My friend David and I decided a couple of months ago to sign up for an event called The Warrior Dash just to see what it was.  It seemed interesting, it was more than just a 5k… it was more like an obstacle course.  The only downside was the 2+ hour drive to the event, but since I was not driving it alone it didn’t sound so bad.

The event was tough, but a nice change from the standard road race.  The course was only 2.4 miles long but with all the obstacles it was still very exhausting.  I finished in 24:54 and David finished in 23:46.  I was right behind him, ready to make a race of it, going into the mud pit but got stuck up to my armpits in the mud.

The festival afterward was great as well; with drinks, turkey legs, and live bands.  There was even an axe throwing class in case you are ever in the need of self defense and all that is handy is an axe.   Overall this was an awesome event and I am planning to do it again next year and take a bunch of friends with me.

Two suggestions for the organizers for next time:

1. Make the area just after the start wider.  I was near the front at the start and still had a lot of bottlenecks to content with during the first half mile, or so, run.
2. The hoses that were promised to clean up at the finish line never materialized.  If a part of the lake was at least open to rinse off in it would have made clean up a lot easier.  Plus, the buses were not letting people who were wet or muddy get back on to go back to the parking areas.

Even with these minor problems the organizers did a fantastic job and I can’t wait to do it again.

Back a few weeks ago I learned something while running a 5K that I now realize also applies to life in general.  This particular 5K was the day before I was going to run the ING Georgia Half Marathon.  I decided to take it easy and try and run the 5K in around a 10 minute per mile pace instead of my usual 9 minute pace.  I glanced at my watch at the end of the first mile to see 9:27… 30 seconds too fast and I felt like I was walking.  I slowed down even more and was surprised to see a 9:17 at the end of mile two.  A little frustrated, I tried to slow down even more and ran the third mile in 9:15.  I learned that I am a faster runner when I take the pressure off of myself, relax, and enjoy what I am doing.

Over the last few weeks I have applied this same concept to work.  I have found that when I don’t let the pressure get to me, I relax and just do one thing at a time, and I try to enjoy myself; that I perform so much better.  I feel like I have accomplished more by slowing down than I would have by trying to maintain a faster, more hectic pace.  It is weird to think that you can speed up by intentionally trying to slow down!