Race Recap: Got Dirty, Had Fun, Did Go0d

My goal for this mud run was to make it through (or over) all obstacles and have fun. I wasn't racing for time. But I did push myself. I started with a group of people, but two other people said to me that they wanted to pick up the pace, so I set off with them. We went through the course pushing ourselves through the run portions, but hit bottle necks at a few obstacles and at others would help people through them. (We just had a hard time passing and leaving people struggling right next to us!)

The course was 3.1 miles and had roughly 20 obstacles. While the obstacles were challenging, I think the run between obstacles was harder. It had rained heavily the night before and there had been multiple waves before mine. The course was a mud pit from start to finish. So running between the obstacles was entirely on mud. I swear the effort was like running uphill the entire time (oh and there were hills too! *sarcastic*) and keeping my footing was also challenging. Here's a map of the course:

MandaPanda guessed right and the Prison Sh0wer was a fire hose which they were nailing us with as we were crossing water about 2-3 feet deep. I am scared of heights...oh, and I don't swim either. Thankfully I'm tall, so the deepest water on me was chest height. But the cargo ladder, that was scary for me. I figure it was 15 feet high (but was probably more like 100). You climb up and over to go back down the other side. i was fine going up. Then I got to the top and had a tiny bit of a freak out inside (OMG, I am going to fall and die. I can't do this...etc.). But I was a bit committed (ha) at that point, so I just took a deep breath and got myself over and climbed down. The adrenalin made my legs a bit shaky, but once I started jogging again I felt OK.

Here's a shot of one of the obstacles crawling under barbed wire. While it appears to be water, don't let that fool you. That is pure thin stinky mud!

And here's a before and after. I donated my shoes and threw everything else away except my pants.

Things I learned:

• I made it through and over all obstacles. :)
• I need to figure out pants that I can also toss.
• We passed lots of guys on the course, so it made us feel like we were doing well. And, in my defense of putting this bullet, a large percentage of those guys were pissed that they were being passed by "girls" (we heard them). *neener neener*...We finished 20 mins before our group.
• The "showers" provided at the end were fire hoses and pretty much smelled like sewer water. *gross* There really isn't much alternative, but next time I will bring a big bucket of baby wipes. 
• Talking about those brain eating things in the water that have surfaced in Texas recently while in the water added a layer of excitement in freaking everyone out. *I did not bring it up!*
• Woo hoo! Another item checked off my wellness goals for the year! 
• Mud runs are F-U-N! And, are definitely challenging. I'd do one again, but I'm not sure I'd be interested in a 6-10 miler.