TOUGH MUDDER!!!!!!!

Okay, before I go into great detail about tough mudder, I'm going to jump back to last week. :) On Wednesday nights in Des Moines a popular activity is a bike ride from Orlando's on Park to the Cumming Tap in Cumming, IA for grill your own steak night. I did this once last summer and loved it! I vowed to make it a regular part of my weekly schedule this summer :) I managed to round up 3 friends and we made our way there. After a few stops along the way to switch bikes with riders, (mountain bikes are not ideal...right ash?) we made it and had some refreshing beverages, grilled some steaks and  garlic bread and had a great time. The weather was beautiful.

Ash and I looking cool in our helmets :)

grill masters doing all the legwork

the 4 of us who went on the ride, me, our college friend Bob, Ash, our fairly new dsm friend Todd :)

Okay, now onto the main event! TOUGH MUDDER!
I've obviously been super nervous for tough mudder for a while now. I had been training well and was up to 5 or 6 miles at a steady pace without getting winded... but after the shamrock shuffle I got tendonitis in my calves and have been doing physical therapy for about two months and was advised to take it easy on the running and do elliptical instead... Well, if you are a runner, you understand how frustrating it is to know you are capable of something, but your body won't let you... ANYWAYSSSS... I lost a lot of endurance I had built up, so I was really nervous for the race.

Friday a group of 6 of us left dsm and headed towards Stillwater, MN. We got there around 9:30 and met up with the rest of our team, had a quick team meeting, introduced the strangers, set up a plan for the a.m., and then hit the hay!

Saturday morning we were up and on the road by 8am for our 15 minute drive to the Somerset Amphitheater where the race took place. It was already really hot out, but we figured that's better than cold! We got parked and all checked in, took some pictures, and met up with some of the parents who came to watch. Our start time wasn't supposed to be until 11:40am... but we were feeling anxious and just wanted to get started. We heard you can easily jump in with an earlier group, so we did, and it worked :) We started at 10:40am :) The pep talk at the start was inspiring. He made us excited to work as a team and support our fellow mudders. We took off and ran probably 1/2 to a full mile before getting to the "Arctic Enema" which is a big tub of ice water you have to climb into and swim under a barrier to get to the side to get out. I thought this was the worst one. It immediately took your breath away and numbed you to the core. My whole body tingled for at least the next 1/2 mile of running. Here are some pics of that obstacle from the website. We had heard that we would have plenty of "breathers" at every obstacle while waiting in line... but that was not the case for us... for at least the first 10 we never had to wait.

After that it became kind of a blur for me for the next 3 or 4 miles. I know at one point I hit a wall, felt extremely dizzy and light headed and realized I NEEDED water asap. Looking back I don't think I ate/drank enough before. The english muffin, cereal, coffee, and one bottle of water at 7 am just weren't enough when it was noon out on the trail in the heat. I remember pushing through and once we'd had 2 of the water breaks I was feeling much much better.

The terrain we ran on was not what I expected. It was very very hilly, bumpy and rocky, and you couldn't run without looking down or you'd roll your ankle (which I did at least 3 times). Pictures below of the trails we ran. Those hills got really old, but going down them was almost worse.

After about 6 miles I was feeling great and having fun! Our team was doing great. We had a system where we'd do an obstacle together and then just run at our own pace between, and then wait as a group til everyone was there and then take off again. The obstacles started appearing more often and getting more fun :) My favorite was the mud mile. It combined lots of team work with lots of fun sliding down into the water. Pics below.

Once we hit mile 8 it was a cake walk with lots fun obstacles, and we finally saw our superfans! (Thanks ash for being a great fan/spectator/supporter/photographer!!)

Tough Mudder was a blast. The teamwork part was my favorite. It was a great experience and feeling of accomplishment. I don't know if I'd pay $150 to do it again, but I'm glad I did it and met some great new friends this weekend too! I'll also add that anyone who is halfway athletic could do tough mudder. It's the kind of thing that you can make as easy or as hard as you want. If you walked the whole thing it would take forever, so I'd just advise that you train for the running part. And be prepared for aches, pains, and scratches the next day ;)

7 of us stayed up there Saturday night and got a hotel in downtown Minneapolis with the intentions of having a wild night... After dinner at a brewery (thanks for stopping by frantz!) and one drink, we were wiped out and were in bed asleep by 12. It was a long day for everyone lol. Pics below!

Everest half pipe behind us :)

GO TEAM

Me conquering everest :) Not as hard as i expected!

SO MUDDY! Try running when your shoes are 5 lbs heavier caked with mud... not easy

Yay for the girls on our team!

My second favorite. I loved it because almost all of us made it without falling, and everyone of any athletic ability has a chance of completing it :)