I might die this weekend but I am SOOOOOO excited!


The weekend that I have been talking about for months is finally here.... the MUDDY BUDDY race. I just saw the map (trying to download but I'm getting errors) and the description (which is below) and I'm a mixed bag of nervous and excited emotions. For the most part the description doesn't sound terrible (but i know it will be) with exception of the one leg of the race that has a very hard hill for bikers. Jim will be on the bike during this leg of the race and I'll be running (at this point, it might be a fast walk :) ). We'll see how bad it is, you know I'll tell you straight up what it was like. I am taking a camera (disposable water proof camera) with me on the race, so I can take pictures along the way. I have no idea how many I'll take or if they will come out, but I wanted to try!


Jim is leaving tonight to go camping, and I'll meet up with him tomorrow afternoon. There is no way I could go camping for 2 nights in a row and then do this race. We'll be camping with about 6 other couples doing the race with us. We know 3 of the couples well, and the other 3 are friends of friends. We love to camp but this is going to be a very difference experience since we'll be getting up super early on Sunday to go run the race (we need to be there around 6am for check in, and the race begins at 8am). I took off Monday and Tuesday from work so I can have some recovery time :o)


Muddy Buddy Austin Course Description (from muddybuddy.com)


The course for Austin takes racers through the woods of Flat Creek Crossing ranch on a combination of dirt and paved fire roads.

The first leg starts (me riding a bike, and Jim running) with a short uphill then follows a cable cut downhill and into the woods.In the woods, racers will follow a bumpy downhill trail across Ulrich Rd and into Obstacle 1.

The second leg (me running and Jim on the bike) begins with a relatively flat section then progresses downhill again to a section of the course with two-way traffic and the first water crossing.After crossing the creek racers head back up a short hill and make their way across another road and into a field for the second obstacle.

Once completing the obstacle (me on the bike, and Jim running), racers continue across a grassy meadow and tackle a short steep downhill.After navigating the wooded trails, racers take to the streets for the last uphill section before obstacle 3.

Once through the obstacle (me running and Jim on the bike), the course heads back into the Hill Country woods; after some twists, turns and a trip back across the creek, the course shoots left and up a hill so steep that only the most experienced mountain bikers will be able to tackle it without dismounting. (I kind of wish I was on the bike during this period... I want to know if I could get up this freakin hill) This short, but unrelenting uphill is the steepest section of trail in the entire Muddy Buddy Series.Once the hill is conquered, the course flattens out and proceeds to obstacle four.

Now on the home stretch (me on bike, and Jim running) racers shoot down a short downhill then turn and head back up the cut in the trees. After a quick shot through the woods, racers will head downhill one last time before the turn into the Final Transition area.Then racers meet up with their soon-to-be-Muddy partners and blast through the mud pit and cross the finish line!