Hello All! I know it's been awhile since I posted something new and I apologize, but I've been busy enjoying life. This past Sunday I participated what is highly known as the toughest event on the planet, TOUGH MUDDER(
http://www.toughmudder.com). Now if you're unfamiliar with it, it's a 12 mile event with various obstacles that is the brain child of a former British Special Forces member. So basically people pay to do a bunch of a crazy stuff like sliding across pond with electric wires dangling above you to jumping in various cold water obstacles. In order to get through these obstacles you definitey need a team, some you can getaway doing on your own, but you need the camaraderie by the end. I ended up with going with a friend of mine and two people where he trains his martial arts. It was suppose to be 9 people on the team and ended up with 4.
We arrived at the Poconos Raceway park and had to be shuttled to the event. When you arrive you see this sign from Dos Equis, which was the beer sponsor.
It's a funny quote, but true. We got ready and had to climb over a wall to get into the holding area, before we left. The emcee hyped everyone up, warned us that this course will kick our ass, and let everyone know that veterans with no legs and other such injuries participated in this event and showed they were tough enough. Tough Mudder donates to the Wounded Warrior Project which is great. Everyone was ready to take on the course, earn their orange tough mudder headband, and beer. Let me tell you, you earn that goddamn beer.
The first 3 miles were no sweat and had fun obstacles like crawling under barbed wires in the mud and jumping into a tub of ice water. Okay, the latter wasn't so much fun and had to be the worse part behind the electric shock, although that was pretty cold. You don't expect the water to be so cold, but it hits you. The obstacle has the great name of "Artic Enema". I shit you not.
After a couple miles, you start feeling the burns in the legs and I had a bum knee going into this, so I wasn't too thrilled. It was rough, but the obstacles were fun as much as they were brutal. Climbing the first set of walls were fine, but when you had to do them near the end of the course and the walls are higher forcing you to have someone help you climb up to the top, sucked. I was shocked that the carrying the heavy logs sucked a lot of energy out of me. By the time I reached the end my legs were shot, especially my calfs. One obstacle called "Twinkle Toes" where you had to walk across a thin board that wobbled, where you if you fell, you fell into cold water wasn't a great outcome. Well I got across, which was the objective and I was fine with it, but my leg cramped up that I was pretty much crawling to the other side. Hey, the point was to get across and get across dry, which I did, if you didn't like the way I did it, I didn't care. Maybe next time I'll test out my balance. Also, the "Electroshock Therapy" sucked. It was at the finish and I knew I had one good sprint left to clear this 20 feet of dangling electric wires, but that didn't end so well. I cleared all except maybe one, which I will admit dropped me a step after I cleared it. My legs calfs cramped up so tight, I could not get up. I had to have these two other participants who were kind enough to help me across the finish line. Luckily my right leg was a bit better where I was able to walk like I was on crutches. Of course the time I ended up across the finish line, my legs gained full mobility and I was able to walk again. Why didn't my teammates helped me? Well they were crossed already and they figured I was right behind them and didn't need to worry. I wasn't the first person to drop from the wires that day and I doubt I was the last. At least I was shocked once and not during the electric eel, which was the sliding across the water with the wires dangling above you.
Even though I finished, I didn't like the way I did and would like my revenge on that course. All I do know is that there were some military participants and when they walked I felt good, but if they were jogging and I was walking, I felt like the only pussy. One group of guys were dragging this big ass tire around with them. It was amazing. One obstacle you had to climb up and over these very wobbly web of rope, so wobbly people were on the other side holding the bottom tight, so people could climb on it. Anyway, this military group had to lift this tire over it and it was quite the feat. It took I think all 5 or 6 of them to get it over. Everyone clapped when that was accomplished.
I can go on and on about the this event and how cold it was and how everyone was bitching for no more water at the end of the course, but I think I'll stop and show some pictures and videos.
Before
After
Since you really can't see the shorts I was wearing, he's a close up. Definitely represented the double B's at Tough Mudder.
Once the Pennsylvania video is up, I'll post it up on the blog, but in the meantime here are some other videos.
Also, since this was such a humbling experience, the "
Be Humble or Be Humbled" t-shirts are on sale, so purchase one or two, before it's back to the original price.
Stay no less than Stunningly Fresh,
Joe
