So dirty and thankful

On Saturday, I did something for the first time.  It was hard.  It was hot.  It was dirty.  I ran with 3 amazing women in the USMC Mud Run in Columbia, South Carolina.  There were 3115 teams made up of 14,000 people.  The course is 4.5 miles with 32 obstacles.  All along the way there are Marine's yelling at the participants to get moving, go faster and harder. 

Most people train for several months to get ready for this test of team work and physical endurance.  I, however, had 2 weeks~GASP!!  My friend called me literally 2 weeks before the Run and asked if I could step in for one of their team mates that had an injury.  I couldn't resist. 

Before

Getting pumped

And then.......

there was after!!!

Did I mention it was dirty??

I'm not gonna beat around the bush- it was hard.  After the first few obstacles I wondered if I had made a huge mistake.  By the time we made it half way, however, we were hooked!!  I have never worked so physically hard for a goal in my life, but it was sooooooo worth it!!  I hope to be able to train properly and do it again next year!

We finished #1945 overall out of 3115, and #164 of 438 all female teams.  Our time was 1:48:31 which was, we think, pretty good for a bunch of first timers that included a "last minute chick"!!

I just love the way things work.  The way the Lord made things to work.  The harder we work for something, the more we appreciate it, and are thankful for the outcome, or prize.  When things seem to come easy without effort, we tend to take them for granted, we are less thankful and appreciate less the reward.

While that last statement could take me into a whole other blog post, I will just end with this:  Today I am very thankful for the times in my life I had to get dirty and work hard for the rewards in my life, and this past Saturday I am thankful for the ladies with whom I was able to get dirty.