Tough Mudder 2013

At the start of 2013 Ryan and I decided we would book all our events/holidays etc and get everything more organised financially and mentally than we had previously. We were planning to book a holiday to South Africa so we needed to be a lot more constructive and 'picky' on what we were going to get involved in.

My definite s were 'Legends of Sherwood 10k' (my favourite event), 'Mens health survival of the fittest' (My big Goal) and ofcourse 'Nos Galan' (The big bang to start the new year). 

After a few months, Ryan had started researching 'Tough Mudder' and after hearing his friend in Scotland, was going to be taking part, he wanted to do the challenge and eventually persuaded me to get involved too. Unfortunately we booked the event without realising it fell exactly 1 week before Mens Health-so we knew it was going to be an intense time!

Tough Mudder is supposed to be 'one of the toughest events on the planet' and is a 17k obstacle course with pretty extreme obstacles designed by the special forces to test your all round strength, stamina and camaraderie (it says on the website).

I had started my training for this about 3 months early just to be sure I was fit enough I continued my usual weight training in the gym, press ups, practicing pull ups etc

I also got in a great routine of getting up early every weekday to get in a good run before work. I really struggle with motivation for running but I found you just need to push yourself and be miserable for a short time as once you start to see results or gain fitness you are automatically driven to continue..and I was!

My distance increased and I started to really enjoy it - the final long run and at the time, longest run I had managed was just a 12.3k which was motivated by Ryan cycling beside me :) I was very proud of myself and felt I was ready for Tough Mudder. Unfortunately the whole of the following week for some reason or another I wasn't doing so well, no motivation and barely did anything which resulted in a lack of confidence on race day.

21st September came and although we thought we were ready and organised for the event, as usual - Ryan and I were very late and actually ended up having to run to the start line (Not the first time!) We didn't make it and were almost told we won't be able to take part as the final heat had taken off. Fortunately there were 2 girls just behind us and the organisers decided to let us go. As this was not a timed event and would be the most physically intense few hours of my life, Ryan had agreed to stick with me the whole way (Thank Goodness for that!) 

We started off at a slow steady pace, knowing we had a longggg way to go and wanted to preserve the energy where as the 2 girls decided to start off very quickly and they had to walk every 200m. 

By the time we reached the first few obstacle, we had caught up to some of the slower mudders in the race and we were still fine and full of energy until it came to the Arctic enema!

Neither of us but good interpretation of how it felt!

I don't think my body has ever really been in shock until I jumped into this pit of ice - OMG it hurt, everything froze and stung and then went numb! You had to go under a wooden plank and fully emerge yourself into this pool of ice. Once I reached the other end I swear I was starting to experience heart failure - It was horrible and I begged Ryan to drag me out! Once out it took a while to regain all the feeling in my body but the running helped. It didn't seem too far between each obstacle and by the time we were half way we were speeding past a lot of people! There were plenty of water breaks with half bananas or bags of sweets to supply energy but we didn't seem to need it.

Most of the obstacles were not too hard, some were just jumping hay bails or running through mud. Actually I found this tough, without the correct foot wear and having a 'mud mile' to get through did prove tricky. I felt sorry for Ryan when it came to a 'carry your partner' obstacle! And he did without too much moaning!

After the mud mile came the first electric obstacle and Oh My God was it nasty!!! You had to crawl underneath the electric currents as low as you can to reach the other side in the hope of not getting shocked. Like hell! People were wriggling around like worms- the shocks were unbelievably painful, I would call them inhumane actually! I didn't get shocked until I neared the end and it completely wiped me out-I wanted to cry and when I did eventually break through and reach the end I experienced a panic attack and needed calming down...it was horrible and I swore I wouldn't do anymore of those!

I was very proud of Ryan for completing the monkey bar obstacle which I fell off after 3 swings!

I can't remember every obstacle and unfortunately I can't find the exact set up online but the last half hour I remember very clearly! It was clear we were coming toward the end as we could see the large jump into a massive pool and we could not wait! It looked so refreshing as we had been running dry for a long time. I had smashed my PB for running and was starting to really tire so it was a joy to see. I started to feel a sharp pain in the arch of my right foot which was causing me to limp and really hurt more and more after every step, so knowing we were reaching the end was an exhilarating feeling. We climbed up (looked like 3 stories high) and leaped off into the most refreshing pool ever! 

That left us with the final 10 minutes which seemed to last forever! It was a fantastic feeling running past all these really fit looking men and women knowing we had started 20 minutes behind them and were kicking their ass :) We then had to go over the Everest wall which was HUGE! Luckily Ryan and another 2 guys helped me up on my first attempt. So I was pretty happy at this point, until.... I saw the final obstacle! Another electric shock course :(

I had already made up my mind I was NOT going to go through it again and had made up the excuse in my head - I have a metal hip! Ryan wasn't having any of it and after a second pause I thought I have to go now or I will never do it...and I did.

I don't even think JK Rowling could describe in black and white the pain we felt...Ryan used the analogy of being kicked by a horse on the base of your spine and I think that pretty much suits! It completely knocks the wind out of you and pulses through your entire body! But after just 3 seconds we had done it! Completed the Toughest event on the planet and I felt amazing! My biggest physical accomplishment and had been through the most pain I have ever experienced but I DID IT :)

Given a strongbow at the finish line - yuk avi!

I normally find a buddy on my runs but it was good to do this one with my best buddy in the whole world. I couldn't have done it without him!

To celebrate we had a wok to walk and went to see Paramore in Cardiff (they were awesome).