The first semester of West Point officially ended Last Friday with a 9 page history paper. Awful. I am still scared to check my grades in each class in fear of ruining the Christmas spirit. I felt pretty good in Math and decent in English, but for PL100, Math, and Chemistry I did not feel confident. I am just going to cross my fingers and hope for the best. At this point there is nothing else to do.
Toughest Mudder:
The WTM was a huge let down for me. We were getting so hyped to run it and had so many supporters that I feel like I let a lot of people down for such an early exit. I ended up doing 1 lap with Brian Gerardi, but after 4 hours of being in the cold, mud, and water, we both decided that it just wasn't safe for us to keep going. We were both shivering so bad at the end that we were splashing the broth all over ourselves. The race started out warm for Jersey (36* but sunny) so we decided to head out in shorts and save the warmer stuff for later. The sun ended up dropping within the first hour and a half and with it went the temperature. It dropped down to about 31* and windy. The worst part came at the end when there were 4 water obstacles in a row, 2 of which required you to be fully submerged in the mid December water and then swimming 100 yards in it to the other side of the bank. It was incredible how much your lungs shrank. We made it back to the recovery tent from the first lap and saw close to 35 people laying on cots wrapped up in space blankets and heaters. According to the numbers, 800 people showed up to the start line, 300 people didn't even make an entire lap, and only 103 people stayed for the entire 24 hours. Again, I feel like a wimp not trying to go out for one more, but the thought of jumping back in the water from a 20 ft tower gave me the hebadee-jebadee's. We came into the Toughest trained more as an ultra race, but really it was a battle for warmth. We brought thin running tights when the keys for success was thick wet suits. I fully expect to try it again my senior year. I want to come in better trained and equipped. The crazy part was, the leader finished 7 laps on the stupid course.... the fact that its 70 miles alone is incredible!!
So after feeling a little bummed about the out come of the race, I decided to go out for a long run yesterday. Unfortunately I forgot my running shoes at Tarmargos house when we went and took a shower there, so i dug up an old pair of Costco's trainers. . . They worked! Kinda. I ended up doing between 26-27 miles and only had one blister to show for it. I would be curious to try and do another 3 or 4 and see how I feel but want the right shoes first.
