Tough Mudder 2013 - race recap

Getting ready to start the race (I'm in pink)

Tough Mudder was an awesome race. It's not for everyone, it's not for the person who doesn't like to get dirty or is afraid to be hurt.  Tough Mudder isn't a race, it's a challenge. That's what the company says. It's pretty accurate too.  It's not really how fast you can finish, it's about doing your best at the obstacles and making it to the end.

Tough Mudder Missouri was 11 miles long with 22 obstacles.  Some of the obstacles are hard and some not so much.  At least..not for somebody small like myself.  Crawling under barbed wire and through tunnels wasn't much of an issues just because I'm so small.  Trying to get over Berlin Walls, now that's another issue.

Leading up to this race I was terrified of the one titled Artic Enima.  For good reason, if you watch this video.  I HATE being cold.  I can't stand it. I'm miserable.  So to willingly jump into a dumpster that is filled with water and ice?  No thanks!  I did it though.  At first it wasn't too bad.  Then I went under the board and came up on the other side to find that it's mostly ice and not a lot of water. There was so much ice I could barely move. So cold my muscles barely worked. I had a hard time getting myself out of that one.

You can see how big the logs were

 

 

One of the challenges is titled Hold your Wood.  You have to carry a log/piece of wood through water and mud.  These things were heavy!  When we got to the wood pile I was walking around trying to find a small one (there weren't any) and made the comment: This is the first time I've ever wanted small wood.  A guy near me bust out laughing. haha!  He said something in return and we both laughed but I can't remember what he said.  Oh, and I did fall twice during this one, dropping the wood on my leg and foot.  Yikes!

Another challenge or obstacle had us going up a hill that was very muddy and not very easy. Ok, there were a lot of these.  This particular one I made it up with the help of one of the guys on my team and some others.  Once at the top I turned around to see if the person behind me needed help and noticed a guy on his stomach helping his other teammates up. He was sliding forward. I rushed over, squated down, and grabbed his ankle to keep him from sliding off.  He turned around to see who was holding his foot and thanked me.  Then the guys I was with finished helping some others up and came over to help this guy.  Once his team members were up and he stood up he thanked me again and said he felt himself slipping and then somebody grab his ankle and looked back and it was some itty bitty chick who couldn't weigh more than 100lbs and said that I really helped.   Later the girl I was with said she was near him after that challenge and he was talking to his friend about it and was surprised by how strong I was. haha!  That made me feel really good.

Let's see..the monkey bars. So upset about this one!  From the photo you can see that it's not straight monkey bars, you go up (very hard) and then down (easier).  I made it up and was working my way down. I was almost at the end, had one rung left to go, and my hands slipped and I fell into the water. I'm so mad! I almost made it!

The plank...it doesn't seem like it's that high.  Once you jump and start falling you get that free-fall feeling and, I admit, I freaked out a bit.

Everest banged me up the worst.  I ran and jumped and didn't catch any hands and fell back onto the half pipe, hitting my head and whole right side.  Major bruising!  It hurt so freaking bad that I got back in line and waited for several people to go before attempting it again. Luckily I made it the second time!

Enjoying our post-race beers

 Over-all I have to say that this race was awesome. I had the time of my life.  I can't remember the last time I had this much fun getting all dirty and challenging myself.  I'm bruised and my upper body was sore for a couple of days, but it was so worth it.  The race will be held in St. Louis in April and I'm already talking to people about forming a team and doing it again.  It's expensive, but so worth it!