MUD MANIA

Yesterday I crossed something off of my bucket list. Well, not really but it was a lot of fun and I am glad I can say I did it and survived!


My husband and I drove a few hours south to one of my favorite cities on the planet, Auburn, Alabama, to run in the 5K obstacle challenge, Mud Mania. A few days ago I was only going to be a spectator and I had BIG plans to go into Opelika to visit my favorite vintage shops. However, sometime between Thursday and the morning of the race I was talked into actually participating. I have to admit, as much as I was dreading it, once we got started I had a blast.

We started out sliding down a 100 foot water slide and got sopping wet.... shoes, socks and all.



This is not actually my heat, but just a picture to show you what it was like. This was by far the most fun of all of the obstacles. I wouldn't have even called it an obstacle. After climbing out of the giant pool of water at the bottom we had to wade across a large pond, climb several large walls, jump over hay bales, tackle over-unders, and trample through mud that felt like quick sand. My shoes got so stuck in the mud, I almost had to leave them behind and go barefoot. That would have been horrible with the upcoming river run. One of the hardest obstacles out there was traveling upstream in a river, waste deep for about a half of a mile. I really wasn't sure at this point if I was even going to be able to finish. My hips and thighs are feeling this part of the race tonight in a major way. It was REALLY tough and to be quite honest very dangerous. It had rained very hard the night before and the current was so strong that if you lost your footing you could have gotten swept away. I think I was more scared of snakes and what I was walking on than the unbelievably strong current.

I normally can finish a 5k in about 34 minutes, which is not great but average, and I finished this race in 40 minutes. I am just glad to say I finished. Here we are all nasty and muddy. I had actually already hosed off my arms and hands and the lighting is horrible, but you get the idea. I wish you could really see my husbands face. He was COVERED. He tripped along one of the mud paths and did a complete face plant, right in the mud. I think I saw a little of it in his ears this morning sitting in church! He was a lot dirtier than I was!

This is my super cute sister who invited us to this awesome event. She beat me by 4 minutes.

The most impressive picture that I saw was this one....I didn't actually see this guy race, but the photo speaks for itself. This guy is a hero.

Alright friends....I am off to find an Advil and go to bed so that I can actually move in the morning to get some painting done! Love y'all!!