One sure way to get lots of “likes” on your social accounts – and make your Facebook friends jealous – is to post pictures of yourself at a mud run. The muddier, the better.
If you were a homecoming queen or cheerleader, former classmates might expect to see you 10, 20 or 30 years later as a Housewives of Orange County wannabe. And if you are, we won’t judge. But why not prove everyone wrong and surprise the world with pics scaling a rope to get over a massive wall, climbing over obstacles with kids and adults of all ages, and crawling, jumping, and running in mud?
We don’t have scientific proof, but we’ll guess that mud run pictures get shared more than posts of what you ate for breakfast, or that glass of pinot noir you had last night.
Some might be intimidated by the thought of a mud run, but many events, including The Colorado Mud Run…BIGDOGBRAG, provide fun yet challenging obstacle courses for the amateur athlete. First-timers often get hooked by participating as a member of a team, and more and more companies are offering health benefit and insurance incentives for employees who sign up for mud runs.
If you’re considering doing a Mud Run this year, our recommendation is to commit to it by registering as early as possible, and then start prepping with these 10 Training Tips:
Top Ten Fun Mud Run Training Tips
1) Walk or jog around your neighborhood, on a treadmill or a small trampoline to build up endurance. Start with 10 minutes and work your way up to 60 minutes over a several weeks, or as much time as you need. Invite co-workers to walk with you during breaks, too. Stopping for fuel, such as ice cream, is optional.
2) Looking the part will give you confidence. Visit thrift stores early and often to assemble your perfect Mud Run costume. Go for a “Team USA” designer look and wear all white with the USA flag, or have your mud run team dress as favorite characters from a TV show. This is an important and often overlooked aspect of getting more Facebook and Instagram likes than other participants who wear basic sweats and a tee shirt. Safe and boring are good words to describe your CPA’s suit, but not your mud run attire.
3) Find a local park that has monkey bars, slides and obstacles to jump over. Start working those arm muscles and swing from bar to bar, try a few pull-ups, then go down the slide and walk back up several times. (Warning: do not wear shorts on a hot day, or you’ll burn your backside. This is something we all should have learned in third grade.)
4) Start going outside during or immediately after a storm, in your oldest pair of running shoes. Don’t be afraid to get your hair wet. Next, start purposely splashing in puddles and step in mud. This will feel odd at first, but soon you’ll be smiling and giggling, and telling the neighbors coming outside not to worry. If they look alarmed, reach for their phone and appear to be dialing 9-1-1, assure them you’re training for a mud run and haven’t lost your mind.
5) If you have kids, make training a bonding experience. Come up with a crazy name for your family’s team, and allow only goofy photos to be shared on social media. Create a countdown calendar for the kitchen or mud room wall that shows how many days to go until the mud run.
6) Load up on carbs, protein and veggies and wash down meals with a tall glass of milk. Or a milkshake. And if you like sweets, have dessert every night. You’re not prepping to run a marathon in the Olympics. This is a mud run, for fun.
7) Stay hydrated. Any athlete knows that drinking water is crucial to optimal performance, and anyone who lives in Colorado knows that carrying around a Yeti bottle filled with 60 ounces of H20 is an acceptable form of state identification.
8) Stretch. Simple, right? Just like your coach in high school taught you. It is good for the muscles and warms them up before any athletic activity, including walking, running or playing in the mud.
9) Start arriving early at work, school or appointments, in preparation for your mud run start time. There is an alarm on your phone you can set with one or more times to wake up, and if you’re over 30 years old, you might even have an alarm clock plugged into a wall in your bedroom. Mud runs have several thousand participants, and you’ll be assigned to a “wave” and will need to arrive an hour early to check in, so this is one of the most important training tips.
10) Practice being silly. Every day challenge yourself to do something out-of-the-norm, like singing out loud in your car, but with the windows rolled down. Or walking into an elevator and asking each person to share their favorite color as they exit. Build up confidence in the “real you” with this training exercise, and you’ll not only have more fun at the mud run, you’ll also enjoy life more.
This Top 10 Mud Run Training Tips list is provided by The Colorado Mud Run…BIGDOGBRAG.
Copyright 2018.
