I am one Tough Mudder!

 

So after I made my goal to run a half marathon my mom decided to sign me up for another race. The Tough Mudder. It was an 11 mile race with 26 military style obstacles. This race was straight up CRAZY. Click HERE to see the full course details. My team consisted of my mother, my sister Kina, her husband Kyle and my brother Steven. One fun thing about this race is they encourage ridiculous costumes. We were not the only people to look this stupid. 

My favorite obstacle was "Walk the Plank". It was a jump from a high platform into a pit of muddy water. My least favorite was the "Chernobyl Jacuzzi." This was a head first slide into a ditch of ice mud. In the middle of the trench there was a low hanging wall which forced you to go under before you could continue to the muddy exit. The water was sooooo cold it was kinda disorienting. I was pulling ice out of my clothes for the next quarter mile. Here is a picture of them "freshening up the mud" before our group entered.

 
One obstacle was crawling through really really thick mud. This was almost like quick sand. It sucked you down and zapped your energy. As an added bonus you got to carry that mud with you for the next 4 miles before you hit a "wet" obstacle again.

There were 3 sets of "Berlin Walls" spread through the coarse. They got taller as you went on. This is me climbing over the first and smallest set.

  

I swam in some of the most disgusting water I have ever seen and smelt. During one swim in black mucky water the guy in front of me turned around and offered me something in his hand. It was a large dead fish. At closer inspection I noticed that the pond was filled with them. I don't know of they died there or if they were brought in dead but it was gross either way. We were forced to submerge completely in some of this water by going under floating barrels. The water tasted gross too. Luckily we were able to "clean off" in some water that didn't have dead fish in it in the next obstacle, the tight rope walk. 

 

Here are two more obstacles.

 

Perhaps the scariest obstacle was the Electroshock Therapy. It's a dash through wires, some of them containing 10,000 volts of electricity. This has the power to knock you to the ground. I had sleepless nights thinking about this. I didn't know if I was actually going to brave it until the moment I actually ran through it. There was a slight breeze that parted the wires like the red sea for just a second. I knew that this was my chance so I RAN! Kina, Steven and I made it unscathed. Kyle and Becky, not so much. Both were shocked several times. Kyle said it felt like getting hit by a baseball bat. Since I don't have a picture of me running through I found this one for your enjoyment. See a video HERE and HERE. Funny.  

 

Although it was painful and disgusting it was also fun and exhilarating. I will definitely do it again. Anyone want to join my team?