Well, I am excited to say I completed the MUD HERO 6 km Run at Ski Martock last weekend! Back in May I talked about pushing my limits and I sure did that this past weekend; maybe a little too much!
Mud Hero 2013
I was keeping an eye on MUD HERO’s Facebook page for a few weeks now, scoping out what it might look like but really… really, I was freaking out inside! I was scared shit less. I would think “What am I getting myself into”, “Why did you sign up for this again?”.
Saturday July 6th came and I was up at 5 AM …no not to head to the run (mine group started at 1 PM). I was up with Hilary! Then I couldn’t get back to sleep and spent the morning between getting ready/feeding the girls/nap for H/and running to the bathroom multiple times.
I.WAS.NERVOUS!
I got the girls ready for the day, nursed Hilary one last time and handed them off to my Mom as I went out the door. (My husband was away). I met my friend to carpool to the hill and we got there just in time – we were one of the last 20 cars of runners to be allowed in; the rest had to park and take a shuttle in! Lucky us!
Me before the run and the “hill” we climb!
It was a group of 10 women and we were schedule to start at 1 PM on the hottest day of the summer. It was 34 C but felt like 40. Enough said there.
Mud Hero Team (all Mom’s)
My team was made up of a group of Mom’s who (mostly) have young children with the oldest being 4 and youngest being 7 months old (Hilary and another baby), plus one Mom has children their twenties. They all rocked it!
Mud Hero’s After 6km and 17 obstacles
My experience:
I started the race with three other runners; they are fast and I am not. I lost them before the first kilometer marker but could see them ahead of me for a while. So, I ran the entire race by myself….which was fine….I got to reflect and not hold anyone back. The other group of women were behind me but never I didn’t manage to catch up to them until they finished.
There were 17 obstacles, just to name a few:
- Wall Climbing
- Light at the Tunnel’s End (hated this one)
- Net Crossing
- Log Under (in muddy water)
- Slide into water
- Mud pits (water/mud/rocks/tree stumps – ouch!)
- Car Park (walking on top of cars)
- Over/Under
- Firewall Slide/Pole
- Not to mention the 6 km over Ski Martock’s cross-country trails and their mountain to
run walk up and down!
I took my time, ran in the shade and always downhill and walked a lot. It was beyond hot and I wasn’t feeling awesome but I pushed through it. I was really close to finishing and I heard three of my team mates cheering me on. I have to admit that was awesome and it pushed me a little more to run down a steep hill and up another towards the finish line. There was a bouncy castle slide to climb up and slide down and then the LAST log under/muddy water crawl before the finish line!
Me “sitting” minutes after I finished my first ever Mud Hero (7 months post pardum!)
I did it!
Afterwards I had to sit down as the rest of our team came in and started to feel terrible. I could barely stand and often had to sit just to feel better. Lucky for me I had an awesome team that kept an eye out for me; got me some Gatorade and sugar candies from the aid station – I guess my sugars were a little low. I’m not diabetic but this race took a toll on my body. After 30 minutes of sitting I started to feel better and could talk in sentences and carry a conversation! Yeah, I was THAT bad!
The drove back with my friend and the AC in her car made me feel almost 100% better. I got home and showered all the mud off me I could and nursed Hilary right away. Both girls did awesome with my Mom and the only tears they had was when Hilary realized I was home!
I used the rest of the night (and Sunday) to get my body back to feeling better. Water, food and rest in between nursing Hilary.
My shoes before and after
Where did I go wrong?
- First by not eating a very good breakfast OR lunch that morning. I was more focused on my girls and making sure Hilary nursed well before I left her for 5 hours.
- Lack of sleep the night before: I was up multiple times with Hilary AND Lilly – so I was my normal exhausted self.
- I under estimated the amount of energy it takes your body to be a breastfeeding mama plus run in such a hot and challenge event.
- 1 PM start time – it worked for everyone in the group but who knew it would be THE hottest day of the summer yet.
Any injuries:
- Well, the fact that I almost passed out/puked was up there.
- I tweaked my left ankle jumping off the car at the end.
- Did something to my left hamstring climbing over one of the obstacles, and
- Got a major blister on my left ankle
It was all minor stuff (minus the almost passing out) and I’m feeling like myself again after a few day’s rest.
Will I do it again?
I’ve struggled over the last few days with how I finished – feeling terrible and that I could have passed out after the race. I’ve never felt that way after a race not even my 1/2 Marathon. It was almost as if I wasn’t proud of myself – weird eh! I think I’m getting over that feeling now that I’ve had a chance to write this post and see what I accomplished.
I’m 7 months postpartum, worked my ass off over the last 8-10 weeks to lose some weight, get fit and managed to take care of both of my girls multiple days in a row with my husband away. I should pat myself on the back and hold my head up for completing the race and not feel shameful for how I felt after the race.
“Would you do it again? I was asked this by a friend this morning and I thought my response would be “no” or “maybe” but in fact I think I would do it again. However, if you asked me after the event I would have said 100% no.
I couldn’t have done this without my Mom’s help with the girls and my husband’s encouragement – so Thank you both for supporting me.
And a big Thank you to the organizers of Mud Hero and Ski Martock – what an awesome event! Congrats to you all.
Would I recommend it? Completely.
Have you ever done a Mud Hero (similar) event ?
What was your experience?
What would you do differently?
My next race: Run or Dye in September at Ski Martock again!
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