Day 191: Eating mud

Being goal-oriented runner, I need a training plan and a purpose which keep me motivated. There are some short-term and some long-term goals, and one of the more far-fetched ones for me is obstacle course racing (OCR).

I am absolutely awestruck by this sport, and incredibly impressed by the people who take part in it, but I am reluctant to join just yet. I am weak; I can’t do a single pushup (but I am working on it). I need more upper body and core strength, but I also need to learn some techniques on how to properly deal with the obstacles.

Therefore, when the Kardinge Run (a local obstacle/mud run here) announced they are organising a try-out training with The Bootcamp Club last Saturday to check some of the things that await during the race, I signed up immediately, even though I don’t dare to take part in the race yet. I wanted to see what am I already able to do, and to get some useful tips and tricks.

In general: it was amazing! There was a lot of crawling: crawling through pipes, in sand, under masking nets. I ran into water and it actually felt really good. I ran uphill and downhill. I learned some very useful techniques, for example, we were shown how to correctly approach vertical obstacles and how to traverse horizontal rope. I was extremely anxious about the rope, but I did it well and it was great fun! I also jumped across car tires and dared to walk through a muddy channel.

Me, hips deep in muddy water, getting my feet sucked into the mud.

The obstacles were even more fun than I expected, and I learned that with proper technique much is possible even for weaklings like me. The one hour of training went really fast, and before I knew it, it was over, and I wanted more! I am certainly looking forward to events like this, and I enrolled as a volunteer for the Kardinge Run – I want to be part of it, even if I won’t run it.

Big thanks to the organisers for this fun event!