Ever since April, I've been training my disappointingly-out-of-shape body for The Camp Pendleton World Famous Mud Run. My brother wanted to do something active, new, & exciting to celebrate his 26th birthday that would also reunite the wedding party and I gotta say that it was so much fun! Of course there were times during the mud run when I thought, "WHY THE HECK DID I AGREE TO DO THIS?!" but all in all, it was a fun experience spent with good company.
We woke up at 430am to eat breakfast/get ready then left our house by 5am to arrive at Camp Pendleton by 6ish. Although it was SUPER early to be up on a Saturday morning, not to mention FREEZING, I was filled with so much adrenaline. I started to catch a cold 4 days before the day of the run, so I was anxious to see how far my body would push itself because I didn't wanna let my team down since everyone on your team had to cross together at the end to actually qualify as completing the course. I was really surprised at how much of it I was actually able to jog. The killer parts were the ridiculous uphill and sandy parts of the trail. It sucked out all of my energy, while the sun was directly on my face -__- Even though my team wasn't able to stay together during the whole time because of injury & other physical difficulties, me and one other member of my team out-ran everyone else we came with. If we had decided to run as individuals, my time would have been SO much better! But the important thing is that we did eventually finish as a TEAM. Running in shoes filled with water,rocks,sand, and mud was a REAL beezy, but the actual muddy obstacles made it fun. It kind of sucked how all the obstacles were toward the end because it felt more of a regular run/hike in the beginning. Towards the end of the race there was a 'slippery uphill mud climb' which was probably the most difficult part for me because I was trying to hold onto whatever I could to avoid falling backwards and at the same time the Marine Corps guy was spraying water directly at me so I couldn't see at all! That pissed me off! LOL but other than that, I'd definitely do another mud run or better yet even try a marathon in the near future. It feels good to see the progress in athleticism throughout the whole training process to the day of the race. I want to keep that state of motivation to stay fit and work out when I can :]
TEAM HARDCORE 2011, we made it! YEE YEE!
