Tough Mudder
Jun. 24th, 2018 05:16 pmIt happened -- I did the Tough Mudder yesterday. Ten miles and 20 obstacles, about five of which felt like real obstacles and fifteen felt like forced drenchings, chillings or mud-slimings. Despite my apprehension and serious under-training, I'm fine today. My hip flexors hurt, and my left knee notices it when I walk down stairs, and I have some bruises coming in, but nothing I'd call an injury; apparently I'm in pretty good shape or something. I took it easy at the gym today and did mostly recovery-ish and PT-ish things, and tomorrow I expect to be back to normal.
I had two main issues with the experience. One was cold, and I mean cold cold, shivering teeth-chattering cold when there were still over 3 miles to go and one of our group couldn't run to warm up because of a sprained ankle. It was 60 degrees and intermittently raining, and there was a lot of repeatedly getting wet (one time in a dumpster full of ice water). I haven't been so cold for so long in about 20 years, since the time I went caving when I was underfed. One other person in my group had the same problem, or maybe worse since he actually got cramps and I never did.
The other was that for some reason they put all the upper-body obstacles in the second half of the course. Someone doing a half wouldn't have gotten to do any of them, which is a shame, and I got to try them only when I was tired and losing dexterity from the cold. I did fine on Kong though, swinging across like a champ when even the guys were falling, and on Funky Monkey I only fell at the very end (so close that I touched my foot to the far edge as I fell). I'm 100% sure I could have gotten it on a second try, but the group wanted to go on and we were all suffering from cold at that point. Nobody got across except Lion and K, the two people in our six-person group who both rock-climb and are men... testosterone is a hell of a drug and yes, sometimes I am envious.
I did really enjoy the cooperative obstacles (for![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
silentq, I'm talking Everest and Block Ness Monster) and the cameraderie. Not to mention seeing Lion jumping and swinging across a pit on a rope absolutely beautifully, the only one of us who managed it. He's more functionally fit than I think I'd realized, and by far the best runner, too. I'd known that last thing, but seeing it in person was pretty great.
I think I'd be willing to do the whole thing again, if I had a chance at higher temperatures. At 70 or 75 degrees I'd still want to wear a long shirt and bring along a belt-full of Gu, but I think the unpleasantness would be much reduced. And I'd have a chance to buy better gloves.
I had two main issues with the experience. One was cold, and I mean cold cold, shivering teeth-chattering cold when there were still over 3 miles to go and one of our group couldn't run to warm up because of a sprained ankle. It was 60 degrees and intermittently raining, and there was a lot of repeatedly getting wet (one time in a dumpster full of ice water). I haven't been so cold for so long in about 20 years, since the time I went caving when I was underfed. One other person in my group had the same problem, or maybe worse since he actually got cramps and I never did.
The other was that for some reason they put all the upper-body obstacles in the second half of the course. Someone doing a half wouldn't have gotten to do any of them, which is a shame, and I got to try them only when I was tired and losing dexterity from the cold. I did fine on Kong though, swinging across like a champ when even the guys were falling, and on Funky Monkey I only fell at the very end (so close that I touched my foot to the far edge as I fell). I'm 100% sure I could have gotten it on a second try, but the group wanted to go on and we were all suffering from cold at that point. Nobody got across except Lion and K, the two people in our six-person group who both rock-climb and are men... testosterone is a hell of a drug and yes, sometimes I am envious.
I did really enjoy the cooperative obstacles (for
silentq, I'm talking Everest and Block Ness Monster) and the cameraderie. Not to mention seeing Lion jumping and swinging across a pit on a rope absolutely beautifully, the only one of us who managed it. He's more functionally fit than I think I'd realized, and by far the best runner, too. I'd known that last thing, but seeing it in person was pretty great. I think I'd be willing to do the whole thing again, if I had a chance at higher temperatures. At 70 or 75 degrees I'd still want to wear a long shirt and bring along a belt-full of Gu, but I think the unpleasantness would be much reduced. And I'd have a chance to buy better gloves.
