I did it! I completed my first race!
I started running c25k in October. It started off being a physical challenge and turned quickly into a mental challenge. I signed up for a race and since my motto is always go big or go home, I picked the Polar Bear Plunge. While only a 2 mile race, it boasted jumping into not one, but three freezing cold pools of water. It sounded crazy and right up my alley. I also hoodwinked my supportive husband to doing it with me.
I am good and comfortable with a 2.5 mile run right now so I really thought it would be easy. Boy was I wrong! Here is a break down of what happened and what I learned:
We brought a change of clothes and our phones, but did not have a 3rd person there to hold our stuff. Next time I will get a third person to come with us and be the keeper of our stuff/ taker of photos. things would have been much easier if we had that!
We started off near the back of the pack. that was big mistake number 2. this made us behind a bunch of slower people and increased our run time considerably. We ended up starting to go around people, but since this was our first race and I was unsure of running etiquette, we went slowly for awhile.
We started off running about a quarter of mile and then we took our very first plunge into cold water. It was straight into the Arkansas River. There were quite few people who skipped this one, and I think they are PANSY'S. Brandon jumped in head first and I went in to about the chest level. It was sooooo cold! Then we had to run sopping wet through the sand and it was tough.
Once we got away from the river we ran about a half a mile until we got to a dock. It was made up of a bunch of different cubes of plastic and we had to run across it. Talk about crazy! It was slippery and would bounce and move and it is a miracle I held my balance. There were a few people that plunged into the river again.
The next obstacle was to run along an amphitheaters stairs. It was simple enough, then a mile later we finally got to the pools. Now the way this website read was that it was a small jump into 3 pools, 3 to 5 feet deep. there was noooo mention whatsoever of SWIMMING. We get to the first pool and jump in. if we thought that the river was cold we were mistaken! Those pools were 10 times cooler than the river ever thought of being. We had to swim from jumping into the deep end and swim across the pool to climb out the steps on the shallow side.
On all three pools as soon as I jumped in my body naturally tried to gasp for air because of the cold. Gasping is NOT something you want to be doing when your head is under water!!!!! I came up for air, freaking out quite a bit if I am going to be honest with myself. I was able to get all the way across the first pool with several loud prayers to God and sheer determination. The second pool..... oh brother! I gasped water into my lungs a second time and started flailing. My husband grabbed me by the waist, (since he was so tall he could actually touch) and brought me to where I could touch. I then got out of the pool with as much dignity as possible and continued running along. I believe the phrase, "hardest thing I have ever done in my life besides childbirth" came out of my mouth.
The third pool required diving for your medal. there was nooo way I was going to let my husband help me again, and NOT get a medal. So I plunged in once more, gulped water, but this time i knew what was going to happen. I got to the shallow end and grabbed 3... ribbons? GASP! The medals had come unhooked and were somewhere in the murky bottom of the pool. I wear glasses though, and water was all over them and I just couldn't SEE them. I started to say over and over again, oh no! oh no! i can't! where? i can't! And then my husband yelled my name and one of the volunteers was willing to trade me a ribbon for a full medallion! thank goodness because I was so determined to get that medal i would have frozen before I gave up!
We then had a final sprint to the finish line, but if you wanted an actual picture, it was more of a waddle, waddle, slosh, slosh to the finish line. We crossed the line hand in hand and I felt so proud of myself. 3 months ago I couldn't run for more than 60 seconds. the polar bear plunge took me about 35 minutes. While that time is slightly terrible, remember that I couldn't go that fast, and I had to wait my turn to jump into the pools, and I spent a good minute digging for my medal.
when it was over we trembled and shook to the car to get our change of clothes. We got a nice fellow racer to take our picture and with GREAT strain we both got our change of clothes on. We left with big smiles on our faces and I said we would do it again next year. I know one things for sure, can't wait for the Mud Run in April and we have A LOT of training to do before the Warrior Dash!
I started running c25k in October. It started off being a physical challenge and turned quickly into a mental challenge. I signed up for a race and since my motto is always go big or go home, I picked the Polar Bear Plunge. While only a 2 mile race, it boasted jumping into not one, but three freezing cold pools of water. It sounded crazy and right up my alley. I also hoodwinked my supportive husband to doing it with me.
I am good and comfortable with a 2.5 mile run right now so I really thought it would be easy. Boy was I wrong! Here is a break down of what happened and what I learned:
We brought a change of clothes and our phones, but did not have a 3rd person there to hold our stuff. Next time I will get a third person to come with us and be the keeper of our stuff/ taker of photos. things would have been much easier if we had that!
We started off near the back of the pack. that was big mistake number 2. this made us behind a bunch of slower people and increased our run time considerably. We ended up starting to go around people, but since this was our first race and I was unsure of running etiquette, we went slowly for awhile.
We started off running about a quarter of mile and then we took our very first plunge into cold water. It was straight into the Arkansas River. There were quite few people who skipped this one, and I think they are PANSY'S. Brandon jumped in head first and I went in to about the chest level. It was sooooo cold! Then we had to run sopping wet through the sand and it was tough.
Once we got away from the river we ran about a half a mile until we got to a dock. It was made up of a bunch of different cubes of plastic and we had to run across it. Talk about crazy! It was slippery and would bounce and move and it is a miracle I held my balance. There were a few people that plunged into the river again.
The next obstacle was to run along an amphitheaters stairs. It was simple enough, then a mile later we finally got to the pools. Now the way this website read was that it was a small jump into 3 pools, 3 to 5 feet deep. there was noooo mention whatsoever of SWIMMING. We get to the first pool and jump in. if we thought that the river was cold we were mistaken! Those pools were 10 times cooler than the river ever thought of being. We had to swim from jumping into the deep end and swim across the pool to climb out the steps on the shallow side.
On all three pools as soon as I jumped in my body naturally tried to gasp for air because of the cold. Gasping is NOT something you want to be doing when your head is under water!!!!! I came up for air, freaking out quite a bit if I am going to be honest with myself. I was able to get all the way across the first pool with several loud prayers to God and sheer determination. The second pool..... oh brother! I gasped water into my lungs a second time and started flailing. My husband grabbed me by the waist, (since he was so tall he could actually touch) and brought me to where I could touch. I then got out of the pool with as much dignity as possible and continued running along. I believe the phrase, "hardest thing I have ever done in my life besides childbirth" came out of my mouth.
The third pool required diving for your medal. there was nooo way I was going to let my husband help me again, and NOT get a medal. So I plunged in once more, gulped water, but this time i knew what was going to happen. I got to the shallow end and grabbed 3... ribbons? GASP! The medals had come unhooked and were somewhere in the murky bottom of the pool. I wear glasses though, and water was all over them and I just couldn't SEE them. I started to say over and over again, oh no! oh no! i can't! where? i can't! And then my husband yelled my name and one of the volunteers was willing to trade me a ribbon for a full medallion! thank goodness because I was so determined to get that medal i would have frozen before I gave up!
We then had a final sprint to the finish line, but if you wanted an actual picture, it was more of a waddle, waddle, slosh, slosh to the finish line. We crossed the line hand in hand and I felt so proud of myself. 3 months ago I couldn't run for more than 60 seconds. the polar bear plunge took me about 35 minutes. While that time is slightly terrible, remember that I couldn't go that fast, and I had to wait my turn to jump into the pools, and I spent a good minute digging for my medal.
when it was over we trembled and shook to the car to get our change of clothes. We got a nice fellow racer to take our picture and with GREAT strain we both got our change of clothes on. We left with big smiles on our faces and I said we would do it again next year. I know one things for sure, can't wait for the Mud Run in April and we have A LOT of training to do before the Warrior Dash!
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