Covered in Mud

Today was the 2nd Annual Wild Run, sponsored by the Southern Virginia University Outdoor club. Some of the proceeds for registration benefited a Lupus charity. I was excited for this one: mud pit, giant tires, fallen trees, "killer hill" (and it was), "Spider-man Web," and a cow gate. I am in great shape, but I have got to say that this was grueling. It was a 5k, which required two laps through all those obstacles. Also, it's a strait up trail run. I workout five days a week for 1.5 to 2 hours each of those days, and I mean I HIT. IT. HARD. But I've gotta say, this Wild Run kicked my butt. The killer hill was killer: extremely steep for an extremely long time, and just when I felt it leveling out, I would look up and realize that it wasn't leveling out. It had only become slightly less steep, but it was still another 100 yards or so to the top. My favorite part was taking a head first dive down the long water slide into a mud pit at the end of each lap. If you love to run and especially like to do races, I highly recommend the experience. There are runs like this all over the country. If you don't like running, you will love this because it's all about the fun and the obstacles. I wasn't the fastest runner by any means. I am, after all, 35 years old and I weigh 220, but I smoked everyone around me on the obstacles. The end result was, reportedly, that I came in fourth place overall. Wow! I never would have imagined that for myself. All those grueling hours on the road and in the gym paid off. While that's fun for me, it was all about the experience. I cannot wait until next year's race.