Right after the August 2012 Warrior Dash (3 miles of running, mud, and obstacles), Slick and I signed up for the 2013 race. We figured, since our church would be taking a group again in 2013, we would get the best possible price with the early registration. It is easy to get excited about a race a year in advance, when the rush of performing well is still fresh in your mind. A lot can happen in a year.

Fast forward to present day. I decided about a month ago to sign up for the Air Force Marathon. The added miles made it difficult to train for both a short, trail, obstacle race and a long distance road race. I decided to get a massage the Tuesday before the Warrior Dash, to ease the tight muscles. It did not have the effect I was expecting, giving me terrible knee pain days before the Dash. My wonderful partner in crime was brushing his teeth the Sunday before the Dash, stood up, and tweaked a muscle in his lower back. What a pair!

We managed to mend enough to start the race. My knee was tender, so I only completed the obstacles that would not cause it further harm. About 3/4 of the way through the race, I was getting ready to climb a wall, when I heard Slick’s voice. How could that be? He should be done by now!

“I hurt my back,” I heard him say to one of our friends.

I looked over, and there was my honey, in obvious pain. Since I had given up ‘racing’ when the Dash started, I decided to walk the rest of the course with Slick. I did climb the last wall (with help from a friend), jump over the burning logs of fire, and swim through the last mud bog, just for kicks. I would later regret this, when it took three hours to get both of our clothes and shoes hosed off, rinsed in the sink, and through the washer.

We did not finish feeling like tough warriors, but we did do as much as we physically could, and we completed the course together. Even though we may find our bodies do not perform the way we want them to or the way they used to, the best part of any race is sharing the experience with my best friend.