Tuesday, March 15, 2011

I'm a Tough Mudder





This past weekend I participated in the Tough Mudder. A 14.1mi adventure race/obstacle course at Highland Park in Cedartown Ga. This was, quite possibly, the most difficult race/run I've ever done and the most difficult Tough Mudder they've ever held. Originally listed at 10mi, it changed to 11mi the week before the race. We arrived to discover that one of the 2 Mystery obstacles was an additional 3.1 miles and a second trip through the middle course track and obstacles. Yay! This made the Georgia Tough Mudder a Half Marathon plus 1mi. Ouch!

From www.toughmudder.com:

"Tough Mudder is not your average lame-ass mud run or spirit-crushing ‘endurance’ road race. It’s Ironman meets Burning Man, and it is coming to a location near you. Our 10-12 mile obstacle courses are designed by British Special Forces to test all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie. Forget finish times. Simply completing a Tough Mudder is a badge of honor. All Tough Mudder sponsorship proceeds go to the Wounded Warrior Project.

WARNING: Tough Mudder is 3-4 times longer and MUCH TOUGHER than a typical mud run such as Warrior Dash. Only 78% of participants at Tri-State 2010 finished. Only those in strong physical condition should enter."

They are NOT kidding. This race made me push harder and farther than I ever though I'd ever go. I had a great team of friends with me, Team Twinkle Pony! Don't let the name fool you. We sign up for insane shit and finish it! Together we conquered every obstacle, climbed every hill, trudged or crawled through every mud bog and pit, scaled every wall and we all finished it.

One thingthat had that helped us more than anything was our support crew. Twinkle Ponies that, due to illness or guardian duties, could not compete. Joe, Jessica, and Merril were our saviors. They met us at key points in the race with Gatorade, Protein Bars, GU Gels, and words/cheers of encouragement. Without all of these we would never have made it. Despite carb-o-loading and fueling up before the race we were all empty and starving long before each time we met up with our support crew. They really made the difference in addition to photo-documenting our adventure.

Pictures of Team Twinkle Pony at the Tough Mudder can be found HERE

Next up for myself and some members of Team Twinkle Pony: Warrior Dash!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad


No comments:

Post a Comment