MUD HERO OTTAWA 2013 -Race Recap
Holy Mud Batman!
It was interesting to attend one of these "different" races. I have to admit that the attitude of the participants was a lot more laid back and social as compared to the road races I have attended. I like both....they are just different.
Here is our group prior to the event. Mixture of lots of different athletes:) A marathon runner right down to first race ever. Fun group of girls.....they are all friends at work and in life....I'm the add in of course!
Our shirts say DIRTY MUDDAS because we are all mothers in "real life". This got lots of attention; especially at the starting line when our marathon runner insisted we be at the very start of our wave. The MC for the day got a big kick our of our shirts and had many jokes to say as he was stalling and trying to keep the crowd interested leading up to our start time.
The obstacles were pretty easy for me to get through. There was cargo nets to scale, walls to climb, a fire pole to slide down (insane how slippery that thing was), waterslides, logs to jump, a stretchy spider web to manoeuvre, and lots more. Oh and of course the MUD. I was literally up to my shoulders a couple times swimming through mud or swamp. Every 1/2 km there was at least knee deep mud to run through.
The cargo net climb below was my favourite obstacle; I pretended I was on the reality show Survivor, fighting for immunity:) Love that show.
Our group all finished separately as it was impossible to stay together. We waited in a group at the finish line as each girl came in. Here is our post race picture!
How I did?
Time 1h:02:19.6s
Gender category: 168/832
Overall: 382/1281
Age category: 25/132
To my surprise my knee was very strong. Ligaments definitely in place and strong as in the mud and jumps it was tested many times. When I went down that fire pole at 100 mph I had a split second of "this could be it". I made sure my knee was bent when I landed and it held up. Looking back I can see this was a pretty stupid thing to do with a bum knee but even though it was a risk, it actually gave me confidence in my knee's strength. I did take it easy and ensured my footing was in place; I stopped and walked over logs instead of jumping them. I did roll my left ankle twice though....I'm sure there are no ligaments left in that ankle or they are extremely flexible as it only rolled and went back in place with no pain or negative consequences.
I felt blisters forming on the insides on my feet at about the 2 km mark. This is a usual occurrence for me with new shoes. For some reason I thought that because I was wearing old, worn-in shoes that it wouldn't be a problem. Not the case. The water and mud made it extra worse. I've never had blisters this big and after taking off my socks and shoes I was surprised that could have even run. Ouch! I think they are going to take at least 2 weeks to heal. Believe it or not they are worse now than in this picture. So sore.
So it's over. My thoughts are mixed. The Mud Hero was a great race to run with friends and be social. Competition wise; although it was tough, I don't feel the same satisfaction in completing it as I did my half or 10K races. Would I do it again? Probably. There are other races similar to Mud Hero, like Mud Sweat and Tears, Spartan race and Warrior Dash. This group of girls is talking about another event in September. Risk of injury is very high so the jury is still out to weather the risk is worth the reward for me. I'm not sure these races are for me but it was definitely a fun experience.
Go here to see Mud Hero Ottawa details if you so desire.
It was interesting to attend one of these "different" races. I have to admit that the attitude of the participants was a lot more laid back and social as compared to the road races I have attended. I like both....they are just different.
Here is our group prior to the event. Mixture of lots of different athletes:) A marathon runner right down to first race ever. Fun group of girls.....they are all friends at work and in life....I'm the add in of course!
The obstacles were pretty easy for me to get through. There was cargo nets to scale, walls to climb, a fire pole to slide down (insane how slippery that thing was), waterslides, logs to jump, a stretchy spider web to manoeuvre, and lots more. Oh and of course the MUD. I was literally up to my shoulders a couple times swimming through mud or swamp. Every 1/2 km there was at least knee deep mud to run through.
The cargo net climb below was my favourite obstacle; I pretended I was on the reality show Survivor, fighting for immunity:) Love that show.
How I did?
Time 1h:02:19.6s
Gender category: 168/832
Overall: 382/1281
Age category: 25/132
To my surprise my knee was very strong. Ligaments definitely in place and strong as in the mud and jumps it was tested many times. When I went down that fire pole at 100 mph I had a split second of "this could be it". I made sure my knee was bent when I landed and it held up. Looking back I can see this was a pretty stupid thing to do with a bum knee but even though it was a risk, it actually gave me confidence in my knee's strength. I did take it easy and ensured my footing was in place; I stopped and walked over logs instead of jumping them. I did roll my left ankle twice though....I'm sure there are no ligaments left in that ankle or they are extremely flexible as it only rolled and went back in place with no pain or negative consequences.
I felt blisters forming on the insides on my feet at about the 2 km mark. This is a usual occurrence for me with new shoes. For some reason I thought that because I was wearing old, worn-in shoes that it wouldn't be a problem. Not the case. The water and mud made it extra worse. I've never had blisters this big and after taking off my socks and shoes I was surprised that could have even run. Ouch! I think they are going to take at least 2 weeks to heal. Believe it or not they are worse now than in this picture. So sore.
So it's over. My thoughts are mixed. The Mud Hero was a great race to run with friends and be social. Competition wise; although it was tough, I don't feel the same satisfaction in completing it as I did my half or 10K races. Would I do it again? Probably. There are other races similar to Mud Hero, like Mud Sweat and Tears, Spartan race and Warrior Dash. This group of girls is talking about another event in September. Risk of injury is very high so the jury is still out to weather the risk is worth the reward for me. I'm not sure these races are for me but it was definitely a fun experience.
Congratulations on completing the course! I admit, I am a big wimp and I don't think I will ever get up the nerve to try a race like that. I picture myself sitting in the mud in tears while the rest of my team races off in the distance. :( Hope your knee continues to feel good!
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