This past weekend, Mike and his buddy Jeff ran together in Omaha's Warrior Dash. The day was extremely windy and hot, leaving me to wonder how those who survived the Dust Bowl did it with their sanity intact. But nothing would deter these two – and 20,000 others – from embarking on this much-anticipated race.

Here we go!

Here they are, in line for a drink of water before heading to the start line…

Minutes after wishing them luck and watching them disappear into the crowd of contestants, they returned and told us that despite the fright it may cause, the heat had forced them to come to this critical decision: they needed to run shirtless.

You go, boys.

The race was supposed to take around an hour or so to complete, and involved 1.5 miles of running up and down steep hills, and then leading into another 2 miles of challenging obstacles, including climbing 15' walls, swimming through a lake, hurdling fire pits, and wading waste-high through thick mud. Just to name a few.

Once they took off, Soph and I desperately sought a shady place to sit, but there was none to be found. With dirt in our teeth, grit on our faces, and hot sun on our necks, we roamed the grounds, hoping the boys could break all records and complete the race in about 6 minutes tops. 

Eventually, we found a place to purchase some lunch, and discovered that there was a shady place to have a picnic after all…

This was the view from where we lunched:

And these were my once-white tennis shoes:

After eating, we decided to head over to where the finish line was, hoping to catch Mike and Jeff cross in. We were there about 2 minutes before they came into view. (Thank goodness we got there when we did; it only took them about 44 minutes to complete the race!)

Soph wouldn't pose with her dad until he promised not to touch her…

After receiving their medals, they headed over to the Warrior Wash, which was an area where a truck stood, rigged with a huge water hose. Everyone massed together to be hosed off, and I imagine Mike probably did his best Charlton Heston imitation (in Planet of the Apes) when it happened. Just sayin'.

This was where one could leave their shoes if they didn't want to wear them back home…

But of course, the boys decided to keep their shoes on. And their wives had no idea why.

Btw, the above photo was taken after their shower.

Here they are with their race shirts back on, celebrating their victory over the course…

Jeff decided to check if the medals were real gold, and Mike just wanted to bite something.

Then, in true warrior fashion, they started chewing on their turkey legs…

And in true juvenile fashion, they started sparring with them…

They thought it would be good to show off their sponsor's tee shirts…

And since their sponsor was a martial arts school, they started making those "hy-YAH" noises and kicking the air…

Once they calmed down, we headed for home. And all the while, Mike insisted I would love running the race with him next year. But I'll leave that to these two hooligans.

Next goal: The Tough Mudder 2013!