Day 28: The Mud Factor

So today was the Mud Factor!! An obstacle-filled 5K mud run! It wasn't the best day for this kind of event, for sure. Apparently the people who organize this kind of event couldn't get on weatherchannel.com and look up what the weather and temperature average was at the end of September in Washington, but in case you couldn't guess or don't live here, it was cold, wet & rainy!!!

They announcer guy said they had never done the Mud Factor in Washington before, but next year they'd be sure to do it when it was warmer. No DUH dude!!

Just a couple of muck-ducks!!

The pre-race challenge was trying to dress for the 

weather AND the race!! If you run at all, you'd know that even running in the cold, once you get started, you will get warm! So, the conundrum was how to dress warmly enough for the cold and rain and getting all covered in MUD and going through mud and water traps, while still dressed cool enough for running. Also, you want to dress in colors that won't totally get ruined and stained by mud! I wore old, worn out tennis shoes (that I don't care about), striped leg warmers, black workout capri's (which turned out to be a mistake since they don't have enough elastic staying power to stay up while running all wet and covered in heavy mud), a form fitting sports tank with sports bra, a long-sleeve brown shirt, a fleece beanie and short-sleeve printed hoodie (so I'd be easier to spot for my running buddies, and so I could put the hood up and keep the rain off my neck). It was a good choice in wardrobe for all the factors I explained, with the exception of the pants for their staying-up power.

So when it came to the race, there were 3 miles of trains and plenty of obstacles: muddy hillsides to climb, mud and water traps to crawl through, trenches to jump over, tires, walls and nets to climb over, and two big water slides with cold mud pits to land in.

Some people might go to these kinds of events, especially on cold days like this one, and try to stay as dry and clean as possible... but not me! Right off the bat I purposefully face planted, rolled and made mud angels to get dirty, since that is part of the fun!

We didn't run as much as I'd like to because one of our running buddies got hurt early-on but I slow-jogged most of the time, just to keep warm. My neighbor and I trained for the run for the last two months, using the couch to 5K mobile APP. Interval running is
great because even for non-runners, it helps to slowly train your cardio-respitory system to tolerate higher heart and respiratory rates while still being doable enough for beginners. Using the app is easy. It starts you out with a 5 minute walking warm up, and then gives you audio cues to start running and walking at intervals. Over time, in increases the amount of time you run, and even if you can't do it the entire time, it helps you push yourself to do more than the last time.

Yup, those are my shoes!

After the race, I was so cold that I couldn't hardly peel off all my wet clothes, and I was muddy right down to the skin! Needless to say that when I got into the warm car, I was in heaven!! Or so I thought! The only thing better than that feeling, was going to lunch at Red Robin and watching the Seahawks game!! This was my “cheat day”, so I ordered a “flying chicken burger” - wrapped in crispy lettuce instead of a bun! It was SO good (I knew it would be) that I may never eat hamburgers the old way again! 

The Seahawks game was AMAZING!! Final score 23 to 20 vs the Houston Texans. GO HAWKS!!

Then, I went home and soaked in a hot bubble bath and had some hot tea!

What a great way to end the day!!

A "flying" chicken burger - bun + lettuce wrapped = yum - calories !!

FOOD

Breakfast: 3 mini muffins, 1 cup berries, 1 HBE

Snack: no snack, because I knew where we were going to lunch

Lunch: Flying Crispy Chicken Burger – 900 calories ewww

Snack: ½ a cup of my “Cookie Dough” Fro Yo

Dinner: skinny soup and a string cheese

I know I went out to eat, and had a “naughty” sandwich but I stayed within the caloric limit for the day, so a “cheat” once in a while is ok, and is healthy even to keep your morale up. You've gotta be realistic about food. You can't expect to change your life and NEVER eat the foods you like. Just be smart about it, and make sure the rest of your calorie allowance permits it.

EXERCISE

Duh!! I ran the Mud Factor 5K; I ran, climbed, crawled and jumped the whole course and it was great fun!!

Thanks for reading all! I hope you like the recipes you've been seeing popping up on the B3 Project! If there is anything you'd like to see me try, that you've been wanting to but don't have the time time make, hit me up with a comment and send me a link or recipe!