This past weekend my husband and I ran The Wild Boar Challenge. It is a 5 mile obstacle course over hilly (so many hills) muddy trails. We’ve run it once before, about 4 years ago (back when we only had 2 kids!). I was about 5 months postpartum then, had been working out consistently, running up to 4 miles straight, and working part time as a preschool assistant. I was really nervous leading up to the run because I had never done anything like this before and 5 miles plus obstacles sounded difficult to me. But we went and had a great time! My sister-in-law and her friend came with us so I had someone to run the course with (Christian is way faster than me) and we were able to run most of the time, other than stopping to wait in line for some of the obstacles.
We liked it so much that Christian started looking for other events for us to compete in and that’s how we ended up finding a gym here that we really liked. The next few years afterwards we weren’t able to run it because I was either pregnant, Christian had drill, COVID, and then my miscarriage last year. This was the first year that it didn’t conflict with our schedules, that I wasn’t pregnant, and could actually participate. I’m just 2 months postpartum, which when we were signing up for this I didn’t think would be a problem because in my mind it was just 5 miles and I had plenty of time to build up my endurance to train for it (keep in mind last summer I was training for a half marathon, so 5 miles did not seem like as big of a goal to work towards as 13.1 miles).
Training for the run
I started walking at the end of my pregnancy with Elijah, and shortly after he was born I started walking again. Once I felt ready I switched from walks to runs (very very slow runs), and slowly built up my endurance. I ended up dealing with some knee pain for a few weeks which delayed my training schedule. I tried to run about 4 times a week, and slowly built up mileage. The furthest I had run before the Wild Boar was 3.5 miles, but I felt confident enough that I could make it for the 5 miles. Our neighborhood is also very hilly and I had been running it for weeks, in addition to completing weighted work outs at home.
What I didn’t plan on was how difficult the mud would make going up and down all the hills. There was mud the last time I ran it, but I don’t remember there being this much. To me, that was probably the toughest part of the whole thing! I felt out of shape as I was completing the challenge and a little frustrated that I wasn’t able to run as much as I had hoped. I ended up walking a lot of it because the mud made the trails so slippery, and by the time I got to the top of the hills I was worn out from trying not to slip and fall. It’s crazy what a difference a few extra months of recovery makes, as well as the amount of mud.
Knowing what I know now, would I have trained differently/even have run it? Answer: Yes, I still would have run it because I still had fun! I think that I did the best that I could for the time that I had to prepare. I haven’t lost all the baby weight yet- I started off at a higher weight than usual this pregnancy because I had gained weight when I was pregnant with the baby I miscarried. The extra weight puts more stress on my joints when I run, which slows me down.
And I realize that 2 months postpartum isn’t a lot of time to train for a big endurance event like this, but I was so excited about actually being able to participate this year. I knew going into this that I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare, so I made my goal with that in mind. My one goal going into this was to be able to finish the race, which I did. I was so tired afterwards but I’m happy that I was able to do it. I’m also excited to (hopefully) run it again next year and have more time to train my body for the event.
*I do want to add that I was lucky enough to not have a complicated recovery this time. I eased into training slowly, backed off when my body needed a break or pushed myself when I felt like I could be pushed. I know some women have a more traumatic delivery and longer recovery. If you do not feel ready to work out and run a race at 2 months postpartum, that is more than understandable! Every pregnancy and postpartum are different (trust me, I know. After my 3rd pregnancy I was back in the gym by 2 weeks postpartum- but I had been able to work out 6 days a week for most of that pregnancy. After my 4th, it took me longer to go back to working out, and same thing after this pregnancy) and if you need to take extra time to recover, then do it.
Superlatives
Ok time for the fun part!
Favorite Obstacle:
One of my favorite things about this run is that right before the 4 mile mark, there is a soapy waterslide! Trust me when I say that it is not only fun, but is also a nice break after running all those hills. You slide down fast and make a huge splash at the end- it’s great!
Worst Obstacle:
This may not sound like the worst obstacle for many people compared to some of the things we had to do, but it wasn’t fun for me. Throughout the course there were several fire pits going where you had to jump over the fire. I don’t like fire and have a fear of being burned. So I jumped over the side of it instead of over the middle of it.
Easiest Part:
This one is hard to choose. The easiest part of the event? Besides the waterslide (Ha), I’d have to say the first mile went by the fastest. This time around, I just felt so out of shape that honestly the whole run was a big challenge for me. If I were to answer this question the first time I ran The Wild Boar 4 years ago, I’d have to say the actual running part. I had been running a lot ahead of time and felt great when I was running it! Being 2 months postpartum this time really set me behind.
Toughest Part:
I mentioned this earlier in the post, but the toughest part for me this time was the actual mud. It made the hills so much tougher than I had planned on (and I have been running hills to prepare for this). The mud would engulf my shoes and made my feet feel heavy during the run. I also didn’t go in with the best mindset, and it definitely didn’t help when I was on mile 2 and felt like it should be mile 5 already. This run really was a challenge. But I also think that if I had done more interval training, it would have been a little easier going from stopping to complete an obstacle and then right into running again. Also, making sure I was hydrated leading up to the event was difficult for me! I’m terrible at drinking enough water and I was really trying to remember to constantly drink water the week before. I thought I was fine, but I still felt a little dehydrated on the run.
Grossest Part:
I can handle the mud for a little bit. I knew that I was going to get dirty during this run. The part that really grossed me out though was the pig pen obstacle. It was shortly after the waterslide, so I had gotten soaked from that. The pig pen obstacle consisted of 5 roundhouse kicks each leg, 10 sit ups and 10 pushups. The actual exercises weren’t the problem. It was laying down in the sand to do the sit-ups after getting all wet, and then getting up to run coated in sand felt so gross to me.
The Best Part:
The best part for me: seeing the finish line in sight and eating the food provided afterwards. They provide barbecue chicken sandwiches with sides and beer and it was really nice to sit down and eat after getting hosed off and changed into clean clothes. It was also really nice to spend some one on one time with my husband. The location where this run takes place is beautiful as well.
The Biggest Surprise:
I knew that running 5 miles wouldn’t be easy, but I wasn’t expecting to feel so worn out afterwards. I felt exhausted the rest of the day (Christian and I went to bed at 8:30pm that night and it felt great). I also was surprised by how out of shape I felt for this run. I had been preparing for it for weeks and really thought I would have done better than I did with it. But I also have to remind myself that I did just have a baby 2 months ago and I haven’t gotten back to where I was before. I finally went for a run today for the first time since the race on Sunday, and I am still pretty sore! But it did feel good to not have to run on mud covered trails today.
Do I recommend this?
Yes! As challenging as this run is, it is a lot of fun and a great mental test as well. The funds raised from this race go towards charity too. This is a fun run to do with a group/a friend. Do you need to prepare for it ahead of time? It would definitely make it easier, but it’s meant to be a fun event! There were families running this together, including younger kids. I’m looking forward to the day when my kids are old enough to run it with us!
*Our individual after pictures were taken by a photographer after completing The Wild Boar Challenge
