Ski racing prepared me mentally and physically for Warrior Dash!  Having signed up just 2 weeks prior to the big race, my competitive edge once again resurfaced and it felt amazing.  Having never done a warrior dash before, I signed up for the competitive wave, because my mind set has always been that if I compete, I compete to win. In 2 weeks my training consisted of running in -20 degrees temps from Wisconsin where our warehouse is located,  swinging my pair of kettle bells that I once traveled the world with,and traveling back  to my home in florida where  I continued to work out daily until the big day. With my legs and endurance naturally built for short sprints and 1 minute ski runs,  running at a fast pace for 3.2 miles with fire, water and barbwire seemed like a challenge I was up for.  

I packed the  tough looking Sterling O'Keefe Diamond Plate backpack, got my game face on and headed to the race. I warmed up and headed to the start.  Now here’s where skiing prepared me. After my experiences in Europe with chair lift lines, I was prepared for pushing, shoving and holding my place in line, knowing the start was going to get aggressive.  Aggressive it was and I wasn’t going to let anyone slow me down.  With men, and woman battling to hold their own, I kept mine and surprisedly  the first mile went by faster than I thought.   With each mile and every muddy, wet, slippery, obstacle, all I could think of was I needed to keep pace and stay ahead of the pack to qualify for World Champs. I needed to use whatever I had and leave nothing on the course.   I did just that and as I crossed the finished, I could not speak a word,  gasping for air. I had qualified for World Championships in October! I look forward to having a good amount of time to train and compete again, something I miss from my ski racing days.    

It’s important to continue to challenge the body and mind. Go out of your comfort zone and try things you normally wouldn’t do.  You may find it pushes you mentally/physically in ways you didn’t know possible.  Lessons from other experiences always carry over to different experiences in one way or another.  Challenges push your limits, helping to expose and reveal new found confidence!