Tough Mudder
It’s been a while since we posted, so I figured I start back up with a post about Tough Mudder. For those of you who don’t know what Tough Mudder is, their website describes it as, “A hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle courses designed by British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie”.
I could talk endlessly about the event going into every detail and what a great experience it was, but I won’t. If you’re reading this post there are only two things you care about – training and gear.
Training
When I signed up almost a year prior I had the best intentions of being in the best shape of my life when event day rolled around. That didn’t happen. I ended up gaining 20lbs before event day (though a good portion was muscle) and hardly ran at all. My training regiment consisted of 5 days a week of lifting. Two of the five days I did crossfit WOD’s that I found on the Crossfit Park City (I really, really love this site). The other two days I would follow a “modified” Tough Mudder Workout. To modify I would simply hop on the treadmill in between each exercise and jog at about 5.5-6mph for one minute.
So how did this training pan out for the race? Let me preface this with the fact I am NOT a runner. I hate running. I run when being chased and that’s it. Well, it panned out surprisingly well. Luckily there are so many obstacles during the event the furthest I had to run in one shot was just over a mile. I made it to about mile 4 before I got a terrible cramp in my right calf, but I was able to stretch and massage it out enough to keep on truckin’. It wasn’t until mile 8 I started to intermittently walk and run. In the picture below on the left I’m wearing all black and third from the left in the other.
Gear
This in all honesty was my biggest concern. I knew if I picked the wrong gear I would be in a world of hurt for 12.5 miles. Luckily all my research from previous participants who blogged on the internet paid off. I could not have been happier with my gear. Just for reference, it was around 68 degrees and cloudy on race day. Here was my full outfit head-to-toe:
- Under Armour HeatGear Compression T-Shirt
- Nike Fitted Combat Gear Dri-FIT T-Shirt
- Under Armour BoxerJock (3″)
- Under Armour HeatGear Compression Shorts (Long)
- Nike Dri-FIT 5″ Running Shorts
- Nike FreeRun + 2 Shoes
- Nike Dri-FIT Running Socks
- Carhartt C-Grip Pro-Palm Gloves
Post Race
Grab your beer and relish in the fact you’re one of the elite who finished this race. Also, you’re going to hurt. If you don’t … you’re super human and I hate you. I was in some serious pain for about three days. So take the advice of my friend Jason Sadler and get about six 20lb bags of ice and put them and yourself in the bathtub. After having completed this race, this shouldn’t be much of a challenge – but will do wonders for your muscles.
Ben | January 15th, 2012
