This past weekend I completed my first mud run! The Dirty Girl!  I will admit that I wasn’t really looking forward to it. It wasn’t that I’m too good to get muddy, after all just a few days ago I was shoveling poop from a chicken coop. Or that I don’t like to break a sweat, I workout in the top of a pole barn in the dead of summer in the midwest… that my love is sweat. It was more that I am not a fan of high maintenance. I like things simple and easy. I have enough not so easy stuff that comes along with life with 3 kids and a swing shift working husband. Adding another thing to think about just makes me, well, tired. I’m tired just thinking about being tired!

I packed my clothes and a cooler the night before. I left the house at 6:30am and drove with a friend 2 hours to get dirty. My post-race thoughts…. It was a blast! And now I would love to peer pressure my sister, sister-in-law and mom into doing one with me.

Since I don’t like being unprepared and I don’t like the thought of thinking any extra, I am going to share with you the tips I have learned from this weekend.

1. YOUR SHOES:
Wear old shoes and tie them TIGHT or even wrap some duct tape around the laces and your ankles. The mud is like a suction cup of quick sand. And my dear, if you loose a shoe or two in the first few obstacles then you aren’t going to be a happy mudder as you hike through the woods.
Be prepared to donate your shoes at the end. It’s not a must but it would be one less thing for you to bring home muddy. After all, when you have clothes and shoes covered in mud or completely absorbed with water it gets heavy and who knows how far you will have to park from the finish line.

2. YOUR CLOTHES FOR THE RACE:
Think about how your clothes will be when soaked in water and mud! Blah! Your baggy sweat pants might just end up at your ankles. Wear something that is tight and water resistant if possible. I bought a pair of soffie shorts from Wal-Mart for $4. That way it wouldn’t bother me if I had to throw them out. I also wore a cut off T-shirt. Next time I will wear a tight tank top but the cut off T wasn’t too bad.

Wear knee high socks. If you wear ankle socks they won’t prevent ANY mud or rock from getting down into your shoes and that could be pretty uncomfortable. I wore socks that came part way up my calf. They weren’t bad but next time I will wear taller ones.

3. HAIR:
Wear your hair back as much as possible. I had my hair in a bun. My friends got their hair braided. Both were great! Mud dries hard and crusty. And the water from the hoes was freezing cold. So freezing cold that when I sprayed my head to rinse my hair it literally took my breath away! Yes, it took my breath away! So if your hair is pulled back and tight then you won’t have to mess with it much until you get home.

4. PACK YOUR CLOTH:
I highly recommend packing 2 wash clothes already wet and put them in a zip-top baggie. The mud will rinse off but it comes off a whole lot faster and easier when you are using a cloth. Remember how I said the water from the hoes was freezing cold? Well, I wanted to get rinsed off and out of that water FAST! Without a doubt the water from the garden hoes was the worst part of the race.

I also suggest you take 2 bath towels. You could get by with just one but I like to be ready for whatever. After you rinse off you dry off. You won’t get all the mud so you towel will get muddy. You will have a back up one if you get your first too muddy but also you will have that extra one if you need it in the car to lay under your bag or even your booty.

5. YOUR CLOTHES AFTER THE RACE:
Don’t forget that you will either have muddy shoes after or maybe even no shoes if you end up donating. So be sure you pack some extra ones for after. I am a flip-flop person so that’s a no brainer. But I packed them for after not just because I love them but who wants to put their wet and possible still dirty or muddy feet in socks! EWWW!

Pack a complete change of clothes that you don’t mind getting muddy. Even after the race is over and you have ‘showered’ you will still have mud on you, your bag and every item that you have brought. And when I say complete change of clothes I mean COMPLETE! I had mud is places that the sun don’t shine! Think about it, you are going feet and booty first down a slide into a mud pit. Where will the mud go? Right up your shorts!

You won’t be completely clean until you get home and take a real shower with soap and warm water naked.

6. EXTRA PLASTIC BAGS or TRASH BAGS:
Put your fresh set of clothes in a grocery sack when you pack the night before. This will keep them clean until you get them out because who knows where you will have to set your bag (which will get muddy also). Then have a bag or two for your muddy clothes and towels.

7. EAT:
You don’t think of a fun run as something that you need to worry about extra water or being properly fueled for but consider the time it will take from start to finish. The race didn’t take us too long but standing in line for the showers after did. Plus you factor in walking to and from the car before and after the race. And waiting for the race to start, completing the race and then, as I mentioned, getting cleaned off.

8. MUD MANIA:
My few tips for dealing with mud, which I learned from my childhood not from the mud run, is keep going and point your toes! When I was little my mom would say (which I repeat to my children now), ‘It’s too nice to be inside.’ However, it wasn’t just on sunny days she would say that. We were outside pretty much as long as there wasn’t lightening. I grew up in hollers, mud and creeks.

So, as you trudge through the mud don’t worry about how fast you go, just keep going. Don’t stop! If you stop it’s hard to get going again and your feet just get sucked even more into the mud.

And when you are going, going, going through the mud point your toes as you pull them out. They literally get sucked into the mud, especially if the consistency is thick but not thick enough to fly across the top. When you point your toes as you pull your foot out it will break the suction.

9. FEAR NOT:
Do not fear the mud…. it will sense your fear. Okay, that might be more true with livestock. Seriously though, I think when you are worried about falling you are more likely to fall.

The part I was concerned with was the safety of being covered in mud and trying to climb ropes and 2x4s. But the best part of running a mud run is the support, encouragement and help you get from other mudders. It’s nothing for other ladies to help you get over something or hold something up for you while you crawl under it. Plenty of strangers were asking others if they needed help. And at the end of the race was a fire pole to go down….with a fire fighter there to catch us! Well, THANK YOU, SIR! 😉

10. HAVE FUN:
The mud run is for fun! It’s an adventure and you will probably do it with a group of crazy friends.
So just enjoy yourself. Let loose. And get muddy!

Have you participated in a mud run? Do you have any tips to add to the list?