Mud Run

This winter a friend introduced me to adventure racing. Perhaps a bit foolish, I decided to sign up for the DFW Mud Run. It is a 10k race with about 30 muddy, wet, challenging obstacles.
The race is this Saturday, April 9th.
There are two divisions, the competitive division and the non-competitive one. I like to compete, but that division ran on Sunday morning and I was unwilling to give up a Sunday to do that. So, I will compete in the non-compete division. Maybe it will make me look better.

I have always been athletic and worked our fairly regularly, but I never did much endurance running. I know that 10k is not that far for many, but will be further than I have ever run at one time.

I have been training now since about late January and have received some great advice from a few friends. My friend Dave Elliot (check out his blog here) gave me some good tips and advice. By the way he does another type of adventure/endurance racing that makes a 10k look like the salad before a 5 course steak dinner. My brother in law, Chuck, who runs the fitness boot camp (see here) has also been training me.

I feel like I am ready, but I know that I am not going to be too fast. My friend Brett Storseth, who got me into this, (pastor in Wichita Falls see here), has done lots of these and is going to smoke me at the mud run.

I feel like I am in good shape. Better shape than I have been in a while. It seems that I need something to motivate me to be consistent -- competing and not looking like a fool is some good motivation for me.

I'll let you know how it goes after Saturday.

How To Be Healthy

Before you follow my plan let me give you some qualifiers. I am not an expert, I just think I am. It does help that I married someone with a degree in Scientific Nutrition, she is an expert. A lot of the balance in my life comes from Michelle’s assistance. She keeps healthy food in the house, and is very consistent at exercise. She does let me have my Dr. Peppers and sweets, but this is balanced with healthy choices as well.


4 Facts

#1 – Fad diets don’t work. There is no way that you are going to lose weight and stay healthy in just 30 days. Studies have shown that you may lose weight, but in the long run most people gain it back PLUS more.

#2 – Health is a lifestyle. You have to make a choice to change your lifestyle. Exercising for 30 days won’t do it, you must exercise and eat health the rest of your life.

#3 – Balance is the key – You do not have to become a vegetarian tri-athlete to be healthy. You do have to have balance. Eat balanced meals and have a balance of exercise.

#4 – Weight Issues – There is a real simple, common sense formula for maintaining the proper weight. If you put more in more calories than you burn you will gain weight. It is that simple. Let me give you an example. If you eat a McDonald’s meal deal(burger, fries, soda) then you have just consumed 1390 calories with 85 grams of fat!

The RDA calories for an entire day is 2000-2500. So if you go with the low end of the RDA in one meal you had almost 70% of a full days worth of calories. Add in 2 other meals with snacks in between and Lance Armstrong wouldn’t burn off those calories.
You can eat McD’s every now and then, but it must be balanced. If you eat something like that once a day instead of once a month, get ready to by some bigger clothes.
Clothes are not even the issue. Being biblically healthy is not about your appearance. That is vanity. It is about taking care of your body. Having a unbalanced lifestyle puts you a such a higher risk physically. Things like heart disease, clogged arteries, and numerous other life-threatening conditions are directly linked to an unbalanced life.

There are more advanced ways to increase your health. Eating organic foods, avoiding processed items, limiting red meat, increasing cardio and strength training, are all worth looking into. My suggestions are the base line. You can move on from there.


Here is a plan. Exercise more often and consistently. Eat better balanced meals. You can have sweets and other things, just not as often. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Be balanced. You will feel better, and you will be obeying scripture.