Mudman: It was Legen . . . wait for it . . . dary!

Hey everyone! Happy Monday!!!

Want to share with you all what I did this past weekend! For me it is huge and I just need a little brag time for a minute or 2!!!

This past spring I heard about this 5K run called "The Mudman" and immediately became interested. I know with my injuries that it would be super difficult and probably made me look insane to even try it. But, I'm not dead yet and put it on my bucket list...so then 2 months after learning about this race, I decided to sign up and give it a try because I was getting more and more in shape. Fast forward a couple months to Saturday, August 18th and here is what you get:

This is me before the race...

We were in heat 4 and were having such a pump up session before we even began. My stomach was doing flips, my heart was skipping beats, and by the time we lined up in front of this HUGE hill at the start line, I was about ready to call it quits. The countdown begins and the race starts at 10:30, it felt about 2 hours later before we reached the top of the hill, my lungs are burning and I'm in desperate need of water. But the main thing was, we made it up the hill...the sad part was that I couldn't turn around and just had to keep moving my feet and that there wasn't any water anywhere...

My niece and I fly over all the obstacles, but sadly, I'm not a runner and stall out on the run parts. We reach the half way mark and finally get some water. 1 cup is all we were allowed after about 40 min. of run, mud and obstacles...Oh well, I picked up pace after we got the water, so that was good! I think my niece woulda finished 20 minutes ahead of her end time because she was constantly waiting for this old gal! {Her favorite quote during the race "ready to run yet" and my favorite response back was "nope"...lol}.

When we get to the end of the race, there are these fire pits we have to jump over. I stalled. I honestly didn't know if I could do it or if I attempted it, if I would fall in them. So then I get passed and the gal jumps over with no problem and I think to myself...ok, I got this and jump the 3 fire pits to cross the finish line.

During the race we had these time tags strapped to our shoelaces so that when we finished the official times went into digital cyber space. When I turned around to see my time, the time read "1:49" and some odd seconds. I was sort of bummed because I had given myself an hour and a half to finish. But then after thinking about it, I reminded myself that at least I had finished...So then I found my niece and tried to find the rest of the group. They were no where to be found...after about 10 minutes, finally found them in the thick of 5000 other people! This is my sister Sara after she finished her race with a time of 42 minutes, such a rock star!!!

They hadn't seen the end of our race. I was bummed about that because I so need my husband at the end of that long grueling race...I needed my children. I tried to suck up the tears and get over my pity party of such a slow time and the fact that everyone had missed my ending because at the heart of it all, they were there for me, even with my injuries and the fact that I'm not a runner, I had just conquered "The Mudman" in 1:45...

Come to find out, the reason they weren't at the end line because we were ahead of schedule and they weren't expecting us to finish so soon because at the half way mark, we were at a slower pace. See, my niece and I had actually finished with a time of 1:18 minutes {she finished at 1:16} and the average finishing time was 1:02...I could NOT believe it...I was super pumped after hearing that! The time that I saw was actually a person from the 3rd heat with her finishing time...so I had passed up a person who started 30 minutes before we did!!! Here was my face after finding out my actual finishing time in all my mudder glory...

Even after "cleaning up" I was still caked with mud. Even after coming home and showering I am still caked with mud! I read a comment on facebook on "Mudman Race" fanpage that reminded us to clean behind our ears. So I went and checked, and yup, I forgot to clean behind my ears! LOL...

During my race, there was tons of stuff for spectators and Lance tested out the Bungy Jumping thingamajigs...he so loved it! Him and my nephew are going to test out the Jr. Mudman next year for 6-12 year olds! {They have adults leading them, and it's only 1 mile, no fire pits, so it won't be as bad as what we had to do!!!}

                                             
Here's what I learned after all of this:

1. I'm stronger than I thought I was.
2. A disablity like mine would only be an excuse not to start because I am not yet dead and should still try to live the life I want to...
3. I have a wonderful family that will come out and support me even if they think I am crazy.
4. That I'm not the only crazy one in the family because next year...my hubby is gonna try it out!!!
5. God willing, I will be healthy enough for Mudman 2013!!!