My First Tough Mudder Experience

I completed my first Tough Mudder this September in Tahoe. I purposefully did not review or research the obstacles in advance and was pleasantly (and not-so-pleasantly) surprised by the challenges presented. If I had to explain it in one word, I would choose: Uncomfortable.

What is Tough Mudder?
According to their website, Tough Mudder is the premier obstacle course series in the world. “Tough Mudder events are hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle courses designed by British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie”.

Why I Signed Up
I never knew such an event existed until several friends started asking me if I’ve ever done it before.  My primary reason to accept the challenge of Tough Mudder was to train with others and switch up my usual workout routine. I also wanted to use it as a check-up to see where I needed to focus on improving my physical abilities and to set more demanding fitness goals. I’m also in agreement with Tough Mudder’s stated Fact #1: Marathon Running is Boring. I may still run a marathon in the future, but currently, Tough Mudder seems way more appealing, challenging and exciting to train for.

The Obstacles

• Kiss of Mud (Eat dirt as you crawl commando-style under barbed wire set 8 inches from the ground): I found all of the ground obstacles fairly easy since our group’s circuit training included many ground exercises (bear crawls, wheel barrels, spidermans, etc).
• Walk the Plank (Test your fear of heights and cold all-in-one with a 15+ foot high jump into freezing water): I had no problem jumping into the water far below but didn’t expect to be isolated in dark muddy water not being able to see the surface. It was crazy swimming your way back up not knowing how far you had to go for precious oxygen.
• Hold Your Wood (Carry a heavy log through at least a 1/2 mile section of uphill course): We opted to carry one large log to carry as a team (as opposed to small individual logs). This required some leadership and problem solving. We tried arranging ourselves by height and found it easier to carry the log with our arms instead of resting it on our shoulders.
• Arctic Enema (Jump into a floating iceberg abyss to swim through ice, under a wooden plank and pull yourself out on the other end before you become hypothermic): Jumping into the giant tub was definitely cold, but going underwater to get to the other side was strikingly colder once you discovered you had to crawl your way out of thick layers of ice. Parts of people’s body literally turned blue. Several members experienced recurring muscle cramps after this obstacle.
• Hanging Tough (Swing Tarzan-style across a series of hanging rings suspended over a pool of ice-cold water): This is an area where I could improve. I made it about halfway before falling into the water below. Momentum is key with this obstacle.
• Berlin Walls (Scale three 12′ wooden walls): Not a problem. I’m always up to climb and jump off of things.
• Electric Eel (Slide on your belly through frigid water and beware of the shocks overhead): I eagerly slid into this obstacle head-first and quickly experienced what Tough Mudder calls “Brain Reboot”. I got shocked to the dome and was unconscious for a quick millisecond, waking with my face submerged in muddy water, thinking, “what just happened?!” Not a pleasant feeling! Haha!!
• Just the Tip (Climb laterally to move across thin pieces of wood to avoid falling into water): My technique and hand grip need to be strengthened. I made it halfway until the pieces of wood became increasingly thinner (less than 1″).
• Trench Warfare/Boa Constrictor (Crawl through narrow, dark, muddy trenches): Small, cramped and completely dark but relatively easy.
• Lumberjacked/Log Jamming (Jump over and crawl under large logs strewn across the course): It was a breeze ducking and jumping/climbing over those logs.
• Funky Monkey (Bars are spaced 1.5 feet apart with an incline upward for the first half and then descending downward for the second portion): I used to be so good at monkey bars…not so much right now. Additionally, the bars would rotate as you gripped them. I made it to the third bar and then fell into the water (again).
• Spider’s Web (Crawl like a spider up and over a cargo net suspended between two trees): We all completed this as a team and found our second wind to push through the remaining miles of the course.
• Mud Mile (Slosh through waist-deep sludge as you try not to lose your shoes): Slow and muddy. Not a challenge unless you have something against mud, twigs and pebbles getting all up in your shoes, socks, and underwear.
• Everest (A quarter-pipe that you’ll have to sprint up): This one looked like so much fun but was shut down right when I was going to run up it (high winds were blowing pieces off of the ramp). I must go back to complete this!
• Electroshock Therapy (Sprint through a field of live wires — some carrying as much as 10,000 volts of electric shock): After being shocked and having my body compulsively contort during the Electric Eel, I was a little weary of the final obstacle. It wasn’t so bad since we were dry and not submerged in a pool of conductive water.

What I Learned
As with everything else in life, it’s important to know your objectives, especially when working with a team. We all agreed to stay together and not leave anybody behind. At one point during our 6th or 7th mile, I found myself increasingly frustrated since everyone was walking and chatting it up, while others were passing us up. I had such a strong to desire to run but had to take a step back and understand this challenge from everyone else’s perspective. Our goal was to complete the course together, not to race through it as fast as we could. After completing the challenge and speaking with some members, they expressed how at times they thought they weren’t going to finish. Knowing this, I am so proud of everyone for sticking with it and pushing forward towards the end.

My mental toughness is solid. The only mental challenge for me was thinking about the final electroshock therapy after getting zapped multiple times during the electric eel.

My physical fitness can be improved. I discovered that my body is very durable, flexible and in decent shape. I have much room for improvement with body-weight exercises such as pullups, monkey bars, etc. I’ll be setting personal goals accordingly.

Things I Would Do Differently

• Work on uphill endurance
• Train for specific obstacles (e.g. pullups, monkey bars, rock-climbing, etc.)
• Wear gloves
• Bring an action camera
• Train to be more lean and agile, instead of focusing only on strength-building
• Be prepared for being constantly wet and cold

Completing Tough Mudder was such a great bonding experience and also provided a natural high that resulted from conquering such a demanding challenge. I now have better insight on my own strengths and weakness, and I am motivated to make significant changes in my diet and lifestyle.

If you are considering Tough Mudder, I highly recommend it as it is an opportunity for growth and excitement!