Mud In The Blood

 

After my first obstacle race, The Georgia Spartan Sprint, I looked and felt like I had been hit by a truck. The knees and elbows took the brunt of the abuse; they were black and blue and covered with scrapes. My ribs were bruised, I had a huge bruise across my abdomen and another big one on my inner thigh from heaving my leg over the walls. A lovely collection of cuts and bruises adorned my legs from knees to ankles and I was very glad that shorts season was a few months away. Every muscle in my body ached. For three days, every movement hurt and there were many moments in which I questioned my sanity.

 

 

 

However, the experience had left me with more than bruises. I had a sense of accomplishment unlike anything I had experienced before. I felt more alive than I had in a very long time. Finally in my life I had something new and challenging, something that made me push myself to do better and be better, and I was hooked.

As a kid, I had spent a lot of time outside - playing in the woods, wading in a creek or river and exploring the various wonders that only Nature can provide. Year round, I was in the woods getting dirty. I waded through the muddy riverbanks, grabbed crawfish with my bare hands, rescued a nest of baby flying squirrels after neighborhood hoodlums shot the mother with a BB gun and found out the hard way which plant was poison ivy. I  learned how to smell rain before it came, how the afternoon sunlight changed through the seasons, how the sky was bluer at certain times of the year. Then, I grew up and forgot about the lessons that Nature had taught.

On a muddy course in Conyers, in March of 2012, I became that kid again. I was no longer the weary and stressed-out mom, I was a girl with her feet in the mud. I was running in the woods, carefree and exhilarated. I was climbing and leaping over walls. I was double-dog daring myself to get up that rope ladder and see what was at the top. Something primal was unleashed in me that day and I wanted more.

The next mud run in my area was a local, family-friendly 5k called The Muck Run. I signed the whole family up for that one. My twin girls were 9 at the time and they wanted to do what Mom was doing. Plus, like all kids, any excuse to get muddy was OK with them. I was a bit worried that the course would be too long for them, but they did great. The obstacles were fun. The kids loved getting down in the dirt and thought it was hilarious that Mom and Dad were in the muck with them. They were determined to take advantage of the one day that their parents were encouraging them to get dirty and they must have gone through the mud pit six or seven times. It was an amazing experience. On that day, we all got to be kids again.

 

At the end of May was the Warrior Dash. Kris and I signed up and were joined by a couple of other friends, also first time Warriors. I had heard great things about The Warrior Dash and was excited to see for myself what it was all about.  The course was posted online, with pictures and descriptions of the obstacles, so we knew exactly what we were getting into. The Warrior Dash was so much fun! It wasn’t as intense as the Spartan Race and had much more of a party atmosphere. There were a lot of crazy costumes and people in their underwear. The weather was warm and beautiful and the race site was in the lovely north Georgia mountains. The obstacles were challenging, but there was no penalty if you were unable to complete one.  The knee injury I had sustained in March was still not 100% better, so I skipped the super-high wall and the fireman’s pole. I had been stupid to make the injury worse during the Spartan Race and I wasn’t going to make that mistake again. So, I avoided the two obstacles that had the possibility of a high-impact landing and did everything else. This course included a lake, so there were some water obstacles. Those were incredibly refreshing on a warm day.  The Warrior Dash organizers were nice enough to use ropes above the mud pit instead of barbed wire, and for that I was grateful.  We finished in 1:07 , less than half the time it took for the Spartan Race. We were able to use the lake to wash off the mud and grime afterwards, so no frigid hose torture at this one. After the race, there was a great hang-out area with live music, yummy barbarian food  like turkey legs and beer and some of the most entertaining people-watching I’ve ever experienced.  Once again, my legs and elbows were covered with scrapes and bruises, but not nearly as bad as the Spartan Race and the muscle soreness was barely noticeable, about the same as after a moderate workout. I don’t know if that was due to the course being  easier or that I was getting in better shape.  I still wasn’t completely on track with consistent diet and exercise, but I was making an effort.

 

The summer was brutally hot and it was also my super-busy season at work, so there was not another race for me until October. This was the Merrell Down and Dirty. It was held at the same venue as the Spartan Race had been, at the Olympic equestrian center in Conyers. This race offered the challenge of a 10K option, so we decided to go for it.  I had been pretty good about working out over the summer – not perfect by any means, but I had toned up a bit. My diet had gone off track after a trip to the beach and had not really gotten back to where it should have been. As a result, I felt OK going into the race but also mad at myself for not making better progress.

This ended up being my favorite race of the year. The early fall weather was warm and beautiful. Completing a 10K after only doing 5K races was tiring, but the obstacles were fun and I had my pals Kris and Lori with me. It was great to have company on the course, but there were a few times where we got caught up in conversation and forgot that we were running a race. The course was challenging, but there were plenty of helpers around to assist if anyone needed help. ( For soon-to-be cougars like us, it was nice that most of the helpers were buff college guys). I may not have been much skinnier for this race ,but I was much stronger. I was bounding over the walls with no problem. There was a tall rope net to climb, but instead of shipping containers, there was a big inflatable slide on the other side. Whee!  Our finish time was 1:55. We had actually completed a 10K obstacle course in under two hours. Not bad for a group of out-of shape chicks who were pushing 40.