Up all night to get Mucky

The Muckfest.  I just decided to do this less than a month ago, though I had been thinking about it for a few months.  5 miles. A dozen obstacles. I can do this. I need to do this for several reasons.

1. Multiple Sclerosis - It's awful.  But there is so much research going on right now in genetics, stem cells, and I do believe a cure, or at least a better way to delay the progress of the disease is on the way.  I am fortunate enough to only have one person in my life who is currently battling MS, but she's a mom with young children, and if I can get together with people and help make a difference by raising a few hundred dollars, that's what I am going to do.  Her daughters deserve the healthiest mother they can have.  She exercises, she does what she should to help keep the MS at bay, and not only that, she supports me in my journey.  So I want to do what I can to support her.

2. My Journey.  When I started this journey, I had in mind that some day I wanted to do one of these nifty mud runs.  I was thinking the warrior dash, a 3 mile with obstacle courses, but I didn't know if there was any way I would be ready for that this year.  That's a month out from now. I'm ready for it, because I worked hard, and even through a tough month, I persevered. I did this run which was longer. I have an end goal.  I'm going to achieve my end goal.  So I decided to challenge myself with this 5 mile obstacle course.

Piece of cake, right?

HAHAHAHAHA 

This is just the tail end of that Ski Slope

The fine print should have been 5 miles "uphill both ways" and way more than a dozen obstacles.  The run was at Trollhaugen, a ski hill in the middle of B.F.E Wisconsin.

When I say uphill both ways, obviously that's not possible, but there were a lot of uphills.  I mean a lot.  I would say 80% of the race was up and down steep hills, some long, some short, almost all with mud, rocks, and logs ready to trip you up.  

The two hardest hills:

1. Going up an extremely steep, extremely long ski slope, which was one of the first hills of the race

2. The very last hill, which was completely covered in thick mud.  It was so hard to get a grip, you had to use all of your lower body strength just to propel yourself up, and I almost had to crawl up the last bit.  Crawling in mud is fun! At one point I kept sliding, it was a bit like running on the treadmill from hell.

Our team starting to trek up mud-mountain

The Scariest Obstacle for me:

Definitely the fireman's pole.  I have a horrid fear of heights, or to be more specific, falling and breaking my ankles...or my skull.  I have fairly crappy balance, and my upper body strength is still not where I'd like it to be.  But I gripped on for dear life and took the leap.  I remember hitting the ground and going into a squat to absorb the shock, because I slid down fast.  That was one of the first places where I knew my exercise was helpful.  Landing in a proper stance and absorbing the shock was a learned instinct.  I think I need to start doing some indoor rock climbing to help me get over my fear of heights.  

The Falls:  

I may be tripping in mud, but I'm laughing about it!

I took a few.  More than a few.  One inch away from face planting  into the mud.  I probably fell a good 4-6 times near the end of the race.  But I just got up and kept going.  And I was able to laugh at myself, how do you not fall in mud pits filled with rocks and logs at the bottom? Only option, right?

Mental Toughness:

 Mental Toughness is a funny thing.  Your body can go further than your mind, the question is can you push your mind beyond what it thinks you can do?  There were a few hills that I was booking it up, and I felt myself wanting to quit, but I just kept putting my self one step ahead. Booking 230 lbs on a woman's body uphill is no easy task. When you are overcoming those mental blocks, all you can really worry about to keep yourself going is that next step, and not giving up.

Endurance:

I has it.  I did this five mile course, with obstacles, up hills, and one of my first thoughts when we were all done was "I could have gone further." I actually had more gas in my tank.

Afterthought:

I was pulling into my house after an hour and a half drive back home, and saw my neighbor's girl-friend's car with 13.1 and 26.2 stickers on the back of her car, and that was the first time I've ever though "yeah I could do a half marathon."  I don't even like running to be honest.  I like accomplishments. I like being better than I was before.  I like doing something that there was no freakin' way I could have done last year.  I like being excited to do it next year stronger and faster.  And the Tough Mudder is still on my horizon.  That's number one on my bucket list.  I figure if I can train for a half marathon, why not one with electroshock therapy and climbing? 11 months to train. No problem. 

My only sad part is I lost my timing chip on the course.   There's always next year, and there definitely will be a next year.  We signed up to do this race "casually" this year, but it might be fun to do it in the competitive group next year.  We will see what lies ahead.  A lot can change in a year, and I'm excited to see where I will be.  

Special thanks to all of my awesome donors: Anna, Mandy, Tony's mom, Kenny, Sarah, Nan, and Carole.  Special thanks to Borough in Minneapolis for donating to our team.  Twin Cities people - Check them out for some awesome eats next time you have a date night !