I am a Tough Mudder finisher.
To do ten + miles is accomplishment enough, but add to the
fact that 75% of those miles were in ankle deep mud with 22 obstacles along the
way, and I say hell yeah.
I hope I never see or walk in mud again. It seemed to take days
to get all the mud out of each and every crevice of my body. But I’m glad I did
it, if nothing else so that I know I never want to do it again. Okay, I said
that and meant it the day after the event when everything but my face hurt. In
the month and a half that’s followed, I’ve convinced myself that I could do the
event better if I trained harder. Somebody shoot me.
So, what does it mean to be a Tough Mudder? Well, the events
consist of a 10-12 mile grueling course with a variety of obstacles,
such as the Electric Eel, the Arctic Enema and Everest. The proceeds benefit TheWounded Warrior Project. That alone made the whole thing worth it.
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| Part of the team - before picture. |
It’s not a race. Your only competition is yourself. How hard
do you want to push yourself? What fears do you want to conquer? It’s all about
teamwork and with the right team, like mine, no man is left behind.
So did I reach my own goals? If I compare myself to how the
rest of my team did, I’m disappointed in myself, hence the need to do it better.
I’m not use to being the weak link. When I compare it to anything else I’ve
done in my life, when I compare myself to other participants, most who where 10
to 20 years younger than me, then I’m extremely proud of myself. I’ve never
done anything like this. I completed 10.5 miles and attempted 14 of 22
obstacles. I was exhausted. I kept going.
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| Me jumping in the Atrctic Enema |
Do I have regrets? Yes. There are three
obstacles I wish I would have tried, but didn’t either due to fear or
exhaustion. The Electric Eel—I realize now that I could have done it and wish I
had tried. The Boa Constrictor—flat out, fear got me on this one. And
Everest−while I have some concern over my knee, I wish I had tried at least
once to make it to the top.
Unfortunately, the main obstacle that I was determined to
do, I ended up not doing, but I do feel I made the right choice. Walk the Plank,
a 15 + foot drop into water. I am not a strong swimmer and I’ve never liked to go
into water over my head. That fear was bigger than I expected. I had gone
through two other obstacles prior to Walk the Plank that put me in water over
my head. I felt a sense of panic I didn’t expect. Both times, I pushed through
the fear and kicked my way to the edge to get out. But by the time I arrived at
Walk the Plank, I knew I didn’t want to risk it. After 9 miles and 18
obstacles, my body was exhausted and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to push
past the panic or even be able to swim. So I opted to walk around.
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| The team - Mud Mile 1 |
With that said, in the weeks that followed a sense of confidence seeped into me, a sense of accomplished, but, yes, there was also acknowledgement that there was a lot of room for improvement. I’m just
enough of a competitor to need to prove to myself that I can do better. I
recently learned that Tough Mudder is coming to Wilmington , OH
