Before and After!!

After months of preparation and training (our walk round Caldecotte Lake yesterday!) today was the day for me and Mrs A to take part in the Pretty Muddy 5K in Milton Keynes.
Yesterday was glorious and the forecast is for sun tomorrow but today it poured down!
I was soaked before I even got to the start line!
Things got off to a pretty inauspicious start when we couldn't attach our race numbers in the rain. I did better than Mrs A - she ripped the sticker for her back in half before even sticking it on!!
We made it to the start just in time for the warm up. As with the Great North Swim it was more tiring than the actual event. My poor knees weren't up to all the jumping up and down!
At 11am we set off - and ignored the fact that we were the only ones walking!! - and had such a funny time! 
There wasn't too much mud to start off with but there was a ridiculously difficult space hopper course! I felt like I'd run a marathon by the time I gave up halfway round!! There were balance beams, tunnels full of mud to crawl through, nets to crawl under, nets to climb over, giant paddling pools of muddy water to crawl through and, to finish, a giant inflatable slide. It was ace!!
The 'after' photo doesn't even begin to show how wet and muddy I was!
At about the 4K mark the Little Misses came running up to us, along with Mrs A's sons, Mr K and Mr S. It was lovely to see them!! 
The kids thought it was very funny to see their Mummies filthy dirty, crawling through mud and sliding down mudslides. Miss E can't wait to take part herself!
There was a bit of a hold up before the final slide at the end. An ambulance arrived!! It got a bit cold having to wait around in the rain but Pick 'n' Mix kept us going until it was our turn to haul ourselves up!
I raised £200 for Cancer Research which was brilliant. Thank you to those of you who sponsored me. Several donations were anonymous so I can't thank you in person but thank you!
We said goodbye to Mrs A and the boys and decided to get lunch in Pizza Hut.
Mr K took the Little Misses in his car while I squelched my way back to my car and attempted to peel myself out of my soaking clothes with my numb hands. A couple of cups of tea from my trusty flask helped. 
I managed to get changed without exposing too much of myself to Milton Keynes and - despite looking as if I'd been dipped upside down in mud - headed to Pizza Hut. 
I wore my medal with pride and stuffed my face with pizza!!
From Pizza Hut we went to Homebase and stocked up on yet more testers, dust sheets, rollers and door stops. 
Then it was to the house for more prep for Mr K and me, and more bouncing on the giant trampoline which Mr G kindly assembled in the garden for us the day before we completed.
It is seriously the biggest trampoline I've ever seen. The Little Misses love it, I fear for our garden!!
I left Mr K hard at it and bought the Little Misses home, put them to bed and got in the shower. 
I washed my hair three times before it felt clean!!