Wednesday, September 25, 2013

PART TWO: Kicking mud at the Warrior Dash Race 2013, Copper Mountain, Colorado!


This is part 2 of a two part blog series.  Please see part 1 for more details. 

Yesterday I shared all the fun details about our weekend away with our 970 Muscle team: the good meals, fun recreation, and gorgeous lodging!   I have wanted to run a Warrior Dash for a few years and was finally able to put a jumbo checkmark next to it on my wishlist!


Our team, 970 Muscle, ready to run!

The Warrior Dash at Copper Mountain, Colorado, was 3 miles with 12 obstacles.  The obstacles included crawling under barbed wire, climbing over high walls, rope climbing, jumping over fire, swimming in mud, and a few more lovely things like that. 




Getting ready...


Talented teammate Lacie braiding my hair tight to my head before the race.


 My giant fear was that my hair would get tangled up in barbed wire.  Lacie pretty much saved my life with this braid.



Our amazing 970 Muscle Team


Our team is supportive, energetic, full of life,
ready to face challenges, and zeroed in on positivity.


Our men





Us


the girls





Experiencing this race as a big TEAM was without a doubt, what made this event PERFECT!  I am extra thankful for the quality people in our life.  Our trainer, Derek, shares my exact life values of living a life of gratitude and celebrating positive life moments.  Thank you Derek for making this happen and for bringing us together.  

I have shared a bit about 970 Muscle and Derek on my lil blog before:





Okay...back to mountains and mud and races.

Climbing, climbing up the mountain!  Colorado people are kinda cool.  ;) We deal with high elevation and thin air.

We were racing at 10,000 ft!



Fire!
These fire photos are courtesy of Jonathan Hobbs


Chris being Chris. 
Why jump over the fire when you could stomp on it?




These boys get too excited about fire.
Derek even did body squats right over the open flames. 




Baptized by mud!
Mud photos courtesy of Jonathan Hobbs




Climbing up cargo nets...
we worked together, as a team,
the entire time,
ensuring everyone completed each obstacle successfully.



This is my triumph-tongue-out-I-made-it-to-the-top look 


Giving my warrior cry!



Finish line coming up!



We did it!

 










Accomplishments are exciting gifts we get to tear open with racing hearts.  
Those gifts of accomplishments
 are always there, 
waiting for us to make them happen.




Muddy us
together.





This was a weekend celebrating the beauty of Colorado, 
with our capable bodies
and treasured friends.

It was a series of beautiful moments,
pressed together into a couple of memorable days,
moments of depth,
times of real connection, 
of support and teamwork,
with strong hearts and willing spirits.

I am quite sure we all collectively agree that our team won't forget this weekend of life lived in action. 



Most of these photos are courtesy of Jonathan Hobbs Photography.  Thank you Jonathan!
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This post is linked to: Under the Table & DreaminNifty Thrifty,  Made by You MondayMet Monday, Tuesday Tutorials and TipsHOMEWORK: Be InspiredTip JunkieGet Your Craft OnWorks for Me WednesdaySnap CreativityOrganize and Decorate EverythingTransformation ThursdayTablescape ThursdayStrut Your Stuff36th AveFoodie FridayI'm Lovin ItTickled PinkFriday FlairBe Different Act NormalFunky Junk Interiors, Weekend Wrap Up, Six Sisters Saturday 

Monday, September 23, 2013

PART ONE: Warrior Dash Race Weekend to Never Forget with our 970 Muscle Fitness Team

This is PART 1 of a 2 part series.  Click here for PART 2


A couple years ago, I was cozied up in the corner of my couch one late night.  I was reading a blog friend's page when I saw her post about the Warrior Dash!  At that time, I had NEVER heard of anything so ridiculous yet exciting and I was instantly captivated with this idea.  She wrote about mud crawling and fire leaping and I was like..."whaaa??"  Then I was like..."wow!"  And after a couple of deep thinking seconds, I was like..."I want to do this!".  In much excitement, I immediately jumped up from the couch and demanded Chris' full attention.  "Babe, this is unreal.  I must do this."  I pushed him in front of my computer screen and made him watch the video promo.  He didn't share my enthusiasm.  His cool response was, "I wouldn't want to do it, but knock yourself out."  Or something along those lines.

But life is sorta funny sometimes and the VERY next year, he ended up racing the Tough Mudder which is a trillion times harder than the Warrior Dash and I stayed on the sidelines and snapped lots of muddy pictures.

He is tougher than I am, 
the end.




Although the Tough Mudder was too intimidating for me, I still carried a secret desire to race the Warrior Dash.  The Tough Mudder is over 13 miles and the obstacles look insane in comparison to the Warrior Dash.  The WD is just over 3 miles, with less intense obstacles.  I could do that.  And I could do mud.

photo via



When the opportunity came up for our local fitness team, 970 Muscle,  to all race a Warrior Dash together, I jumped on it.   Our race was in the most beautiful place in this whole little-big world: Colorado, Copper Mountain Ski Resort.



I knew the second I signed up for this race, that I wanted my three boys to come along, I wanted my favorite supporters there as team, our family 5 team.


We made the pretty mountain drive up with our family and a couple of our dear teammates.  Our spirits were high and our hearts happy.



Within a couple short hours, we made it to our destination!
Breathe in, breathe out.  Life is absolutely beautiful.





The big boss of our 970 Muscle fitness team, our trainer and friend, Derek, planned the BEST weekend for the entire team.  Thank you Derek!


 He discovered a giant and gorgeous cabin mansion place for the entire team to stay in for the weekend. 

photo credit: Jonathan Hobbs

When we arrived, we ran around with excitement, exploring all the rooms!  Each room and bathroom were completely different.  We found our lil weekend home at the very top story of the cabin, with french doors that opened wide to the roof deck and panoramic views of the mighty mountains.  

 

We all hung out with guitars and games while waiting for the entire team to arrive.



Titus' poker hand 
photo courtesy of Jonathan Hobbs





Some of our girls



We did some crazy foolish things on our mountain too.  Hey kids, sit on these longboards and we'll let go and watch you roll at high speeds down this windy mountain road.  K? K.




No worries.  The adults tested it out first.


Chris and Merridy being so crazy.
Whatever you do,
don't do this.


We grabbed the sunshine and the high air while on some
 gorgeous mountain walks.


My main sqeeze is so darn hot.






On one walk, Titus found bright wildflowers and gathered a cluster for our mountain kitchen.


Always make things beautiful, wherever you go.


Our team worked together to plan a weekend menu 
for us to enjoy our breakfast, lunches, and dinners at the cabin!





One day I'm doing what I do, 
being a little housewife in the kitchen 
and the next day I'm a warrior in the mud.



We enjoyed delicious buffet lines throughout the weekend:



Pre race pasta feast!



Good food, with good company in a good place. 



Pull ups on the beams after dinner is typical for this team!
We're cool like that.


 We also do calm and peace.
Keeping it all in balance as our trainer likes to encourage. ;)



On race day, my parents drove up to join in and watch!  
Thank you Mom and Dad!
Mom playing cards with her viking grandsons. 




Time to check in!

Down at the heart of the race, people buzz all around, energy high, with my favorite people!




Viking Mama and her tough warrior



All of our mountain R & R wrapped up as we prepared for our race!


Waivers are signed, 
numbers are on, 
and we are ready to race!




Most of our team! 
We are all fresh and pretty 
ready to walk down to the start line and kick some mud.



Tomorrow I will be sharing the actual race details with some epic (yes I used the word epic) pictures!  So check back loves!




This vacation was a braided combination 

of all things beautiful:

connection
friendship
support
goals
dreams
perseverance
gathering around good food
breathing in God's glorious earth
 fancy special place to sleep
laughter
and true spirit



This was one of the BEST weekends/memories/moments I've had! 
I am feeling so grateful for LIFE EXPERIENCES. 
We spent this weekend in the most beautiful mountains, 
in a gorgeous cabin, 
surrounded with GOOD people, 
accomplishing great things! 
Sooo many highlighted life moments pressed into just one weekend!




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This post is linked to: Under the Table & DreaminNifty Thrifty,  Made by You MondayMet Monday, Tuesday Tutorials and TipsHOMEWORK: Be InspiredTip JunkieGet Your Craft OnWorks for Me WednesdaySnap CreativityOrganize and Decorate EverythingTransformation ThursdayTablescape ThursdayStrut Your Stuff36th AveFoodie FridayI'm Lovin ItTickled PinkFriday FlairBe Different Act NormalFunky Junk Interiors, Weekend Wrap Up, Six Sisters Saturday