Give Yourself Some Extra Time
Mud Run venues are notoriously crowded; you will likely have to wait a while to park, pick up your race packet and check your gear. Sometimes venues are so ill-equipped to handle the volume of traffic that they receive that people may wait to park for more than an hour. So try to get there two hours early and find ways to get there that don't involve a car. If you have extra time, check out the obstacles you will have to tackle, take a few pictures, and if you're really antsy, you can try to run in an earlier wave.
Warm-Up
You already know that warming up helps you avoid injury, but it also improves your performance. If it's important to you to reach your peak performance, you need to spend at least twelve minutes prior to the race jogging and maybe doing a few short sprints. Before you hit the twelve-minute mark, you will not have maximal blood flow to your muscles and many of the capillaries in your muscles won't have opened yet. Until these things happen, you won't be able to put forth your best performance in the race.
Choose Wisely At The Start
In very big mud races, as many as 1000 people may begin in each wave, and the majority will begin at a pace that they cannot keep for very long. So should you go with the crowd? It depends on whether you are aiming for a competitive time. If so, you pretty much have to sprint with the crowd so that you don't have to wait in line for your turn to do the obstacles.
If completing the course with your fastest time possible is not on your to-do-list for the race, then start towards the back of the starting line and don't try to keep up with the short-lived sprint. If you feel nervous about the course or about the first obstacle, then this game plan is ideal for you because you won't be around the competitive folks when it comes time for you to do the first obstacle. You can feel a little more relaxed knowing that people behind you aren't in a hurry.
Maintain a Positive Mindset
Half of the battle when it comes to many obstacles is the mental blocks that you will encounter. Races don't disclose the specific obstacles on the course, so that you have that "uh oh, I didn't know I was going to have to do that!" feeling when you first spot an obstacle. Our survival instincts kick in and tell us not to get near the fire, get shocked or climb 50 feet up on a tower. All of these intrinsic, natural and healthy fears can trigger that panicked feeling in your gut as you approach an obstacle. But instead of letting yourself wallow in this fear, use the time as you are approaching the obstacle to watch how other people are completing it successfully (or unsuccessfully as the case may be).
Mud Run venues are notoriously crowded; you will likely have to wait a while to park, pick up your race packet and check your gear. Sometimes venues are so ill-equipped to handle the volume of traffic that they receive that people may wait to park for more than an hour. So try to get there two hours early and find ways to get there that don't involve a car. If you have extra time, check out the obstacles you will have to tackle, take a few pictures, and if you're really antsy, you can try to run in an earlier wave.
Warm-Up
You already know that warming up helps you avoid injury, but it also improves your performance. If it's important to you to reach your peak performance, you need to spend at least twelve minutes prior to the race jogging and maybe doing a few short sprints. Before you hit the twelve-minute mark, you will not have maximal blood flow to your muscles and many of the capillaries in your muscles won't have opened yet. Until these things happen, you won't be able to put forth your best performance in the race.
Choose Wisely At The Start
In very big mud races, as many as 1000 people may begin in each wave, and the majority will begin at a pace that they cannot keep for very long. So should you go with the crowd? It depends on whether you are aiming for a competitive time. If so, you pretty much have to sprint with the crowd so that you don't have to wait in line for your turn to do the obstacles.
If completing the course with your fastest time possible is not on your to-do-list for the race, then start towards the back of the starting line and don't try to keep up with the short-lived sprint. If you feel nervous about the course or about the first obstacle, then this game plan is ideal for you because you won't be around the competitive folks when it comes time for you to do the first obstacle. You can feel a little more relaxed knowing that people behind you aren't in a hurry.
Maintain a Positive Mindset
Half of the battle when it comes to many obstacles is the mental blocks that you will encounter. Races don't disclose the specific obstacles on the course, so that you have that "uh oh, I didn't know I was going to have to do that!" feeling when you first spot an obstacle. Our survival instincts kick in and tell us not to get near the fire, get shocked or climb 50 feet up on a tower. All of these intrinsic, natural and healthy fears can trigger that panicked feeling in your gut as you approach an obstacle. But instead of letting yourself wallow in this fear, use the time as you are approaching the obstacle to watch how other people are completing it successfully (or unsuccessfully as the case may be).
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