I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Mudderella. I received complimentary admission to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation. #Mudderella2015
Ladies, you are stronger than you think.
As women, we tend to underestimate ourselves. We focus on the things we can’t do or the things that we are instead of what we are. We get dragged down by the voices telling us that we are too out of shape, too fat, too young, or even too old.
I know that I have felt like this many times in my life. I have been afraid to even try for fear of failure. For fear of not being good enough.
When I signed up to do Mudderella, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew it was going to be hard. It is a five to seven mile course, after all. The last time I had run a 5K was before my sons were born. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to finish the course. Mudderella is a little bit different though. Mudderella is a full-day athletic event series for women by women that encourages being strong, having fun and raising domestic violence awareness.
I would be doing Mudderella with a team so I knew that I would have other women to encourage me. I just didn’t want to be the weak link. Thankfully, Mudderella is a noncompetitive mud run which focuses on empowerment and strength instead of times and place finishes.
The day before the event, I was really nervous. However, once we arrived at Coopers Lake (outside of Pittsburgh) it was an atmosphere that was different than any other event I had participated in. There was music, women putting temporary tattoos on their arms and cheeks, and even teams wearing capes and tutus. Just being in that atmosphere made you feel empowered.
Since it is an untimed event, waves of participants started on the course throughout the morning. My team had a later start time, so we were able to see other teams crossing the finish line and see just how muddy they had gotten!
Once we were on the course, our focus became on having fun, getting mudding, and proving to ourselves that we could complete the event. The Mudderella Pittsburgh even was 5 miles with 14 obstacles such as crawling under nets, walking across a balance beam, wading through water, swinging across tires, and climbing walls. Probably the craziest obstacle was a series of mud pits we had to navigate through (hint: crawl across the surface and don’t stand up!). Trust me, if you aren’t too muddy before that obstacle, you will be scraping mud off of yourself afterwards.
The last obstacle of the course is a huge waterslide into a giant pool of muddy water. By the time you get to the end, your muscles will be tired and burning; you will be wet and muddy; and hopefully you will have left everything out on the course. However, the feeling you’ll have when you hit the water after that slide is like none other. You will leave feeling so much stronger than you were the day before.
And you are.
No, I am not the most in shape person. Yes, we did walk large portions of the course. The main thing, however, is that we finished. I owned my own strong.
It felt awesome and I can’t wait to do it again next year.
As a side note, in many locations, at the end of the event you have the option to donate your muddy shoes to be taken, washed, and donated to a local women’s shelter. This year, I decided to save my shoes as a reminder that I am stronger than I think, however, in future years I will be donating my shoes. There are women out there who need them much more than I do!
If you are wanting to take on Mudderella yourself, it is currently being held in 9 United States and 2 Canadian cities. There is only one US date left this year, which is October, 3, which is the New England event in Thompson, CT. If you plan to participate in this event, you can take 20% off of the registration price of any 2015 US location by using the code MUDDBLOGGER20. However, check out the Mudderella website to stay updated on future events as well as training programs, gear, and more!
