Down and Dirty

#29.

#29 on my list is another running thing. Of course. Do you expect any less? This one was meant to be more fun—and that's why I added a mud run or obstacle course. I had never done one and thought it would be fun to do. I kept seeing all these groups at various race expos.

There are plenty of races all over the country  but it was difficult to make a commitment. Finally, Merrell Down and Dirty was coming to NYC and I was free. And I didn’t even need to rent a car to get to the race. This one only needed my  metrocard. So I signed up for the 5k.

My alarm went off this morning and I wasn't thrilled. I literally felt like I just went to bed. I was at the postponed Yanks/Tigers Game 1 of the ALDS last night and got to bed pretty late. They won by the way. Grand slam baby!

But I made a commitment, got out of bed and made my way onto the 6 train. I got to the race right before the start time.

Now I ran 12 miles yesterday. My marathon is 2 weeks away and the plan was to take this race easy. Well these plans never really happen. So I went out and just ran. But of course there were the obstacles. So not your typical ‘easy’ 5k.

First up was a ladder wall, then a low crawl followed by a tunnel and a cargo climb. Then the first mud pit! Yup I definitely got muddy. After that there was a bit of trail running. As it rained a lot the last few days, it was muddier than they had planned, so I just added to the mud. Luckily I didn’t fall on my butt anywhere along the course (this happened to others). There was a wall I had to jump over—a short one luckily. Eventually I made it to the beach and ran in the water for a bit. The hardest obstacle for me was after the water towards the end—the slippery mountain. Apparently I’m lacking upper body strength. I eventually got over it—with no help let me tell you. Last up was the final mud pit and boy was that a doozy. I was pretty much swimming in mud. Kind of fun. I haven't been this dirty since I was a kid.

So I raced faster than I had planned and got 2nd in my age group for the 8:30 race. They added the 9:30 5k race and overall I placed 4th in my age group with a time of 32:13. Not bad at all. And I totally want to sign up for another race even if my knees don't agree.