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Everyone wants to have fun at some point in their life, live just a little on the edge, socialize with other people and just be happy. Everyone has in them such desires and cravings that they would want to satisfy once in a while even amidst the busy schedule that comes with adulthood and all.
Mud runs afford a lot of persons the opportunity to satisfy this yearning within them, that is why most annual mud runs activities are usually packed full with participants from all over the vicinity and beyond, people even travel from far places just to ensure they participate, as adulthood can come with a lot of demands and one would love to relieve some stress sometimes.
Only those who have been in a mud race before would understand the level of excitement that comes with it, running through the muds, trying to beat the obstacle challenges to get to the end of the course and getting there first, it’s a whole new level of excitement altogether.
For those who haven’t experienced a mud race before, think of how you felt when you played in the rain with your friends, but if you haven’t done that as well then I don’t know how to paint a better picture of the excitement mud runs comes with, but really its another level of excitement.
Those who have done it would tell you they had an amazing time as it was a mixture of fun and a bit of hard work.
Read Also: Best Camera For Mud Run, Tough Mudder & Spartan Race In 2021
You must have heard of the 6P’s principle to getting anything done, well if you haven’t I’ll tell you what it means, it stands for “proper prior planning prevents poor performance”.
While mud racing is all fun and exciting, you might not have the best of experiences if you do not plan and prepare properly for what you are going to do. If you haven’t done a mud run before, it is important you take some time to find out what is needed to participate in one.
Amongst all the factors to consider when planning to participate in a mud run ranging from who to participate with, how to stay hydrated during the run, one of the important things to consider if not the most important is how you dress for the mud run.
How do I place emphasis on how important preparing with the right attire for a mud run is, it would be second only to the mud race itself in terms of importance.
The right attire guarantees you a good experience without regrets, imagine trying to sort out your attire or having difficulties with your clothing’s when you should be focusing on overcoming the obstacle courses in the mud race or trying to tie your shoelaces or even losing your shoes during a mud race or putting on pieces of clothing that makes your running through the mud difficult, it’s really frustrating that’s why special attention must be given to picking out appropriate attire for an amazing mud race experience.
So, How Do You Properly Dress For A Mud Run Race?
1. Never Include Cotton In Your Clothing Attire
Cotton clothing are really great on a general note, they are durable, usually very comfortable to put on but for a mud race, cotton clothing’s are your worst enemy, not necessarily because they are bad but because they have the potential of giving you an awful mud run experience. Items of clothing are capable of holding water and during mud run, you will get wet.
This wet water holding cotton clothings would result in you carrying extra weight while running around or even trying to beat the different obstacles in the course.
The consequence of this is that you will not be comfortable during the race and the extra weight will slow you down and most definitely contribute to your not coming first in the race.
2. Any Item You Mind Losing, Leave At Home
During mud runs, you will have to pass through several obstacles such as a pool of mud water, thick mud, barbed-wire low crawls, mud pits, walls, cargo nets, slides, monkey bars, e.t.c.
What most of these obstacles have in common is that they are really tasking and you will need to get very physical to overcome them, and in the process of trying to overcome them additional gadgets like iPods, earpods, sunglasses, hats, keys, rings and chains can get missing and recovering them usually is very difficult if not impossible.
So do not carry some of these accessories when coming for a mud race if their getting missing will hurt you.
3. Tops May Or May Not Be Your Best Friend
As part of your attire for a mud race, wearing a top may or may not be advantageous to you during the race. Some persons prefer to go shirtless during the race which may offer them the advantage of not getting wet, their shirts will not be caught in barbed wire and even less weight to carry while running.
However, not everyone will be comfortable going shirtless especially the women who would want to cover their chest. If you are to put on a top, you should consider one with less weight and that which isn’t going to get wet easily and that capable of repelling water.
Sports bras are perfect for women, best if the fabrics are wicking. You will never go wrong with spandex as they have fewer chances of getting caught in barb wire, ropes and other obstacles. You can find some amazing tops, sports bra’s and sport shirts
4. The Perfect Bottoms Would Get You On Track
While the tops may be optional bottoms are always a necessity for mud runs, we wouldn’t want to give all the other participants something to distract them from the race now, would we? The right bottoms make for a perfect mud run experience.
The first rule here is to avoid cotton bottoms, the second thing to note is that there are varieties of combinations you can makeup, there are the boxer briefs, which will surely guarantee you the freedom from fear of getting caught on barbed wire.
There is also the shorts which happen to be almost everyone’s favourite, as both males and females can comfortably participate in them, they offer the advantage of affording you a wide range of motion in a lot of directions without getting in your way giving you the freedom to sprint hard up mud cliffs with much less effort.
Then, there is also the compression leggings which is more commonly used by females, it affords them the advantage of muscle stimulation while you race.
So whichever of these options you may want to explore, just ensure you get the right fabric one that is wicking and does not have cotton. You may find some really nice mud run bottoms here compression leggings, boxer briefs, compression shorts, sport shorts
5. Shoes Are Like Your Most Loyal Friend
This is probably the most important piece of clothing in your attire for a mud run that guarantee’s a very good experience in the race.
Some persons prefer running barefooted but experience has shown that such persons end up regretting that decision and got themselves some pair of kicks before participating in another mud run, without shoes you are prone to getting blisters on your foot, for long courses you will get tired easily and your feet will hurt eventually before completing the course.
Shoes are definitely your best friend for a mud run but much more important are shoes with the right features for a mud run.
For a good experience, you must get shoes that have a good tread, support and drainage, you will have to pass through mud water, get wet during the course and it will be to your advantage if your shoes have very good drainage to ensure quick drying so you don’t carry that extra weight when running which may result to been miserable throughout the remainder of the course. Here are some recommended mud run shoes.
6. Get Extra Comfort With Socks
You definitely would benefit from coming along with a pair of socks, on a regular day, sock makes your wearing shoes much more comfortable even more so in a mud race, it helps to keep your feet comfortable within your shoes and also help keeps them dry.
It is important that the fabric are those that don’t hold water and are wicking, so avoid cotton socks, go for socks with 63% Nylon, 28% Polyester, and 9% Spandex. A good example is this MudGear Premium Compression Socks
Read Also: Injinji Running Socks Review – Reason To Buy/Not To
7. An Extra Piece Of Clothing And Accessories May Just Be Life Saving
Aside from the above-outlined piece of clothing to add to your attire when preparing for a mud run you may want to add some other things like gloves and goggles. For those who may not want mud getting into their eyes, then a piece of goggle may come in handy.
A pair of hand gloves may also help in obstacles that require climbing, holding on to ropes and dampened the effect of friction. It helps reduce the occurrence of blisters on our palms. Check out my list of the Best Gloves For Mud Runs & Other OCRs
8. A Little Something Extra For The Return Journey Is Important
After the mud run you might want to get a shower to clean up those mud otherwise you may have a muddy ride back home.
So carrying a piece of baby towel may be useful. An article of extra regular clothing too may be useful so you can return to clean clothes as well.
Feel free to add any other thing you deem necessary for the mud run as it is peculiar to your needs but ensure the first two tips given are not violated, it shouldn’t be cotton and it shouldn’t be something that once missing will hurt you, do not bring very expensive things to the mud runs.
What To Wear For A Mud Run In The Cold
Mud runs during cold seasons are usually more intense than in warmer seasons. Majorly because the elements are harsher to the human body and since it even involves getting wet, you might find yourself running the risk of getting hypothermic.
Hypothermia is very dangerous and can be life-threatening so during such colder season you should pay close attention to planning properly so as to stay warm and avoid hypothermia.
One of the ways of staying warm aside from running fast is modifying your attire to best suit the season and help you stay warm. Here are some ideas on how to modify your attire to keep you warm.
1. Choose Your Base Layer Top’s Fabrics Carefully
The key to staying warm during the runs is to keep dry as much as possible, the wetter you are the colder you get.
So in choosing the best-suited base layer top, you might want to consider wicking fabrics like wool, nylon, polyester and polypropylene. Cotton materials are a complete no-no since they tend to hold on to water more.
2. Layering Up May Give You An Edge
The trunk is one of the places in our body where heat is lost the most so extra attention should be given to this area.
Bringing an additional layer of clothing to our top can help keep us warm during the run. Depending on the degree of cold you can have up to three layers on your top, a base layer, middle and outer layer. While wicking fabrics are best for base layers, you may want to consider a thin fleece fabric for the middle layer and waterproof windbreakers for the outer shell layer.
3. Compression Clothing Are Your Sure Bet
Compression clothing have a way of keeping you warm as they provide support for cold muscles. They are varieties of compression clothing’s to pick from. There are the compression underwears, tights and leggings.
4. Covering Up The Head And Extremities
The head and extremities (hands and legs) are other places where we easily lose heat, so covering up this area will surely give us that extra warmth. So getting a wool or wicking fabric cap and gloves would contribute to keeping you warm.
How To Dress For Mud Run – Conclusion
Your next mud runs I surely guarantee you will be your best yet if you properly pick out attires that will help you out during the race, it is meant to be an enjoyable experience don’t let what you wear stop you from getting that experience. Cheers.
