Dirty Girl!!!

Starting Line!

I can get dirt in my nails and not freak out!

See, I can get dirty!

My bruised knees from the tunnels!! Ouch! These bruises lasted 2 weeks!

I had a BLAST at the Dirty Girl Mud Run, my 3rd 5K. This wasn't a timed or competitive event but I'm still counting it on my list of completed 5K's. The event took place at Emery Park in South Wales and was full of hills and the course was a combination of trails and pavement. I was very nervous about the climbing obstacles but was pretty confident that I could complete the other ones (10 obstacles in all). One of the girls in my Zumba class convinced me to join her team which consisted of some of her coworkers and family members. They were an amazing group of women, so incredibly nice and supportive throughout the race. In fact, every single woman I encountered on the run was incredibly supportive; the camaraderie was simply amazing. Everyone encouraged everyone else throughout the race and through the obstacles and it was contagious!! I found myself encouraging perfect strangers but somehow we weren't strangers since we all had the same goal and were all in this together!

I always get pre-race jitters and this race was no exception. I think the jitters this time were more about being able to do all the obstacles rather than finishing the race. I knew I could finish, I've done 5K's before. But 3 specific obstacles frightened me because I though I couldn't climb. Waves up to 150 women went out every 15 minutes. I was with my team at the start line anxiously awaiting our start. We joked about random things, chatted about the Turkey Trot, and mentioned how we were looking forward to the free sangria at the finish line. Finally, the horn sounds and we're off!! We all cheered as we passed the start line, ran down a small hill, around a bend, and approached our first obstacle, The Barn Burner, a pyramid of hail bales. I remember thinking, "oh great! A climbing obstacle just has to be first." I was with one of my teammates, Ryann, and we both climbed up that first bale. I noticed that if I grabbed onto the twine that secured the bales it made climbing up much easier. I mentioned that to Ryann and we both got to the top at the same time and got down one bale at a time. I got to the bottom and ran up the hill with Ryann. A sudden wave of emotions began to surface as I realized that I just climbed that obstacle and I didn't even bat an eye. "I'm really doing this", I thought. The next obstacle, "H2OMG" was so much fun. As a team we climbed into the water pit and at first it was only knee deep and then there was a big drop off and suddenly we were in waist deep water and boy was it COLD!!!! The assent out of the pit was incredibly muddy and one of my teammates got stuck. We got her out and we were off again. At this time I realized how difficult it was to run...my water logged shorts kept falling down. Some of the members of my team stopped running at this point and because of my shorts, I decided to walk it too. Next up was 'Just Get Over It', a wall that had different height options. I took the smallest of the options since after all, I wasn't going to break a nail over a wall! One of my teammates took a higher option so we got to the other side to help her over and encourage her. She did it! I think at this point is were we walked/ran a bit since this was the start of the hills as we enter the woods. The next obstacle we faced was "One Ugly Mudder". Now, I thought this obstacle was just going to be a muddy hill but boy was I wrong. We were deep into the woods at this point and this obstacle involved us getting down into a muddy ravine and climb up a steep muddy hill to the other side. We had a thick rope to help us out but that didn't help me...I slide down into the ravine on my butt!! Okay, so now I'm muddy and wet but laughing hysterically!! One of the girls lost a shoe and we found it and up the hill we go! We are heavily in the woods now and come out to a road. At this point we are all walking, a little pooped from the obstacles, most likely. We go down the hill and pick up momentum as we go down. We round the corner into more woods. Up ahead we see a water station and boy was I excited for a cup of water. At this point, I lost some of my team members but met up with some others. We chatted as we walked along the route. We came into a clearing and up ahead of us was the "Tire Pump" a group of tires that we needed to hop through. I was too worried about falling or twisting an ankle so I stepped lightly and carefully through them. Nearly immediately after, we encounter "The Hangover", a combination of the "Tire Pump" along with hanging tires that we had to maneuver through. Whew! I was happy to be done with those. More trail and road sections along with another hill bigger than the previous ones. Prior to the hill, I told my two teammates that I wanted to run more of it and I sped ahead. Into the woods I go and I trek up the hill. At this point, I'm pretty tired and so I slow down to a walk. As I reach the top of the hill, I see the signs for the next obstacle, "Utopian Tubes" and I notice my husband at the other end of the tubes video taping me. To the side of him is a group of spectators who were yelling at us to "run". A women next to me snickered and I said to her, "Run? Did they just see all the hills we had to climb?". We get into a brief conversation about the tubes to which she said she was unsure of this obstacle. I said to her that I'm doing it and going in the big one. "Okay", she said, "I'm going behind you." Off we go into the tubes. The tubes looked as if they were those large plastic tubes that are used in drainages with ribs on the outside. As I'm crawling on my hands and knees, I could feel every rib from the outside of the tube. Boy is that going to leave a bruise! We get out of the tubes, I wave to Mark, and start jogging down the path. I look back to see if Mark's still there and he's moved on to the next obstacle, so I knew I was in the clear. Whew! I slow down to a walk again. I'm keeping pace with the women from the tubes (I wish I would have got her name) alternating between walking and running but mostly running. Up next was an obstacle (I forgot it's name) in which cargo nets were placed level with the ground with a small mud pit underneath. So with my tunnel friend beside me we both get down on our hands and knees and get under the nets. The mud was very smelly and cold! I could also feel branches and small rocks in the mud, which I knew was going to make my sore knees from the tunnels hurt even more. We emerge from the first one to encounter another net. Yikes! This one smelled even worse. I could feel more twigs and so I yelled out to the people behind me, "Watch out for the branches and rocks!". Finally I get out of that obstacle covered in mud, my hands were caked in it. I run down the hill with my tunnel friend closely behind me. I round another curve and noticed a group of spectators cheering on those that passed by. Included in that group was my husband with the camera. I waved to him with both hands, hoping that he caught my muddy hands on camera, proof that I can get mud under my nails and not freak out. At this point I knew I was near the end. Up next was the "Slip and Slide". At the top of the hill we were splashed with a bucket of water and then had to slide down the hill on the plastic tarp. A few ladies ahead of me walked down the tarp, not for me. I was going to slide down that hill and have a blast doing it. I get drenched and I get down on my stomach and I slid down the hill, only making it halfway down. Later on, I found out from friends in later waves that they removed the plastic tarp and they were able to slide down a muddy hill and as a result were much muddier than I was. I get up and walk down the rest of the tarp. I ran a little more with my tunnel friend through some more trees. We approached a grassy clearing in the woods and I knew there were only two obstacles left, including one that I feared the most. My tunnel friend and I cross through a small tree line, round another curve and there it was...the cargo net. The obstacle I knew I would have the most trouble with and the one that I had been considering going around. I approach it, skipping the turn off if I wanted to go around. My tunnel friend got up to it at the same time as me. She says to me, "are you going up it?". "I think I'm going to attempt it. I've made it this far and I can see the finish line. C'mon we can do it", I said to her. So up we both go. I carefully put one foot into each of the rungs in the rope. I get halfway up and I notice my friend struggling. She says, "I can't do it. I'm going back down". I told her that she could do and she made it this far up, she can make it all the way. Unfortunately, she was determined to get back down and proceeded to climb down backwards. I never saw her again and wish that while we were running that we would have exchanged names at least. She really helped get me through the toughest obstacles. Thank you. I was determined to not let this obstacle get the best of me. I had made it this far and I was going to finish this race!! I carefully maneuver myself up to the top and I get one leg and one hand over to the other side. I struggled to figure out how to get my other leg or arm over to the other side. The rung I needed to do so was too close to the metal support beam and was not an option. Then....I looked down and realized how high up I was. BIG mistake!! I instantly became paralyzed. Thoughts about falling off or falling through the net were swimming through my mind. I could feel other women coming up the net and it shook the net and made me more scared. There I was, straddling the top of the A-frame and I couldn't move. Two women who were coming up the net had reached the top. I told them to please go around me, I was too scared to move I told them. One of those women yelled at me and said, "Get that other leg over. C'mon, you can do it! You've made it this far. Put that leg right here!". Slowly, I got that leg over and put it right where she said. I climbed down the net next to her. Whoever she was, she got me over that net and from the bottom of my heart, I thank you!!! I noticed as I was going down the net that the rest of my team had caught up to me and were also descending from the net. Somewhere along the way I had passed them and I didn't realize it. I waited at the bottom for my teammates and encouraged them as well. They all get down and all four of us ran up to the last obstacle, "PMS (Pretty Muddy Stuff)"...our mud pit. We all climb in together after I twisted my right ankle. But I didn't care, I was at the finish line and I was having a blast! I had seen some other women tip-toeing through the pit and decided that I wasn't going to do that. I came here to get muddy and I was going to get muddy. We all get down on our hands and knees and crawl through the cold, muddy water. One of my teammates slipped and was immersed in the mud and water, however, she didn't seem to mind and was laughing hysterically!! We were all laughing! We all got out of the pit and ran to the finish line together. I noticed Mark at the finish line videotaping me and so I ran up to him all smiles!!! I did it! I finished it and completed every obstacle! I have to say that I was very proud of myself for doing things I never thought I could do. Looking back, I'm pretty sure that all of my previous training prepared me for this event. I know now that I can get dirty, I can climb, and I can face my fears head on!

This was an amazing event. Not only was it fun but the camaraderie of complete strangers during each and every obstacle was incredibly moving. This race will be on my schedule next year and I will be forming my own team. Now that I know what to expect, I know how to alter my training so that I can run the entire event. I also proved that I can get dirty every once in a while and I wore my mud like a badge of honor. After all, I am a Dirty Girl!!!