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I haven’t been very good at updating lately. Sorry, readers! I realized that I hadn’t even updated about Run For Your Lives, the run I was training for last year!
On December 1st, my boyfriend and I participated in Run For Your Lives in Austin, Texas. I was super excited for this and was able to run a 5K fairly easily by the time we went, so I thought I would do well.
After taking forever to find a parking spot and almost missing our wave because of the long lines (make sure to leave super early!), we lined up at the starting line just in time to depart with the wave we were supposed to be in. It was an easy run for a little while…up until we got to a zombie-ridden area.
Although I was able to run a decent 5K, I wasn’t as prepared for the sprinting! I always hated sprinting, and didn’t prepare for this aspect! Needless to say, after just the first mile, I was pretty tired from sprinting through the zombie areas attempting to keep all my flags.
Sadly, I died not even halfway through the course 🙁 But still had loads of fun!
David still had his flags for quite a while, so I attempted to be a human shield for him through the zombie areas to save him, but he’s a much faster runner than I and I couldn’t keep up with him. He finally lost his last flag about 3/4 of the way through.
A group of friends were running our wave as well, and after the last member of our group finally lost his last flag we ran the rest of the race attempting to be shields for other runners, which was actually a lot of fun!
The obstacles were great, and we got plenty muddy. I was fortunate enough not to get shocked, but I can’t say the same for David.
I woke up the next morning feeling like I had been hit by a truck.
A tip if you are training for this course and would like to end as a survivor: incorporate a little more than just steady running into your training. I was able to run a little over a 5K at a slow pace, and thought that would be enough. I was not prepared for the sprinting and the obstacles. I think I might have been better at avoiding getting my flags stolen from the zombies if I wasn’t too tired to sprint faster. If I do this run again, I would incorporate more sprints into my workout. Also, strength! I didn’t think I’d need much strength to get through the obstacles, but I think that if I had spent a little more time trying to build up my strength then I wouldn’t have felt like I had been hit by a semi quite as much. You don’t think about what your muscles are going through when you’re running through the mud or pulling yourself over the wooden wall. My muscles were pretty sore for a couple days after.
All in all, this mud-run was a lot of fun and I would definitely do it again!
