Friday, May 7, 2010

Runner's Remorse


I seem to have, in a momentary but deep lapse of judgement, agreed to run the Muddy Buddy race with my husband. Some people know Muddy Buddies as a delicious concoction of chex cereal coated in chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar (also known as "puppy chow"). If you are one such person, do not be confused...this race, unfortunately, in no way involves tasty treats. What is a Muddy Buddy race, then? Basically, it is a team effort to both challenge yourself physically while simultaneously getting as dirty as humanly possible.


Here's how it works...

As previously mentioned, the race is run by partners. Racing partners start at the same time, one running and one biking. The 6 miles long course is separated into 5 legs by obstacles along the way. The first obstacle is near the one mile mark. Assuming that the biker is traveling faster than the runner, the biker will approach the first obstacles transition area first. The biker will drop the bike and conquer the obstacle and start running to the 2nd transition/obstacle. The runner will then approach the first transition area, conquer the obstacle, find the bike and start riding to the 2nd transition/obstacle area. The team will continue to leap frog throughout the course switching from biking and running along the way. Because the course has five legs. .
There will be five obstacles on each Muddy Buddy course. The obstacles can be challenges such as a cargo net crawl, a wall, monkey bars, or a hay bale obstacle. At the end of the race, teams have to conquer the famous Mud Pit before crossing the finish line together.

If this sounds like great fun to you, Jason may be looking for a new partner soon! I have tried to weasel my way out of this while at the same time trying not to look like a weenie. I've used the, "Maybe you'd like to compete with one of your cyclist friends...that way you'd actually have a chance to win..." method; the "Gosh, I sure hope my knees are up to this," cop-out; and the hugely unsuccessful, "What, the Muddy Buddy? I don't remember you asking me about that..." out-right lie. So far, he's not biting. Looks like I'm in, like it or not. Okay, knees, the rest of us is up for the challenge...don't fail me now!