"Foam is the new mud!"

Brandon brought home the flyer in mid-May.  "Mom!  Mrs. G told us in class today that she is doing this race in the summer. She said she thought you might be interested and that she wants you to be on her team."  Volunteering in Brandon's 5th grade class every Tuesday meant that his teacher and I had become good friends.  (Julianne had her for 5th grade as well.)  She'd already been trying for months to convince me to come to bikram yoga (aka: hot yoga) with her.  I'm a fan of yoga....but hot yoga where the temps hover around 105 degrees...on purpose?  I think there is a good chance she would have to catch me as I passed out from the heat.

But this Foam Fest...it piqued my interest.  A 5k filled with obstacles...many of them wrapped around foam, mud and water.  I hadn't ever done an obstacle course before.  So after thinking on it awhile, I signed myself up on Franki's team...the newest member of the "TransFOAMers."

I have to admit, my nerves flared the closer this race got.  Stemming from the fact that I hadn't done much running since Ragnar ended, certainly.  But mostly, fear of the unknown.  Oh, I knew that this race was more about silly fun than anything and that likely I'd have no real problems conquering any obstacle they threw at me.  But I was running on a team where I only knew 2 of my 6 teammates....and more than that, I had no idea where I would fit in ability wise.  Could I keep up with them?  Would I end up running this race on my own?

My fears were for naught.  I fit in just fine.  And as we conquered all the obstacles, we cheered each other on...and laughed.  Frequently and hard.  Among those many obstacles, we climbed up and over 8 foot walls and cargo nets.  We army crawled under electrified wire.  We crawled through mud and slipped and slid our way through numerous obstacles filled with foam.  We ran across the water on thin foam pads.  We clambered over huge tubes in a lake.  When I crossed that finish line I was soaking wet, my shoes were filled with rocks, I had bruises in odd places and my knees were shaking (which they continued to do for the next few hours.)  It had been challenging, to be sure.  But what ridiculous FUN!!  

(More pics to come when Franki sends me the ones from her camera...hopefully soon!)