obstacles (or the swamp)...it was all the sand on the beaches that we had to go through.  I know for next time to practice walking and running in sand, because wow, that made the 10 miles feel a lot longer.  But it was fun and all completely worth it!!!

[Stellakin]

Wow, congratulations! That sounds like such an amazing feat! And I know what you mean about the difficulty about running on sand; I used to go running on a beach nearby and it definitely takes some altered technique, haha!

[Mike_d85]

On 9/11/2016 at 2:07 PM, ewalter408 said:

...Though the swamp part was really gross.  I never thought I'd willingly wade into a swamp, let alone into a swamp that got as deep as my waist.  It smelled like poop and I'm pretty sure something touched my ankle.  Ick.

 

"There's something ALIVE down there!"

[Agidyne]

Thanks Stella!!   Yeah, that sand...whew.  Whenever we hit dirt or pavement, it was heaven.  

 

And omg, Mike_d, that's hilarious!  That scene definitely sums up how I felt, hahaha!