:: Mindrella's Life ::

:: Monday, June 07, 2004 ::

Spending Sunday in Mud - June 6, 2004

So I did the Camp Pendleton 10k Mud Run which is more like a 10k mud obstacle course. This post is long so if you just want to see the pictures then scroll down to the end.

I got to Camp Pendleton right on time, 6:30 a.m. Well that's the time they told you to get here, stating that it would take approximately 1.5 hours to get through the front gate, drive to the parking lot and catch the shuttle to the race site. In actuality it took about 40 minutes, top. So I had a couple of hours to kill. Plenty of time to get ready, warm up, stretch and look around. Preparations took some time. I needed to change from my t-shirt to my tank top, no small feat figuring it was freezing at 7 a.m. Then there was the preparation of the race which included duct tape. Lots and lots of duct tape. Duct tape on my elbows, my knees and shoes. On my knees and elbows to give me extra protection in anticipation of the crawling I'll have to do later and the scrambling up walls. Duct tape on my shoes in order to keep them on my feet because being mud it sucks you down and there's a distinct possibility of surrendering your shoe to it whether you like it or not.

The race begins precisely at 9 a.m. About a quarter mile into the race Marine's were waiting for us, all too eagerly, with fire hoses to water us down. There's nothing like running blind because you you've been hit face first with a blast of very cold water. Which is why I also had goggles on. Right after this you turn off the asphalt and start running on a dirt trail. Except for one brief period near the end of the race, it's dirt trails the whole race.

Your first challenge was a mud pit, knee deep, and then some tires to run through - after running through this you get your first taste of what the rest of the run will be like - running with 5 pound weights on each foot. I never knew just how heavy shoes get when soakin wet. Right before this was our first water stop where I nearly choked to death because I couldn't catch my breath enough to swallow the water. After this was a knee high stream to wade through, a sand trap and another stream - this one thigh high. You then hit what veterans call Suicide Hill. It's a two mile hill straight up. People were dropping like flies. It was at this time that the first of the group runners (who started 15 minutes after the individual runners) starting passing us like we were standing still. Show offs! I just told myself I only needed to get halfway up and then I could walk. It is very deceiving though. You get partway up, it tapers off a bit (where you hit the hay bale jumps) and then it goes up sharply again, only to taper off a bit and then rise again some more. Other than the hay bales there were no other obstacles on the hill -- that was enough of an obstacle itself.

So what goes up must come down - and down it does - just as steep. I actually made up some time by running down the hill. At the bottom you have another mud pit and the first of two 5 1/2 foot walls to climb over. This mud pit is thigh high and filled with ooey, gooey, sticky mud. The other mud pit was a piece of cake compared with this one. Luckily for me, someone took pity on me and helped me over the wall, otherwise I'd still be there trying to climb over. It's similar to doing a pull up from a dead weight. You're shin high in mud and have to pull yourself over and you can't even get a running start to help you out. After that you have the lake. You must walk across the lake which we are told is 3 feet deep - approximately. Approximate my ass, it came up past my chest almost to my shoulders so I'm guessing it was more like 4 feet or more. But at least I got a good portion of the mud off of me. We then came to more tires and concrete tunnels that we had to crawl through. Luckily I was small enough that I could crawl through on my hands and knees instead of my elbows - although my exit out of the tunnels was anything but graceful. I just kept picturing a pig trying to get out of his stall. It wasn't pretty.

Now after all this, right towards the very end of the run, you hit a very steep mud hill. And when I say steep I mean steep. My guess would be about a 70% incline. It was almost a quarter mile of more ooey, gooey, squishy mud that you need to run (or in my case walk) up and try not to kill yourself on. A lot of people were slipping and sliding and falling - fast. I just kept my head down and stepped where people had stepped before me. It really took a lot out of me just to get up this hill. It made Suicide Hill look like child's play.

After this you had another mud pit with another 5 foot wall. This time there were Marines there to help you over because - yep you guessed it - if they weren't there I'd still be trying. Not only that but they were spraying everyone with a fire hose as they scrambled over the wall. At this point you're almost done (like this story - just hang in there). You have a very steep hill to run down and then you hit the final mud pit where you have to crawl through on your belly keeping your head below the flags they have strung across. This is where my goggles came in handy. Most were blinded but I was able to see.

After that you were finished. My final time was 1 hour, 55 minutes. My shoes were shot. I was covered in mud but I had a great time. It was half physical endurance and half mental endurance. I had to keep giving myself pep talks throughout the run to keep me motivated and moving. It was hard for me because I've never run any great distance without my walkman so it was hard for me to do without. Music just seems to make the distance not seem so long. But I couldn't believe that I had done it. I had actually finished the run and it was probably the hardest thing I had ever done in my life AND I wasn't anywhere near the shape I wanted to be in. What I liked about the race was that everyone helped each other. It wasn't about who finished first or how fast your time was, it was that you finished and I did!

Here are some pictures:



Here's what I looked like after the race. Notice the fashionable accessory of duct tape. It's all the rage in mud runs.



Here's a side view of my shoes after the race - minus the duct tape.



Another view of my shoes

Here are some pictures of the venue in general:

:: Melinda 8:57 PM [+]

It's Mud Time . . .

So I did the Camp Pendleton 10k Mud Run today and boy they weren't kidding . . . it was mud galore. It was definitely a challenge and I made it in 1 hr 55 min and 45 secs. Needless to say I was extremely muddy and exhausted when I finished. I'll post more tomorrow along with some pictures. Right now I'm dirty, tired and cranky from lack of food.

:: Melinda 5:03 PM [+]