Tough Mudder of 3

Finally! Billy and I can say we have done Tough Mudder. (After frustratingly having it cancelled back in June.) Admittedly, I didn't come up with that title myself, either. I saw it on the back of a lady's shirt, and we stopped to chat about our kids on the course. Really, moms love to talk about their babies. Even while doing a 12 mile obstacle course.

So, what is Tough Mudder, you say? Pretty much the toughest of the obstacle-style mud runs, where you run 10-12 miles and do up to 25 obstacles. (It's no girly race where your tutu stays clean...and yes you will break a nail, or your leg. Thankfully I bite my nails and God spared me any broken limbs.) But it was crazy tough. Not as tough as I expected...ok feared...but I am still achey all over and covered in bruises and scratches. My shins look like I played soccer without my shinguards, and my elbows/forearms are purple from army crawling through the mud.

I have enormous respect for my bro-in-law, who is in the military and had done this type of thing all while being chased by scary men and not given any food. The scariest man I saw was wearing shorts he shouldn't have been and wasn't chasing me, and I ate most of the banana supply along the course. So I have no excuse.

A few of the obstacles just required a lot of strength that I am made aware I do not have by the way I can't lift my arms over my head today, and some required a lot of crazy. Like Walk the Plank, where you jump about 25ft down into muddy 12ft deep water. Or Electroshock Therapy, where you are literally electrocuted when you run through the obstacle. (It didn't get Billy. It got me. I was suddenly knocked flat on my butt with one of the shocks. It hurt more than I was prepared for I think.) And then there is the Arctic Enema (sorry, mom...that's really its name) where you jump into a huge tub of ice water (so much ice they put it there with a front-end loader). I thought that being a runner who has taken ice baths would prepare me for this, but no. I was so cold I couldn't stop yelling. It wasn't cute I'm sure.

(Here are a few shots of the obstacles that I snatched from Tough Mudder's Facebook page...I didn't take a camera with me obviously.)

So if the "You Did What???" post didn't convince you that I'm a glutton for punishment (to quote my chiropractor) then maybe this will. I think I'm due for a little resting right about now too. But fortunately there are hooligans to chase. (Yes I said fortunately. Unfortunately I've used way too many parenthesis in the post.) No matter what crazy race I do, they're always my favorite way to be a glutton for punishment.