We did it!! Tough Mudder - May 11, 2013
10 mile (16.5 km) obstacle course at Mt. St. Louis Moonstone ski hill, just N of Toronto
Weather - Temp: High 13C, Low 3C, Wind: NW 30km/h
Course Breakdown:
- Glory Blades - overcome 2 high wooden walls built into ground on an angle
- Arctic Enema - freezing ice cold water obstacle requiring complete submersion
- Funky Monkey - cross the monkey bars over water
- Kiss of Mud - belly crawl in the mud under barb wire
- Electric Eel - crawl through cold muddy water overhung with electrified wires
- Cliff Hanger - muddy sprint up a very steep slope
- Fire Walker - run across a smoky fire engulfed trail
- Hold Your Wood - carry a heavy piece of wood for a half-mile
- Dirty Ballerina - jumping over a series of 4ft wide mud pit trenches
- Trench Warfare (cu chi like tunnels) - long, dark, narrow, winding mud tunnels
- Walk the Plank - 15ft leap off a steep wooden structure into deep muddy water, climbing out using a cargo net
- Mud Mile - run a mile in deep mud
- Greased Lightning - descend a steep hill covered in snow/mud
- Berlin Walls - two 12ft high walls you must scale (no ladders or rope)
- Underwater Tunnels - in a lake, swim under 3 barrel obstacles and across to shore
- Balls to the Wall - using a rope scale a 15ft high wall (up and back down)
- Wounded Warrior Carry - carry a teammate across of mud field
- Smoke Chute - slide down 15ft high, dark, smoke filled chute into cold muddy water
- Cage Crawl - while floating through water on your back, just barely keeping your head above water, pull yourself/swim through a wire cage
- Boa Constrictor - crawling through narrow pipes in wet cold muddy water
- Everest - a quarter-pipe type obstacle that you must overcome with the assistance of teammates
- Electroshock Therapy - running through wires electrified with 10,000 volts
This course was an incredible test of physical and mental stamina, endurance and grit using several techniques including fears of cold, heights, electric shock, deep water, heavy objects, long distances, fatigue/exhaustion and teamwork skills.
The physical test of this event was obvious enough, but the many different ways it challenged you mentally was surprising. It wasn’t just finding ways to keep going when you felt tired - like you would through a normal race - but finding the inner strength to keep going when you were tired, cramping, sore, shivering, freezing cold, and knowing that you were running toward another obstacle that would make you even colder, that was the hardest part for me. I am envious of the people who did this race in Florida I must admit!
I found my mind drifting to strange places to find coping skills to keep going. A personal strategy I suppose. I turned to others to make silly jokes about all of us on the mountain. And at one point after emerging from a particularly muddy obstacle I turned to my teammate and while fixing my pony tail asked her how I looked. We burst out laughing. There were many of those moments and they helped me through. Silly but uplifting. Anything to keep our spirits up. Honestly, I found the mental component more difficult than the physical component.
In my personal opinion, the most challenging obstacle was the arctic enema due to the sheer mind-body numbing cold which basically sends your body into a state a shock. Perhaps its obvious then that my favourite obstacle was the firewalker :)
The obstacles Balls to the Wall, Walk the Plank, Trench Warfare, Everest were a lot of fun to do. I think I would have enjoyed more of the water obstacles if it wasn’t as cold.
I was more worried about the electricity obstacles (electric eel and electroshock therapy) than I needed to be. While 10,000 volts sounds scary, it felt similar to a bad pinch or slap to me. Just keep low and fast. Not so bad. There were AED there if needed but thankfully I never saw it in use.
My recommendations for the course:
- wear gloves for the monkey bars for better grip
- wear a swimsuit under your outfit for the many water events (esp. in colder weather to preserve your body heat)
- capri length (or knee covering) pants as you do a lot of crawling
- water/sweat proof sunblock
- dress in easy on/off layers, non-cotton, breathe-able material
- comfy blister proof foot wear
- there’s lots of food and water at aid stations so you don’t have to pack any (maybe some gels if prefer them to the solid food).
- have a positive mental attitude!!
Overall, Tough Mudder is an awesome fitness challenge and I highly recommend others to train and go for it too! You might want to try it in warmer weather, but then again you’re that much tougher for doing it in the cold aren’t you!! So take a cold shower as part of your training and there you go. Be a Tough Mudder! Boo-yah!!
Here are a couple Official Tough Mudder and Go Pro videos of the actual event that were posted on YouTube:
Video 1: Official Race Highlights (3 min)
Video 2: GoPro (25 min)
Check out this video on YouTube:
Here are a couple pics of myself and my team:
