Go Commando! My First Mud Run!

Today was my very first mud/obstacle run experience. I ran the Team Ortho Go Commando 5k in Minneapolis.

To say I was a little nervous about this run, would be a huge understatement! I was more nervous about this race than I have been about any other race I have run. I guess the reason being, is in a traditional road race, you know what you are getting into, but a mud run has a bunch of surprises waiting around each corner! And, anyone who knows me, knows that getting dirty and muddy is not really my thing! 

We had a huge storm last night, and this morning when I woke up it was still pouring, which made me even more nervous-- more mud!! By the time we made it to the parking area, the rain had stopped, and it was quite chilly. 

On the bus. Very unsure!

My boyfriend and my sister both accompanied me to this race, and I was really excited to have the support! They both took the pictures you are seeing here, and did a great job cheering me on and making me smile!

Once we parked, we got on a school bus and were bussed to the race area. The bus ride seemed to take forever, and it was making me even more nervous. Once we finally arrived, we got a good view of the course and I was about ready to turn around and just head home. It was pretty intimidating!

When trying to decide to what I should wear to this race, I decided to just go with what I am comfortable with, and I rocked my favorite Team Sparkle skirt and Blood, Sweat and Sparkle tank. I was unsure of what type of shoes to wear, and ended up going with my Five Fingers, which I was really happy with during the entire race! I was feeling pretty badass about my outfit, and it gave me some courage to get in the start corral! 

The beginning of the race was pretty easy, just nice rolling hills, until I hit the first obstacle. This was by far the scariest of them all! It was an up-and-over cargo net. The whole thing was pretty shaky and the hight of it was pretty scary too. It took me longer to get across this obstacle than I thought, and then I was off running to a very similar obstacle. sans cargo net. This one was much easier and I was able to climb over it pretty quickly!

Up the this point I was still clean and dry! Just a few more feet and I was running through thigh-high water and mud!! It was actually more fun than I thought it was going to be, and after crossing the first water, I felt much more comfortable with the whole race. 

Log crossing! 

A few more hills, and I came to the 2nd water crossing, it was a long series of logs that runners were expected to run across. With my Five Fingers on, I felt really stable on the log, but there were a lot of people on the log and one woman started spinning the log (yup, it was like a fricking Lumberjack competition!), and everyone fell off (including me!) into the chest-high water!!! 

Just a short run and I came across another obstacle in which I had to shimmy across some skinny boards, it was pretty harmless and allowed me to get back to running pretty quickly! Then came another water crossing, where I pretty much had to just run through some ankle/shin high water. 

Next came a longer run, and another obstacle where runners had to jump over some large hurdles. Up another hill and I came to an obstacle called "Over & Under". This one was hard for me, as I had to climb a wall, and then go under a second wall, there were 3 sets of these, and I was very tired afterwards! 

We finally hit mile 1!! I think that was the longest mile I have ever run!! 

Back to more water crossing, running across hay bales and a very steep and muddy hill! By this point I was really getting into the whole idea of a mud run, and having fun with it. This is the point I also met a couple who run mud runs just about every weekend! I had a great time chatting with them as we climb some more hills. 

I don't really remember the order of the next few obstacles, but there was a series of pretty easy obstacles, and a snow machine spraying us with water. This part of the race went really fast, thanks to the people I met on the course!

We ran down a really large hill and were back to the start, only to run up the HUGE hill that I was eying when I arrived at the race. This hill was a killer!

I'm 1/2 way there!!

At the top of the hill we came across a dumpster full of foam rubber, which we had to dive into and cross. The foam was very dirty and it was the only obstacle that felt really gross! 

After climbing out of the dumpster, we ran pretty much through a corn field, it was super muddy and slippery. I took it very easy, not wanting to twist my ankle! Half way around the field was a traditional tire run, and then the dreaded monkey bars! I really sucked it up on the monkey bars, but was happy that the course volunteers make each runner try the obstacle! I got 1/2 way across the monkey bars before falling.

We were now at mile 2.5! We ran down another hill, went through sniper alley (where snipers spray you with red water out of water guns!), and then down the water slide!! The water slide was so much fun! It dropped you back to the starting area, and dumped you into a pit of cold and muddy water! 

Ouch!

Bottom of the water slide

After getting out of the water, I ran up a sand hill, did a tire toss (think crossfit), crawled under a bunch of wooden objects, jumped over fire and made one more water crossing before coming to the finish line and the mud pit. The mud pit was deep, and sticky. Runners were supposed to crawl through the mud to the finish line. I was a little hesitant, but dove in and crawled towards my finisher's medal. This was the most painful part of the race as the mud was mixed with gravel, and just tore up my knees!!

Out of the mud pit, I was awarded with my finisher's medal, and headed over to the fire hoses and bubble pit to clean off!

It was really hard to get all of the mud off, so I did my best and then changed into some clean, dry clothes! 

Overall, it was a really good experience, and I was surprised at how tough I actually was able to be! I did not hesitate getting muddy and dirty, and had a lot of fun! 

While this is not a type of race that I will do a lot of, I will probably do this same race next year. I think my boyfriend and sister want to run it too! 

I really enjoyed the set up of the race (Team Ortho races are so well done!), and the venue of the race was really nice! It was fun not to worry about my time, and to just have fun with the run! 

If you are in Minnesota, and want to try a mud run, I highly recommend this one to you! If you are thinking about trying a mud run and are nervous about it, my advice is to find a 5k, and just go for it!! 

Tomorrow I am running my 2nd race of the weekend: the Color Run! Re-Cap to come!! :)

Have you done a mud run before or do you want to do one? What did you think of it?