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.
Mind Games
Isn’t it funny how your mind plays little tricks on you? Not like funny, haha, more like funny weird. There are days when I feel like I can do anything…run for miles, climb a wall, paddle for hours, give an awesome presentation in front of 20 people. And then there are those days when those things (and everything else) seem pretty impossible. So it comes down to mind over matter. And, if you’re like me, this is something you deal with fairly often. The good news is that most of the time, I overcome the doubt and just go for it. Luckily, that’s seemed to work out pretty well for me in life.
So if you’re unsure about attempting the Dirty Girl Mud Run, let me tell you this secret…you can do it. Yep. Simple, I know. The fact that you’re even visiting this website, reading this blog or even thinking about the event means you have it in you to do this. At this point, there is no “level of fitness” you need to be at in order to sign up. If I had to sum up my advice for preparing it would be based on endurance and attitude.
When it comes to endurance. You can start out slow with a level you’re comfortable with. But, you need to keep pushing yourself too. Jump on the treadmill, run for as long as feels right, walk for awhile, run some more, alter the incline, alter your speed, etc. Before you know it, three miles will feel pretty doable. Try some strength training too. Weights aren’t anything to be afraid of. In fact, women can benefit greatly from them. Ask someone to help you figure out a plan that works for you or attend a strength training class where you can learn some good technique and exercises you can eventually do on your own.
Attitude is a whole other ballgame. And, it’s equally (if not more) important. Sometimes keeping your mind moving forward is harder than the physical part (it’s that whole mind game thing I mentioned earlier). Just know that every race has its ups and downs, but you have to be okay with that. And, there’s no doubt that you and your mind will be on a nice high when you cross the finish line and head to the party tent for some celebration.
February 24th, 2011
