For 2 years Andrey and I have been discussing running a Tough Mudder. Finally 6 months ago a Living Social deal became available and we decided to sign up. We trained on Monkey Bars (pointless, since I fell at the first bar-- but they went up! So hard) and ran a whole lot (I figured my half marathon training would prepare me sufficiently. And yes, the half was exactly a week before the Tough Mudder).
Here's my rundown:
When we got to the venue we were impressed by all the free swag- advil,
Gillette razors, cliff protein bars.
The pre-race meditation/group bonding session was amazing. I teared up, felt very patriotic.
Race started: oh my gosh- not nearly as terrifying or difficult as I anticipated. Getting used to running/walking in mud was a learning curve- but we got there. I couldn't believe how strong I kept going. Andrey was laughing at me sprinting up hills.. because when you're running a Tough Mudder sprinting up hills is FUN. Like, really FUN. I tried every obstacle. I almost immediately failed at the Funky Monkey (monkey bars on an incline and then a decline), and "Just the Tip" which is hard to describe, so check the picture below. But I tried. Trying and failing is not failing at all. I only chose to pass on one obstacle- the "Berlin Walls," a series of 4 walls, the end two being 9 feet in height. The middle two were shorter. I went over those. I however, got to the top of the first with help from Andrey, and another dude and looked over the top. "Put me down, down. DOWN, DOWN, DOWN." I knew I couldn't safely make it over and down. So I walked around.
And I'm proud of my ability to say "too much."
And just so you know, my favorite, FAVORITE obstacle was Mud Mile-
awesome team work and a ton of fun splashing around in the mud.
You're so awesome! I would LOVE to try a Tough Mudder! Do you have any training/prep tips? I'd like this to be like a 1- 2-year goal.
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