What a whirlwind of a weekend. I took a half day Thursday, had my car loaded and waiting for me in the visitor center parking lot, and I was off to Seattle to participate in my first Tough Mudder on Saturday the 29th. If you are unaware of such an event, the website says it's probably the toughest event on the planet.
I met up with my friend Robert, who talked me into this in the first place. He ended up not being able to compete, but I was all systems go, if very nervous. We started with a team of eight, then ended up with half going at 9:40, and half (me included) at 10.
Just to get to the starting line we had a wall to climb over. I thought as I swung my leg over, I've got this.
Ashlie, Chad, Lindsey, and a very, very nervous Kate in the staging area before the start.
We were off, I completed the first obstacle without difficulty, and went on to what the Mudders call the "Arctic Enema". Yes, those are pools of water, and yes that's a lot of ice they are putting in them, and yes, I had to swim in that ridiculously cold water...
...and I almost didn't make it. I jumped in to about mid-chest deep water and the cold was an immediate and indescribable shock to my system. There was a board running across the pool, cutting it in half, which meant I had to put my head under the water to get to the other side and the exit of the pool. With my rapid breathing and heart beat because of the cold, I couldn't hold my breath long. I did my best, and down I went and it was painful.
Well, that board went a
lot lower than I thought and I didn't make it on my first try and had to come up for air. The last thing I wanted was to go down again, but I did, used the base of that board, way, way down there, to leverage myself under, and came up on the other side through a good foot and a half of ice. It literally took all my strength to pull myself out of the water. This picture below doesn't show how badly I'm shaking or how weak that cold water left me.
After running for a couple minutes, I felt much better. There were more walls to climb over, which got taller and taller and I was thankful for strong men who sat on the top and helped haul me over. There were walls of slick mud to go up and down and many hands proffered by others to help pull and boost. The spirit of camaraderie during this time was amazing. Perfect strangers, working together to accomplish tasks, with the goal of helping people and not racing for the next obstacle. The spirit of teamwork was awesome and I enjoyed doing my part to help others as well.
Almost to the end, a very dirty Kate.
One of many mud hills to climb.
There were monkey bars and there were rings. Below these obstacles, was very chilly water. This was very close to the end. Prior to this, we had to carry large logs. After that obstacle, my arms were pretty much done for and I swung out on this ring and splashed right into the water and swam the rest of the way.
Me and Ashlie, pausing for a picture. Remember how bright her tank was when we started? How white the writing on my shirt was?
Crawling under barbed wire. There were a lot more obstacles but I don't have pictures of all of them, and I don't want to bore you with details of the whole event.
I attempted all obstacles and completed all but one. The second to last was "Everest". It is basically a really big quarter pipe that's been greased down. You run as fast as you can up this slope and hopefully grab the hands of the guys waiting to haul people up. First attempt I didn't make it and slide down the pipe and a good way across the grass. Not pleasant. I tried again, you can see the determination and focus in my face. I missed again and had absolutely nothing left in me energy wise and didn't complete the obstacle. I'm ok with that decision and even a few days later have no regrets.
We ran as a team through the electro-shock therapy, which was unpleasant but not as bad as I thought it was going to be, and crossed the finished and received the official Tough Mudder orange sweat band.
Post race, Robert getting as close to my dirty self as he dared.
Me and Ashlie, my partner through the whole thing, bless her heart! Done, tired, dirty, starving, but still smiling!
They had showers set up where folks could rinse off. I'd brought clothes, but when I felt how cool/cold the water was, I said I'm no longer competing, ain't happening. They also had a large pile of dirty, nasty shoes. I bought a cheap $10 pair of sneakers for the event and they definitely got donated. They'll be washed and sent to barefoot people somewhere in the world. I feel good about that.
I made my way south to Portland where an old roommate from USU days was kind enough to let me clean off in her house. She even did a load of my muddy laundry. What a friend! I was able to meet her seven month old baby, Faye. She's a very happy, very smiley little girl and I would have held her more if my arms weren't so sore.
I was also able to stop in Corvallis to see Greg and Jennie. It was wonderful to see them and spend time with them, however short it was. Ah, Jennie, how I miss you!
I made it to Burns, OR Sunday evening, then drove the rest of the way home on Monday. Part of my trip took me on I-80 in Nevada. I passed through Battle Mountain, NV, and had to stop and get a picture. Probably the most crude picture I've ever posted on my blog. My apologies to those I offend and to those who don't get it.
It was a wonderful weekend and I definitely will be doing another Tough Mudder. It was AWESOME!
(A big, big thanks to Jessica P. who gave me tips, clothing suggestions, and overall encouragement as the time grew nearer and my fear of dying increased.)
