you've got mud on your face......

so shiny and clean., originally uploaded by *** coleyB ***.

this weekend, robbo & i did the caveman crawl mud run. i <3 mud runs. i really do.

there were probably 6 mud runs i tried to sign up for this spring. between scheduling conflicts, events being sold out, cost and other family obligations, this one, caveman crawl is the only we have done this spring.

it's a good thing too. this is not one to be missed. 5k. 40 obstacles. robbo did the caveman extreme in the fall (with his brother.). but, this was my first caveman run.

it did not disappoint. it was totally fantastic!! and it was muddy. really muddy..... mud. lots of obstacles. hills. climbing. water. hot. hot. hot.








next mud run, i will bribe my brother to come along just to take pics....... or maybe we'll splurge and buy a waterproof camera case. any suggestions?

i'm sure i can't remember all 40 obstacles. here's what i can remember........

• climbing steep, dry "vains". anybody see 127 hrs? ok. not really anything like that. but, it still crossed my mind.
• a long, high "wooden plank walk". it was a bit precarious. max # of peeps?? i'm sure it was exceeded.
• "spider web crawl". classic.
• "triple threat" over & under in the mud. a mud puddle. swim under a pipe. then climb over tree roots. climbed through and over giant tractor tires. tractor tire to the top of some kinds of cement remnants.
• "lily pad" styrofoam island hoping.
• "mud river" this was a pretty long trek through shallow mud. some of it was knee / thigh deep. that always came as a surprise. it felt like quick sand. if you didn't keep moving it just sucked you in. whew.
• "rope wall" climb. another classic.
• "ladder crawl". nice steep crawl up a ladder up the side of a hill.
• "lake run". this had to be 1/4 mile walk / swim in the lake. swim? yeah.... parts of it were over 5 ft deep.
• "40 foot slide". famous. kinda like slip-n-slide as a kid. it was ah.some. i almost ran over the chick in front of me. yikes. what was i suppose to do? slow down? i mean, we were fine. just invaded her personal space. that's all.

well, like i said. i know that's not all 40 obstacles. maybe there weren't really 40. can you think of any more?

i loved having lots of obstacles...... the more obstacles, the less running. right?

before mud runs, i use to have a hard time swimming in texas lakes. the lakes i've been too do no look like lake tahoe. they are mostly muddy. reddish/brownish clay/dirt. you can't see 12 inches under water. ewe. as i swam under the pipe in the "triple threat" under/over obstacle, i thought ..... ha! swimming in lake? no.big.deal. ...... i have a whole new perspective. :)

shoe report: i wore my cute new balance minimus shoes. i've loved wearing them for all my other adventures. i am here to report ..... they sucked. they were terrible. seriously terrible. the mesh on the top is a pretty loose weave. north texas is mud is mostly rocks/pebbles. i don't think it could have been worse even if i ran barefoot. i will stick with vibram five fingers for mud runs from now on!!! lesson learned. .......




side note.......... last weekend, we went to the lake with some friends. i wake boarded for the first time. hard, but super fun. robbo stepped on a something (screw??) on the boat. he bled like a stuck pig. i mean. wow. it wasn't very deep, so no stitches. right on the heel .... not the back of the ankle, but the heel. ouch. we tapped it up hoping he'd be fine for the mud run ...... all this to say ...... between my running-on-rocks-shoes & robbo's lacerated heel, we were not in top condition.



we still had such fun. i guess these kinds of things make you me feel tough. not than any single obstacle was so hard or so scary, but it's not the kind of thing i test myself with everyday. maybe it's just getting dirty? that makes me tough. :)



happy monday.
coley