But after I ran the zombie race and did better in it than I thought I would, I became more open to the idea of running an all-out, balls-out (figuratively) mudder. Lucky for my friend and I, someone at the event was passing out fliers for the Dirty Food Adventure Run on March 9. After much contemplation, self-doubt, visions of mediocre, dirty glory and desire to continue to do new things, I decided to run this race. I decided to face my fear of failure and looking stupid and inept in front of people who seemingly know what they're doing. I resigned myself to that fact that I would have to push myself harder physically than I have ever before. By doing this race, I'm setting myself up to run approximately four miles while completing nearly 30 obstacles during the run.
I'm confident in my ability to go the four miles. I've done three 5K (3.1 mile) races, and in each of those, I ran most of the race and walked for a while to catch my breath and re-up on energy. Adding another mile to the race doesn't seem like it would be the tricky part. What will really test me is the obstacles. More specifically, the climbing obstacles. From the video that I saw, there will be two different forms of rope wall climbing, cargo net climbing and a jump into some deep-ass water, followed by a swim in said water. So there's where I need some help. I've recently taken up rock wall climbing to help build my strength. But if any one has any advice on what I can do to best prepare for the climbing obstacles, please feel free to share. Also, I need someone to teach me how to swim. Hooray for stereotypes.
Below is a link to a video someone took of while running the race. If you, my tens of readers, have any tips for me on what I should do to prepare, let me know. And if you have words of encouragement, send them my way.
Brandon D.
