the tough mudder :: from a normal person's perspective

if you look at the tough mudder site, or even anything blogged about the tough mudder, you get some pretty serious, intense stuff. i found NOTHING from "normal" people. all the people LIVED for tough mudders and just seemed in a different league than my "i'm a mom to 6 kids and run to keep myself sane" self.

so, this blog post is for anyone interested in what the tough mudder was like from my perspective. it's going to be long. kind of a "blow by blow" of the whole experience. so, if you're not interested, just come back tomorrow :-) if you are, enjoy!

our start time was 9 am. the location was about an hour away. we got up at 5 am. ate breakfast (made eggs for everyone) plus had fruit and toast, drank coffee and water and left a little after 6 am. i drove our big van with most of us. another car followed with a few other of our team. i was so so so nervous. we parked (it's kind of a racket. you have to pay $10 to park.) and then had to take a shuttle bus to where the event actually was. the shuttle ride was 30 minutes long!

the shuttle dropped us off and we could see some of the other "tough mudders" on the course - that had started earlier than us. already this thing is messing with us mentally...between the crazy long process to get to the start line, and making us watch people run by covered in mud :-)

after the bus drops you off, you have to walk 1/2 mile to the start area! up and down some big hills...not an "easy" 1/2 mile. plus it was COLD. did i mention i was nervous?!?

we finally make it to the start area...

you get your race number, go to the bathroom, write your number on your head and leg and check your bag so that you have a change of clothes for after (another $5).

our before picture: team BOOM 
{all the pictures that i don't give another source link are from stacey snyder - and we are SO thankful for them!!}

there are waves of people that start every 15 minutes. we thought the 9 am start time was already getting their "start pep talk" when we were all finished going to the bathroom one.more.time. (nerves much??) so we jumped into that group (it was about 5 minutes to 9 am.) we realized later that it was actually the 8:45 am group but it didn't really matter. and we ended up starting at 9 anyways.

this is where i realized maybe this day was going to be more fun than not. between the tough mudder site, and the emails we had received, i thought the atmosphere was going to be SUPER hardcore and mean and intense. but so far, all the people we had encountered on the staff were super friendly and encouraging. we were all silent as we honored our country with the star spangled banner and then we are sitting there listening to sean corvelle (the start line emcee - click on the link to hear the voice you will hear as you start!) and he's so inspiring and encouraging and also makes you feel like they are there to make sure you have fun and are safe. i was beginning to think maybe i wasn't going to die today ;-)

{in all seriousness. someone did die at this event the year before. at this exact location of this event. it was the first, and only, death in tough mudder history. but i went into it and told myself that i would NOT do any obstacle that i felt i was in danger. you have the option to just walk around any obstacle that you don't want to do.}

so, we start running!!!

 {totally forgot about that orange powder stuff until i saw it in the pic!}

this is ALL trail running. if there even is a trail. within the first 1/2 -1 mile your shoes were completely covered in mud from having to go through dips in the trail with lots of mud/water. we also walked a lot the first mile or so, just because there were a lot of people (like the start of any race). it felt a bit anticlimactic.

first obstacle: kiss of mud (not my pic - found it here) but this is from the actual day we did it. mud on the bottom, barbed wire on the top. and you kind of had to go slow because there were people in front of you. i stayed on my elbows and legs the whole way - in a plank - and didn't get my shirt muddy. others just dragged their torso through the mud. fine either way - i was just (hopelessly) trying to keep myself less muddy :-)

more crazy trail running. 

second obstacle: glory blades (video)
i liked this one. 3 walls that you had to climb over. i think they are each 8 feet high. the guys hoisted the girls over, then the guys helped each other over. we were SUPER thankful for ben (who is 6'6"!) on these kind of obstacles! and then the last guy would get helped by someone on another team that was back there. everyone was SUPER helpful all along the course!

third obstacle: burn zone
there were a number of these throughout the course. this one was a few BIG hills that you had to run as fast as you could in order to get up them, then did pushups/lunges in between. i think maybe we were trying to warm up before the next obstacle?? so far we were hardly wet. and some of us were hardly even muddy! and this was the first place we saw stacey - which was SO fun and good to see her!

fourth obstacle: arctic enema
oh.my.goodness.
we were ALL dreading this one.

{source}

a dumpster full of ice water. you have to jump in, completely submerge yourself, swim under a plank, swim through MORE ice water, and get out. once you put your head under, your brain is screaming, "GET OUT!!!" but you can't get your body to work. the ONLY reason i made it out was because my amazing sister had just gotten out and turned around and held her hand out to me. i had NO idea where i was or where to go. it's crazy what 30 degree ice water does to you! i definitely got out and took off running like a maniac. i was a horrible teammate and didn't help anyone else. i had no idea where i was going. i just ran. then turned around once my body stopped feeling like it had just been stung with a million needles. it was pretty miserable. but NOT the worst obstacle {for me.}

according to our course map, then next obstacle was bushwhacked. i don't even remember what it was. the descriptions on the site are that it was heavy terrain. but so MUCH of it was hard terrain, that we must not have realized it?!? or maybe i just don't remember.

sixth obstacle: log jammin'. 

it was something along these lines: (taken from the tough mudder website)

i really liked this one! felt fun and kind of hardcore. but do-able and i could do it on my own. (i needed help with so many of them...)

seventh obstacle: mud mile

{source}

ok. so this wasn't HARD. but it was sometimes up to 3 feet of water that we were jumping into and our socks/shoes were FULL of pebbles and rocks when we were done. we all had to stop and take ALL our socks and shoes off and try to get the rocks out. we still had 8ish miles to run! it was just a pain. and so then we were COLD from stopping for that long.

next was the mudder wheelbarrow. 

it's just what you think. remember the wheelbarrow when we were kids??

you got a partner and you each held each other's feet for half of the way. then switched. 

i loved this. this was one of those obstacles where my training paid off and i felt strong.

next hold your wood. 
there was a HUGE pile of logs and you either got one for yourself, or got a bigger one and carried it as a team. you walked in a BIG circle (of course down and then UP a hill).
there are some people that CHOOSE to carry a log the WHOLE tough mudder event. it's an extra challenge thing. amazing!

next: killa gorilla
this was maybe a mile or more of going up and down BIG hills. i ran the whole way. because i chose to. a lot of people were walking. it was challenging for sure! but i was getting a good "hill workout" in ;-)

next: lumberjacked

{source}

i needed a little boost to get over these. but it was fun to jump over it once i was up there!

i would say about this point some of our team was struggling. we were cold and tired. and there were still a LOT of obstacles ahead that we were dreading. but we hung together and encouraged each other and kept on keeping on!!!

next up: boa constrictor

you crawled into these black tubes. they went downhill a bit. as you crawled, the water got deeper. and deeper. by the middle, it was slashing in your face. then you had to climb back UP the other black tubes. i was dreading this one. but it ended up not being as bad as i thought. and stacey was there again!!! it was SO good to see her!!

{you knew as you were approaching the "big" obstacles...you could hear screaming and laughing from FAR away.}

 {do i look psycho or what?!?}

a LONG run here...

next: cliffhanger

this was a CRAZY steep muddy hill. i think maybe this is where i hurt my calf...i ran up most of it :(

next: cage crawl

i HATED this one. i dreaded it and hated it as much as i thought i would.

 {source}

you had to lay down, and go through it head first, on your back, using your hands to push you along the cage. there were a few inches of air between the water and the "cage." i was hyperventilating the WHOLE way. just kept saying, "breathe. breathe. breathe." i wanted to NOT do it so badly, but my personal rule that day was that i wouldn't do anything that i felt unsafe. this was just FEAR and that wasn't enough of a reason. notice the black signs on the cage? when you got under those, it was pitch black...just "adding" to the experience! ugh! i can't look at it ANYmore.

next: electric eel
here we are sizing it up. you have to army crawl through water. with wires hanging down that will shock you. super fun, right??

 our teammates were so amazing - always helping each other get up and over and out. amazing.

 here we are - we all survived being electrocuted!

this one wasn't so bad for me. i, overall, didn't mind the electrocution ones as much as the cage crawl and walk the plank (still to come). but everyone's fears are different! and the tough mudder makes SURE to get you in one way or another!

along the way, there were things like this:  {source}

 and this: {source}

that weren't even "obstacles"...just added fun!

next obstacle: berlin walls
these were another fun team one. we helped each other up and over and then down on the other side. i think we had to do 2 of them?

 next: warrior carry
this is at every tough mudder. you have to carry a person for 100 yards, then switch and the other person carries you.

 this was just fun!

 i LOVE this picture of them!

 and off we go! we are finally starting to think we might survive this thing...the end is drawing near!

next: walk the plank
jump 15 feet into 12 feet of COLD water.
i was so cold. and DON'T like heights. or the feeling when you jump from way up high.
this was the ONLY obstacle i almost didn't do. but, before i climbed up to the top, i surveyed the situation. there were guys up on top telling people when to jump so that no one jumped on top of anyone else. there were lifeguards and scuba divers on the edges (this is the obstacle where the guy died the year before, so there was CRAZY safety measures going on.) i knew i wasn't going to die. the reason i wouldn't do it would be fear, and that wasn't good enough. so i climbed up there. pat was with me. i jumped first, he jumped right after me (he DID have to talk me into it a bit once i got up there.)

 but i did it. and hated it as much as i thought i would. :-)

next: funky monkey
monkey bars that angle up and then down. with cold water. i didn't even attempt this. i just jumped in the water and swam across. 

 {source}

2 more obstacles to go!!!!!

next: everest

a half pipe that you have to run up and grab someone's hands to pull you up.

{source}

we watched this one for awhile, to try to figure out the best method. 

after it seemed like our arms might get ripped out of their sockets, most of the girls got up this way...thanks to pat and ben's height!

 then these guys had to get up on their own. they were just fine!

 ok. here it is. the LAST obstacle.

electroshock therapy
you have to run through mud with wires hanging over you with up to 10,000 volts of electricity ready to zap you. oh! and there is a wall of haybales halfway through that you have to climb over.

we got together and did a little "let's DO THIS!" cheer before running through together.

 there seemed to be 2 methods to getting over the hay. climbing (leah and i) or diving. if you dove, you were covered in mud. :-)

 and we survived. !!!

we just had to turn a corner and there was the FINISH LINE!

 at the finish line you get an orange headband. a beer. and a shirt.

 all i could think about was getting warm...

there were some fires going - which felt SO good to stand near! we had been cold for HOURS!

my sister and i. this picture cracks me up because, from my hand, it looks like i'm trying not to get dirty or something. i'm actually trying to not make EITHER of us more cold by touching each other with our wet clothes! it was SO fun to do with her!

 and this guy. he made sure i stayed alive :-) he is so so strong and i sure am thankful he's MINE!

there were hoses to try to clean yourself off. and tents to change in. it was amazing how much better we felt after getting our wet clothes off!

then we had to reverse the whole process to get back to our cars...walk 1/2 mile. ride a bus for 30 minutes. that was NOT fun.

we were STARVING. and quickly found a mexican restaurant and ate a LOT. man. it tasted SO good.

then drove the hour home. it was about a 12 hour ordeal, start to finish. but SO amazing.

after everyone left our house, pat and i still had 24 hours together! we showered, and went christmas shopping for our kids! i totally wore my "tough mudder" headband. yes i did!

we went out to dinner. and ate a lot again. rented a movie. and stayed up til midnight! we actually felt pretty good!

we did have some bruises and scrapes to show for it...

the next morning we were both a bit sore, but nothing too bad. my calf didn't start hurting until tuesday (when i ran the first time).

tough mudder. done. check. amazing. {never again!}