all kinds of bruises

Remember that race?

I SURVIVED! 

Seriously, I wasn't sure there for a second or two.... or three...

The spartan was the most intense race I have ever run or attempted to run.

Hallelujah for David, who invited me to run with the boys, because I may never have tried it.

The race was 8 miles of straight mountain climbing basically... plus 12 obstacles.

Now you may be able to see why I thought I wouldn't survive.

I knew David, but the rest of the boys on the team I hardly knew or didn't know until the 12 hours before the event. 

The night before the race they sat in the kitchen and the conversation went something like this...

"So, are we all going to stick together as a team tomorrow?"

"Yeah man, we aren't doing it to win, so let's all stick together"

Me... thinking.. [whoa-hey! remember how there's no way I won't slow you all down in a major way. so embarrassing.... oh dear....]

"Yeah, so I'm thinking we should NOT stick together so I don't hold you guys back"

"Well, we will figure it out tomorrow, but let's try to stick together"

[thank heavens they chose not to argue about it, because I was set on not being the weakest link]

So the next day came. and somehow I kept up with them....almost.

But when I fell a bit behind they would wait for me at the next obstacle. 

And inevitably somebody would ask how I was doing,

or make sure I was ok after jumping off a wall,

or give me a smile and a high five.

Best team ever?

I would argue that yes, yes they were.

Now I will share with you our ever-so lovely before, right after, and next-day-super-sore kind of after photos. In case you were wondering how 8 miles and 12 obstacles can make a girl sore....
think food storage buckets of sand and cement,
dragging blocks of cement through sand,
hoisting yourself over walls with nearly non-existent amounts of upper body strength,
carrying tires up a mountain,
wading through mud,
and army crawling under barbed wire.
Sweet.

These are just the pictures that Zack's lovely, blogging mother took of us.
Time will tell if the photographers at the race got any sweet action shots.

Until then, 
bruised, scratched, and still slightly stiff,

Taylor Ann