It's a mud, mud world

It's hurts to lift my coffee cup.

On August 12, I am joining forces with four girlfriends to do the mud run. I could not be more excited about this. It's a five mile race through mud and obstacles, and my team has to finish together. I foresee a perfect combination of team bonding and physical exertion. I picture it as a movie montage set to Pat Benetar's "All Fired Up" or Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World."

Consultations with the team have produced the following goal: Don't. Be. Last.

Which brings me to the coffee cup. Teammate Kristin noted that our crew, while well fortified in running ability and fashion sense, appears to be lacking in upper body strength. But we have enough time to fix that, she said.

So, Monday, before the previously mentioned Butt, Thighs and Abs class (which I flunked), I meandered into the weights area of the gym for the first time and did three sets on every single arm and back-related machine in the room. When will the pain stop?

But there is a bigger issue. We can't actually sign up until we have a name. Please, please come up with a clever name? Here are my crappy ideas so far:

1. Mud-Lovely
2. Mud Sisters
3. Mud Studs

Obviously, none of those are acceptable. My favorite name from last year is "Mud, Sweat and Beers." Why can't I be that clever? So, help a girl out here. Pretty please.

On an unrelated note, I am highly stressed about Saturday's 12-mile run. The shin splints are getting worse, but my doctor and physical therapist appointments are not until next week. My plan is to stop running until Saturday, but swim every day until then. Um, except for today. I woke up late, ok? I'm tired.