I ran the Philly Down and Dirty Mud Series 10K this morning. Only my 2nd 10K ever and very different from the last (which was relatively flat and sans mud pit). Besides knowing it would involve 6.2 miles of terrain and various "Army-style" obstacles, I wasn't sure what to expect. In particular, I wasn't sure how my body would take it.Amazingly, I didn't overanalyze (shocking, I know). I didn't even really look over the course map beforehand. I simply told myself I would get up early on this lovely sunny Sunday, carpool to Fairmount park with some running friends, and slosh through whatever obstacles were thrown at me. Oh yeah, and have fun.
The course was pretty great and the weather was hot (about 85 and sunny) but much of the race was through shady back trails of Fairmount Park so the heat wasn't too problematic. The runners were relatively spread out based on a wave start and even the small lines at each obstacle weren't bad, in fact, when they occurred after long winding hills through the woods, they were quite welcomed. Overall, a very cool race I would definitely do again. The way I see it, anytime I scale walls, climb over huge barriers, army-crawl under cargo nets, scale seemingly endless hills, and slosh through a river and a final enormous pit of mud before 10am, it is a pretty accomplished day.
Take-home messages?:
1) Running is awesome. And almost any running race and its associated hurdles can provide a metaphor for life goals and inevitable twists, turns, and obstacles.
2) Philly has pretty awesome trail running if you know where to go (and less than a few miles from my apartment!).
3) Sometimes, and perhaps all times, its better to just relax and enjoy the ride.
Oh yeah, and 4) Mud is almost impossible to fully remove from shoes.
