First off, I really don't like my Garmin 410 watch... this is the fifth or sixth time it's died on me. Thank goodness I bought my 910xt! Anyway this was my first ever Tough Mudder race event and though I have done some smaller obstacle races in the past, this by far was the longest one (it was somewhere around 10-11 miles I think) and the most fun. Oh and my camera died, so no cool photos (at least until they post the official snapshots).
To start off the day Josh and I left home in the morning about five hours before our official start time, this was so we could find a place to park, gather our things (change of clothes, water, nutrition, IDs, etc), head to the bus, ride the 30 mins to the drop off point, walk the next .5 miles to the check-in, drop our bags, and then get ready to run. Needless to say we were really early and with the chilly 50 degree weather with the 10-15 knot winds, we decided to get a move an hour early than we were supposed to. Though it's not that it really mattered, they were doing releases every 20-30 mins.
So we lined up, had a bit of a hype up session, stretched as best as we could and BOOM! we were off. The plan I told Josh was just to take it easy, no need to rush, and so forth... which we were both okay with since we had about 10 miles plus 21(?) obstacles to negotiate. So we did a lite "jog" pace and prepared for our first obstacle which was the kiss of mud, ...not too bad to start off. Then it was more running to the mud mile, which was just trenches of slippery mud mounds with muddy water in between that was semi deep and somewhat cold. Now I may miss a few obstacles or name them incorrectly because after awhile the cold and being wet just put my mind into a done like soldier state (some of you may know what I am talking about). The next obstacle was the bail bonds (pretty self explanatory, just go over it) then following that was the walk the plank, which was just jump off of a 15-20 ft high platform into cold muddy water (see the pattern here). That was part one of my mental freeze over, I literally felt my hot aired lungs crush like beer cans under the instant freezing cold of the water.
After that was a long run to the back side of the course, in which a lot of this was just up and down hill climbs with obstacles at about one a mile. Fast forwarding a bit, we had the angled walls (about 8-9 feet high), a tall dirt mound to run up, and then arctic enema which was a 34 degree (absolutely freezing cold ice water) water obstacle to where you jump in and then have to go underwater to reach the other side! Let's just say I was completely numb after that one! Anyway some more running, trench warfare, hold your wood, another mud mile, various up and down hill climbs (all muddy), the boa constrictor, berlin walls, some more cold muddy water, a fire jump into cold muddy water, and some more up and down climbs. By this time were around mile eight(ish) and my mind and body feel great, even though I am cold and wet. Though for some reason I couldn't really feel the cold, I just knew it was cold... I think my nerve endings just finally gave up telling my brain anything any more since it was get wet, muddy, cold, and then run dry.... wash, rinse, repeat.
The last few obstacles were the greased lightning, everest, funky-monkey, and electro-shock therapy. Josh and I decided to skip everest because it was an accident waiting to happen literally (only if it were sooner in the course) and electro-shock therapy because I was wearing electronics and Josh already suffered a few leg cramps. Funky-monkey was fun, but would have been a more fun if the stinking bars didn't roll!! I literally re-injured my left hand again trying to do that obstacle. So no bueno there!
At the end we received our head bands, t-shirt and protein bar and we made a mad dash to our bags to change out of our wet muddy clothes, by this time the temperature was slowly dropping and the wind was picking up. Right after that we walked the half mile back to the bus and made a beeline for home.
Ending thoughts: I went into this run/race with just some water, a couple shotblocks, a good breakfast and my awesome Star Trek "Expendable"red t-shirt (and shorts/shoes of course) and really I didn't need anything more. It wasn't official exhausting like the Bakers Dozen, but then again I did't go nearly as far or as fast as I did there, also it was a completion race which means I could take as long as I wanted as long as I completed. In closing, I had a really good time and despite my hand being banged up once again, and I believe I came out of this run fairly unscathed (minus a few muscle aches and cuts). I would certainly do this again next year, but if I do it's going to be some place warmer or later in the year.... recommendation for the no-so-truly-hardcore: wait till the temp is above 60 degrees!
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