So, on the 17th of August, I’ll be running, crawling, climbing (and crying) through heaps of mud. Now, why on earth would I do that? I’m going up against hundreds of people through 7k of obstacles and dirt just for the experience really. Whilst it’s all a bit of fun, I can’t just slack on training – read on to find out about how I’ve been training and the challenges I’ve faced in preparation for Mudnificent 7 (2019)!
Go commando or with the flow?
The most obvious way was by running long distances. I stuck to my regular 5K and 10K runs to keep my fitness up and because in all honesty I don’t know how to approach the 7K. I mean, with 5Ks, I know to go easy in the first half and build up towards the end from there. In a 10K, my strategy is to just bob along to music and have a bit of fun. But am I going commando for the 7K or going with the flow?
Upper body strength
Another thing I’ve been working on is my upper body strength. I can do a lot with my legs, but ask me to do the monkey bars at a park and you’ll be embarrassed for me. I haven’t joined a gym (as a student, my budget is tight) I just do weights at home and exercises at home that don’t require weights. It’s definitely improved my overall upper body strength – whilst I haven’t quite yet mastered the monkey bars, I can do push ups in sets of 30. For me (who couldn’t even do the beginner push-ups before), I’m quite proud of myself.
Need for speed!
Speed is something I’m trying to hammer down on. It sounds a bit silly, but I don’t have an elaborate strategy for that: I simply set off for work a little bit later so that I end up having to run for a few minutes and keep track of the speed. Over the past 6 weeks, I’ve been gradually setting off later and later, but I’m able to get there on time because I’m able to maintain a fast pace for a longer period of time.
…and a need to listen…
There’s also the downtime treatment which we all want to neglect. It was important to me that I didn’t throw away my summer training just because I didn’t want to take a day off. I’ve been relocated for work and I’d say it was just as productive for me to have a day to explore the city as it was for me to run 10K. Listening to my body was definitely a lesson I struggled to learn. But balancing a 9-5 job with training has forced me to take it seriously.
