More Mud Crusade....

So the photos are in and the memories are flooding back again...what a fantastic experience...:)

The Amazing Mud Crusade!

Today we had the most amazing time at Mud Crusade! It was my first proper mud run and I was a bit nervous to be honest. Mud Crusade is a 5K with 18 'challenging' obstacles - I didn't look too closely at the website (http://www.mudcrusade.com/) because I knew that if there was any mention of walls or monkey bars I may rethink the whole thing;). I figured it was better just to show and figure it out as I went. Mike, Luciana and I registered as Team Daaaaamn! and got up at 5:30am to make the drive to Pasco County...Daaaaamn!

We arrived and took millions of pictures before we got too dirty :)

So I need to be ready to toss this whole outfit? Even the shoes? It can't be that muddy - right?

"We need a tough pose - look Lu - we can do this one:)"

There you go...

Mike: "Is this what you do before races - just take photos? Don't you stretch?"

The course looked intimidating and the participants looked fearless. Like this wasn't their first rodeo...

Mike was really excited...it's a boy thing...

And then the madness began. The obstacles were challenging! I tried every one of them and only fell into the water a couple of times. I made it over all of the walls and even managed the cargo net! We were literally up to our necks in mud several times and I had sand in my ears, my mouth and up my nose. I went down the slide sideways and have more bruises than I care to imagine. We stayed together and worked as a team and other team members helped us...and we helped other teams. It was amazing. I totally got the whole mud racing thing and my heart skipped a beat when the sky turned black and torrential rain started to pour down just as we came into the home stretch. It was an indescribable rush.

The results aren't in and the race photos aren't published yet but for now I think our 'after' shots say it all :)

Update: found this headcam of the whole thing online today...can't believe we actually did this!!

Corporate 5K

The Corporate 5K in Orlando encourages coworkers to run together to build camaraderie and to benefit the the Track Shack Foundation, a non-profit that promotes health and fitness by funding youth athletics and sports programs through grants. Participants from more than 700 companies, non-profit organizations, churches and schools took part in the run to celebrate workplace health and fitness. There were more than 14,000 runners that participated this year around Lake Eola for what's billed as "Central Florida's largest office party!"

Lake Eola is really pretty...

Luciana and I ran with my colleagues at my new office. I was so proud to be in the RunDisney enclosure! We were right at the finish line - and it was the biggest - and the coolest:)

It was a great run - hot, but fun. Is wasn't chip-timed but according to my trusty Garmin, my time was right around 31 minutes which I was really pleased with!

Jelly Bean Virtual 10K

Luciana and I were particularly proud that we managed to pull out a 10K on a Monday night after a long day at work at 9pm for the annual Jelly Bean Virtual 10K! I really wasn't feeling it but together, we made it happen!

Now the tough part - to stay "10K-ready" through summer in Florida...:)