Race Review - Muddy Fanatic

I am not a morning person.  Period.  So when we had to get up at 5:30 am for this race, I wasn't all too thrilled.  The drive was almost 3 hours.  While I tried my hardest to stay awake, I ended up falling asleep a little over an hour into the drive.  I woke up to almost being there.  Score!



Matt joined a group awhile back called the Corn Fed Spartans.  They are a group that do mostly obstacle course races (ocr for short).  Matt likes being part of the group so we ordered jerseys and this was the first race we got to wear them.  We felt pretty hard core....at least I did.

Once we got there, we quickly realized this mud run was not near as large as our last one.  It was small and not as crowded.  We had to pay $10 for parking but the money went to SON foundation - an organization that houses cancer families as they are getting treatment.  Fantastic!

We got our packet which included a shirt, bib and bracelet.  Then we met up with our group.  It felt good to be welcomed so warmly; like old friends.  Our race was scheduled for the 10am heat but we opted to just jump into the 9:40am one.  At the "go" we were off!  We jogged a bit then walked.  In fact, the group stayed together the entire time and walked the course and enjoyed it.  While, at times, I grew frustrated because I am competitive by nature and many people were flying past us....I had to remember I wasn't running this for time, even though it WAS timed.  I was doing it to enjoy it.

In fact, I enjoyed this mud race better than the last, even though I skipped a couple obstacles.  There were two that I felt were unsafe for my physical capabilities and then one that I knew I just couldn't do, YET.  I wasn't going to be a beast and hurt myself trying to prove something.  No shame in going around it.

There were walls, tires, a tire wall, cargo nets, mud crawls under barbed wire, mud pits, water pits, monkey bars, balance beams, etc.  With the group we were in, everyone helped everyone.  It was great. 

Matt had bought himself a pair of mud shoes and surprised me with a pair just a few days ago.  Let me tell you - they make a world of difference!  Last mud run we had no idea what to expect and had just old tennis shoes.  The difference between the mud shoes and tennis shoes is crazy!  The mud shoes grip the ground and have slip resistance.  They were fantastic!  Live and learn.  Just like by the time the next one rolls around, I will have arm sleeves.  Army crawling through tubes, dirt and mud made for some raw and sore elbows!

Overall it was a lot of fun!  Definitely recommend it! 

At the finish, everyone got a medal which was in plastic.  It is the little things.  Last mud run they put them around our necks and I was thinking - this is going to get nasty.  So having them in plastic was definitely thoughtful.  We also got ham sandwiches, bottled water, bananas and chips afterwards.  The rinsing off station was powerful spray hoses - again, fantastic!  Last mud run it was barely a trickle.  They also had private changing stalls.

So, the review of the event Muddy Fanatic 5K:
Terrain - rough, muddy, grassy, hilly, obstacles
Organization - It was organized very well!  Volunteers throughout the course.
Cost - $35 per person (sale price), received a teeshirt, food and a kickin' medal
Time of Race - varied, depending on your wave time
Overall - Enjoyed it and would highly recommend it
Award - large medal
My Time - 2 hours and 30 minutes - didn't run it for a record time.  :)
 Race # in our 15 in '15 Challenge - 13/15

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Hard Core

Matt helping me

Our group

Before, when our jerseys were nice and white

Cargo Net

Nutrition Saturday - Peanut Butter & Co

I haven't done a nutrition post in awhile.  I have been pretty busy lately with many different things pulling me in several different directions.  My diet and workout regime has suffered because of it....but I am getting back on track!

I am not a fan of peanut butter.  I can eat it once in awhile but it certainly isn't my "go to" snack choice.  Peanut butter has a lot of health benefits, most nut butters do.  However, I can't justify the amount of calories for the consumption when I don't care for it all that much.

With that being said, I have discovered a gem of an item called Peanut Butter & Co.  It is peanut butter blended with dark chocolate.  The beauty part is it is all natural.

No trans fats
No cholesterol
No hydrogenated oil
No high fructose corn syrup

The ingredients are easy to pronounce and pretty straight forward - peanuts, dried cane syrup, cocoa, cocoa butter, palm fruit oil, vanilla, lecithin and salt.

The calories are 170 for 2 tablespoons and with 6g of protein it makes a great choice for your protein intake.  Protein takes longer to digest therefore leaves you feeling full longer.  Score!

I found this at the local Walmart where all the other nut butters and jellies are.  Cost is about $4-$5 for a small jar.  The jar I bought lasted me quite a while though.  I would spread it on whole wheat toast and slice a banana on top.....my idea of heaven in a healthy snack (or for breakfast!).

Well worth the price.

Enjoy!

Race Review - Foam Glow 5K

This was another fun run.  No time, your pace to just enjoy.  My husband and I went with our friend and our son and his girlfriend joined us - their first 5k!

Parking was easy enough.  Once we got parked, however, finding where to go was a little disorientating.  We asked someone and headed for packet pickup.  Since we had over an hour drive, we had to pick up our packets the night of.  The event charged $5 just to pick the packet up.  Which I think it is just another money maker for them but whatever.  We got our packets and headed back to the van to drop the bag off and change into our white tees. 

I had to use the restroom - disgusting.  No toilet paper in several stalls, a couple stalls were overflowing, debris and water everywhere on the floor.  It was that or the port-a-pot so I just quickly did my business and washed my hands thoroughly (and air dried due to no paper towel).

We headed back to the event.  There were several places to buy food, beer and glow in the dark items.  We headed to the staged area.  The music was pumping  and they had 4 cannons shooting this bubble colored foam.  It was pretty cool.  Then we went to line up to start.  They let the people go in waves.  There were THOUSANDS of people there.  Luckily we were pretty early in the line but still waited 30 minutes or so before we were allowed to go. 

The first part of the race was boring.  It was at a fairgrounds so they had the first area marked off with cones and tape.  It was just a zig-zag pattern, like an amusement park line.  Some people ran, most walked.  There was no foam.  There were several black light stations that showed the foams colors.  It kept going....and going.  I overheard others say what we were thinking - where was the foam???

Finally, one foam station - probably a mile into the event....it had two cannons and was a let down.  So we kept going and it weaved throughout the fairgrounds so most of the route was under lights (defeating the blacklight/glow in the dark experience), past horse stalls that smelled "delightful" and next to the highway. 

We came to the next foam station and it had one cannon and the other was just colored water sprayed on us that was sticky and smelled horrible.

Continuing on, there was a water station with mini waters.   Then we hit the last foam station that had two cannons and quite a bit of foam.  Then it was the end.

There was an after party but none of us drink and we didn't want to wait for it to start.  Besides we were all starving (hit up Denny's afterwards!).  Overall - not impressed.

So, the review of the event Foam Glow 5K:
Terrain - flat pavement, through a fairgrounds
Organization - It was organized okay.
Cost - $20 per person, received a teeshirt and a temporary tattoo
Time of Race - 8:45pm
Overall - Not very impressed, but the opening party was fun
Award - None - it was a fun run
My Time - None - it was a fun run
 Race # in our 15 in '15 Challenge - 12/15

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Under the blacklight

Before

After the foam

Foam before party

The starting line