Playing in the Mud good for you!
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I sighed loudly. Again. My sister is who I was thinking about. Of course, I was just as frustrated with myself because I let her talk me into this! The only 5k either of us had ever done was shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of women and children at the breast cancer walk.
Today I was joining my sister and some of her work friends on a team at The Dirty Dash. Seriously. I tried to tell her one of us was gonna break a hip or a wrist and be crippled for life. She just gave me the “boy are you getting old” look. The team had chosen the name “Mud Mongrels” and we were all going to wear the same t-shirts. We would have fun, right? I kept trying to talk myself into the fun part.
I had done the research. The Dirty Dash is a 5k mud run obstacle course complete with mud pits, two story rope nets to climb over, giant slip and slides, and who knew what else. I had made up my mind to do it for my sister. Okay, I had resigned myself to the fact that my sister would never let me forget it if I didn’t go. The day before the race I told her not to worry about me. If I didn’t think I could do the obstacle, I would walk around it and wait for them on the other side. I know. Talk about a downer.
Race day and I was trying to embrace the fun of it. The coworker in charge of the t-shirts showed up with the shirts. Something had been lost in the translation between her and my sister. Our shirts proudly declared us the Mud Mongers. You just have to laugh sometimes, right?
We waited in a mass of humanity for the time we were assigned to start. Here we go! People running or walking everywhere. People were wearing the craziest outfits I had ever seen. Most were trying to get as muddy as possible as fast as possible. Then hearing our names called as a friend and her family ran by. Suddenly I was laughing and forgetting to be scared. So far so good. “I think it’s going to be alright” went through my head.
Finally we get to the beast I feared most. The two story rope nets. Never a fan of heights, I had been making myself sick thinking about being stuck on top of this thing. I still don’t know what happened to me at that moment. But confronted with my fear, I took off my pink ball cap, turned it around backward, put it back on my head, and ran toward the dumb thing yelling “let’s do this”. My sis looked at me and just started laughing. “You go girl”!
Teamwork got us up and over. We took turns pushing and pulling and standing on shoulders. Strangers offered a hand. It was nothing short of fabulous! I felt such a huge sense of accomplishment, as if I could do anything after that. Laughing, we helped each other through the last mud pit and across the finish line. We didn’t set any records. We didn’t break any bones either. We finished the race as muddy as everyone else and had just about as much fun as little kids playing in the mud. Muddy and tired, we met up with friends and tailgated in the parking lot, toasting with champagne.
That day I learned about myself and about teamwork and about being in the moment and forgetting about being afraid. It might sound funny but I believe that day changed everything about me. It’s hard to explain. I went from feeling on the verge of “old” to feeling young and strong and ready for the next race. This is the day that I took back my spirit and my power. Yes, we did The Dirty Dash one more time and even though we knew what to expect, it was still a blast. Hooray for acting like a kid, playing in the mud, and laughing like crazy. These are the moments that keep us young. I hope you have a similar triumph to remember and to share. Or if you are in the place of “I can’t do this” or “it’s too hard” or whatever else your mind says to sabotage you, take a deep breath and turn that hat! Stop listening. You got this. Act like a kid. Play in the mud. Laugh.
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