Down & Dirty Mud Run

Although I have a few trail runs under my belt, some of which have involved more than a little mud, this was my first official Mud Run.  Mud Runs seem to be exploding these days; they're one part run, one part obstacle course, and one part - spa treament?  What made this one fun and different for me is that I actually did it with friends.  This was a nice change of pace from going off alone, running alone, and coming home alone - not that I really mind any of that, but it was great to have someone to chat and laugh with after all was said and done. 

I headed out with my karate sensei, his wife, and another student from the dojo (A) at 5:30 am.  Our scheduled race time was 7 am, and some of us still needed to pick up our race packages.  A and I had gone the day before, and both that pick up area and the one on race day were quick and well organized.  I am actually the only one of the group who has been putting in any real miles lately, and while everyone encouraged me to just go ahead and run at whatever pace I wanted, what I actually wanted was to run WITH people, so we agreed to start together and to run more or less together through the race.  As it happened, it was actually A's first race ever!  She's an experienced soccer player so it's not like she's a stranger to competition, but picking a 10K mud run as your first race is, IMO, pretty cool. 

The start was very well done.  The sent groups of runners off in three minute intervals, presumably to avoid "bunching" at the obstacles.  That worked very well over the course of the run; I don't think I waited more than half a minute anywhere to do an obstacle, and generally didn't have to wait at all.  We started fairly well back and probably weren't off much before 7:30.

The first obstacle was netting, set about 2 feet over the ground - you had to crawl under the netting.  Good warm up, and a hint of things to come!  The second obstacle was a ladder-style climb - the thing looked like a saw horse on steroids with extra slats.  Again, somewhat of a warm-up obstacle.  Then it was off into the woods on a pretty nice, wide trail. Even though the hour was early and the weather was, relatively speaking, pretty comfortable for July - the current heat wave hadn't started yet - it was nice to be in shade!  In the woods it was up and over a four foot wall, then back on the trail. 

At this point, the trail was pretty open, compared to what I've been running on in actual trail runs.  There was all kinds of room to move and groove, and it was even split for a while, as you used a small section  of the trail as in out and back fashion.  After a pretty good climb, there were that they described as "Marine hurdles."  These were three connected, very large saw horse style things with no slats, just a series of three crossbars.  I think you were supposed to cross over the bars; however, as they were all well over my head, I crossed at the connection, as did many other people.  In fact, at first I thought that was how you were supposed to do them; half way over, I realized it wasn't.  Oh well; there were no points for style, so it was what it was.  Up until this point, which was nearly halfway through the course, I had been running with sensei; here we switched off, and he ran with the Mrs. and I ran with A. 

The race continued on more traditional single track trail, with the types of "obstacles" you generally can expect to encounter on a normal trail race; some downed trees, and a couple of creek crossings.  Next obstacle was a pile of straw bales; we had been warned that this was a particularly tricky obstacle, but as an old farm girl, I didn't find them so, and it didn't seem that many others did, either.  Then came what was easily the dullest part of the course - a straight flat stretch out maybe half a mile to a set of crawl-through tunnels (which I hated! I kept finding the wires with my bony knees - not fun) then back in along side the out trail.  Dull, dull, dull - but A and I were having a great chat, which totally saved it.  From there it was back into the woods and over a cargo net set over an a-frame, which, naturally, brought to mind Ninja Warrior.

And then we got muddy, part 1.  This was a crawl through a mud pit, under ropes set about two feet over the mud.  It was fairly short but you came out covered; fortunately there was a water stop right afterward so you could splash off any really bad bits (mud in the mouth, for example).  Then it was back on the trail, and headed for home, where there were four quick obstacles before the finish.  First was a 10' rock climbing wall.  I've never done one, other than a little kiddie one at the playground (and only then mostly to act as a safety net for one of my nephews), so that was interesting, but not really a problem.  From there it was on to mud pit #1 - this one was a waist-deep muddy water crossing that actually served to knock off some of the mud you still carried with you from the first mud crawl.  A and I paused at this point to wait for sensei and Mrs., who were a couple of minutes behind us, so we could all cross the finish line together.  Group intact, we headed for the next to last obstacle, a slippery wall set at a low (maybe 30 degree) angle.  The idea was to use ropes to pull yourself up and over; you probably could have walked it, but there were volunteers (in military garb!) there yelling at you to go over it, belly down, so you did. 

Last obstacle was, of course, the long mud pit!  Here the ropes were set only six inches or so above the muck, and as you will see in the picture, we basically complied and got the thorough mud treatment:

Us, in our post race glory.  I'm second from the right.

Race shirt and finisher medal.

 All in all, it was a great day.  Between the obstacles breaking things up and the camaraderie on the course, the time flew by (although we were most definitely not going fast!).   It was a nice change of pace from more serious racing.  Adding a couple of these things to the calendar each year definitely seems like it could keep things fun and interesting.

So you think you can trick me?

I tried, I really did. 

I'm not the world's biggest fan of reality shows - probably the most popular ones I've ever watched are Project Runway and Top Chef.  I've never watched Idol, Survivor, Apprentice... I just don't care.  So You Think You Can Dance has been at the periphery of my interest for a while (actually, a very long while, it turns out - I had no idea it was in its 8th season!), mainly because dance can be incredibly athletic and I can get sucked into pretty much anything that involves physicality.  So last night being a vast wasteland of TV nothingness (one of the downsides of the All Star Break), I though I might check it out. 

Wow.  And I don't mean that in a good way.  It was a 2 hour show, six couples, two dances each.  The dances, as it turns out, take less than two minutes each, so let's do a little math, eh?  We'll give them the full two minutes, which means there's 24 minutes of action spread over a 120 minutes slot.  And what takes up the rest of the time?  Judges and the host yammering.  I frankly couldn't STAND to watch them - they were so annoying, it was almost surreal - and was vigorously channel surfing within the first 15 minutes.  I flipped back to the channel and managed to catch parts of three more dances, but gave up totally well before the first hour was out. What a shame; the idea has a lot of promise, but then the judges think they're the stars... it's a fail.  (Same sort of thing goes for certain sports announcers who can't get over themselves and just call the game - not that I'd mention any *Joe Theismann Joe Buck Tony Siragusa for starters* names.  Makes me watch sports with the TV on mute half the time.)  I suppose I could watch the performances on YouTube but I'm not invested enough in the series to bother.  So much for a midsummer night's diversion.

I have a week left to inform Law School of my decision one way or another.  As it stands, I will almost definitely not go; as much as I'd love to do law school, I can't wrap my head around spending the rest of my working life as a lawyer.  OTOH, physical therapy seems like such a natural fit to me, I think I'd really, really regret giving up on it this easily, going for the law thing JUST because I can.  So... that's pretty much it, honored as I am to have actually gotten in to school.

Training is going pretty well, although this past Sunday's run was not fun.  I've been starting the long runs before dawn, but I still wind up finishing them well after sunup.  Most weeks it seems I've been lucky enough that it's been hazy our outright cloudy (one morning I ran in thundershowers!), but this past week the sun was full out right away, which after a spell made for less than pleasant going.  I've been wondering if this all really will be sufficient for me to make my goal in - wow, just over seven weeks now - or if I should pass on this race and do a 50K in October instead.  Of course I remember all too well my doubts about my September half last year (although they were related to time, not distance), and that was pretty much the heat talking.  I suspect this is that to some degree as well.  

I have a couple of off schedule weeks coming up, what with the mud run this Sunday and Special Training next Sunday.  I'm just going to take this next week as a welcome step back week and not make up the missed long run; the following week is a bit more up in the air.  Tentatively I plan to make up THAT missed long run on Monday, take Tuesday off and just feel out the schedule from there; however the Special Training is a beach training, and I seem to recall last year's beach training being pretty tiring, so I guess I'll just play that one by ear.  As for strength training, believe it or not I'm STILL on NROL/Abs.  Doing just two workouts a week has really extended this last phase and while it's clear from my workout logs that I'm still getting something out of it, I think I'd be getting even more out of it under different circumstances - not that I'd change anything at this point.  That said, it's been six weeks on these two workouts with five workouts left in the program, and they're wearing a bit thin on me right about now.  But I will finish it out, and that will actually leave me with a question of what to do NEXT, or more accurately, between the end of NR and the 12 hour race, since I'm sure I won't want to start a new program just then.  I'm leaning toward just taking the TRX to the gym and messing with it, along with one heavy lift per workout.  Just a thought.

Funny, I have no plans for AFTER the 12-hour...  Feels odd!  I'm sure I'll come up with something... 

Doctor, or Lawyer?

That is the real question.

Because the question is not, do I want to go to law school?  I do.  Unquestionably.  I absolutely relish the very thought of the challenge and think I would thrive in that atmosphere.  But do I want to spend the rest of my working life as an attorney?  That, I can't answer as quickly or as definitively.  Part of me relishes that thought, and yet...

...the past year has been all about my getting into a physical therapy school.  That, frankly, IS something I could see myself doing for the rest of my life.  But will I be able to get into school?  If I were looking at two acceptances, the choice would be clear.  Maybe.  I think.  Doesn't matter, though, because I'm not.  I wonder if I can defer my acceptance, or if this is a one shot deal?  If so, do I blow the shot, in hopes that I'll also get into a PT school?  If I don't get in, will I be kicking myself in the ass for passing this up?

Lots of thinking to do, so for the moment, I'm just relishing the fact that I actually got into Law School.  While I'm sure that's not the world's most earth-shattering accomplishment, it ain't half bad, either.

Holy Crap

I got in to law school.

Film at 11.

It's a tough job,

being a cat at my house....

Captain Tummyrub, reporting for duty!

Baby boy sure has changed as he's matured.  He's not really the world's bravest, most outgoing cat, but he can be quite the little slut when it comes to getting his belly rubbed!  Whodathunkit?

So, I entered a mud race.  While my last race - last two races, really - involved mud and other fun things, they were technically trail races, while this one, part of the Merrell Down and Dirty series, is in the emerging genre of mud runs.  It includes mud, water crossings, and military style obstacles.  The race is 10K (there's also a 5K), and several of us from the dojo are planning to run together, which should be fun.  Hopefully we'll manage to get a few pictures afterwards, when we're at our beautiful best.  The run falls at a pretty good time in my ultra training, right about where I wanted to take a little bit of a break.  The schedule doesn't build in breaks, but it anticipates that you might throw in a race or two during your prep.  I'm not sure this is exactly what the program writers had in mind, but it works for me.

I've been enjoying using the Garmin.  Considering I believe I paid a comparable price for a heart rate monitor some years ago, I'm very impressed with the amount and quality of information I get from the Garmin.  The GPS tracking is a little less spot on than I originally believed, based on my uploading my data to Map My Run - little did I know, MMR was correcting the data so it mapped directly to roads!  When I map it to Garminconnect, I see the course as plotted, which looks more like what I expected it to look like because I know these things just aren't THAT good.  Still, it's close enough to not be worth arguing over.  The elevation data is good, and matches well with what the road says.  And to my surprise, I actually LIKE having the heart rate data, even though it more or less tells me exactly what I think it should be telling me (meaning, my heart rate is where I think it should be at any given time).  I think that will be valuable information to have over time, and will probably be quite valuable when I start doing speedwork again (whenever that might be).

Took a break from New Rules this past Friday, and took the TRX to the gym to play with.  That thing is a LOT of fun, I must say; it also makes for a very compact workout, since you pretty much stay in one spot, changing only the length of the straps between exercises, if necessary.  I have about a month of NR workouts left (that's what I get for just doing it twice a week), and I have the feeling that will try my patience a bit...  which is unfortunate.  I didn't start this program with a clear idea of how it might dovetail into an ultra training program and I'm afraid I'm not going to finish this all that neatly.  If I'd stuck with the three day a week schedule, I'd be just about done by now.  Anyway, there's a question in my mind as to whether I'm going to continue with the metabolic work when I have to add runs to my strength training days; I plan to run before I hit the gym so I guess I'll just see how I feel a the end of the weight work.  If there's gas in the tank, I'll do it.  If not, oh well.

Makes for a sloppy ending to a good program, which isn't all that satisfying, but all the more reason to do the thing again, right?

Overdue

Overdue for a post, I suppose!

No news in the Realm of Things that Keep Me Up at Night, which I've calmed down enough about to finally mention here.  #1 is a possible job - it is unfortunately in my old field, but it is through an agency and may be part time but rather well paying, even at that.  There are many details still being worked out about the position, but if it does work out it LOOKS like an ideal fit for my situation.  #2 is, well, I've already applied to a school, for fall admission.  That was NOT according to plan, but the opportunity presented itself and I took it.  If I get in - well, that changes a lot, to say the least, particularly because it's law school, not PT school. 

Sometimes when I am thinking about further schooling - whether the plan changes or not! - I wonder if I'm in my right mind.  And then... I start looking for something to do to pay the bills whilst I'm waiting for this next chapter in my life to begin, I find there's not much else I'm qualified to do except what I have been doing, and it just makes me incredibly sad.  It's one of those instances where I can honestly say if I'd have known I'd be this stuck now 20 years ago, I'd have been exponentially more careful in choosing a college major/career path.  Not that I didn't enjoy myself along the way, but you can stick a fork in me - I'm done.  Whatever happens, it really is time for me to move along.

Speaking of moving - so far (heh, one week in), the new training schedule is going well.  The Sunday long runs are done by time, not distance, as I think I mentioned in my last post, and this past Sunday I was well-reminded that those long runs are as much mental as they are physical.  The Garmin has been working out well; no real surprises on the data, but good to have and fun to look at, anyhow.  It should be interesting to see trends over time. 

In Flux

There's a lot I haven't been talking about on this blog lately.  No particular reason, other than that it's all a little overwhelming and thinking about exercise keeps my mind off things for a while.  In a sentence, my life could change drastically within the next few weeks.  Not in a bad way - it's all job and school related - but a lot could happen very quickly, or nothing could happen at all.  So I don't know whether to revel in the possible excitement of it all or brace for disappointment.

So,  bought myself a Garmin 305.  I've been toying with the idea for a while, as I think I mentioned in my last race report, and after working up the ultra training schedule earlier this week, it makes a lot of sense to have one as a training tool.  All of my long runs are done by time, as opposed to distance, and I while I'm not all that bad at guesstimating time from distance (it's not like I just started running, after all) I don't expect I'll be able to remember those routes when they get really long, nor do expect I'd be able to remember a really long route I made up on the fly unless that route was really simple.  And I hate really simple routes - might as well be on a freaking treadmill.  Actually the thing will free me from serious route planning altogether, plus give me access to more data than I currently know what to do with.

LOL, retail therapy truly wins as a stress-reducer.  I'll take it.

Put in a bit of a crazy run this morning.  According to my new schedule, I'm supposed to run a 4 - 5 mile with lots of hills, fast, or something along that order.  It was really quite hot this morning - I head out fairly early and it was 87 degrees by the time I was done (wasn't brave enough to look before I headed out) with a heat index of around 100.  So I did a new course that is close to home with a half a dozen shorter hills, as it's hard to keep any run to the longer hills, such as they are, without doing over 7 miles.  When I got to the top of the last one I was pretty gassed and walked about a block to catch my breath a bit; that bothered me until I got home and calculated my pace, which was waaaay faster than I realized.  All in all, successful outing. 

Speaking of new toys, the boys got one recently, a pressed catnip ball.  They likey.

Forrest manages to get a moment alone with the 'nip.  Note the eyes about to pop out of his head...