Playing in the Mud

 Over the weekend, I completed my first "mud run". It was organized by the National MS Society to raise money for MS. I have to admit I was a bit nervous beforehand. It was a 10k through woods and fields, with over 30 military obstacles. Picture sliding down muddy slopes into pits of muddy water, climbing over log walls, or rope swinging across more pits of muddy water. After climbing out of the first muddy obstacle, I was completely covered in thick mud and the first thought in my head was, "This is so much fun!". From that moment, until the finish line, I had a blast. It helped that I had a teammate running with me as well. We pushed each other on and definitely kicked butt throughout. I think that this was a wonderful mental break from regular running. Training can get so boring. This race wasn't about times or distance...it was purely about fun. I will definitely use this type of event periodically to give myself a "break". I suggest it to other runners out there as well. To learn more, go to http://www.theoriginalmudrun.com/.