Time to take off my Sandals and put on my Kilt Del Mar Mud Run 2012

Earlier in the week I gained a free entry to the Del Mar Mud Run. Last year  I ran and won the R.O.C (Ridiculous Obstacle Course) race at the same place and had a great time. The only problem was that Del Mar is 2 hours away and I was already running in the Manhattan Beach Homtown fair 10k at 7:30a.m. that morning?
Lucky for me the final race of the day was at 1 P.M.

So as soon as my sister finished the 10k we walked up to my moms house about 1.5 miles away  got cleaned up? (kind of silly to clean up before a mud run) and were on the road about 20 minutes later.

The race had said something about a free beer? So I was really stoked to have my sister come along  as a designated driver :)
(Not that she isn't good company otherwise)

Time to take off my Sandals and put on my Kilt

Not all Mud runs are barefoot  friendly I took a chance at the R.O.C. race going barefoot and it couldn't have worked out better.   It always amazes me at events like this less than of 1% choose to Set Their Piggies Free? I guess my idea of a barefoot friendly probably greatly differs from the general public.

To my surprise when I got there I saw  a lot of people walking around barefoot cringing as they stepped on even the smallest of pebbles.

They didn't run barefoot did they?

Ah Ha!
THe dirty shoe donation pile was a huge success.

I had a few minutes to kill before the race so I went over to the rope swing hoping to see a few face plants into the mud.  Then to my surprise a pretty cute girl swinging across barefoot (Awesome). Out of the the 200 or so people I saw go by she was the only one without shoes.

Time to get on with my own race.

We lined up in the gates for the 1 P.M.Start

 They only let 75 of us take off every 5 mins. If I wanted to win It was paramount to start in the front group so that I wouldn't get stuck behind slower runners who had started before me.

Before the race started I ran into a familiar face.  I ran against the Dude next me last year in a 5k. On that occasion I was running in third place right behind him and another dude when we went the wrong way.  Before It was too late I stopped and turned back while he kept going. I was able to recover and still finish 3rd that day but he had to drop out. The guy is good runner and I was stoked to get to race against him again.

Quickly him and I jumped out in front.  Running barefoot I didn't feel like I was going that fast but that was because it felt easy, when I looked at my watch I was running a Sub 5 min mile.  (Later when I would got to look at my watch all I would see is mud.)

After 500 yards it was just him and I but he had 75 foot lead.

When  we got the first mud tunnels I plunged straight in.  I was there to win and it was good thing my ears were covered by a bandanna Because there's a lot of room in between them for mud to hide.

The pit consisted of about 8 inches of mud with 1ft or murky water above it.  Instead of crawling through it I let my body float above the mud only using my arms to propel me forward by scooping my hands into the sand.  This required almost no effort  and I pretty much caught up to the dude in front .

By the time we got out of the second mud pit the other guy seemed winded.  I had the lead and there was no way I was gonna give up without a fight.

 

 Less than 5 minutes in the race I started catch stragglers who had started at least 30 mins before me in the 12 p.m. group. but lucky for me they were staggered far enough apart not to really get in my way.

I really had to be careful not to make a wrong turn I was going at a fast pace with nobody to follow and there were multiple spots left open for maintenance vehicles where you could accidently skip large chunks of the course of the course.

It was hot afternoon but combo of not wearing much clothes and jumping in mud every couple of minutes kept me refreshed.  As the mud run progressed I felt stronger.  It was the total opposite of the 10k I raced in earlier that morning.  I wanted the win but more importantly I was having fun.  I looked forward to each new challenge that presented itself and when I new the finish line was coming soon I was disappointed,  because I wanted more.

Only one last obstacle remained, the rope swing.  By now the course was crowded with runners from earlier heats and I was really hoping I would'nt hit a back up.

I got lucky sprinted in front of a group of lollygaggers grabbed the rope in stride  and hoped I didn't fall.
(It felt graceful at the time but I guess pictures don't lie.)

Photo finish. well not really
The next dude to cross the line came a few minutes later but there was still a chance that someone who started later might beat me I guess I'll have to wait and see.

Time to get cleaned Up 

Kind of fun especially because there were few cute  girls in white shirt's next to me :)

They had an even fancier group shower with soap but the line was about 4 times longer that what you see in this pic. Plus I think the dude on top may be  peeing on them?

It's crazy to me how different the experience at mud run is between those who are going for a fast time and were there for good time.   So here's a couple of random videos to show you what the course looked like

So what now the race is over time for my free beer.
YIPPEE!

Wait a second that's not a beer

 Check out my new shirt courtesy of the Stone Brewing Company

Buy Here
Although I did drink the fizzy yellow beer.

 Not this dude again?
Pic taken at the R.O.C. Race

Where did I finished in the official results?

Yep that looks about right.

(Awfully nice of them to make it easy for me to find my name) Probably no one in the world cares but me  but I checked all the times for the day and I had the third fastest ? (Doh) Upon further research I was beat by 2 people in the 11 a.m. group 1st by a gut with no race stats who ran a 20:47 and then followed by 47 year old lady who's 5k P.R. was 20:08 and she ran a 20:53  (this doesn't add up).  If I am wrong I'm seriously impressed

My time:

21:29

I presume they didn't run the took an accidental short cut.  (But I guess others could presume the same thing about me).

I think directors should invite all the winners back next year to run for free and let us run head to head.

You here that Vavi?

:)

Better yet It would be ton of fun to run all 6 races in row and try and win them all?

If only I had 50 million Dollars to pay for it?

A crowd assembled to watch me receive my award and I didn't even have my speech prepared yet?
I actually thought I might get to go on stage.

The party boy music stopped and they announced me as the winner

Nobody cared :(
5 seconds later the party boy music started up again but I did get to claim a pretty cool first place bottle opener

Time to put that award to good use!

The Del Mar Mud run is a real fun race staffed by the super nice folks at Vavi Sports.  It is full of beautiful women and dudes in garters?  I had a great time and hope to back next year.

My only gripe is
Miller 64??? 
I don't think that qualify's as beer?
You guys can do better than that
:)

Aftermath.

Back to a life of crime

C.R.I.M.E

Compression , Rest, Ice, Massage, Elevate

My body Felt great during the race and I went running both the day after and the day after that.  However I then started to suffer severe pain in left Knee. For the next week it felt like it got worse every day.and I was forced to withdraw from the 100 Mile Endurance Challenge held tomorrow 10/19/12.   I decided to test my knee yesterday with a short 8 mile run and was pleasantly surprised that nothing felt torn or broken although it did feel very fatigued.

As much as I would love to run tomorrow I realize it is not in bodies best interest if I want my healing to progress.  As of now I don't feel like there is any need for surgery (I was really scared that there might be) and I want to keep it that way.