And the good news is.....

when our plane landed in San Fran on Friday night at 11:30 p.m.....I had two things on my mind...1. OMG!!...in 5 1/2 hours I will be getting up to run the Rugged Maniac....AND 2. I need to candle the duck eggs.

We were home in no time and hauling our stuff inside. After plugging in the candle-er and carefully took one egg from the incubator and I was surprised to see the egg was much fuller than Monday when I was so worried that the ducklings had died. I was so happy that I didn't bother to check another egg I just brushed my teeth and headed to bed.

I slept so hard I did not wake up until 5:15. It took a while to decide on what to wear...I didn't want to lose my pants climbing from the mud or water...but I didn't want to wear shorts and skin my knees....finally I decided on capri yoga pants and a shirt from the Rock N Roll San Jose half marathon...it's ugly and I didn't care if it got ruined :)

I filled jugs with water and got old towels to rinse and dry with. I got a blanket to sit on afterwards and packed the car. First stop was Safeway for a power bar and some Rock Stars and Red Bulls....I don't drink coffee and just recently had a Rock Star and realized why people drink coffee....the caffeine zap is almost too much for me!

The drive was about 45 minutes away but there was an accident on the freeway but we were able to get off and take surface streets to the fair grounds. We got an excellent parking space, checked in, used the restrooms and waited around until it was time to climb into the starting corral....YES, you had to climb a wall to get in!

Pre race picture

The first stretch was a run- the first obstacle was 4 walls and that sort of thinned the herd. I was very cautious on the obstacles. That is what enabled my daughter to stay close behind...she was faster on the obstacles and I was a faster runner...and I did cross the finish before her :)

There was mud...and mud...and mud....tunnels and hills of dirt, 25# bags of something to carry through a maze, walls to scale, nets to climb and pits to jump over. Unfortunately there wasn't fire- the fire marshal declined the permit...but there was a bubble machine that made a mountain of foamy bubbles to run through. I can't wait for the photos!

The event ended with a wall climb, that led to a net climb...that scared me at first because I thought I could fall through...but once I realized I wouldn't, I rolled to the bottom of the net, which was sagging, and then I climbed up to the top and there was a giant 45 degree water slide into a pool of water...and I quickly climbed out and crossed the finish.

Post race picture

3.1 miles, 25 obstacles, and I was the first woman in my wave to cross the finish. I was the first person in my age group to cross the line- male or femail...In fact the announcer said to my daughter, "you're the 2nd lady!" to which she exclaimed, "Ya, that was my mom!" 34:58 was my time...I can't wait to do it again! AND there is an award for the over 55 winner...I beat that man's time this year...but it is over 55...and I am only 55.

 *LIVESTRONG*LOVESTRONGER*LAUGH HARDER*RUN A RUGGED MANIAC*