Kickin Up Mud

"Big truck, big tires
Slangin’ mud to the sky
Living low, riding high
Kickin’ up mud in my 4 wheel drive
Kickin’ up mud
Big truck big tires
Slangin’ mud to the sky
Living low, riding high
Kickin’ up mud in my 4 wheel drive"
Kickin Up Mud by The Lacs

Saturday morning I got dressed in my "mud run" appropriate outfit. Forrest's instructions included no cotton, double layers, and shoes we don't mind tossing away. Bringing a change of clothes was a given.

I'm wearing black spandex shorts underneath black nylon yoga pants with a lime green training tank. The wide arm holes exposed my black sports bra. I pulled my hair into a low side ponytail and completely skip on make-up. Really, there is no point.

I threw my bag in the car and drove to Rocky's house.

 Rocky wasn't going to participate, but Brandon was. So were Jake and Jasmine. Trevor wanted to, but he already made plans to hang out with Becca's friends. Or Becca made plans for them to meet her friends. Ah, the joys of being in a relationship. I teased him and told him when he wasn't pussy whipped, or when Becca gave him permission, whichever came first, to call me.

We agreed to meet at Rocky's place because Brandon volunteered to drive. I arrived first and went ahead and threw my bag in his Explorer. I'm happy to see Brandon followed my clothing instructions. He's wearing a short sleeved Under Armour shirt with shorts and running pants.

When Jasmine and Jake showed up, only Jasmine followed my instructions. She's wearing a purple camouflage workout tank with pants that had a matching camouflage waistband. Her hair is braided back in two french braids. She looked so cute and sporty. Jake, on the other hand, was wearing basketball shorts and a cotton t-shirt.

"Jake, cotton is going to absorb all the moisture and mud. And you need double layers so you don't have to strip down to your underwear for the shower." I repeated what Forrest told me.

Jake pulled down his basketball shorts to reveal another pair.

"If it's ok with you, I was going to run shirtless." He answered.

"Whatever floats your boat." I shrugged.

"Whatever rocks yours." He replied.

Jasmine laughed. "Alright children. Settle it on the obstacle course. Let's go!!!"

We said goodbye to Rocky and hit the road. The drive to Fort Worth is a long one. The boys talk about the recent trades of basketball players in the NBA.

"Are you a Dallas Maverick fan?" Jake asked me.

"I feel like I have to be now that the Lakers are so disappointing." I answered.

Jake laughed. "Yeah. I've always hated the Lakers, so I'm loving their decline since Phil Jackson left."

"I'm just glad that LeBron left the heat. There's no team I like more than I hate Miami." I replied.

"I hear you on that. Love the city though. Remember when we went down there?" Brandon asked Jake.

"Oh yeah. The beaches were nice." Jake replied.

"There were beaches? I just remember the women. Is that where you met that Cuban chick?..." Brandon chuckled.

"Ayyy.. chill out with all that." Jake said, nodding towards me and Jasmine in the backseat.

"Oh, please! No point in trying to hide it from me. I've had the misfortune of having to deal with the skanks you associate with." Jasmine exclaimed.

"We're in mixed company...." Jake said, referring to me.

"I would love nothing more than to hear about the skanks." I smiled.

"Go talk to your roommate then." Jake replied.

 When they laughed, I reached to the front seat and tugged Jake on the ear twice.

"Be nice!"

"Ok. Chill" He groaned.

They then talked about old trips they went on and where they wanted to go next. Jake's birthday was coming up in September, so they were planning another trip.

"How old are you going to be?" I asked.

"29." He answered.

"Geez, aren't you too old to still be celebrating birthdays?" I teased.

"Only as old as you feel, little girl!"

I grinned at that. I wondered why Jake and Brandon were closer friends than Ethan and Jake. Ethan and Jake were the same age, meaning they would have been in the same grade in school growing up together. But now it made more sense.

"Besides, it's his last year in his twenties. Gotta go big!" Jasmine added.

"Thirty is the new 20 anyway." Jake said.

"No it ain't." Brandon laughed.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." I said too.

"Okay, raise your hand if you spent the last decade having fun and doing you?" Jake asked. He was his only one with his hand up.

"Exactly." He said.

"Keep your hands up if you qualify for senior citizens discount?" Brandon asked.

We all laughed.

The rest of the ride was fun. We passed the time with conversations till we finally reached the course. We had to drive around it to find the parking lot. It was huge and MUDDY. I don't know what I was expecting. We got rain all week, so I shouldn't be surprised. There's a huge mud pit just about in the middle of the course. There is a tires course, barbed wires to crawl under, tunnels to burrow through, monkey bars, and fences to jump over. All accompanied by muddy water trenches or just mud. It only looks maybe 2 miles or so long. But added with the fact that it's humid as hell and mud, it's daunting to say the least.

"What did I sign up for? They can keep the $70." Jasmine exclaimed.

I laughed. "Too late. You're already here."

We made our way over to the sign in area. I left my bag and phone in the SUV. I called Jordan when we first arrived. She told me she was already there, waiting in her car. I texted Forrest, just to let him know we made it. He didn't respond before I left my phone. I found Jordan right away and we all got in line. Me and Jordan were signed in quicker cause we were already registered. Brandon, Jasmine and Jake were still in line when me and Jordan finished. We stepped to the side to wait for them.

I was trying to figure out how to snap the wrist band on Jordan's wrist when Forrest approached us.

"Let me see that. It's gotta be real tight or you'll lose it on the course." He said to me, taking over.

"Hey Forrest!" I smiled. "I was worried I wasn't going to see you! This event is massive!" I exclaimed, genuinely excited to see him.

"I wouldn't have let that happen." He smiled at me, snapping Jordan's band on. "There you go. Y'all ready for this?"

"I was till I saw that huge pit of mud." Jordan responded. Forrest laughed as he grabbed my wristband and put it on my arm for me.

"Having technical difficulties already Lily?" Jake asked as he joined us with Brandon and Jasmine.

"No. They just have to be on really tight or they fall off on the course." I explained.

"Yep. Make sure y'all's are tight too. No band, no beer." Forrest explained as he finished mine.

"Can you help me with mine too?" Jasmine said, grinning. He returned her smile.

"Of course."

"Guys, this is Forrest. Forrest, these are a few of my friends. Jake, Jasmine and Brandon." I introduced them.

"Nice to meet y'all. And thank you for coming out to support the cause." Forrest greeted them. They all greeted him back.

"So what heat are y'all in?" Forrest asked.

"6th. How bout you?" I responded.

"1st. We gotta run over to the hotel and get set up for the luncheon. Y'all are coming to that afterwards?" Forrest asked.

"Umm, we weren't planning on it. We didn't really bring clothes for a luncheon." I said.

"Good. It's super casual, barn themed. Come eat, at the very least." Forrest said.

Before I could respond, the woman I recognized from Forrest's Facebook as his fiancee came over. She was wearing the matching brown mud run shirt to Forrest's. But she paired hers with khaki shorts, and a red, brown and white plaid shirt. Her wavy black hair was half up half down. Diamond studs adorned her ears. She looked beautiful and chic, but not inappropriately so at a mud run.

"Rachel, remember Darren? The running back I've been working with? This is his physical therapist Lily. She and her friends came out to support the cause." Forrest said.

"It's great to have you. Always so nice to see new faces out here." She smiled at us. She then turned to Forrest. "I need you with the Denisons"

"Be right there." He replied.

"Ok. Goodbye. Good luck." Rachel smiled to us, before walking off.

"She seems really nice." I smiled.

"Yeah. She's really busy. I better go help her out. But make sure you watch my heat. Pick up some pointers." He smiled.

"Of course. I'll be the one yelling Run Forrest, Run!" I said, in my best Jenny impersonation.

He laughed. "Real original Lily."

"I bet that one never gets old." I smiled at him, before he walked off.

Jasmine rushed over to me. "Damn girl. Now I see why you were so anxious to come to this. I would roll around in the mud with him any day."

"Gross Jasmine." Jake told her.

"You should talk." Jasmine scowled at him.

"Well stop fantasizing. That girl was his fiancee." Jordan informed her.

"I didn't see a ring." Jasmine replied.

"It's massive. I wouldn't wear it out here neither." I said.

"That was your first time meeting her?" Jake asked. When I nodded, he asked, "How do you know what her ring looks like?"

I blushed. "I might have seen it...On Facebook."

After they teased me for being a Facebook stalker, we stood to the side to watch the first heats. I don't cheer for Forrest, but I definitely watch him for as long as I can. He's obviously very comfortable in the mud. He ran through the first obstacles like it's a breeze.

We all go line up when it's time for our heat. You can tell the majority are newbies just by the clothing options. Some of the girls are just wearing spandex shorts and sports bras. One fearless dude is wearing just a Speedo. I don't know if it's ignorance or experience, but more power to him. I kept my eyes forward when Jake took off his shirt. I don't need him catching me checking out his abs. Even though they're amazing, his head was big enough. His ego needed no inflation.

When the buzzer sounded, we took off. The first obstacle was a muddy water trench. We all jumped in and trudged through it together. When we got out, we raced to the next obstacle, the tires. Jake and Brandon let us girls go through an open lane together while they wait for the next available one. I looked beside me as I went through. Jake had already caught up with us. His stutter steps are so fast, the mud barely affected him.

Obviously he works out, but I'm surprised he's so athletic. He's built, but graceful and fast. I can tell he's holding back to keep up with the group. I sped up to see if he would do the same. He did. I caught his eye and smiled. It was officially on.

When we got through the tires, Jake and I both took off. I figured we would meet the rest of them at the finish line. Jake must have thought the same, cause he immediately dove into the tunnels. When I made my way out, I saw that he already was taking off on to the next obstacle. I followed quickly. It was the monkey bars. I caught up with him on the fifth bar. His grip was slowing him down. I was able to wipe my hands on the inside of my shirt. He didn't have that luxury. But I teased him anyway.

"Your upper body needs some work." I huffed out, as I prepared to past him. I was a bar ahead of him when I felt fingers briefly tickling my side. It was long enough to make me lose my grip, and I fell into the huge ass waist deep puddle.

I was shocked and pissed as I heard a splash beside me. Jake laughed as he took off through the water. My anger melted away at his laughter, and I took off after him.

Watching Forrest definitely gave me an advantage. I saw when they did the mud pit, he went to the edges. I did the same. I soon found out why. Jake tried to go straight though the middle. And got stuck there. When I got out the pit, I wiped some of the excess mud off me and walked to the middle. Jake was still struggling. I sat down on the side and watched him. When he finally pulled himself out, I looked up and smiled at him.

"Karma is a bitch huh?"

"Shut up and lets go." He panted.

Brandon wasn't far behind, so he watched and knew to go to the outside. He flew past us to the barbed wire. Jake helped me up and we took off again. We crawled underneath it.

We ran to the last obstacle together. It's a series of alternating fences and trenches. I don't know about Jake, but I'm tiring out. After the last fence, I saw the finish line. A burst of energy passed through me. This time we kept pace with one another as we sprinted to the finish. Brandon is already there, covered in mud. I know I have to look the same. I felt mud EVERYWHERE.

But as I crossed the finish line, I was honestly too pumped to care. It was so much fun. Everyone is cheering and giving mud hugs. Photographers are walking around taking pictures so I took one with Jake and Brandon. Jordan and Jasmine crossed together. They both looked thrilled. Not that they finished, but pumped to find the showers. I made them take photos with me first. We struck model poses covered in mud. A few people laughed at us.

We walked about a mile back to the showers. When you're covered in mud, modesty honestly goes out the window. I stripped out of my tennis shoes, socks, my tank and yoga pants. I was down to my sports bra, spandex shorts, and flip flops that were provided and hopped in the huge, community, co-ed showers. It's not too crowded because the heats were staggered. It was cold, and the water pressure was super hard, but I swear it felt like a freaking spa day getting all the mud off me. I mentally thanked Forrest for the tips to wear double clothes. I saw others showering in their underwear. Underwear plus mud is not a pretty mental picture.

We then walked the rest of the way to the entrance. The sign in table is covered with water bottles. The boys offered to run to the cars to get our clothes and stuff. We grabbed water and found a nice little spot under a tree.

The boys joined us. We planned to dry out a little before heading to the changing station. I looked at my phone and saw Forrest texted me.

Forrest: Call me when you're finished.

I gave him a call and told him where we were. He and a friend came over with beer.

Everyone thanked them profusely. Modesty was slowly creeping back to me. It was comfortable when everyone was half dressed. But Forrest and his friend were both dressed in shorts and the same mud run t-shirts that Rachel was wearing. I was painfully aware that I was half naked.

"Hey. You looked good out there." Forrest said to me. "You all did."

"Good eye if you could tell the difference between one mud covered person from the next." Jake said as he drank his beer.

"I saw you knock Lily off the monkey bars. And Jordan and Jasmine skipped an obstacle." Forrest smiled.

"Cheaters!" Brandon pointed at Jasmine and Jordan, laughing.

"She slipped. Not my fault." Jake lied.

"Karma already got you in the mud pit." I smiled at Jake, laughing.

"It took me getting stuck to learn to run on the sides. How did you know?" Forrest asked.

"I took your advice and watched how you did it." I admitted.

He smiled at me.

After our beers, Forrest headed to the hotel. And we went to the changing station to get dressed. Jordan left after she got changed, saying she had plans with her boyfriend.

"You shoulda invited him!" I pouted.

"He's not into this kinda thing. I'll see you at work!"

After she left, we headed to the hotel were the luncheon was being held. We headed to the bathroom first to make ourselves look as presentable as possible. Thank God Jasmine is a beautician. She puts a Grecian braid at the crown of my head and pins it up. She just left her hair down. It was curly and looked sexy tousled.

We arrived at the hotel banquet room. Forrest wasn't lying about it being causal. It's buffet style BBQ. The room is decorated minimally, but beautifully. There are hardwood floors, red and white checkered table cloths, and cute firefly string lights.

We waited in line and filled our plates with turkey, brisket, sausage, beans, potato salad, green beans, macaroni and cheese, broccoli salad, and rolls. We ate in silence and drank sweet tea.

 During the dessert of banana pudding in mini mason jars and mini pecan pies, the founder of the run gave a speech. It's light-hearted and touching. He lost his father 7 years ago to prostate cancer. What started off as a way to remember his dad, turned into an event to educate and hopefully prevent other families from suffering from his same loss. His family came up afterwards and everyone gave them a standing ovation.

As we finished eating, Forrest joined our table.

"Y'all done eating yet?" He asked, sitting next to me.

"Forrest, we spent two hours at a nacho bar..." I exaggerated. "How long do you think I can spend at a BBQ buffet?"

"Probably all night, but if you do that you'll miss all the fun." He laughed.

I looked at Brandon, Jake, and Jasmine.

"Are y'all up for more fun?" I asked.

They all agreed.