Ask my friends and family if they ever thought they could imagine me willingly taking part in a 6km and 18+ obstacle mud race in the middle of a conservation area¦ the answer would be a resounding, Heck no! This isn’t how they envision me, the city girl who has never camped a day in her life and would ask her school teachers if she could stay inside on rainy days during recess to avoid making contact with mud¦ ever. So the fact that I did Mud Hero was a shock to everyone. But, hey! While I may have a distaste for nature and dirt, I am the type who jumps at a challenge. And so is my running-partner-in-crime, Cory Lee, who completed the race with me on Sunday.
Cory and I have known each other for the better part of a decade, but we became really close while training for a 15km race last year. We were both brand new to running and would find ourselves trailing at the back of the group on our weekly training runs. We started calling ourselves the sexy pace duo and bonded over the fact that, yes, we weren’t the fastest, but we were darn committed! Since then we’ve completed three races side-by-side, and are training for a half-marathon this October. There is no one else on the planet that I could do this race with.
Here’s what Cory and I learned about ourselves during Mud Hero:
You sweat more before the race than you do during
It was the nerves. We were SO nervous about this race. Mostly because for other races we knew the route, we could train on that same route and essentially knew EXACTLY what we were going to experience on race day. This wasn’t the case with Mud Hero. We had NO IDEA what we were getting ourselves into. We’d seen the obstacles online, but climbing a rope wall or walking through a mud lake up to your shoulders wasn’t something we’d ever experienced. Luckily, my sponsor was Mitchum.
What I love about this brand is they know great moments in your life make you sweat. Before the race Cory and I sprayed on Mitchum Dry Advanced Control Spray and were impressed with how quickly it dried and how easy it was to apply. All you do is spray and go. Plus, it has 48-hour wear, so there was no need to keep reapplying as the day went on. Which was important as we had to check our bags and had no access to our things pretty much all day. Even after we showered off all the mud I didn’t reapply, and I was still dry for the remainder of the day and into the next morning! What I liked most was that the scent wasn’t overwhelming, just a slight powder (think: baby powder) fragrance. Which is important when you are deep in the woods with all sorts of bugs around. Come October when I’m conquering the half-marathon, this dry spray is going to be an essential when getting ready!
Fear is your friend
The Mud Hero obstacles are not child’s play. We are talking Fear Factor stuff here. There were moments when I was halfway across a rope 30ft above the ground and a minute away from a panic attack. But, the fear propelled me to just get ˜er done! Adrenaline would kick in and all of a sudden I was in ninja mode crushing each obstacle. Sometimes you just have to embrace the fear and allow it to give you strength.
Mud is a great exfoliator
It was not easy showering off the mud from the race. We were fully (yes my entire head) submerged in mud several times throughout the race. I had to scrub that stuff off¦ and it was EVERYWHERE. But today I am literally glistening and as smooth as silk. J
Never underestimate yourself
And it probably has something to do with the fact that we decided at the start of the race that we were going in with a positive attitude and most importantly, that we were going to have fun.
Exercising is WAY better with a buddy
Before every obstacle Cory and I would look at each other and say, We got this! We’d high five and then go for it. Both of us agreed if the other wasn’t there, we might have skipped obstacles or not even done the race in the first place. Having someone else to push you and support you makes and enormous difference. If you’re training for a race or want to take part in a Mud Hero challenge, sign up with a group of friends or a buddy. We saw so many groups along the way, laughing, smiling, and encouraging each other through every obstacle. We even made friends with people as we bonded over our nerves or getting lost in the forest.
For more information on Mitchum products, visit www.mitchum.com.
If you want to challenge yourself and create your own great moments, enter a Mud Hero race, visit www.MudHero.com.
This article was brought to you by Mitchum.
