Monday, March 26, 2012

Muddy Girl Recap!

Yesterday Jeff and I got up super early and drove to Houston - Baytown, really - to meet up with Kelly, Chuck and their daughter Rachel so we ladies could get down and dirty in the mud.  It could not have been more perfect weather for the race - gorgeous blue skies, a little breeze, nice and warm - just one of those spring days that makes you glad to be outside.  We met up at the race area, which had a great shaded tent with lots of food and beverages available...really, we could have started eating and drinking right away, but we figured we'd hold off until after the race.  Which wasn't really a race - more like a fun run/walk, with lots of obstacles to power through along the way.  There were waves of 150 runners every thirty minutes, so it never felt very crowded.  Our start time was 11:00 am, which gave us plenty of time for pictures and goofing around.  Fair warning:  this is a picture-heavy post (but would you expect anything less from me?).
The paparazzi was there in the form of Jeff and Chuck.  Check out Jeff's shirt - I gave this to him back when I was the only runner in our family!  Tina created it for me, and it proved to be pretty popular at the race, as a few women asked where he got it!
...and yes, the paparazzi stalked me EVERYWHERE I went, lol!
Me, Kelly and Rachel - so fresh and clean!
Posing...
No more pictures, please! ;)
Then Kelly turned the table on the pap...er, Jeff!
Posing with Kelly's friends Jennifer and Katherine.  Jennifer is wearing a grocery sack held down with flaming duct tape on her head to keep the mud out.  She was a hoot and a half!  It was her birthday, so she could get away with anything!
Start of our wave - look at everyone run!
...and here's us.  Hey, why expend all that energy at the beginning?  We took it nice and easy!

We went through several obstacles, including running through a rainbow of water sprayed by some nice firemen, a tire run (note to self: step IN the tire, not ON it), ran/walked up and down hills (Rachel and Jennifer rolled down one for fun), belly crawled under some ropes through sloppy mud, and climbed over barrels (ok, the taller people walked over them).  Then we got to the cargo net, and saw the paparazzi across the water, stalking us once more:
Waving to my fan!
 Kelly and Rachel, action figures!
You can see how muddy we all were at that point - it was like we were wearing mud gloves from our belly crawl!
I really like climbing the cargo net - this one wasn't nearly as high as the one at Beach Palooza, but it was pretty slippery with the mud-coated ropes.
I call this one "synchronized climbing"!
I now have a "cargo net pose"!
And done!  Proud moment. 

After the cargo net, there was a water stop, where most of the cups had a bit of mud on them.  Tasty!  Then we climbed some hay bales, went over more barrels, and then slogged though some deep, squishy mud.  That was hard, and I think each of us fell at one point...it didn't hurt, but the mud kind of sucked you down and it was difficult to get up.  Lots of laughter on this one.  We could see the last obstacle, which was a water run, and the finish line ahead.  Yay!  We were ready to be done, get our medals, and get some of this mud cleaned off.  But wait...there were race officials standing between us and the water run.  They pointed toward the woods and told us we had to go through there first.  WHAT???  I could see the finish line!  Argh.  Chuck caught my reaction via telephoto lens...I think my body language says it all:
So we turned toward  the woods, where we went through slippery mud, falling and falling - and apparently I even stepped on Kelly's leg when she was down and I didn't realize it!  Sorry Kels!  This was the hardest part of the race - it went on forever!  At least half a mile.  Or maybe an entire mile.  Maybe two...hard to say (ok, probably wasn't more than half a mile...but still!).  All along the way, we'd see shoes abandoned...the mud was doing an excellent job of sucking them off feet.  Luckily mine stayed on, but if one had slipped off, I was prepared to sacrifice it to the mud forest.  Finally, we came out and got to the water run, which was above my knees.  The nice thing about that obstacle is that it washed away a lot of the mud.  Chuck was on the side, and just as he yelled my name, I went down.  Glad I could entertain the paparazzi!
 
 
 
Almost done...
 There's the finish - yay!!!
One woman placed the medal around my neck, and then the next lady asked me if I was in the 11 or 11:30 wave...I could see she was holding the box of mugs that the first 10 finishers in each wave receive, and while I was tempted (the mugs were CUTE!), I was honest, and told her that no, I wasn't one of the first 10...which really - LOOK at me.  Do I look like I could speed through that course?!?  LOL.
 Jennifer, Kelly and Katherine coming in!  Woot!!!
 Clowning around for the after-race photographer.
My post-race treat - a mini cupcake.  My stomach was growling during the race and I couldn't wait to eat something!  This hit the spot, dirty hands and all.
 I like this shot - rehashing the race while enjoying our treats!
And yet another goofy pose.  We had a great time, and this race was a fun distraction from everyday life.

Here's Jeff's favorite part of the race:
He very kindly offered to help me wash the mud off...at one point he was spraying the water at me as I ran around like a crazy person - it was cold!
 The race swag - super cute shirt (with my blog flower featured on it!).  This shirt is a teeny-tiny, fitted, size large...quite a few ladies there were disappointed with the sizing of the shirts, and a lot of us can't wear them (in public, anyway).  Lunch bag and koozie were also included. 
Yep.  I am most definitely a Muddy Girl!

21 comments:

  1. FUN, FUN, FUN!

    So much fun you've had Shelley. I love it, what a great day.

    And I laughed out loud when I saw Jeff's shirt: great idea!

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  2. ONE OF MY FAAAAAAAAAAVE POSTS EVER.
    you are tenacious, inspirational and a muddddy gurl.

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  3. What a blast! And how great to do it with a bunch of people.

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  4. Oh my, looks like you all had a blast. Love the pics Jeff got.

    Uh, I don't know if I could ever do this..I always disliked getting dirty, and do NOT use porta potties! (or whatever they are called) ! Haha

    Liked the grocery bag hair protector. Ha So much funner with a fun group, huh. I'll bet sometimes you were laughing so much it made you weak.

    Chrissy

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    1. The laughter made it especially difficult to get up out of the mud!

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  5. That looks like a bunch of fun and you all look so happy even when you're slipping and sliding. How sweet of Jeff and Chuck to support you that way!

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  6. That's too funny that I just found your blog. This weekend my husband was trying to convince me to do a Muddy Run in the summer. Looks like you had fun.

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    1. You should definitely do a muddy run, but make sure you have a group as it will be all the more fun!

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  7. Loved Jeff's shirt!! And boy oh boy does that look like a blast!! Great work you dirty girl ;-).

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  8. LOVE everything about this post!! I had a blast with you. I think it's more fun to take these races at an *ahem* less commpetitive pace. Just enjoy the experience of it. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

    This makes me look forward to Beachpalooza (I don't want to call it Beach Dash!) so much!!

    Great recap, Shelley. And it was SO good to see you again. Twice in one month! I could get used to this. :)

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  9. The look on your face when you had to go through the woods is priceless!

    What a wonderful, fun event - and I love Jeff's t-shirt!

    Hooray for being a muddy girl!!

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  10. congrats! I love Jeff's shirt!! Need to make one for my husband!

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  11. How fun! Tell the paparazzi that he did a great job! And from my perspective, so much more fun to read about than to actually do LOL.

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  12. SO PROUD OF YOU! Great job - that looks like so much fun! And I love how it looks like you had fun in the process!

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  13. That looks so fun!!! LOVE the porta-potty shot.
    I'm also very happy to see the shirt on the model :)Y'all look so good. I'm so proud!

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  14. That looks SO fun! I don't like getting dirty, but those races always intrigue me.

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  15. You look GREAT in dirt!! And you can't hide the pure joy on your face. Jeff really captured it :)

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  16. How FUN!!! Don't take this the wrong way, but you and Kelly are dirty girls!!!!!

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  17. There is nothing, NOTHING that I love more than your race recaps. Look at you hanging off the obstacle course, and especially sitting in the puddle. Awesome!

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