Interview With a Tough Mudder!

My sister, Elizabeth, completed the Tough Mudder!  Twelve miles of muddy, crazy obstacles, facing her fears, and feeling stronger on the other side.  I thought it’d be neat to ask her some questions about this crazy course, since I’ve never been any more adventurous than running!  (In a tutu… once, yes, but that now seems pretty tame.)

Wondering what the Tough Mudder is all about?  Here are some answers from my favorite Tough Mudder 🙂

 

QUESTIONS

Kelly: Hey E! So, besides being my sister, which is pretty awesome, you also are a TOUGH MUDDER which is even MORE awesome!  What made you decide to become a Tough Mudder?

Elizabeth: It started with my friend studying for the Bar Exam… and feeling a bit crazy and in need of some externalization of that crazy. She contacted a group of us and asked if we wanted to do the Tough Mudder. My first thought was YES! My second thought was “NOOOO”. I decided to go with my first thought. I was certainly nervous, but as the event approached, I started to really feel as though this was something I needed. The whole experience was a real positive physical and emotional moment of growth for me. It helped me to externalize some of my own crazy experiences and symbolically turn some of the stresses in my life into something that was challenging, but truly positive. One example is that as a therapist, I cognitively understand the importance of allowing people to help you when you need it, but emotionally… I really struggle with it. It’s hard to let other people help you. You have to trust them, you have to let go of some control, and you have to allow yourself to be vulnerable. The Tough Mudder is an event that is IMPOSSIBLE for me to complete without help. (Regardless of how strong I will ever be, I just won’t be able to scale a 12 foot wall by myself). I had to let other people help me, and it felt really great!

Kelly: Were you muddy ALL the time, or most of the time?  Was it cold, or were you moving enough to feel all right?

Elizabeth: They actually do a fantastic (there might be a touch of sarcasm in that word..) job of spreading out the upper body, super muddy, and get completely soaked obstacles. You’d get completely muddy crawling through a foot of mud under barbed wire, then the next obstacle might be to jump off a fifteen foot drop into water, followed by boosting yourself and your teammates over a 12 foot wall… it’s really quite brilliant – but all that said, you’re either totally muddy or completely soaked the whole time (except in the beginning- we were all “watch out for that little mud puddle, lets jump over it or go around”…. you try to hold on to that dry, clean feeling as long as you can. I did get cold around the last quarter… it wasn’t a very warm day to begin with, and all the water you jump into is pretty cold. That being said, there wasn’t a moment during it that I wasn’t extremely happy that I was doing it.

Kelly: Your Tough Mudder was a 12 mile obstacle course, how much of that was walking or running vs. obstacles?  Was there any running?  Can you describe the course a little bit?

Elizabeth: Most obstacles are only a few yards long, so a lot of the course is running. You can certainly choose to walk between all of the obstacles if you really want to, but almost everyone runs the whole time… we ran between them all, stopping only a couple times to stretch, tie a shoe lace, or pull a teammate out of the mud… (literally).  You get enough of a rest (ok, maybe rest isn’t the most appropriate word… but a rest from running) at each obstacle, since sometimes you have to wait a minute for someone ahead of you and you are using different muscles during all the obstacles, so by the time you get through it you are amped up on adrenaline and ready to keep running!

Kelly: What were a couple of your favorite obstacles, and why?

Elizabeth: My absolute favorite was the “Phoenix”. Symbolically, the name is wonderful, and when you arrive at this particular obstacle, there is wall with a platform under it that you can’t see past. The volunteer says, “crawl under the platform and then when they tell you to run- run, and then jump!” One of my teammates asked “How will we know when to jump?”  “You’ll know.” the volunteer responded.  So we all crawled under the platform, through the mud, and sure enough, when you get to the other side there is a space to run, and then flames a few feet tall. So we assembled in our “MUDDER” line, and ran and jumped over the fire, landing in a few feet of water on the other side. It was exhilarating! There wasn’t really time to think, and I had no idea what to expect after we jumped. How far down was the drop after we jumped? What was down there? It certainly felt like a moment of rebirth for me. I loved it!

 Kelly: Tough Mudder allows anyone to skip any obstacle – did you skip some, and why, and are there any you WISH you’d skipped?  What were some of the toughest ones?

Elizabeth: I did skip a couple, and there weren’t any I wish I HAD skipped, but I wish I HADN’T skipped both of these. I skipped the “Arctic Enema” http://toughmudder.com/obstacles/arctic-enema/ because I’d been sick for three weeks before the event and the idea of jumping into a dumpster of ice water and swimming underneath a board just seemed like signing a death wish. (I know I signed a death waiver form… but I didn’t feel the need to assure that it would be necessary). All my teammates did it though, and they said this was by far the hardest obstacle. I will definitely do it next year! The other one I skipped was the “Boa Constrictor” http://toughmudder.com/obstacles/boa-constrictor/ you have to crawl into a tube downhill into water, walk across an area of water with barbed water on top and then climb uphill in a tube. I have a hard time with small spaces, and while I was deciding whether or not I could do this one, a volunteer yelled “GO! You need to go!” and so I got scared and backed out. (I do a lot of tough things well, but tough love isn’t one of them). I will do this one next year as well! (If it’s on the course). I also feel the need to say that every other volunteer was encouraging, enthusiastic and helpful!

 Kelly: The harder you work, the more proud you feel afterwards.  Was there a moment during the Tough Mudder where you really tested your limits and made yourself proud?

Elizabeth: Yes! The whole time! But I think my proudest moment was during the “Cage Crawl” http://toughmudder.com/obstacles/cage-crawl/ . You have to lie on your back in muddy water and pull yourself under a fence to the other side. What they don’t show in the photos on this link is that parts of it are covered in a tarp, so you can’t even see out the other side. I was about 1/4 of the way in and someone behind me kicked, making the water rise up over my face and there was no way to get to the air, because the fence was so close. I panicked, and made my way back to the start as fast as I could. I gasped for air and got some reassurance from some random mudders (my teammates were all already through the obstacle). I took some deep steadying breaths, and resolved to make it through this obstacle. I waited until there wasn’t anyone ahead of me, and when a mudder stepped into the lane next to mine, I went with him. I kept my eyes on his arms and when he reached, I made myself reach. And! I MADE IT! I was so proud of myself!

Kelly: Would you do it again?

Elizabeth: Yes. I have already cleared my calendar for the Tough Mudder in Vermont next year! (I was so surprised – I REALLY expected this to be something that I did ONE time, and was happy to never do again). But I was filled with such an incredible feeling of adventure, pride, camaraderie,  and excitement the whole time, I can’t wait to do it again.

Kelly: Who would you recommend Tough Mudder to, and who might want to skip this kind of race?

Elizabeth: I would recommend this to anyone who loves adventure, challenging your body, and truly appreciates working with others. If you’re extremely competitive you will still enjoy it, as long as you can turn that competition on yourself. I’d say skip this if you don’t like to get dirty. Because you WILL get dirty. so incredibly dirty. I would also say that unless you have a team- don’t do it. This is not an event to do alone, for safety reasons as well as for fun! Some of the obstacles may trigger some phobias and fears; this is definitely a psychologically challenging event on top of being physically challenging, but again, if you truly are uncomfortable with anything – it’s easy to go around an obstacle. There is no shame and no judgement.

Kelly: One of the things I like about the Tough Mudder website is their emphasis on team work rather than faster race times.  Part of the Tough Mudder pledge is that “I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time.”  For an obstacle course, this makes a ton of sense!  I know you raced with a team but did you have a chance to help a stranger, or did a stranger help you in a way that was Mudtastic?

Elizabeth: Yes! This is hands down my very favorite part of the Tough Mudder. EVERYONE helps everyone. It’s truly wonderful, and was one of the main reasons my heart was singing the whole time. In my opinion it’s one of the best parts of humanity being expressed, all while you are challenging yourself and experiencing new things. There were many times when I would reach to help someone I didn’t know, offer words of encouragement or experience these things from a stranger. One of the best parts for me is that my shirt said “E” on it- which is what my family calls me, so throughout the day I heard cheers of “You’ve got this E!” “Go for it, E!” all from strangers, but it felt as though my family was there, cheering me on every step of the way! The “Mud Mile” http://toughmudder.com/obstacles/mud-mile/ was the obstacle that I found I was giving and receiving help to/ from strangers. The walls of mud slow people down, so there are a lot of mudders in there together, and everyone is helping fellow mudders lift up and crawl over the mounds.

 Kelly: Any other thoughts, comments, or experiences you’d like to share with a bunch of runners?

Elizabeth: I though this would be something that would absolutely kill me physically, and I was surprised that while being a challenge, it was something I could do. I think runners would love the Tough Mudder – especially those who might find running a little monotonous. It’s running with crazy adventures in between!

Keep running! That will certainly come in handy. I would also recommend some upper body workouts, and possibly some flexibility training, like yoga, because that will help with climbing over walls and barrels) I don’t have much upper body strength, which came into play a couple times (greased monkey bars on an incline?! I fell off and into the water below on the second rung.) I plan on training more for next year!

Have your own questions for a Tough Mudder or Mud / Obstacle Run Experiences?  Leave a comment!