It really pays to be a vidiot

[Aquajock]

Had an interesting experience today:

I started to research the Tough Mudder extreme obstacle course challenge; these challenges are offered at several locations throughout each year and were designed by the British military to push you to your limits. The website, among a wealth of other information, offered PDFs of training workout formats to prepare you for participation.

Not one of the three formats (beginner, intermediate or advanced) contained any drills that I had not already done - and done and done and done - in the INSANITY and ASYLUM programs, in Cathe's programs and in Amy Bento's programs. And I'm sure these drills are also found in many other home-ex dvd programs.

I'm feeling a tad smug right now.

A-Jock

[bubbles76]

I'm feeling smug with you. Makes my vast collection seem justifiable somehow

[mle777]

I did one earlier this year. It's tough, but totally worth it. I have a summary typed up of the obstacles and tips if you'd like to see it

Yay for being a vidiot!

[Aquajock]

Originally Posted by mle777

I did one earlier this year. It's tough, but totally worth it. I have a summary typed up of the obstacles and tips if you'd like to see it

Yay for being a vidiot!

mle777, I would love to see your list of obstacles! I did make my own list of the common ones (about 25) from the ToughMudder.com website, but I'd love to see what yours entailed. Could you also post up about where yours took place, what training you WISH you'd done (I made a separate list of training practices I might have to employ, including belly crawls, monkey-bar stuff, etc.). Any insight would be appreciated!

TIA -

A-Jock

[mle777]

Hi Annette! Below is a summary that I sent out to family/friends after the Mudder. I had several friends who were doing the Mudder in another state the next weekend, so it's sprinkled with advice.

My husband and I did it together, which was really special for the two of us. If you look back on my posts on VF, you'll see that the months leading up to it, I really struggled. I was missing my barre/dance workouts and was tired of running, weights, circuits. I really didn't run as much as I should have ahead of time and wish that I would have done more. I'm not a huge fan of running, so if I was short on time, that was the first thing to go. I honestly think that I only ran 3 times in the two months before the Mudder. Luckily, DH and I had already agreed that we'd run/walk the event. I'd say we were about 50/50 with the run/walk ratio.

Our Mudder was the first weekend in October in Austin (Texas) and happened to be one of the coldest October mornings that we'd had in years. There really was no way to train for the cold, especially when the four months prior were filled with 100 degree days. If you're able to find a way to train for whatever the weather conditions "might" be that day, then definitely do. You'll probably laugh at me complaining about 49 degree weather, but I'm a Texas girl I pull out sweaters when it hits the 70s. 49 degrees and swimming through an ice bath are not a happy combination

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask

Good morning! I know that I spent the last month stressed and worried about if I should have signed up for the Mudder, but now I’m so happy that I went through with it. I had such a good time and I feel like a warrior! Best feeling ever. As DH kept saying over and over afterwards “I feel so accomplished!” We had the best time together and I know that I wouldn’t have made it through it if I didn’t have him by my side. It was so much fun. The fact that it was 12 miles instead of 10, did kick our butts a little. Those last two miles sucked. We were sore and tired and cold. It was 49 degrees Sunday morning, after being 90 all week long (and is back to 90 again this week).

We got there two hours early yesterday like the email said (9am first wave, registration at 7am). Well, registration ended up not starting till 8am, so it gave us an hour to sit in the car cold and let our nerves start to get to us. We literally almost drove back home. We were both nervous and worried about the temperature. We finally decided that the kids were so excited about being able to brag that they have parents that could do the tough mudder, that we decided to stay and stick it out. It’s amazing what you’ll do for your children.

You have to get over a small wall just to get to the start line. The walls have been my number one fear from day one. I guess when you’re 5’2” tall stuff tends to scare you I tried to get over this smaller wall myself, but DH had to give me a little boost. Kiss the Mud was the first obstacle and I got through it fairly easy. The arctic enema one was the second obstacle and it sucked. When I slid in the water, I literally think my lungs stopped working for a second. I think I went into survival mode and knocked it out as quickly as I possibly could so that I could be out of that cold water and breath again.

If you wear a head band, pull it down around your neck when you do walk the plank. It is higher than I was expecting and I went in much deeper in the water then I was expecting (and got more water up my nose then I was expecting). I lost my headband and was upset (ok down, not upset) because I’d been getting tons of compliments on it. It was black and said “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can” in hot pink letters (Bondiband). Oh and once we were at the top of that one, they only gave us three seconds to jump in. After that you had to climb back down or get pushed in. They weren’t messing around. I’ve heard people have complained in years past about long lines. I don’t think we waited in a line the entire day because they are pushing you through the events. No time for hesitation.

The walls were tough for me. There were four sets. The littler one at the starting line. A set of two that were about 3 miles in (and about 10 feet high). Then in the last two miles were two sets of Berlin Wall (12 or 15 feet) and Everest. We tried and tried to get me over Berlin Wall, but I was just too short and too tired. Even with a boost, I could barely get my hands to the top of the wall I ended up having to walk around it. At Everest, I tried to get up, but couldn’t and had to walk around it as well. There was a group of spectators that actually cheered for us when we walked around Everest. They kept yelling “we support you” These were both in the last two miles and I was worn out and hurting and so cold. Though even through all of it, DH and I were still laughing and joking with each other and the people around us. Somewhere around mile 11, I just got to the point where I knew if I forced myself to do stuff, I was going to end up hurting myself either out of tiredness or because my muscles were so stiff/cold (from having to get in and out of cold water obstacles). I think we didn’t run another step after mile 10. It was all walking after that. I’m thankful that I had the foresight to listen to my body. I encourage everyone else to do the same.

The electricity stuff was crazy! It feels like you’re getting punched. We had three events with electricity. The first one you crawl through water/mud and the wires were hanging down above us. Let me tell you, don’t go slow. Crawl though that damn thing as fast as you possibly can. The quicker you can get away from the pain, the better. Due to my j-lo butt, my butt took a lot of hits, lol. The next electricity thing was this war type thing, where you crawl in this huge box and it’s dark inside and they have war sounds (bombs/grenades) playing and occasionally lightening will flash. If they have this one, get in there and stop, wait for the lightening to flash and look around. There are electrical wires hanging down that will get you. Use the light and memorize where it’s safe to crawl and only go that far. Then stop again and wait till the light flashes again to see where to go next. I thought this one was actually pretty cool. There were only a few electric wires and I didn’t get zapped at all on that one. Someone said it’s a newer obstacle to the mudder.

Oh and the monkey bars, I didn’t even try to cross them. They installed ours loose, so they just spun around and everyone fell in. I decided, I’d rather slide it on my own freewill and swim across, then to fall and splash in. I wouldn’t say that I wimped out, I just chose the path that I knew was destined for me either way I went, lol.

Crossing that finish line was the happiest moment! They take your picture and then put an orange mudder sweatband around your head and then gave us silver sheets to wrap around your body to warm you up some. It was just such a great, happy, exciting moment You really will be happy that you did it. It took everything in me to keep from bursting in to tears from joy, pride, and exhaustion. I feel so much more motivated now and so proud. I would say there were 5 to 10 guys for every woman that was there. It felt nice as a woman, and a mother of two, to get through it.

Make sure and buy gloves and knee pads. I bought basketball knee pads and pulled them down around my ankles when I was running (I was wearing knee high hot pink socks so they didn’t rub on my skin) and then would pull them up around my knees when I got to obstacles. Actually, when I got to an obstacle, I’d yell “power up” like a superhero while I was pulling up my knee pads (can you tell that I have a little boy, lol). DH said it was my equivalent of putting on my superhero mask and cape. I bought fingerless weightlifting gloves and I was so thankful to have them. They kept my hands warmer and they really helped with the grip. They were most needed when we had to use a rope to pull ourselves out of the “pond” that we jumped in to from the ledge and they were really helpful with the cargo net.

My right inner thigh is black and blue. The bruise is bad, about 8 inches long and four inches wide. I didn’t have enough upper body strength to pull all the way to the top of the cargo net and walls, so I’d fling my leg up and use the strength in it to pull my body up. It worked, but man it’s a colorful mess. My knees are also super bruised even with knee pads. I can’t imagine how they’d feel/look if I wouldn’t have worn kneepads.

My advice, don’t think too much about the obstacles. My mind can get me in trouble. I had to just do stuff and not give myself time to get scared. The pride you feel in the end is worth every bruise, scrape, and sore throat

I added the following to my summary later on. Like I said above, I had friends that were getting ready to do the Mudder the next weekend and I didn't want to send them anything that might be discouraging.

There are two things that I didn't post in my original wrap-up because I was worried about being discouraging to the ladies that were doing the Mudder the next weekend. First of all, I hurt my knee right after the 10th mile and that's why the last two miles were so difficult. I would like to be able to say that I hurt it going up Everest or wading through a deep mud pit, but uh no. I tripped over a little patch of grass along the trail right after we ran with our logs. I was a rockstar on most of the obstacles, but I was tripping constantly over little stones and sticks while we were running on the trail between obstacles. DH kept laughing at my lack of grace. A week later, my knee is still bothering me, but seems to be getting better everyday.


The second thing that I didn't include was that I spent most of last week sick. I think the combination of it being 49 degrees that day (I'm a Texas girl and 49 degrees is like a freezing winter day here), being wet multiple times, and swallowing some of the nasty water (after the jump off the ledge in the water), just sent my immune system in to a tail spin. I ran a fever of around 101 for most of the week (though I still went to work every day and just hid in my corner) and was downing airborne and green shakes like they were going out of style. My nose and lungs are still bothering me, but at least the fever is gone. My fingers are crossed that the Mudder in April will be a bit warmer

That's it. Again, if you have any questions, please let me know!
(I'm sorry that my post is so long!)

[mle777]

Hi Annette! Below is a summary that I sent out to family/friends after the Mudder. I had several friends who were doing the Mudder in another state the next weekend, so it's sprinkled with advice.

My husband and I did it together, which was really special for the two of us. If you look back on my posts on VF, you'll see that the months leading up to it, I really struggled. I was missing my barre/dance workouts and was tired of running, weights, circuits. I really didn't run as much as I should have ahead of time and wish that I would have done more. I'm not a huge fan of running, so if I was short on time, that was the first thing to go. I honestly think that I only ran 3 times in the two months before the Mudder. Luckily, DH and I had already agreed that we'd run/walk the event. I'd say we were about 50/50 with the run/walk ratio.

Our Mudder was the first weekend in October in Austin (Texas) and happened to be one of the coldest October mornings that we'd had in years. There really was no way to train for the cold, especially when the four months prior were filled with 100 degree days. If you're able to find a way to train for whatever the weather conditions "might" be that day, then definitely do. You'll probably laugh at me complaining about 49 degree weather, but I'm a Texas girl I pull out sweaters when it hits the 70s. 49 degrees and swimming through an ice bath are not a happy combination.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask

Good morning! I know that I spent the last month stressed and worried about if I should have signed up for the Mudder, but now I’m so happy that I went through with it. I had such a good time and I feel like a warrior! Best feeling ever. As DH kept saying over and over afterwards “I feel so accomplished!” We had the best time together and I know that I wouldn’t have made it through it if I didn’t have him by my side. It was so much fun. The fact that it was 12 miles instead of 10, did kick our butts a little. Those last two miles sucked. We were sore and tired and cold. It was 49 degrees Sunday morning, after being 90 all week long (and is back to 90 again this week).

We got there two hours early yesterday like the email said (9am first wave, registration at 7am). Well, registration ended up not starting till 8am, so it gave us an hour to sit in the car cold and let our nerves start to get to us. We literally almost drove back home. We were both nervous and worried about the temperature. We finally decided that the kids were so excited about being able to brag that they have parents that could do the tough mudder, that we decided to stay and stick it out. It’s amazing what you’ll do for your children.

You have to get over a small wall just to get to the start line. The walls have been my number one fear from day one. I guess when you’re 5’2” tall stuff tends to scare you I tried to get over this smaller wall myself, but DH had to give me a little boost. Kiss the Mud was the first obstacle and I got through it fairly easy. The arctic enema one was the second obstacle and it sucked. When I slid in the water, I literally think my lungs stopped working for a second. I think I went into survival mode and knocked it out as quickly as I possibly could so that I could be out of that cold water and breath again.

If you wear a head band, pull it down around your neck when you do walk the plank. It is higher than I was expecting and I went in much deeper in the water then I was expecting (and got more water up my nose then I was expecting). I lost my headband and was upset (ok down, not upset) because I’d been getting tons of compliments on it. It was black and said “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can” in hot pink letters (Bondiband). Oh and once we were at the top of that one, they only gave us three seconds to jump in. After that you had to climb back down or get pushed in. They weren’t messing around. I’ve heard people have complained in years past about long lines. I don’t think we waited in a line the entire day because they are pushing you through the events. No time for hesitation.

The walls were tough for me. There were four sets. The littler one at the starting line. A set of two that were about 3 miles in (and about 10 feet high). Then in the last two miles were two sets of Berlin Wall (12 or 15 feet) and Everest. We tried and tried to get me over Berlin Wall, but I was just too short and too tired. Even with a boost, I could barely get my hands to the top of the wall I ended up having to walk around it. At Everest, I tried to get up, but couldn’t and had to walk around it as well. There was a group of spectators that actually cheered for us when we walked around Everest. They kept yelling “we support you” These were both in the last two miles and I was worn out and hurting and so cold. Though even through all of it, DH and I were still laughing and joking with each other and the people around us. Somewhere around mile 11, I just got to the point where I knew if I forced myself to do stuff, I was going to end up hurting myself either out of tiredness or because my muscles were so stiff/cold (from having to get in and out of cold water obstacles). I think we didn’t run another step after mile 10. It was all walking after that. I’m thankful that I had the foresight to listen to my body. I encourage everyone else to do the same.

The electricity stuff was crazy! It feels like you’re getting punched. We had three events with electricity. The first one you crawl through water/mud and the wires were hanging down above us. Let me tell you, don’t go slow. Crawl though that damn thing as fast as you possibly can. The quicker you can get away from the pain, the better. Due to my j-lo butt, my butt took a lot of hits, lol. The next electricity thing was this war type thing, where you crawl in this huge box and it’s dark inside and they have war sounds (bombs/grenades) playing and occasionally lightening will flash. If they have this one, get in there and stop, wait for the lightening to flash and look around. There are electrical wires hanging down that will get you. Use the light and memorize where it’s safe to crawl and only go that far. Then stop again and wait till the light flashes again to see where to go next. I thought this one was actually pretty cool. There were only a few electric wires and I didn’t get zapped at all on that one. Someone said it’s a newer obstacle to the mudder.

Oh and the monkey bars, I didn’t even try to cross them. They installed ours loose, so they just spun around and everyone fell in. I decided, I’d rather slide it on my own freewill and swim across, then to fall and splash in. I wouldn’t say that I wimped out, I just chose the path that I knew was destined for me either way I went, lol.

Crossing that finish line was the happiest moment! They take your picture and then put an orange mudder sweatband around your head and then gave us silver sheets to wrap around your body to warm you up some. It was just such a great, happy, exciting moment You really will be happy that you did it. It took everything in me to keep from bursting in to tears from joy, pride, and exhaustion. I feel so much more motivated now and so proud. I would say there were 5 to 10 guys for every woman that was there. It felt nice as a woman, and a mother of two, to get through it.

Make sure and buy gloves and knee pads. I bought basketball knee pads and pulled them down around my ankles when I was running (I was wearing knee high hot pink socks so they didn’t rub on my skin) and then would pull them up around my knees when I got to obstacles. Actually, when I got to an obstacle, I’d yell “power up” like a superhero while I was pulling up my knee pads (can you tell that I have a little boy, lol). DH said it was my equivalent of putting on my superhero mask and cape. I bought fingerless weightlifting gloves and I was so thankful to have them. They kept my hands warmer and they really helped with the grip. They were most needed when we had to use a rope to pull ourselves out of the “pond” that we jumped in to from the ledge and they were really helpful with the cargo net.

My right inner thigh is black and blue. The bruise is bad, about 8 inches long and four inches wide. I didn’t have enough upper body strength to pull all the way to the top of the cargo net and walls, so I’d fling my leg up and use the strength in it to pull my body up. It worked, but man it’s a colorful mess. My knees are also super bruised even with knee pads. I can’t imagine how they’d feel/look if I wouldn’t have worn kneepads.

My advice, don’t think too much about the obstacles. My mind can get me in trouble. I had to just do stuff and not give myself time to get scared. The pride you feel in the end is worth every bruise, scrape, and sore throat

I added the following to my summary later on. Like I said above, I had friends that were getting ready to do the Mudder the next weekend and I didn't want to send them anything that might be discouraging.

There are two things that I didn't post in my original wrap-up because I was worried about being discouraging to the ladies that were doing the Mudder the next weekend. First of all, I hurt my knee right after the 10th mile and that's why the last two miles were so difficult. I would like to be able to say that I hurt it going up Everest or wading through a deep mud pit, but uh no. I tripped over a little patch of grass along the trail right after we ran with our logs. I was a rockstar on most of the obstacles, but I was tripping constantly over little stones and sticks while we were running on the trail between obstacles. DH kept laughing at my lack of grace. A week later, my knee is still bothering me, but seems to be getting better everyday.


The second thing that I didn't include was that I spent most of last week sick. I think the combination of it being 49 degrees that day (I'm a Texas girl and 49 degrees is like a freezing winter day here), being wet multiple times, and swallowing some of the nasty water (after the jump off the ledge in the water), just sent my immune system in to a tail spin. I ran a fever of around 101 for most of the week (though I still went to work every day and just hid in my corner) and was downing airborne and green shakes like they were going out of style. My nose and lungs are still bothering me, but at least the fever is gone. My fingers are crossed that the Mudder in April will be a bit warmer

That's it. Again, if you have any questions, please let me know!
(I'm sorry that my post is so long!)

[Aquajock]

Originally Posted by mle777

Hi Annette! Below is a summary that I sent out to family/friends after the Mudder. I had several friends who were doing the Mudder in another state the next weekend, so it's sprinkled with advice.

My husband and I did it together, which was really special for the two of us. If you look back on my posts on VF, you'll see that the months leading up to it, I really struggled. I was missing my barre/dance workouts and was tired of running, weights, circuits. I really didn't run as much as I should have ahead of time and wish that I would have done more. I'm not a huge fan of running, so if I was short on time, that was the first thing to go. I honestly think that I only ran 3 times in the two months before the Mudder. Luckily, DH and I had already agreed that we'd run/walk the event. I'd say we were about 50/50 with the run/walk ratio.

Our Mudder was the first weekend in October in Austin (Texas) and happened to be one of the coldest October mornings that we'd had in years. There really was no way to train for the cold, especially when the four months prior were filled with 100 degree days. If you're able to find a way to train for whatever the weather conditions "might" be that day, then definitely do. You'll probably laugh at me complaining about 49 degree weather, but I'm a Texas girl I pull out sweaters when it hits the 70s. 49 degrees and swimming through an ice bath are not a happy combination.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask



I added the following to my summary later on. Like I said above, I had friends that were getting ready to do the Mudder the next weekend and I didn't want to send them anything that might be discouraging.



That's it. Again, if you have any questions, please let me know!
(I'm sorry that my post is so long!)

Emily, that was awesome! Good "preview of coming attractions", as it were.

The Tough Mudder I am contemplating will be July 20 / 21 in the Minnesota Twin Cities. July tends to be a hot month in our state. So I'm not worried about ambient temperatures. Sux that you and your hubby had to cope with that!

Questions:

I am not a runner by any means. Could you give me some suggestions about how to determine whether I have enough running training in the mix? Specifically, should I be able to accomplish a run of X miles comfortably to handle the running in the TM, and if so, how many miles?

Also, is there any training you wish you had done, in retrospect? If so, what?

Thanks so much again!

A-Jock

[mle777]

Originally Posted by Aquajock

Questions:

I am not a runner by any means. Could you give me some suggestions about how to determine whether I have enough running training in the mix? Specifically, should I be able to accomplish a run of X miles comfortably to handle the running in the TM, and if so, how many miles?

Also, is there any training you wish you had done, in retrospect? If so, what?

Thanks so much again!

A-Jock

Let's see, I was probably able to run about four miles (with little breaks) the day that we did the Mudder. If it would have only been ten miles, I probably would have been okay. Since it was twelve miles, that didn't seem to be quite enough (though I do have to factor in the hurt knee and pulled hamstring). Next time around I'll make sure that I can do five miles. I did more sprint and hill sprint training then long distance running, because that's what I love Honestly, I think it helped a lot. You're really only having to run about 3/4 of a mile at a time and then you stop and do an obstacle, recover, and run again. So, I'd say try to get to a point where you could run 5 miles (4 at the minimum), hill training, and sprint training.

One other thing that I'll do more of before the next one is continue to work on my pull-ups. I'm still trying to get my chin over that stupid bar. I think that if I would have mastered pull-ups beforehand, the walls would have been so much easier. So, I'd add it pull-up, chin-up, and handstand training to build up strength in the upper body.

I hope that helps

[Aquajock]

Originally Posted by mle777

Let's see, I was probably able to run about four miles (with little breaks) the day that we did the Mudder. If it would have only been ten miles, I probably would have been okay. Since it was twelve miles, that didn't seem to be quite enough (though I do have to factor in the hurt knee and pulled hamstring). Next time around I'll make sure that I can do five miles. I did more sprint and hill sprint training then long distance running, because that's what I love Honestly, I think it helped a lot. You're really only having to run about 3/4 of a mile at a time and then you stop and do an obstacle, recover, and run again. So, I'd say try to get to a point where you could run 5 miles (4 at the minimum), hill training, and sprint training.

One other thing that I'll do more of before the next one is continue to work on my pull-ups. I'm still trying to get my chin over that stupid bar. I think that if I would have mastered pull-ups beforehand, the walls would have been so much easier. So, I'd add it pull-up, chin-up, and handstand training to build up strength in the upper body.

I hope that helps

Gold. Pure gold. Not that I'm greedy or anything, but if you think of anything else, I'm all ears. What about the belly crawls?

A-J