Tough Mudder

[Hannahrain]

Laser beans. The fucking thing says laser beans. I mean.

[PotVsKtl]

there is this laser surgery that hits pressure points to help you quit smoking

Buy an electronic cigarette Ronnie. I quit smoking in February.

[PotVsKtl]

And it didn't require any laser beans.

[caco0283]

I thought about getting an electronic cigarette. I just don't know how comfortable I'll be in a club or bar with one of those things. Ryan can you recommend one for me?

[PotVsKtl]

You might try

http://bloogplanet.com/basic-starter...xx-fusion.html

I'd recommend the manual battery, one of the tobacco flavors (Kamel, Red) and probably 16mg nicotine. It's the same size and shape as a cigarette.

[PotVsKtl]

This one seems popular as well

http://www.apolloecigs.com/product_p/ak906.htm

[Hannahrain]

Think how nice it's going to be when you kick the habit and get to see how happy your family is, beaning with pride at your resolve and character.

[bucketofpower]

Thanks for sharing, BD! Fantastic to hear that the event took place without a real hitch (other than the long lines).

I must get your opinion on one obstacle: Electroshock Therapy.

[insbordnat]

Also, I'd be curious as to your level of fitness. Given it's 12 miles, my assumption is you'd need to be in sufficient shape to run a marathon. Logic based on distance and obstacles. However it seems like people walk it? Thoughts?

I want to be *somewhat* prepared. Looking to do the TM in AZ in January.

[BlueDevil50]

Thanks for sharing, BD! Fantastic to hear that the event took place without a real hitch (other than the long lines).

I must get your opinion on one obstacle: Electroshock Therapy.

This was the last obstacle of our course. It was set up to where you run about 15 yards with a few stacks of hay you have to jump over, all while running through live wires. My brother and I decided to run side by side and I'm actually sad to say, I didn't get zapped at all or if I did, it must have been small. My brother wasn't so lucky, he hit one of the major wires and you could hear it crack and it literally stopped him in his tracks, nothing harmful but more surprising to him. Good times =)

Also, I'd be curious as to your level of fitness. Given it's 12 miles, my assumption is you'd need to be in sufficient shape to run a marathon. Logic based on distance and obstacles. However it seems like people walk it? Thoughts?

I want to be *somewhat* prepared. Looking to do the TM in AZ in January.

I definitely could have prepared more for this event. I kept putting it off but I had been playing competitive basketball two nights a week and I climbed a local mountain a few times. The majority of the people there didn't run since you're climbing uphill about nine out of the 12+ miles.

Next time I'm going to climb the mountain waaaaay more and do a ton more incline because that climb plus altitude is an ass kicker.

[rasooli]

Signing up for the 2012 Norcal one in mid September. Got a team of about 15 people rounded up for this. I'm already really excited. Blue Devil or Caco, is it true that approximately 20% of the participants don't finish the event? If 1 is a cinch and 10 is the hardest thing you've ever done, how would you rank the Tough Mudder?

[bucketofpower]

T-minus 10 days until Phoenix for me. Like you, rasooli, I have a team of about 10 friends or so. At first, our team name was the Cunning Runts, but their wives didn't take too kindly to the name. Alas, we are now A Case of the Runs.

[BlueDevil50]

Signing up for the 2012 Norcal one in mid September. Got a team of about 15 people rounded up for this. I'm already really excited. Blue Devil or Caco, is it true that approximately 20% of the participants don't finish the event? If 1 is a cinch and 10 is the hardest thing you've ever done, how would you rank the Tough Mudder?

I heard about that too but didn't see too many people quitting or not being able to do it. But then again, you really aren't just hanging around and watching. I did happen to see a few people get injured and have to get pulled out of there by atv and one by helicopter. We had about 20 people and they all finished. I definitely wouldn't say it's easy, but at the same time I didn't really train. I'm in decent condition but if I would have climbed some of the local mountains and ran, it would have been a bit easier. The elevation and the incline of the mountain were the ass kickers but it was an absolute BLAST! I'd give it a 7 on the scale, a 15 if you were to run the whole thing. My only advice is to take your time, enjoy the people and views around you, and have fun. You'll definitely feel like you accomplished something at the end of the day.

T-minus 10 days until Phoenix for me. Like you, rasooli, I have a team of about 10 friends or so. At first, our team name was the Cunning Runts, but their wives didn't take too kindly to the name. Alas, we are now A Case of the Runs.

Take a look at the other names in your Mudder day and you'll realize "Cunning Runts" is a little on the G-rated side lol It's all in good fun and I think the dirtier/nastier the name is, is in the spirit of the game.

Hope you both rock it and get to wear your orange headbands with pride.

[rasooli]

Good luck BOP, fill me in on how it goes!

BD, I've heard they make each TM harder year after year, so my NorCall course might be tougher than yours.

There is another big obstacle course that has been making waves as of late called The Spartan Race. Its supposed to be as tough, if not tougher than Tough Mudder. I might do that after I do TM.

[bucketofpower]

Time to go do something stupid!

[rasooli]

How'd it go???

[BlueDevil50]

The Spartan Race is nowhere near the level of the Tough Mudder.

[bucketofpower]

I survived. Will have a full write-up tomorrow. Here's my photo post-electroshock therapy:

me finishing hell.jpg

[bucketofpower]

12.5 miles
29 obstacles

Completed in 2 hours, 55 minutes. Instead of having 10 friends run, it was myself and 2 of my friends.

First, it should be mentioned that you will get muddy and wet often. Secondly, I'll leave the worst for last. As the course was mainly flat, we had multiple occurrences where we had to run over piles of loose asphalt and a few trenches which we had to climb down and climb up out of (spectacular sentence on my part). Onto the obstacles (at least the ones I can remember/ones that are worth writing about), in no particular order!

Kiss of Mud - not too bad, crawling on your arms and knees. Barbed wire above your head, so keep close to the ground. There are a few variations of this obstacle throughout the entire course.
Arctic Enema - first experience with water! And it.was.cold. You hop into a small pool of water, medium-depth. You see a wall in front of you, and it partially goes underwater, and the objective is to swim under it to the other side. At first the water was green, but it was mud-colored (surprise!) by the time we jumped in. As I dove under to swim below the wall, I began to emerge on the other side. When I got to the other side of the wall, I realized that the temperature had dropped even more. The crew took the liberty of dumping ice cubes on that side of the pool. Thanks!
Berlin Walls - there were 3 of these obstacles throughout the course, each containing a pair of walls you had to climb over. Each wall had a plank nailed flush to the wall which you could use to hoist yourself up and grab the top of the wall. The first set contained walls that were 10' tall, so they weren't too bad. The second and third sets, however, were each 12' tall, making it a bit more difficult. I had a couple of sternum rubs as I picked myself up and over the walls, so I was a bit upset when I finished.
The Devil's Beard - the net which you have to walk/run/crawl under. There's a strategy which you can use here to make it quite manageable: as soon as you go underneath the net, turn around, bend over, and walk backwards. Super easy if you use this method.
Mystery Obstacle - Zombiepocalypse - a couple of broken down cars which you get to jump over and a lot of tires that you get to run through. Lots of mudders took it upon themselves to hop on the cars for long periods of time.
Twinkle Toes - a balance beam consisting of planks of wood which are a few inches wide and about 15-20 yards long. This was tough, and when you get to the mid-point of the beam, the beam itself starts wobbling uncomfortably. Keep taking deep breaths and take your time. I, however, lost focus once ADD kicked in and fell in the water about 3/4 of the way. Note: long lines for this as we waited for about 10 minutes before we crossed.
Logjammin' - appropriate name as this was the LONGEST wait. We were in line for over 20 minutes. This consisted of logs which you had to climb over and duck under (barbed wire on the logs which suggest you to go under).
Walk the Plank - climb your way up to the plank and jump into the frigid water below. You're about 15' high when you take the plunge, and the water is really deep below as my feet didn't touch the bottom.
Everest - the quarter-pipe which you get to run up. It looks pretty imposing as it's quite tall, and the mix of mud and water certainly helps! There are fellow mudders at the top for a reason. I stayed up there for a while helping some mudders climb up. It's all about the camaraderie!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...type=2&theater - I was second to run.
Hold Your Wood - if you are with a team, you get the choice of having team members carry a log or you can individually carry a block of wood...for a 1/2 mile.
Jumpin Bale - jump from hay bale to hay bale. Don't fall. There are some chords on each bale, so don't get caught up! A buddy of mine almost had a disaster on the last one he jumped from as his foot got caught temporarily while he was in mid-jump.

The Dodgy Obstacles

Jump Over - not sure if this was the actual name, but this obstacle occurred within the first half of the race. You run up a hill and find that you have to jump from cliff to cliff. The fall would hurt quite a bit as it is about a 4' or 5' drop. As you progress, the distance from each cliff seems to widen. Oh, and there are about 15 jumps which you need to make, so you feel like it's never going to end. Momentum is your friend.
Mud Hill - a mound of mud which is about 20-25' tall which you need to climb. There were about 30 people on this at once, all pushing and pulling each other up. I was a bit worried on this one as if one domino fell, it could get ugly. You start in a pool of mud where water is about waist-high. This is at the base of the mound, and then you climb up.
Funky Monkey - monkey bars which are shaped like the roof of a pointed house. While the bars aren't greased, each of them rotate. I made it to the apex before I fell into the...wait for it...frigid water! A buddy of mine was able to complete this, MAJOR props.
Electric Eel - this just sucks. It's a combination of Kiss of Mud and the-obstacle-which-for-the-time-being-shall-not-be-named. You crawl low to the ground, with water everywhere, and you have the dangling electrical wires throughout. For the first quarter, I wasn't getting zapped. But then, it started to kick in:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...type=2&theater
I'm crawling on your right, and was getting shocked multiple times. Each shock was felt at the base of my spine, and it never got better. As you can see, right when we think we have cleared it, we get shocked one last time. This is a mean fucking obstacle.

LASTLY

Electric Shock Therapy - mother.fucker. I don't speak in hyperbole, nor am I one to exaggerate, but this was seriously one of the worst fucking experiences of my life. Originally, the obstacle was designed for you to run straight through. Then, you had to climb over some bales of hay. Now? They actually set up several walls that you have to run (ha!) around. As my friends and I approached, I exclaimed that the Tough Mudder was a blast and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. That attitude quickly changed. As we approached, there was a sign that read, "Real Mudders run, they don't crawl." I kept this in mind. Briefly. The 3 of us lined up, and we took off...only to be greeted most rudely. I dropped to the ground and, upon remembering that sign, tried to stand up and run again, except this time I get CRUSHED by a LARGER SHOCK than the first one. How do I know? Simple: I blacked out. It was the strangest sensation: I felt like I lost a few seconds as my life fast-forwarded and I was in the muddy water again with no recollection of what happened. At this point, I wanted to get the FUCK out of there...only to be greeted by ANOTHER blackout shock. Apparently as I hit the water, my eyes were wide open. The next thing I know, my vision is clouded due to the water. As I try to come to and clear my eyes, I get shocked a couple more times and crawl out of electric jungle hell.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...type=2&theater - I'm the second one crawling past the second wall.

Afterwards, I was still in shock (ha!) as to how awful that obstacle treated us. Each of us got knocked out momentarily. As we walked away and grabbed our orange headbands, I couldn't shake what just happened. My head felt fuzzy. Kind of like when you drink so much that you just feel stupid. A good night's sleep took care of that, but it wasn't fun walking around with cobwebs in my head the remainder of the day.

Today, my knees are a bit raw, my chest is red, and my feet are sore. I had an absolute blast and would do it again. Just not anytime soon.

[dorkfish]

Thanks for the write up. I'm doing the NorCal one with a group in September, as well. Electric Eel/Electric Shock are both taking place at ours, too. I'm really not looking forward to that.

Instead of the Funky Monkey, they're doing a 15' vertical rope climb. Anybody have tips how to even train for that (besides the obvious)? I haven't had to climb a rope since 8th grade.

[bucketofpower]

For the Electric Eel I wondered aloud how you can prepare yourself to get shocked. I asked my buddy to punch me in the face, but quickly re-negged that offer.

As for the rope climb, I'd work on some shoulder & back pulling exercises. Tough Mudder also has suggested training which can help you through certain obstacles, too.

Oh, and since we had so much fun, we are going to be doing the Tough Mudder in SoCal on 7.7.12. Still on a high!

[Dogvolta]

For the Electric Eel I wondered aloud how you can prepare yourself to get shocked. I asked my buddy to punch me in the face, but quickly re-negged that offer.

As for the rope climb, I'd work on some shoulder & back pulling exercises. Tough Mudder also has suggested training which can help you through certain obstacles, too.

Oh, and since we had so much fun, we are going to be doing the Tough Mudder in SoCal on 7.7.12. Still on a high!

Shit man, hardcore. The few people I know that have done the mudder, all of them have said that they will not do it again...simply because of the shock treatment. 4 different people all agreed that it was almost not worth it.
So yeah, I give it up to you, good stuff

[bucketofpower]

Oh, shit.

"Congratulations! Your finish time at Tough Mudder Arizona was among the top 5%, and you have qualified for World's Toughest Mudder 2012!"

[dorkfish]

Nice, congrats.

We're doing a small group, so I think we're all going to try for a decently competitive time, as well.

I'm not too worried about the electric stuff. While rehabbing my knee years ago, I had to do like twenty-something 30-minute electroshock sessions to rehab my quad back from atrophy. I can't imagine that it feels much worse than that. Also, I suspect that most people aren't used to the feeling of electrical shock, so it's mostly the surprise.

[bucketofpower]

Less than 2 months for SoCal #2! Bring it!