Tough Mudder Race Report

After flirting with Faith Hill last week, it's time to revert back to our gold-standard interval: 1/4 mile repeats.  We can work out a plan with the various people who show up, including the few newcomers who are doing a great job of fitting right in.  For the newer people, plan for 4 or 5 repeats, for the veterans, plan for 6 or 7.

The following race report is courtesy of Erin T/Beef Eater/Meat Loaf, photos added by T-bone:
Tough Mudder- Not Just a Clever Name



[The after shot.]

After completing my first Tough Mudder, Terry asked that I write a brief summary of the experience, so here goes.

The Tough Mudder-Buffalo course was set on an ATV park with a number of natural obstacles, rocks, hills, etc. Personally, even with the long-distance training for the Boilermaker and weekly long runs, the run was definitely the most challenging “obstacle.” The terrain was very difficult to maneuver and the biggest hurdle was avoiding injury. After 11.65 miles, the run was definitely the most exhausting aspect.

In terms of obstacles, females are at an advantage since most were built to challenge the men (ex. crawling under barbed wire, inching through tubes, etc.) so females can cheat a little and scurry through. When it came to the walls and upper body challenges, with a team of guys (and other helpful racers) scaling the walls, jumping round bales, and racing up the half pipe were all relatively easy.

For fun, jumping into a pit of muddy water off a 15-ft plank was a blast and allowed people to rinse off and get refreshed. Another plus was the number of hydration stations with shot blocks, bananas, etc. and great T-shirts at the end for finishers.



[Tiffster getting refreshed.]



[Ob flipping refreshed.  Bomo!]

And for punishment, the Arctic Enema- a giant dumpster filled with 32-degree water and ice blocks, with a divider forcing you to maneuver under water as your body literally shuts down was, for me, the worst. A close second was the last obstacle, racing to the finish line through dangling electric wires which proved to knock thousands of people to the ground into yet another giant mud pit.

So, all in all this was a bucket list challenge for me but not something I’d do repeatedly, mainly due to the high risk for injury. With all that being said, Scala tells me (this being her second TM) that she completed every obstacle over the course of 4-5 hours and, as always, loved every minute of it. At one point during the race we were sat down and asked to reflect on someone who was an inspiration to us and of course, knowing Escalade was somewhere on the course at that point, I thought of her, out there pushing it to the max, like always. She also was quoted in a recent article saying the Tough Mudder is her favorite race, which proves that she just took too much voltage on the Electric Eel. ;)



[Escalade conquering her fear with Megan-Mack.]



[Syracuse Mudders after shot.]

Back to T-bone: thank you very much for that heartfelt race report, Erin, that was great!  :-)

For more perspectives on the Tough Mudder phenomenon, you can re-read Escalade's recap from last year, or my weighing in on it after our first foray into the event last spring in the Pocano's.

Finally, a note about losing it.  Losing ones job that is.  For those who have not heard, I am being let go from my company on Thursday morning.  After 16+ years, the only job I've known since college will be no more. Some people have wondered why I'm not more upset with the company or more distraught with my lot in life and it really comes down to this:
The day after I was notified of my job termination, a 24 year old friend had surgery at a Syracuse hospital to remove cancerous tumors from her thyroid area.  The next day (2 days after my notification) I found out another friend was headed out of town as she had just found out her step-mother had died from cancer complications and her father was hospitalized due to the stress from his wife's death.  So, honestly, how sad or upset could I be compared to those situations?  It was a very good job and for the most part a good company to work for.  But there is more to life than working, and much worse things that can happen to someone than losing the ability to work for a while.
Be thankful for what you have in life, whether it be your job, or your health, or your family.  And remember that no matter how bad of a day you think you are having, you do not have to look very hard to find people that have it worse.