Officially a Mudder!





Frankie and I have been looking forward to running a Tough Mudder for months now. We signed up back in December? and have been amping ourselves up for this. We got my sister Kelly, her boyfriend Dan and his brother Jonathan to join a team for the PA #2 run this past weekend. To those who do not know what a Tough Mudder is, visit here. Our race was over 12 miles with 27 obstacles. Frank and I were a little leery going in to it since neither one of us really had time to train. I ran once-eek and Frankie ran (maybe) 5 times over the course of 2 months. We had done some serious labor in the back yard over the last few weekends so we were hoping that would have helped us prepare for the course. It did, we were fine ;).



Mudderboatin SOBs



Starts out by driving over 2 hours up to the Poconos. Parking and hoping on the shuttle bus from the raceway and driving 20 minutes to the course. I was starting to get nervous at this point. The weather was perfect for a race and the vibe was very up beat when we got there. Registration was a breeze and bag check was very organized. I was thoroughly impressed with how smoothly the whole arrival process went.







 

We got ready to go and looking around for the start line you cannot see it...why you ask? well it is because you have to climb over an 8 ft wall to get there! Super fun from the beginning. I thank god that I am a small female because I put one foot on the cleat on the wall, Frank hoisted me up by my other leg and I grabbed onto the top and lifted myself up and over. I dangled from the top and dropped down on the other side (gracefully of course.) The MC at the start line was awesome. Got us all amped up with music in the back ground. He explained what the idea of a Tough Mudder was, had us recite a pledge about helping one another and being a team etc and off we went.

Fifty yards into the start we ran through muddy water-so long dry socks and sneakers. Next up was Kiss of Mud where you army crawl through muddy water under barbed wire. This was a little tough because the muddy ground was peppered with rocks and stones. Jogging through the woods over muddy rocky terrain was the majority of the course between obstacles. Very rarely did we have flat level ground. (I forget the exact order of the obstacles and I forgot to get a map when we were done. ) We then went over Berlin walls #1 which was a series of two 8-9 ft wooden walls. They were not hard for us and as a team we were up and over in a flash.



Berlin walls 1-9 ft tall



Next was a serious 4 ft walls to go over. I am guessing there were 12-15 of them. Dan, Jon and Frank had a super easy time with this all being over 6 ft tall, still not hard for Kelly and I. Next up was Artic Enema---awful! It was a VERY large dumpster with about 5 feet of water and ice. You had to jump in, swim/walk half way to a wall, swim under the water going under the wall and when you popped up on the other side you had to break through the few inches of ice cubes to get above water. Then push the ice out of the way just to get to the ladder.Once to the ladder you had to climb up and out then down the ramp. HOLY SHIT that was cold and it just took your breath away. Standing on the ground once out you are in complete shock and have to gain normal breathing again. I say this was the worst obstacle! It wasn't hard per say, it was just shocking and completely uncomfortable. No to mention we are now soaking wet with smelly freezing water. 



Once we were all through that we headed back into the woods for a muddy, rocky jog up and down the hills and the Death March was next. Straight up what is equivalent to a black diamond ski slope. Frank and Jon decided to be over ambitious and started to run up it, ha ha I caught up with them half way since I took it easy and was walking quickly up it. It was so steep that people was sliding back down it even being totally dry ground. We are about 3 or so miles in at this point and starting to get super thirsty and thankfully the water station was just about a half mile away.

Next was tunnels underground. Frank and Dan were both worried about this one. They both have a sense of claustrophobia. Not only are you in the dark in a tunnel under the ground, but you are crawling through stinky smelly mud the whole time. Gag! The tubes were about 25 feet long and once you turned the bend about 5 feet in you had a bit of day light at the end. Not bad :) Worst part for me was the stench. 

Heading back through the woods we went through at least a quarter mile of sludge and slippery mud. It seemed like it was never ending. Log Jammin was next which is a series of three huge log walls you had to alternate up and over. The ups you had to climb up and over and the unders you had to belly crawl under. There was barbed wire over top the unders forcing you to go under and not cheat. Great obstacle for the small females.



Fire walker was next. That was running through about 30 yards of hay soaked in gas. HOT and smokey and my contacts were glued to my eyes after that one. After this was a water/snack station. Sharkies chews were there with some fresh water. Very needed at that point.

Devils bead was next. This was a huge heavy cargo net that other Mudders had to hold up to get under. Great team work on this obstacle. The net was much heavier than I had expected it to be. Thank goodness for camaraderie at this point.

Hold your wood was next. This was about a 1/4 or so long of an up and down around a golf course holding a freshly cut round of hard wood. The wood is heavy and after a while is exhausting to hold up. Not impossible, but tiring none the less.

We then got to Spiders web which was a 12-15 foot high cargo net. The net was so loose that as you climbed up it you were actually bending backwards and trying to climb up at an angle. It was tough to do, but once you get your chest up, you can hoist yourself over with enough upper body strength. There were people holding the bottom, but it still was not tight enough. There were bananas and water stations at this point which was awesome.

We were of course dry at this point so why not add another water obstacle right? We came to Walk the Plank which is a platform you have to climb up and jump off of. Not only do they make you stand there at the top and wait (giving time to think about what you are doing) but you know that water is going to be frigid! It wasn't that bad. I do not have fear of heights and your stomach only drops a tad.

The area around this pond was covered in slippery mud making it very difficult to stay on your feet. One guy next to us almost ended up in the pond again, but thanks to his teammates-they grabbed on to him just in time. We ran back through the woods and around the golf course toward the start line which you have to pass. I think we were about 7 miles in at this point? Maybe 8? Next obstacle was crawling under a foot bridge which had barbed wire above you. We all steam rolled which by the time you get out you are so dizzy. Big mistake doing that!

Next was one of the best obstacles. It was called Everest. It was a greased quarter pipe that you had to sprint up to and leap with hopes that people dangling over the top would catch you and help you up and over. This was super dangerous and as we walked up a guy was walking away with a medic with his wrist turned at a 90* to the side-eww! Again another super team helping obstacle. I was able to run and jump with my arms extended like super man and two guys grabbed each of my hands. As I dangled a third told me to lift my left leg and as I did all three yanked me up and to the top. Frankie was tall enough that he could run, jump and grab the top rail while two guys helped lift him high enough to pull over. Hysterical to watch people do this. Some people had enough speed to run and jump high enough to do it alone. Most needed a few people helping.

A short distance ahead was the Electric eel. Super cool obstacle and sucky at the same time. You are crawling through about a foot of water with dangling hot wires. So if someone gets shocked by a wire-that shock carries through the charged water and shocks you in return. I did not get shocked by the hanging wires, but did by the water from someone else. Strange feeling...made my quad contract under water.

We then ran back into the woods and I want to say the second set of Berlin walls were next? It gets kinda fuzzy at this point what we did. The second set was 12 feet tall and much harder to get over than the first set. I still had it some what easy since I put my foot on the cleat, one guy had my right foot and pushed up as the other guy lifted my left foot off the cleat. I just had to grab the top and pull up and over. I love that Frankie, Jon and I got help from random people.

After that was the Boa Constrictor. This was another tube crawl but this time it consisted of two 20 ft long black tubes, one going down into water and one coming up from the water. The one going down was super easy and then you paddle through the 5 feet of water (under barbed wire so not to stand) and then up the next tube. The one going up was much harder and the water started halfway up the tube opening. You had to stay flat on your belly like a snake-hence the name boa constrictor.

We then ran a bit more and got to the Funky Monkey. This was a long track of monkey bars that were on an incline and then mid way declined in an A frame. The bars themselves were either greased or spun. I made it to the first one, reached for the second and it spun sending me into the dirty cold water below. Frankie made it all the way across and then the same thing happened to him with only 3 bars left!

We went to the Trenches next. This was 4-5 mud pits about 30 feet long each of anywhere between shin to mid thigh deep water. Under the water was rocks, mud and deeper holes to make you loose your footing. At the end of each trench was a small hill to climb up and over to get to the next trench. Great obstacle but again, smelly and gross.

I want to say the Rings were next? But I am not sure. This was 6 rings gladiator style that hung over water. You stand on the platform and made your way across the water. Frankie was successful at this one again and having his wing span was definitely a great advantage for him. He could reach the first and second rings to start off. I of course could only reach the first so I had to swing out off the platform to grab the second. I did that successfully and then as I reached for the third letting go of the first-down I went. BOO. I was wet again.

Twinkle toes may have been next. This was finally one I could do and do to completion. It was hard to balance on for two reasons. First the "beam" swayed and shook as you got a good part out and two some guy came on as I was about 1/3 of the way down. He fell off shaking the thing like no other. I was able to stand and get started back up and walk down more then another guy got on. I did make it to the other end successfully though.

 

Electric shock therapy was last. This was running through water with dangling charged wires. I made it through this with no shocks. Yay to that.  I know I skipped a few but I honestly cannot remember them all. It was about 12.25-12.5 miles long with 27 obstacles. Most of the run was through the woods over rocky terrain with mud and water all over the place. We went up and down the whole time with hardly any flat ground. Definitely no joke and a great challenge. Upon completion you were handed an orange head band, a shirt, protein bar, banana and a beer!

We had a blast and cannot wait to do it again.