This is Either Brains or Madness*

In the last little while, I've either discovered, or been told about some awesome races that I'm really considering actually doing sometime...

Metro Dash -

In addition to a stair climb equivalent to climbing a 15-story building...

Warrior Dash -

- I think it's awesome that you get a viking hat when you sign up for this race.


Tough Mudder -

Thankfully, they've provided a 'get tough' training list:

Training for Tough Mudder isn’t like getting ready for a triathlon, marathon, or anything else you’ve ever tried. To get ready for this grueling, one day gauntlet, you’ll have to train a bit differently.

A general tip

We suggest starting off each day taking cold, freezing showers to prepare for the icey water and mud you’ll have to wade through from start to glorious finish.

After your shower, look at yourself in the mirror. Punch yourself in the mouth. This works on two levels: the first is that you get used to pain. The second is that girls love wounds.

Then say your mantra. Every extreme mudder should have a phrase that gets them motivated. Dave Berger taught us, “Every man dies. Not every man really lives!” Yours can be whatever you want, as long as it gives you the right feeling (get your mind out of the gutter.)

Nutrition: What you put in your body has a direct effect on how you preform on May 2nd – mentally and physically. We recommend a meal of raw baby cow, preferably one you found and wrassled yourself (for city dwellers, any form of rodent, bird, or next door neighbor will do.) For dessert, snort two lines of protein powder and call it a day.

Try starting off each day with a vodka-infused wheatgrass shake before you head off for a run. Wheatgrass makes you fit. Vodka makes you tough.

DAY 1

THE FIRE CROTCH To replicate the burning conditions of our ring of fire, cover the inside of your pants with cayenne pepper for a 5k run through the park.
Alternate: Put tigerbalm in your eyes. Stare at the sun.

DAY 2

THE BULLOCKS Strap some steaks to your legs and take a run through Michael Vick’s dogpound.
Alternate: Strap some pill bottles to your legs and take a run through Lindsay Lohan’s house.

DAY 3

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND Since you’ll have to get used to jumping from tall places, practice jumping off buildings or moving cars the next time you take a drive.
Alternate: Make a bungee cord out of Tough Mudder armbands, band-aids, and your ex girlfriend’s underwear. Tie to a tree. Go nuts.

DAY 4

MAN OF STEEL Mental toughness is key – take twice the recommended dosage of viagra with your morning coffee and leave at days end without getting fired from work for sexual harassment.
Alternate: Take six shots of Jameson, and go through every number in your phone without calling or texting anyone – including hot and desperate people who may have given you their numbers last weekend.

Or, if you decide you just want to 'get fit' - they've prepared for that too.


*because I love that movie line, you get about a trillion points if you name the movie

The Moment You Might Have Been Waiting For

Mud Run Pictures!!!
You're excited I can tell.

the group of people working their way to...

... the first water obstacle!

here's Bethany taking her turn

one of the five men team-running as Magnum PI

I think the runners interrupted these marines running drills
while I was taking this picture, Bethany heard a guy running past say, "hey, the real studs are over here!" sadly, I didn't get a picture of him.

the first hill...

a rear view of team double dare

we had been walking when this guy offered to take a picture. we decided it'd look better if we ran. I don't think I'm very convincing...

marines in camo in the bushes

Bethany pegged this guy at the beginning as the one to beat. here she is beating him.

one of the beautiful views we had.

in the first water/mud pit with the first wall coming up behind me
(Bethany lifted herself up over all of them. I asked for help from the marines.)

crossing the reservoir.

the wicked witch of the west
(Dorothy, the tin man, the lion, and the scarecrow - behind her - were all running too)

the nasty mud hill (devil hill)

going up devil hill.

at the top looking down
(notice the guy spraying a firehose at people and down the hill - the hill was super-slick, if you're planning on running it, here's a tip - walk up the water that's running down. it's easier to get traction there.)

the final mud pit
(we had to crawl under the flags)

at the end. I knew I had mud on my face but I didn't realize it was so concentrated...

Looks Like Fun, No?

I'm So. Cal. bound this weekend. I'll be running in the Camp Pendleton Mud Run again.

I loved it last time, and I'm sure I'll love it again.

However, I'm grateful that after this one, there's no other run that I am currently signed up for and committed to run. I'll be taking a bit of a break and volunteering at this one in July. (still looking for more helpers, so if you're around on the 4th and interested in helping out, let me know!)

Here's the description given on the website: This is the World Famous Mud Run! The Mud Run is a challenging 10K run with hills, tire obstacles, river crossings, two 5-foot walls with mud on both sides, tunnel crawl, slippery hill climb, and the final 30-foot mud pit. Along the course there will be 6 water points with personnel staged at each. This is the most fun you can have running a 10K! View the course map at www.camppendletonraces.com. Race individually military or civilian, within your age division, or as a member of a 5-person team. Choose the Open category with no restrictions on attire and footwear, or the Boots and Utilities category, which requires regulation military boots and camouflage utility trousers.

I'm Doing It!

On Christmas Eve, I spent $150 in no more than 10 minutes. No, it wasn't on last minute Christmas gifts, it was on this:And this:


That's right, I'm back into marathon training. Although that hasn't been going so well... I'm hoping by telling more people about it I'll be more motivated to train.

I'll keep you posted.

Oh, and a week and a half later, I paid for this:
It's the Camp Pendleton Mud Run again. This time in June. I'm so excited! It was awesome last year!

Marine Mud Running

Okay, first of all, it was on a Marine Base (Camp Pendleton), but I'm sure what they have the marines do for training is much harder. So, really, it just makes me feel better to call it a Marine Mud Run. There were marines there... that counts for something, right?

Second (and maybe more importantly) of all, the above picture is not of me totally biffing it. I just wanted to make sure that that was absolutely clear.

So, around 5:50 this morning, Bethany, Dominic, Jen, and I climbed into the car and headed south for Pendleton where we met a long-time family friend, Matthew, and Beth's brother-in-law Jeremy and a friend of his. We got there and quickly checked in, then we were not so quick about getting to the starting gate. After we checked our bags in, and Jen was pinning on Dominic's number, Matthew said he thought he heard the cannon go off. We quickly headed over to the starting line, and after wading our way through tons of people (waiting for the team run to start) we finally were on our way.

They didn't wait too long to get us wet. They had a couple of trucks early on spraying water at us, and a fire hose going off to soak everyone. If you tried to avoid it, they'd take aim and nail you, often following you as you ran. I never tried to fight it, so I just opened my arms and embraced the water - I had seen that it was not worth trying to run.

About a mile and a half into the run people were backed up taking turns forming a single-file line to cross a narrow part in the stream. While moving up for my turn, I passed by a marine who was standing by watching over things. As I was walking past I said, "So is this where we tag team it, I give you my number, and you finish the race?" He looked like he had just realized something and said, "Oh, you were the one I'm supposed to put on my back and then run the rest of the race." I told him I liked his idea even better.

Here and there throughout the race there would be marines "barking" at us as we ran past. Telling us to run faster, push harder, etc. It was always followed by a smile and words of encouragement. I think my favorite thing of what I heard was, "If you're not first, you're last!" Well, I was definitely not first, but I still enjoyed it!

Now, perhaps I should have prefaced this by saying that I have gone running once in the last two or three months, and that was just under a mile last week. I've run 10ks before, and haven't had a hard time. And, actually, this one went much better than I could have anticipated.

What may have already been a long story, short - It was a lot of fun. I would definitely do it again, and, in fact, we're talking about doing it next year. I say - bring it on.

Now to finish - here's a picture of the last mud swim we had to do. Yay for this!