i can't tell you how good it felt to pass that bloody muddy finish line.

the night before, i found myself sizing up the 18 intimidating obstacles that would await me the next day. what if i looked like an idiot, couldn't do it, broke a bone (or two!) - or worse - got frustrated and gave up and made a fool of myself in front of my team?

all legit fears, i'll have you know. but when i got there and met up with my team two minutes before our start time, i felt at ease. facing your fears in the midst of good company will do that to you.

the first few obstacles were easy; we had to make our way through a huge mud pit, crawl our way through the "camo crawl" and jump a small (but not too small) wall (which you can imagine i did ever so graciously), gaining momentum and confidence as each one passed.

but then i hit my first 'real' obstacle: the one they call king kong, and for great reason.

i made it to the top of the first ladder but froze in fear when i saw what stood in between me and the way down: a checkerboard shaped net made of unstable, wobbly ropes. in order to get make it to safety, i was required to cross it in a crablike manner. oh helllllllll no. i took my crablike attitude back down the ladder with me and tapped out.

this is when my mental strength came into play. i told myself that it was okay to opt out of something that terrified me to that degree (stay tuned for a story about when i chose the opposite) and that me being incapable of 'conquering the kong' didn't have to stop or discourage me from completing the course set up for me ahead.

a few obstacles later, those darn wobbly ropes stared me in the face again. i thought about bypassing it, i really did, but then two of my teammates assured me that i could do it and offered to wait for me at the top to coach me on how to make it through. and i did; they were exactly what i needed in order to conquer this specific obstacle (and my fear of it), and for that i am forever grateful.

of course, i helped people get over their hurdles, too. in fact, i very quickly adopted the nickname, "paula, push my ass" (which i soon learned meant to hold it in place, too - sorry, peeps.) when anyone needed an extra push to make it over a wall, i was there. we all were there. and it made a world of difference.

we cheered one another on, held each other's hands as we went down the massive and scary water slide that inevitably slammed us into a pool of thick, dark mud, respected one another's limits and gave each other grace when we couldn't complete something, stood in awe as we watched our teammates challenge themselves to tackle the highest of walls in spiderman fashion (i'm talking to you, karen bott), gave each other key high-fives and hugs, laughed a lot and celebrated our accomplishment as we crossed the finish line together 6km later...with help from our photo bomber, josh lott. (love you , bud!)

i'll have you know that my nearing 40 year old muscles took a beating that day (and the past two), but i had an absolute blast and am already planning to tackle next year's race. of course, i'll be taking the lessons i learned this year with me:

one, no matter how many people have told you that you can accomplish 'anything you put your mind to', we all have our limits and that's okay.

two, by the same token, 'quitting' isn't always a bad thing; mental strength is crucial to overcoming any obstacle and reminding yourself that it's okay (and human!) to 'fail" is crucial, too.

and lastly, like i said after hiking the grand canyon not too long a go, we can accomplish a heck of a lot more (and go a lot further in life) when we do so together. no journey is meant to be traveled alone.

SO ... who's in next year? :)