Meet Carie
The jack-of-all-trades, Carie has a background that includes a long list of activities. She prefers to try new things to get her heart racing. You might find her on the golf course, volleyball court, bike path, kayaking or in a zumba class. She’ll train for the Dirty Girl WI event in her hometown Madison gym.
WI Race Wrap-Up
One word: AWESOME. The WI Dirty Girl Mud Run was a FABULOUS experience! I can not stress enough how much fun this event is and how every women should do it! The day started with a little rain, but that didn’t damper anyone’s spirits and the mud run was made all the better because of the extra MUD!!
Wave 7 came up quick. And, with this wave, also came the sunshine. 
My team, the “PriMUDonnas”, started off with a bang (and lots of laughing), running the trails, climbing hay bales, through tires, uphill, downhill through tubes, under nets, over walls and most fun of all…through the mud! We didn’t know what was around each corner, but as soon as we saw the next obstacle, I’m pretty sure we ran a little faster to get there.
My preparation for the Dirty Girl Mud Run came down to mostly running and some upper body strength training (in addition to the usual stuff like biking, canoeing, golf and some kick boxing classes) 3 to 4 times each week for about 3 months. I think the well-rounded approach I took to the event was a good one. And, I’d recommend it for any other dirty girls out there looking for some advice.
Don’t forget this event is strictly meant for us ladies to have fun while getting some great exercise and spending quality time with our girls. The day couldn’t have been better and I’ll certainly be back to do it again and again. Bring on Dirty Girl 2012! Hope to see you all there with me.
August 29th, 2011
What did you say?
I’d like to thank everyone for sticking with me through my pity party in my last post. There’s no doubt that I’m getting nervous about having to run 3.2 miles in a little over three months (OHMYGOSH!). I’d also like to thank one of my friends (we’ll call her Miss B) for helping me get back on track and be accountable for my actions (or lack thereof). I get a daily email or text from Miss B that simply asks “What did you do to move today?” While my first responses were “Ugh. I worked late.” or “I need to catch up on sleep so I didn’t go for a run this morning”, they’ve changed a bit. I even proactively texted Miss B last Saturday to let her know that “I went to the gym this morning”. Ha. Take that!
I took a quick trip back home to visit my family and see my mom for Mother’s Day. I woke up on Sunday and didn’t have enough time to get into town and hit the gym before church, so I laced up and went running out in the boonies. Lessons learned: There are a lot of hills on the road I grew up on that I never noticed while driving my car! And, holy cow, “run from this mailbox to the next without stopping” isn’t that easy when you stop and think about how far apart mailboxes are in the middle of nowhere!
When I got back from my run (well, it was a run/walk) my grandpa was working outside on the landscaping. Here’s the conversation that followed:
“Where were you?”
“I went for a run. I signed up for a 5k and I need to run 3.2 miles in August.”
“YOU did?” (My grandpa has always wanted me to be healthier… I’m trying, Bompa. I’m trying.)
“Yep. I hate running.”
“Well where’d you go?”
“To the intersection and back. 1.6 miles.”
“Did you run the whole thing?”
“No. I hate running.”
I went inside to grab a glass of water. A few minutes later, Grandpa came in the house.
“Let me know the next time you go. I’ll go with you.”
“Grandpa, you’ll leave me in the dust.”
“I’m serious.”
We both laughed… because he was serious. And I was, too! My grandpa is so healthy. He’s 68 years young and STILL plays in summer softball leagues. This winter he’d run around the inside of the house to get his heartbeat up. (He’s crazy.) Wait. He’s not crazy. He’s healthy! If I want to get around like him when I’m older, I need to run without stopping between each mailbox on my road. I need to move every day. Thank you, grandpa, for being my inspiration.
Who’s your inspiration? Who keeps you moving? Is it a friend, is it fear… is it my grandpa? I don’t care how old you are. I don’t care how many years it has been since you ran. I don’t care if you’re like me and used to come up with every excuse in the book NOT to run the mile in gym class when you were younger. Each and every one of us can get dirty!
May 12th, 2011
