Tough Mudder Atlanta

I've finally completed Tough Mudder. It was awesome!

Awesome announcer guy!

I had signed up for the 10am heat but they stuck me in the 1:20 heat. Pro tip - Tough Mudder doesn't care what time you run. Because it was a 2 hour drive for me, I wanted to get there as early as possible so I wouldn't get home so late. Also because I'd rather race early than be anxiously waiting all day. I left my house early hoping to get there around 9, but got caught up in road construction in good ole' Conyers - the home of the Georgia Spartan Sprint. They really do need to fix the road there, but why on the day of my Tough Mudder! Between that and the line for parking at the event site, I got into the festival area at 10:36. I wasted no time using the bathroom and checking my bag because I wanted to hop into the 11am heat. I hopped over the wall and into the starting area, and everybody was on one knee. The announcer was awesome - he explained how TM works and what it takes to be a Mudder - help others, never leave them behind, etc. He was very engaging and motivating. We took a moment of silence for fallen veterans and the national anthem was played. After his speech we took off into the field, with 10.6 miles of madness ahead of us!

My goal for this race - to finish and do my best. I was not going for time or speed. Tough Mudder is not timed. You are encouraged to help others complete the obstacles and receive help if you need it. Many obstacles in TM can't be completed without help. So that's exactly what I vowed to do - give help, and receive it if needed.

Pole Dancer!

The first mile was alot of running through the woods and there were plenty of muddy spots. There was a big mud pit with a very slippery mud hill. I dug my nails into the hill as I climbed it and got up successfully. Then I turned back and helped a couple girls make it up. The second obstacle was something I wasn't really prepared for. Warrior Carry! You have to carry your teammate 50 yards, then you switch and they carry you. Problem was I didn't have a teammate. I stood there for a good while trying to find someone I thought I could possibly carry. They were ALL big tall guys. And a 90 lb woman. Perfect, I thought. But she couldn't carry me so she chose a smaller girl. Finally a guy offered to be my carrying partner. He carried me through the whole thing which was awesome and much appreciated. He was not the prettiest guy for this. Middle aged, kinda hillbillyish, bad teeth, and of course he wasn't wearing a shirt so I was hugging his sweaty chest hair the entire time. He was a good guy though, helped me out greatly! Next up was Pole Dancer. I can't really explain this obstacle using words so I snagged one of the official TM pictures (above) You shimmy across the railings using only your arms. I descended easily but had trouble halfway up the ascent. I tried like 3 times but kept falling off, so I decided to climb out of the water and just move on. It was kind of a bummer but I tried my best before giving up.

After Pole Dancer was Glory Blades, aka 2 inverted walls. I had help readily available on this one. Just a little boost so my hands could reach the top, then pushed up, got over, and slid down the other side. After the obstacle was a big ass hill. It must have been 1/4 to 1/2 mile long. Mostly walking was done here. And what goes up must come down - because we descended said big ass hill and met the first water station at the bottom. Energy chew time for me to stay a step ahead of my hypoglycemia. Now we were out in the open fields of the farm and heading back towards the festival.

Straight towards Funky Monkey.
Could I do this one? A year ago I unexpectedly completed the monkey bars at Spartan Race and was pretty astonished. I could never do the monkey bars as a kid. These monkey bars are twice as long as Spartan Race's, and there is an ascent/descent. I gutted up and went for it. Oh man was this hard. I was struggling, but I was moving forward. Crossed the halfway point and was still hanging on. I remember hearing people cheering me on. The last 4 bars were so hard. But I refused to let go. Only when I saw the ground below me did I release my grip and drop down. Holy shit. I just rocked Funky Monkey, one of the hardest obstacles for females. Definitely my bad ass moment of the day!

Funky Monkey took alot out of me so I walked through the field for a good while. Once I recovered a bit I ran until the next obstacle. I believe this was known as "K2". A giant cliff with a cargo net. You had to get a running start up a hill which was mostly dirt and rocks, then latch onto the rope and climb. 3 people went at a time. I started slowest of the 3 because it took me a little while to find my footing to get onto the net. But once I got on I sped up and made it up quickly. Made it to the top and we were back in the woods. Once again I was reduced to walking. Ran a bit to the next obstacle - trenches. Crawl through a tunnel - probably bad for people who hate small spaces, but I was cool with it. Was just a bit disorienting when I crawled back into the sunlight.

All that running through the fields, monkey barring and climbing made me hot as hell. Pro Tip - Bring a hydration pack with electrolytes. I'm so glad I did! It was sunny and about 80 degrees, aka way too damn hot for this cold weather runner. Perfect timing for Arctic Enema. The one where you jump into a giant container of ice water. This is one of those things you just do and don't think about it. There was hardly any ice in the water when I went through it, but it was still cold as shit. I had to go completely underwater because there was a wall. It was shocking but I kept moving and got out. Got a bit of brain freeze for like 10 seconds right after I got out. It was like drinking a slurpee, only without the slurpee part. I saw 3 guys hunched over with their hands on their thighs, I was like "What are you doing, you gotta keep moving!" One guy said "Well we lost our penises and balls in the ice bath!" Hahaha. Nice. I gotta say, it wasn't too bad. I felt refreshed actually. But I can take the cold better than most I think. We were back out in the sunny fields and reached mile 6. Next was a short mud crawl through that famous Georgia clay. After we were good and muddy we hit the Berlin Walls. These had to be 10-12 feet. I couldn't reach the top so I had to get a boost. I'm not a wall person and definitely need more practice with them. After the walls was a cargo net climb strung between 2 trees. It was backed up here because the ropes were not strung tight enough. They BROKE OUT THE DUCK TAPE. Lol. But it was only to reinforce the obstacle - nothing was broken. We had a good laugh about it though. I met "Foreign Accent Guy" and chatted with him for a bit before it was my turn to climb. Getting over the top was hard and I will have bruises underneath my arms. We hit mile 7 and I was running at this point. Approached the mud hills. Very slippery. I got up 3 out of 4 without assistance, and hung back to help Accent Guy get up since he was behind me. The 4th hill had absolutely no footing and everyone had to be pulled up out of the water. Helped AG and a few girls and had some laughs at the people slipping and splashing everywhere.

Another aid station was next, followed by more running. Walk the Plank was up next - climb a 15 foot platform and jump into a pool of water. Did it and yelled "Woohooo!" as I fell, not really thinking about closing my mouth or holding my nose. Ended up breathing in a little bit of water and coughing. Duh, should have thought about that one. More running through the woods and fields. I was pretty much alternating walking and running - my heart rate was up and I was breathing heavy ever since the big hill around mile 3. It was a sign of working hard. Next up was my failure of the day. Balls to the Wall. A straight wall with some footholds and a rope to climb up. Started climbing.. the footholds were really far apart. This was hard. I reached my right leg up to the next one and my calf cramped up on me. I knew this one wasn't happening for me so I climbed back down. Spent a minute stretching out my calf, thankfully the cramp went away and I could keep running (and walking). Not much longer now, it was around mile 10 and Everest was up next. It's a greased up quarter pipe that you have to run up. Of course the bastards put it at the top of a hill. Stopped at the top to catch my breath and watched people. Everybody was making it over with the help of people at the top. My confidence soared. I sprinted up the pipe, a guy's hand was reaching out for me, I grabbed it and pulled myself over the top. Yes! I was so nervous about that one but I did it! Hung around to help some ladies up, then continued on. They had a few of these random little road block obstacles and my calf cramped up again at one of them. A couple guys shouted out at me - "This girl's still runnin', keep on truckin' along!" I was like "Have you guys been watching me the whole time or something?" Turns out they had stuck near me through most of it. I guess the long strawberry blond ponytail and US Army Camelbak with my last name on it kind of makes me stand out? These guys seemed impressed with me. I had done my share of walking, but now I was running because the finish line was near. Ahead of me was the last obstacle.

Electroshock Therapy. I had to skip this one.

I have heart palpitations sometimes, and they say that if you have any heart issues you should skip this one. I have gone through tests and they said my heart was normal and in really great shape (and this was BEFORE I got fit). The doctor feels it is due to anxiety The more active I am, the less I get them (less anxiety?). But, I still didn't feel the risk was possibly worth my life. I felt REALLY bad skipping it. I need to talk to my doctor about this one. Hopefully once I get my answer I'll be able to try it at next year's Tough Mudder.

Finally, the finish line! Orange headband and beer received! The long coveted Tough Mudder complete. I was tired, but I had endured and it was FUN! I loved it! Met some awesome people out there. I will have so many great stories and memories from this day.

My thoughts on Tough Mudder

• Not timed, so there was less pressure on me to finish fast. I took my time and enjoyed every moment.
• Camaraderie is awesome. It exists in other races such as Spartan Race and Warrior Dash, but in TM it is a central focus of the race. You are encouraged to help and some obstacles such as Berlin Walls can rarely be done without help.
• No penalties. If you fail something or physically can't do something they are ok with you skipping it. I personally try my best before giving up and I'd take the penalty, but it was kind of nice not having to worry about it.
• My race was well organized and very few lines. The only weird things were - they used rotating sprinklers to hose us off (I seriously feel like this was someone's idea of a joke) and the bag check was self service. Even though they had a guy confirming you got the right bags, anyone could go rummage and I don't like that.

I went a little crazy in the gear tent. They have Under Armor gear which is *all* I wear, so I kind of had to get stuff! 

I'll be back next year!