5k greenville | The Opinionated Woman's Musings

I have discovered a new passion: 5K races

I have decided that I like running 5K races because they allow me to exercise with a purpose. My efforts each race are directly correlated to that amount of training and exercise I did in preparation for the race. If I schedule a race every couple of months, I cannot stop training since that would negatively impact my race time.

As you can tell from reading this blog, I also like to have fun. I do not mind doing a 5K, but if there is a theme, I definitely want to sign up.

That is why I signed up for the GoGlow 5K in Greenville, SC. It was hosted by Half Moon Outfitters and the track was at Conestee park (on Mauldin Road).
My friend and I got there 6:45 because in the email instructions, it said to get there early to make sure we get a good parking space. We could have arrived at 7:55 and still got a good parking spot. They overstated that.

Registration was a breeze. No waiting at all. When we got our shirts, we changed into them since they glowed in the dark. Then we went to the paint station and finger-painted neon paint on our face, arms and legs. In the email, they said there would be a painting station. The way they said it, made it seem like it was going to be larger than it was. There was one table with 4 or 5 bottles of different colors of paint and some paper towel.

More than one person said, “Where is the painting station?” I responded, “It’s here. I thought it would be bigger too.”

The race was supposed to start at 8:00, but it was not dark enough so they delayed it until close to 9:00pm.

And we were off! The email said to have a flashlight or headlamp because the trail would be really dark. They did not overstate that. In any event, they might have understated it. They should have put that in big, bold letters. I thought “How dark could it be?” but brought my flashlight anyway. It was SUPER PITCH BLACK dark. Seriously dark and the little glow sticks did not help light the path. And since we were running through the forest, there were tree roots, mud puddles, and other sorts of nature things that would have annoyed me if I stepped in it. As it was, even with the flashlight, I almost tripped twice on tree roots. Some young girls that were ahead of us warned us about the puddles. I was wearing new running shoes and would have been quite put out if I had got them dirty in the mud! I forgot my bug spray, but thankfully, there were none biting that night.

We finished in 59 minutes and 30 seconds. Not my best time, but considering it was pitch black dark in a forest trail with roots and steep inclines, I think we did pretty well.

Overall, I had fun. I would do it again. The race event coordinators did a good job of keeping things organized. However, I would have liked more direction on the trail. There were times when we were not sure which way to go

This was the dirtiest I have ever been in my entire life. How did this happen?

It all started with a conversation between me and my friend:

My friend: You know what would be really cool? This Mud run 5k. It is 3.5 miles with obstacles through the mud.

Me: Ummm sounds dirty.

My friend: Check out their website. It looks like a lot of fun.

Me: Yea. I am not making any promises.

A little history about me: Even though I married Mr Outdoors, I am not an outdoorsy chick. Under normal circumstances, I do not like to get dirty or sticky. I am a germaphobe. Antibacterial gel is my best friend. I do not like to wet unless I am swimming or in the shower. And in stereotypical black girl fashion, I worried about my hair. Laugh at that if you will, but I do not want it looking jacked up.

***checked out the website***

Me: It does look like fun. I am concerned about how dirty we would get.

My friend: Dirty? That is what soap and water are for!

Me: I just don’t want mud to get in my mouth.

My friend: (laughter)

***about a week later***

Me: You know what? I’m going to do it.

My friend: Awesome!!! We need a 4th person for our team.

My hubby: How come you get to have all the fun playing in the mud?

Me: You’ll do it with us?

Hubby: Yea. Why not?

My friend: Yay!

***two months of cardio. I am too busy working on my abs to worry about my upper body strength. This mentality was my downfall as I would find out later.***

Day of mud run.

I am wearing sports shirt and tennis skirt (my usual active wear)
Remove all jewelry. Check
Shoes duck taped to feet. Check.
Put on gloves. Check
Get team number 796 put on arms and legs with Sharpie marker.
I am ready. Let’s do this!

One and a half hours and 35 obstacles later, it was over. Crawling on knees through mud, sliding down mud hills, walking through mud pits waist deep, climbing over rope walls, and scaling 6 and 8 feet walls were some of the many obstacles. Thankfully, I did not get any mud in my mouth. Yay! But it was in every other crick and crevice. In my hair, behind my ears, between my toes, my belly button, and underneath my fingernails.

Overall, it was a memorable experience. It was a lot of FUN but I was so sore. Muscles I did not know I had were sore. The whole event made me realize two things (1) mud is slippery but gritty and (2) I have NO upper body strength. I thought I was strong but when it came time to lift myself up over obstacles with my arms, I was weak as a baby.

Thank goodness Hubby was there to help us, especially getting over all those 6 and 8-foot walls. He is a real team player that knows how to help get a job done. He definitely gets the MVP for our team.

My friend said, “Let’s do this again next year!” As you can probably guess, an adrenaline rush is a powerful thing.

Fortunately for me, my body’s muscle groups were screaming louder than any hormone could in an attempt to cloud my judgment, so I replied that I was not ready to commit to that…yet.

Would I do it again? Maybe. Getting dirty did not bother me as much as I thought it would have. I could have done without so many obstacles. And I know that I need to strengthen my arms. I am going to suggest to Hubby that he builds us a chin up bar. So if I am prepared physically, I could do it again.

If you are looking for challenge, I encourage you to try a mud run or similar event in your area. It is an unforgettable experience. And getting dirty was not too bad either.