About a year ago I did
my first Tough Mudder in Georgia and had a blast. I had to go back for more, and opportunity presented itself to run the Virginia TM last weekend! I was so there.
This was at the Meadow Event Park, about 1.5 hours from my parents house. I came down the night before and crashed with them, then it was out the door at 6am. By the time I got there it was already hot. Like 85 degrees at 8:30 am hot. I was actually very nervous about it. We all know I don't do well in hot weather. Got into the warm up area (this was new) did the warm up thing and then it was into the start corral. Announcer was great just like last year, funny and encouraging. My stomach felt like an ocean was tumbling around inside it, I was already drenched in sweat and hadn't even done anything yet. My original goal was to finish in about 2:30 but I had to write that off. I told myself it was ok to walk, just do whatever I needed to do to survive in the heat.
By the time I got through the warm up stuff it was 9:30, and off we went into the hot sun. Ran past my mom and waved, then it wasn't long until we encountered the inverted wall. There wasn't anything to grab onto so I had to get a boost from someone. Within the first mile I was already taking walk breaks. It was insultingly hot. Luckily TM was on top of their game and added extra water stations, and there was the first one. Right after it was a log carry where you had to navigate 2 walls and not set the log down. Joined a team of 3 gentlemen to carry this tree trunk of a log. A shoulder killer for sure. Up next - Birth Canal. This was an obstacle where you had to crawl underneath a plastic sheet with water on top - so the water was bearing down on you while you were in there. Loved the fact that the water was red, given the name of the obstacle. It was no big thing until someone entered the obstacle behind me and the weight shifted all to the left. It was pretty much crushing me and it took a good bit of strength to move through it. Definitely one of those obstacles not good for people with fear of tight spaces.
I passed my mom again and gave her an update - it was way too damn hot to finish in 2.5 hours. She said Ok, They had this water mister you could run through and I hung out in there while I talked to her. Through a tunnel to the other side of the park grounds, to find "Balls Out", a slanted wall you traversed sideways with ropes to grab onto. This obstacle was all about momentum. Did one similar to it at Battlefrog and had no problems, but this one the ropes were super far apart and I did not get very far before I just started falling off. Oh well! That's what I love about TM, you try your best but no big deal if you can't do something.
Next up, probably the most fun Tough Mudder obstacle. The Mud Mile. It's a series of mud pits followed by hills to get over. There is absolutely nothing to grab onto so you need help to get over. This year they did like 6 or 7 of these in a row and it was a blast. And the cool muddy water felt great too. Almost immediately after was the Beached Whale. Basically a giant inflatable blob with nothing to grab onto except a rope at the top, so once again nearly impossible to get over without help. I got a boost and then somehow got stuck underneath 2 people at the top who were helping others over. It took a bit of yelling at them but eventually they moved and I was no longer pinned.
At this point the course did alot of zig zagging. There was absolutely no shade to be found. Just us running back and forth in the hot sun. Another water station greeted us and then we were at Cry Baby. This is a new obstacle where you crawl through a box filled with tear gas. My strategy for this was to keep moving and only breathe when necessary. It was like the air had suddenly turned into Vicks Vapor Rub. A cooling menthol breeze filled my lungs. This is definitely one of those obstacles where you just shut off your brain and keep your body moving. Because my brain was thoroughly confused. At the end of the chamber there was suddenly a wall. Uh, how do I get out? Help? There was no space big enough to crawl under. Then someone opened a hatch from above and I could climb out. Really should have put an arrow or something in there so people know what to do. This thing cleared out my sinuses. Made the corners of my eyes water just a bit, and my skin did not itch at all. I talked about it with my husband and he says it's definitely a milder form of the gas, I think cause they want to keep everybody moving and not render them unable to continue the course. The kind they use in Army basic training has the potential to mess you up for a little bit. But I say, this was not bad. Next!
Warrior Carry. A gent carried me through this - well most of it. I'm a heavy girl and perhaps he underestimated me. I'm sure the picture is just my pink and purple butt in the air cause he carried me over his shoulder. More zig zagging through a field. Came to find "The Liberator" which is a steep incline wall where you climb up using pegs. The pegs were already fixated into the wall so it was just a matter of finding footing to get you to the next place. Coming up to this obstacle all I heard was "Hey, it's pink tie dye shorts girl!" It was 3 guys who I kept running into. I said "You know what, why don't I just run with yall?" And so it was. I joined Brian, Matt, and .. Greg? Now, they kept me ON POINT!!! I would have done SO much more walking if not for them, just for not wanting to over exert myself in this heat. But after every obstacle we jogged to the next one. They were struggling in the heat as well but we did very little walking.
Arctic Enema! Yes! I seriously needed about 4 more of these on this course. You know it's too damn hot when you approach this obstacle and it's dead silent!!! Usually you hear screams of absolute terror as people plunge into the ice bath. It felt amazing. And Matt's wife was spectating and grabbed a picture of us after we got out. My feet were a little chilly as we stood there but that went away soon as we headed back out into the hot sunny field. Next we found 10 foot walls followed by a ladder wall. Nothing too crazy.
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| At the top of the ladder (on the left) |
We toiled on under the hot sun, to be refreshingly greeted by "King of the Swingers" A new obstacle where you jump off a platform to a bar hanging in mid air, the bar swings forward, you let go and try to ring a bell, and fall 15 feet into water below. The line for this was long, some folks started to chicken out but we all cheered them on until they overcame the fear and did it. The bell in my lane was broken so I just tried to jump out and reach the bar (I did!) and just let myself fall since there was no bell to ring. It was really fun! The water felt great too. This was followed by some more things like a big hay bale stack to climb, a pipe to crawl through, and FINALLY we retreated into the woods for a mile or so. SHADE! I was so happy. There was mud to trudge through, then we came to a clearing to face Funky Monkey. I was apprehensive about the changes, because historically I don't do well with transitions. But here goes. Made the monkey bar climb. Made the switch to the trapeze bar (which moves by the way), Made the switch to the pipe, then once I went to put my left hand on the pipe my right hand slipped and I fell. But I did pretty good to get so far I think. Unfortunately, tore my hand open in 3 places from that fall. It made doing Dead Ringer impossible. But I conquered Everest the half pipe sprint on the first try, even though I needed some help to get over the edge. Skipped Electric Shock Therapy once again, I have an irregular heart beat and don't feel like some silly obstacle is worth the potential risk.
And then it was across the finish line with the group! I picked up my orange headband, and my brand new green headband for completing my second Tough Mudder!
Never saw them after that, but 2 of them did friend me on Facebook so I could see all the pics. I found my mom, rinsed off, enjoyed a beer, then headed home.
Also picked up this shirt
This is so perfect. Gotta represent the state I'm from :)
So - my thoughts on this race. It didn't "wow" me as much as Georgia did last year. The course was kinda "meh", even aside from the heat factor. It was pretty uninteresting, just lots of running through fields and zig zagging through the same areas. The wooded trail towards the end was nice but very brief. Definitely needed some pizzazz in their course design.
Finisher shirts and merch are not as nice - what happened to the Under Armor gear? For the price of this race I would have appreciated the tech shirt like we got last year, and also the good merch for sale.
Free samples were very good, tons of preworkout, hydration, protein, gummies, and even beef jerky to munch on. Water stations were plentiful.
Loved the new obstacles, they do a good job of keeping it fresh every year. They were a good mix of challenging and fun. Great teamwork and camraderie as always.
Photos - what the hell? I waited a whole week before publishing this post, thinking I'd get some action shots of myself. None to be found. I know they took pictures of me, but I guess now TM only takes the liberty of posting the ones they like. Half of them were of their sponsors' products. Booo.
Overall - TM VA had it's ups and downs, I had a great time but it was not quite as amazing as my experience in GA last year. Still, I'm definitely down to run Tough Mudder #3 next year and upgrade my headband to whatever the next color is!
