Women Archives - Words To Run By

Welcome to June! Summer is officially here – school is out, the grill is on and the mud races have begun.

Today marks the kick-off to the 2013 Pretty Muddy Women’s Mud Run Series. The first wave was this morning at 8:00 a.m. at the Skyline Ranch in Dallas, Texas. The course there is amazing per the Pretty Muddy updates…the weather is going to be perfect and Pretty Muddy has partnered with some very exciting organizations-

Pretty Muddy is a 5k adventurous obstacle course mud run for any woman who wants to get outside, spend time with friends and have a lot of fun. (Not to mention, get a ~~little~~ lot muddy). Good luck to everyone running today!

You can keep up with Pretty Muddy and follow race updates throughout the day on Twitter and Facebook.

I’m excited to run the Pretty Muddy race in Columbus on September 14. Registration is now open! You can register here. Join me and several other Central Ohio Bloggers. We are Team Powerful in Pink slated for the 9:00 a.m. wave. You can run or walk, so don’t be shy – I would love to see you there!

What about you? Are you running a Pretty Muddy race? If so, which one? Did you run in Dallas today? Leave me a comment and tell me how pretty awesome it was!

Until the next mile marker,

Time flies ~~when you are having fun.~~ Period. I look back over the past few years so of my life and think about how different things are now than they used to be. I went from being inactive – completely sedentary – to running and training for half and full marathons on a daily basis. I made a major lifestyle change and I stuck with it. I gained back my self-confidence, health and courage, and I was happy to be me was again. I made more friends than I ever had in my adult life and helped others, like my mother, achieve the happiness I had found through accomplishing something that was once thought to be impossible. Early in 2011, life delivered a blow like I had never felt before when my mother passed away unexpectedly. I was (and still am in many ways) devastated. I kept running and surrounded myself with the people who cared. Just when I started to come out of the daze that life left me in only a few short months ago, I was hospitalized for ten days for Pulmonary Embolism that killed a portion of my lung and only by the grace of God not my heart. It was the first and hopefully only time I ever have to hear, “You’re lucky to be alive.” I stopped asking life, “What’s next?” I don’t think I want to know.

I turn thirty next week, and I’m not entirely happy about that. There are so many things I never thought I would say before I was thirty. Things like, “I remember Mom used to…” and “Oh yeah, before I got sick and had to be on oxygen…” and “Hang on, I need to find an elevator because I can’t do stairs yet….” I am only thirty, right?! Good, because life just about has me fooled.

So, the few people that know I am turning thirty keep asking me what I want to do for my birthday. In all honesty, all I really want to do is run a race, but I can’t. Not yet. Which race would I run, you ask? Well, I would run any of them, but I have really wanted to run in an adventure or obstacle or (yes) mud race for quite some time now. In fact, I am pretty excited about the newly launched Pretty Muddy Mud Run – women’s only, obstacle run taking place in Zanesfield, OH on September 29, 2012 at Mad River Mountain. I wish I could be there – it would be the perfect belated Birthday present – if I could run!

And that’s exactly where you come in.

Pretty Muddy has graciously offered to partner with me in offering one of my readers a complimentary entry to the race in Columbus (Zanesfield) and T-Shirt.

Check it out, I love it:

Source

Pretty Muddy is a 5k adventurous obstacle course mud run for any woman who wants to get outside, spend time with friends and have a lot of fun doing it.

Here’s what you get:

5k Course (3.1 miles, run or walk)
Women Only (sorry, guys)
Mud (lots of it!)
Architectural Obstacles (much better than shabby hay bales and shaky plywood)
Pretty Epic Finish Line Party (Entertainment, music, drinks and celebration galore)

The obstacles look completely awesome too:

Okay, even I can do this one –

Doesn’t it look like so much fun? If you don’t agree, you don’t have to do all of the obstacles, or, you can go back through and do them as many times as you want!

I was grateful to have the opportunity to participate in a live Twitter chat last night with Pretty Muddy and FitFluential and let me tell you, this race just sounds like it is going to be a blast. My favorite thing I learned? The Pretty Muddy mud run is designed to be empowering, not overwhelming and you can take as much time as you need. The focus is friendship, fitness and muddy fun for hard-working women! The race was inspired by the thought that moms and wives (and all women) need more balance in their lives.

Who is near Columbus and wants to go?

Here’s How to Enter for a Complimentary Pass and T-Shirt to the Pretty Muddy Women’s Mud Run at Mad River Mountain in Zanesville on September 29, 2012 (Please make sure you can go before you enter!):

Leave me a comment telling me (1) if you have run a mud race before and (2) what you loved (or did not love) about it or tell me why you have (1) not run a mud race before and (2) what’s stopped you. + 2 entries

Leave me a comment telling me why you want to run the Pretty Muddy Mud Run in particular. + 1 entry

That’s it! You have until midnight on Thursday, August 30 to enter (that’s my birthday)! I will randomly choose a winner and announce it on this blog on Friday, August 31. Please be sure to check back to see if you won too.

Don’t want to wait to see if you won?

You can register for the Columbus race using this link. Also, enter the promotional code WordstoRunByDisc to save $10 off the $69.50 entry fee!

Not in Ohio?

2012 Pretty Muddy events are happening in these cities and you can find out more on their website:

Chicago IL Sept 15
Columbus OH Sept 29
Richmond VA Oct 20
Jacksonville FL Nov 3
Tampa FL Nov 10
Miami FL Nov 17

Each city has a designated Pretty Preferred Partner: an organization with local ties that benefits from a portion of proceeds. However, you can opt to designate a portion of YOUR proceeds to the 501(c)3 charity of your choice, benefiting the cause that means the most to you, which I think is a really cool option. We all run for a reason, why not make Pretty Muddy a part of it?

Be sure to get muddy with Pretty Muddy on Facebook and Twitter too if you aren’t already. This is really a fun and empowering community to be a part of.

Good luck, ladies!

Until the next mile marker,