More than a Pretty Face: Dirty Girl.......

I am all about some fun, themed races now. I am still NOT a runner. Well, not a good runner. But each and every time I do a "fun run" I get faster at finishing. Last Saturday I participated in another Mud Run!! This one was called Dirty Girl Mud Run. This was a 5k obstacle race like the Warrior Dash I did back in October. The "Dirty Girl" was for girls only....no boys allowed. It had a pink theme and lots of dirty girls!

I joined a team of ladies and we called ourselves the "MUDonnas". We had shirts made (that I didn't love because of the fit but otherwise were very cute).

One of the girls on my team for Dirty Girl also did Warrior Dash in October. Warrior was HARD. Super intense and for those on the more athletic side of the curve. We survived just fine at Warrior and were prepared for another intense challenge. Dirty Girl was more......girly. It was fun but the course was a lot more running and not so many obstacles. We were a little disappointed after surviving the Warrior Dash. The obstacles for Dirty Girl were fun and experiencing this with a fun group of ladies was even better. One thing I noticed more than anything is that my strength and stamina was so much better during this race than Warrior Dash. I rocked the obstacles, didn't get winded or tired or weak. I just suck at running. I run really heavy bottomed like my legs are too heavy to pick up. I think I'll get better at it the more I build my cardio system up but I really do still suck at running and stayed behind the group for Dirty Girl but never too far away.

However......in case you didn't notice the date of this post, the race was on March 9th. March in Alabama can be a little tricky. Not quite winter but not yet spring. So this particular Saturday was COLD!! Had been in the high 30's overnite and was in the 40's the morning of the race. This girl does NOT do cold anything, more less crawl through freezing mud. But I did. Was a fun time!

The very second obstacle almost killed us all. It was a large pit of WATER with mud in the bottom. A heavy rope net laid over the top of the pit. There was enough space between the water and the net for your face to stick up. Barely! The pit had been filled with water the nite before.....how do I know this? Because it was FREEZING!! As I stepped into the pit, I knew how cold it would be. Then being the Gulf Coast, raised on the water girl that I am, I knew if I just went ahead and went under the water that I would get over the water being so cold. Well let me just say for the record, this theory doesn't work when the water has reached a certain degree that I am positive was below ZERO. The second I hit the water and went under the net I immediately lost my ability to breath like a human. I panted like a dog the entire trek down the pit. For those of you who are claustrophobic I am sure you are already on the verge of passing out thinking of this experience. It was seriously a little uncomfortable. If I had not pushed the rope net up using my head, I would have drowned. Passed out for sure. I could not breath!! The best part about this experience is that is was over and the second best part was that it made me run like the wind when I got out. I ran and ran and ran so I wouldn't die of hypothermia. It was the worst part of the course in my opinion.

One of the best moments of the run was captured on camera so I will share and explain when we get there (at the end of the race). For now.....Here are our pics to prove that even the cutest girls can get a little dirty sometimes!! I'm not in all the pics but want you all to enjoy this day as much as I did! (Thanks to one of our MUDonna team mates' husband for chasing us the whole course and taking pics)

Prerace: I'm the one still wearing a jacket because I don't do cold (as I waited anxiously to crawl through icy water)

The Starting Line......let's get ready to rumble

Obstacle #1:

This obstacle was fun and easy. Bumpy climb up and a little bumpy ride down but all smiles both ways. This is before we hit the water!

What goes up......

Must come down.....

The rest of the dirty story......the other obstacles

To the finish line......all together!

For the final obstacle Alisha and I held hands and went down the big wet slide together.....

and had a huge crash into each other. I went down and under hard and fast. I had used both elbows as brakes into the pit of mud and pebbles below. Needless to say I came up bleeding and bruised but laughing so hard that I swallowed a mouthful of mud and loved every bit of it. Alisha tried desperately to pull me out but I was laughing too hard. The look on my face in the pic below says it all. LOVE THIS!!!