Tough Mudder

[Suzanimal]

Anyone ever done one? My husband's bar gets a free team every year (Dos XX is a sponsor) and he signed us up for next year. I've started some weight training, my upper body is a little weak, and running but I'm a little scared. I'm hoping someone will tell me it's not as bad as it looks. Any training tips will also be greatly appreciated.

Tough Mudder is a 10-12 mile (18-20 km) obstacle course designed to test all-around strength, stamina, teamwork, and mental grit. Tough Mudder is Probably the Toughest Event on the Planet. Probably.

Tough Mudder is more than an event; it’s a way of thinking. It’s about pushing yourself to the limits and helping others to do the same. It’s not a race, it’s a challenge. If we timed you, what would be your motivation to stop and give someone a hand? When you run a Tough Mudder, you’ll meet new people and overcome challenges when you get through the course—together. Running a race gets you busted knees and a medal you’ll never wear again. At the end of a Tough Mudder, you get an orange headband to proudly wear to work on Monday morning, a pint, bragging rights and membership into Mudder Nation. And it gives you an excuse to get all your friends together and start a tradition.
https://toughmudder.com/events/what-is-tough-mudder

[eduardo89]

I do that every weekend.

[phill4paul]

Get in your car. Drive 5 miles and remember the spot. Drive home. Then go and walk to that spot and back. This will give you an idea of length of the course.
Then have your husband beat you with a 2x4 for 10 minutes. This will give you an idea of how you will feel after running over the obstacles on the course.

[pcosmar]

Never mind,,

I was thinking of something else.

[Suzanimal]

The weather is finally cooperating (yay!) and I went for a run. I did 2 miles today and thought I was going to have a $#@!ing heart attack. I sat down in the shower and almost couldn't get back up. Now I'm pissed, I'm going to do this and I'm going to get my free beer and stupid $#@!ing headband and then I'm going to knock the $#@! outta my husband.

This guy is my inspiration...

[phill4paul]

The weather is finally cooperating (yay!) and I went for a run. I did 2 miles today and thought I was going to have a $#@!ing heart attack. I sat down in the shower and almost couldn't get back up. Now I'm pissed, I'm going to do this and I'm going to get my free beer and stupid $#@!ing headband and then I'm going to knock the $#@! outta my husband.

This guy is my inspiration...

After the first two miles pretend to sprain your ankle. Then make your husband carry you on his back the rest of the race. That will teach him.

[Suzanimal]

I got back to running today. I did 2 miles and I'm pretty whipped. I found out I will also get a cool Under Armour shirt if I compete. Yay! Why didn't my husband give me that info? I guess he thought I would be more inspired by the free beer.

Here's my husband modeling the shirt...

[jllundqu]

Best thing about tough mudder?

It's like a mud wrestling wonderland!





Amiright??? lol

In all seriousness. They are tough, fun, and yes you should train upper and lower body. It's a great event. I like Ragnar Relays, Tough Mudder, Spartan Race, and my favorite... WARRIOR DASH!

Warrior Dash is by far the most fun and the people are crazy.

[Suzanimal]

Best thing about tough mudder?

It's like a mud wrestling wonderland!

Amiright??? lol

In all seriousness. They are tough, fun, and yes you should train upper and lower body. It's a great event. I like Ragnar Relays, Tough Mudder, Spartan Race, and my favorite... WARRIOR DASH!

Warrior Dash is by far the most fun and the people are crazy.

I've just been running but I need to work on my upper body strength. I'm worried about getting over the walls....I'm also worried about being electrocuted.

[Nirvikalpa]

Just don't swallow the mud, or get any near any orifice...

Don't google why.

[Suzanimal]

Just don't swallow the mud, or get any near any orifice...

Don't google why.

I need to work on following directions.

That's more of a deterrent than getting electrocuted.

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 22 people contracted a diarrheal illness in October 2012, likely because they accidentally swallowed water contaminated with bacteria from animal feces during an extreme obstacle course in Nevada.

Three active-duty military went to the emergency department at the Nellis Air Force Base outside of Las Vegas from Oct. 10-12, 2012 with symptoms like bloody diarrhea, fever and vomiting, health officials said.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-styl...#ixzz33WzT8uYG

[pcosmar]

I need to work on following directions.

That's more of a deterrent than getting electrocuted.

Rinse any mud you swallow with plenty of Alcohol.. That should kill the bugs..

[KCIndy]

The weather is finally cooperating (yay!) and I went for a run. I did 2 miles today and thought I was going to have a $#@!ing heart attack. I sat down in the shower and almost couldn't get back up. Now I'm pissed, I'm going to do this and I'm going to get my free beer and stupid $#@!ing headband and then I'm going to knock the $#@! outta my husband.

Good for you! Hang tough, you can do it.

I'm inspired by your determination, and I mean that with the greatest of sincerity.

Best of luck, and be sure to keep us posted!

[KCIndy]

Rinse any mud you swallow with plenty of Alcohol.. That should kill the bugs..

Bacardi 151 is my favorite alcoholic sterilizer. I hear it kills germs, too!

[phill4paul]

Good for you! Hang tough, you can do it.

[ClydeCoulter]

Give all you got, if that's what you want to accomplish. Keep us up to date. You go!

[Henry Rogue]

My wife did it last year.

[Suzanimal]

Rinse any mud you swallow with plenty of Alcohol.. That should kill the bugs..

Bacardi 151 is my favorite alcoholic sterilizer. I hear it kills germs, too!

Excellent advice.

[Suzanimal]

Good for you! Hang tough, you can do it.

I'm inspired by your determination, and I mean that with the greatest of sincerity.

Best of luck, and be sure to keep us posted!

Give all you got, if that's what you want to accomplish. Keep us up to date. You go!

Oh I'm going to do it, or die trying (my husband said if I actually die trying he would have me cremated in the TM shirt and dump a Dos XX on me - whadda guy). When I finish I will post a pic of myself having my victory beer, I'm pretty sure that will be the best beer I've ever had.

My wife did it last year.

What was the worst part? I'm nervous about the electrocution and the water slide into ice water (love water slides, hate ice water).

[Root]

Suze, you are going to have such a fun time. I want to do a TM style event, but not this year. I've got too much going on, and too many things I'm falling behind schedule on already.

You'll be fine. The beer when your done will be special. Make it a good one.

[Suzanimal]

I have my first TM injury. My husband (grrrr..) was teaching me how to exercise my upper body and drew his elbow back and hit me in the eye. Now I have a f-ing black eye, it's pretty swollen and it hurts like hell.

[specsaregood]

./

[Suzanimal]

Next time I beat my wife I'm going to tell her to use that story.

LOL, that's what my neighbor said. He took a pic of me with his phone to brag about what a bad ass he is at work tonight. He gave me a black eye once before, he walked up to me, grabbed my face and sucked on my eye really hard (I don't know why he did it, he was just goofing off). A few minutes later he was like, oh $#@!, don't be mad, I think I gave you a black eye. I wasn't swollen and didn't hurt but it was black. I guess that was more like hickey eye.

[cjm]

I have my first TM injury. My husband (grrrr..) was teaching me how to exercise my upper body and drew his elbow back and hit me in the eye. Now I have a f-ing black eye, it's pretty swollen and it hurts like hell.

There's a Dave Attell joke about this. I hope your eye feels better.

[hotbrownsauce]

I completed Tough Mudder last year. Doing it again this year! I ran 12 miles through all the obstacles. In the back of my mind I thought it would be scary. But I never let that fear surface. During the whole race it was just pure focus! We finished in 3 hours even though we ran the whole time (lots of waiting at each obstacle along the way which increased our time).

Tons of people go that aren't 100% ready. So I personally wouldn't worry if I wasn't in impeccable shape.
The shock does NOT hurt.. it does not hurt at all! But however, if you get shocked you will go limp! (Happened to me twice... just do the obstacles. Don't think about it! You WILL be glad you did them all, trust me! Finish them all don't wimp out!!!)

As for training if you don't exercise regularly I would advise it. You don't have to be a body builder, I am not. Just be sure you actively exercise your body regularly. I feel as long as you exercise regularly (30 minutes for each body part e.g. arms, legs, back, chest, abs) you'll be okay when the time comes. I work out each part of the body twice a week by habit to give you an idea.

If you can run a mile or two in spurts over a few hour period you'll be okay on running. Please note the BIGGEST THING I DID NOT DO is this... we were running in open fields at our tough mudder event.. tons of little natural twists and bends in the dirt and therefor your ankle will not be "stationary" as it would be against a road. Your ankle will bend to the contour of the ground. So I advise strengthening your ankle muscles by either running in fields or running on a machine with the incline up/down. If you have weak or bad ankles be sure to wear ankle braces so you don't twist an ankle!! The reason this was the biggest thing for me is that my ankles and calf muscle started getting stiff and sore.

Be sure to eat plenty of bananas days before so you don't get cramps!!! If your calf cramps look at picture two in this diagram http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-a-Charley-Horse

Be excited!! It is so much fun!!! You'll love yourself! =) When I did mine it was to celebrate 3 yrs after joining a gym and losing 50lbs. I now have 6 pack abs after being overweight my whole life... GO ME! lol =)

Any questions drop me a PM. I don't check the boards anymore.

HBS

PS They have a few food/water stops on the way. They seemed to be located about ever 2-4 miles. Each station had either a half a banana or half a Cliff protein bar and water with portable restrooms.

Hope you have fun! They will get you pumped before you go... a motivational speaker will be present! Then BANG! You're off!

PPS
You will most definitely swallow mud. You will be picking it out of your toes for days, ears for hours, it will get in your eyes, and every part of your body imaginable. There is a lot of mud!

[Suzanimal]

I completed Tough Mudder last year. Doing it again this year! I ran 12 miles through all the obstacles. In the back of my mind I thought it would be scary. But I never let that fear surface. During the whole race it was just pure focus! We finished in 3 hours even though we ran the whole time (lots of waiting at each obstacle along the way which increased our time).

Tons of people go that aren't 100% ready. So I personally wouldn't worry if I wasn't in impeccable shape.
The shock does NOT hurt.. it does not hurt at all! But however, if you get shocked you will go limp! (Happened to me twice... just do the obstacles. Don't think about it! You WILL be glad you did them all, trust me! Finish them all don't wimp out!!!)

As for training if you don't exercise regularly I would advise it. You don't have to be a body builder, I am not. Just be sure you actively exercise your body regularly. I feel as long as you exercise regularly (30 minutes for each body part e.g. arms, legs, back, chest, abs) you'll be okay when the time comes. I work out each part of the body twice a week by habit to give you an idea.

If you can run a mile or two in spurts over a few hour period you'll be okay on running. Please note the BIGGEST THING I DID NOT DO is this... we were running in open fields at our tough mudder event.. tons of little natural twists and bends in the dirt and therefor your ankle will not be "stationary" as it would be against a road. Your ankle will bend to the contour of the ground. So I advise strengthening your ankle muscles by either running in fields or running on a machine with the incline up/down. If you have weak or bad ankles be sure to wear ankle braces so you don't twist an ankle!! The reason this was the biggest thing for me is that my ankles and calf muscle started getting stiff and sore.

Be sure to eat plenty of bananas days before so you don't get cramps!!! If your calf cramps look at picture two in this diagram http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-a-Charley-Horse

Be excited!! It is so much fun!!! You'll love yourself! =) When I did mine it was to celebrate 3 yrs after joining a gym and losing 50lbs. I now have 6 pack abs after being overweight my whole life... GO ME! lol =)

Any questions drop me a PM. I don't check the boards anymore.

HBS

PS They have a few food/water stops on the way. They seemed to be located about ever 2-4 miles. Each station had either a half a banana or half a Cliff protein bar and water with portable restrooms.

Hope you have fun! They will get you pumped before you go... a motivational speaker will be present! Then BANG! You're off!

PPS
You will most definitely swallow mud. You will be picking it out of your toes for days, ears for hours, it will get in your eyes, and every part of your body imaginable. There is a lot of mud!

I've been running on the street because it's really hilly and has lots of obstacles (road kill, potholes, stray dogs), it's way more of a workout for me.

When I did mine it was to celebrate 3 yrs after joining a gym and losing 50lbs. I now have 6 pack abs after being overweight my whole life... GO ME! lol =)

YAY! Good for you!

[Suzanimal]

There's a Dave Attell joke about this. I hope your eye feels better.

Gosh, I haven't heard that name in awhile. I liked his TV show, I wonder what happened to him.

[Suzanimal]

I hope your eye feels better.

Thanks, it does, I kept icing it yesterday and the swelling is mostly gone but it's kind of purple.

[Suzanimal]

I got off track for a couple of weeks but I finally got off my butt and ran today, I also bought a set of 5lb weights so I can get some muscles in my arms. My running is getting better, I don't feel like I'm going to die when I'm done so I guess that's good sign.

[Suzanimal]

I about three weeks ago I bought new running shoes and I was too lazy to drive so I went to Walmart (what was I thinking??) and found a cute pair that felt pretty good. They were pretty good for a couple of weeks but now my knees are killing me. So for $20ish bucks I got a pair of running shoes that barely lasted a month. *Sigh* Lesson learned.

Avoid these crappy shoes...