Muddy Buddy 2011

Yesterday I ran/biked/accomplished the Muddy Buddy 10k in Richmond! It was really awesome, as it was the two previous years I took part in it with the very awesome Brian Campos. This year the weather was the best of my three years-- cool and clear. It was a bit chilly when we arrived at Pocahontas State Park at 6:15 in the morning, but perfect weather for such athleticism (or attempts thereof).

For those who don't know about this race, one person runs while their partner bikes. There are four transition stations where the biker drops the bike and the runner picks it up and does some obstacle. At the end the partners meet and crawl through a giant mud pit before crossing the finish line. The race happens in several US cities; the one in Richmond is actually half a mile longer than a 10k, but who's counting? I ran first, so I ran three legs (slowly) and biked two.

I was enjoying the sunshine and got into a good groove. I ran, I climbed over a short rock wall, I biked, I crawled through a foggy maze, I ran, and then I started to climb over this inflatable moon bounce-esque obstacle thingy. As I pulled myself up over the first of three inflated walls on this thing, some big guy climbed up next to me and then swung his legs up, swiftly kicking me upside the skull. After hitting the ground and then walking in circles for a few minutes seeing stars, I found our bike and rode quickly through the fourth leg, managing not to fall off the bike or throw up. Man, did my head hurt.

The fourth obstacle was another inflatable thing, a giant wall with a cargo net to climb and a slide. One was set up for the runners, one for the bikers. The one for the runners had popped so the line for the bikers got really long and we were given permission to bypass it. I caught my breath for a minute and then carried on to the fifth leg, running down a hill to the stream crossing.



It wasn't too deep, and wasn't as cold as I expected. Quite refreshing. From there, the end of the race is straight uphill and then around a long curve. I admittedly walked up the hill, but I ran the curve to meet up with Brian, climb one last wall and crawl through the mud pit.





It felt awesome to finish! What a great race.

A little while later was the Mini Muddy Buddy, a chance for kids to do a small obstacle course and then run through the mud. I accompanied Brian's four year old daughter while he attempted to keep up with his seven year old son.



Sure, she didn't really get down IN the mud, but this is a huge improvement over last year when she ran away from anyone with mud on them, crying, "Soap? Soap?" It was so much fun.

The rest of the day was spent showering and relaxing. I eventually met up with friends in Richmond at Capitol Alehouse for dinner before heading back to Northern Virginia to sleep like a champion. Today I drove back to Fredericksburg to visit with my dear undergrad advisor. The only other thing I really did was become familiar with a lot of small muscles that I didn't really know existed, but are sure reminding me of it today. Overall, I feel pretty good though. Another awesome Muddy Buddy, another awesome adventure!

You know how I roll...

...on four wheels, for many, many miles.

I did another one of those quick trips to Virginia. Actually, like I wrote last time, I did two. The first was for the Muddy Buddy 10K in Richmond the first weekend of this month. That was a really good time! I joined forces with a good friend and last year's partner, Brian, who thankfully is not super competitive, thus allowing my slow self to have a good time and not worry too much. It was excellent catching up with him and his family, but I did a lot of driving that weekend, since I was in the midst of finals. I ended up staying with my older brother and his wife outside of Philly for the two nights following the race in hopes that the few hours less driving I was doing would be put to good use on my final paper. Regardless of how said final paper turned out, it was nice to hang out with them for a few days before heading back to Rutgers to administer final exams to my students.

If the circle I drove it that weekend wasn't large enough, how about this past weekend? This is my new personal record for solo distance driving in a day, due to my poor planning. The former record was my trip to Northern Virginia and back in a night; this time I went to Richmond, then further north in New Jersey than I started, then back to Toms River over the course of the weekend-- just over 800 miles total, but just over 550 of them were between Friday morning and the wee hours of Saturday. I had a choir concert, a retreat at camp, and these two friends coming into Richmond from Mali and Montana all in the same 72 hour period. It had to be done.

After choir rehearsal on Thursday night (which ended about 9.45), I drove to my friend Amanda's place in northern Maryland and spent the night, to knock a couple of hours off the Friday travels. Thank goodness for her! On Friday morning, I drove to Richmond to meet up with Jeremy and Brendan, who I haven't seen since November 2008.

Jeremy, myself, Brendan

Our friend Taylor was also in town for the occasion, as well as Brendan's girlfriend Paige. The five of us went out for lunch and wandered around the city of Richmond for several hours while other people were at work. There was the Virginia Art Museum, frisbee in the park, and finally people got off work and congregated at our friend Justin's apartment in The Fan. A few other people I knew in college were there, so it was a lot of fun to see people, but especially the two who moved so far away.

About 11PM, I headed out, destined for camp. My dear friend Cheryl was leading the Jr. High retreat this weekend, and I really needed to be there for it. I arrived at about 5.30AM and crashed on the couch in my soon to be home for the summer before going to breakfast at 8 and helping work the retreat for the rest of the day. (I napped at every opportunity, but definitely slept like a champion the following night!) The retreat went really well. Cheryl is amazing, the weather was beautiful, and it was really nice to see everyone at Johnsonburg.

I drove home late Sunday morning for my choir concert in the afternoon, which went well. We sang Faure's Requiem among other awesome pieces. I'm glad I could be part of all of these things, though I definitely felt it the next day and will not be attempting any other completely insane trips like this any time soon. When I got home, my dad was singing that Johnny Cash song "I've Been Everywhere" to me. He said we need to rewrite the words for me. He may have a point.

Now, did you catch the part where I said soon to be home for the summer? It's true. I'm about to start packing, and will leave for camp in the morning. After a lot of thinking, I decided to work in the kitchen there this summer while finishing my Master's thesis. I'll be living in a little cabin called Lakeside... obviously by the lake... with my good friend Lauren and a pair of crazy cats. I am sure this will result in a lot of adventures, and think this blog may transition into just a general life adventures blog, not exclusive to travelling hundreds of miles in order to make an entry. This is in part because I'll be staying still for a while (which I guess is relative in the grand scheme of things when it comes to me-- I'm going to Worton, Maryland on a mission trip at the end of June with my home church's Jr. High youth group). At the end of a not-really-that-long-while, I'll actually be heading to Malawi (sort of southeast-central Africa) to do a bit of mission work for a few weeks. This will be at the end of August. I'm pretty excited, and have already had all of my shots. My life is getting to be one big adventure these days! Stay tuned, won't you?