I did Mud Hero in Toronto a few weeks back. It was a great time. Good luck!
My suggestion is to make sure you have comfortable shoes. I knew the obstacle course I was running was going to be mud, mud and more mud, so I bought these cheap Walmart shoes where I didn't care if they got wrecked and put some cushy insoles in them. My feet were ripped apart. I have so many cuts and blisters and my toe nail is black. They are still healing, several weeks later. Do whatever you can to make sure your feet are comfy. Also, make sure to tie your shoes properly and tightly, so you don't have to stop repeatedly to re-tie them or to remove any debris like leaves, etc, from your laces.
Running through the mud pits, don't go too slow because it is insane how quickly you will sink and get stuck. You have to just power through.
Don't wear clothing that is loose. Doesn't have to be skin tight or anything, but something that is not going to absorb mud and water and then stretch out while you are running. My friend wore a fairly loose shirt and by the end, it looked like a dress on her. It stretched out a ton.
I had someone tell me that I should wear long sleeves and pants, instead of short sleeves and shorts. I would agree that I was happy to have worn capri pants because there was a lot of running through mud and sticks and rocks, etc, but I wore long sleeves and I found they annoyed me a little bit. Maybe they were too loose, but I kept having to push them up. I would have preferred to have been wearing short sleeves.
You will get bruised, so just be ready for that. My thighs still have nice yellow patches on them.
Bring towels or garbage bags or something to line your car on the ride home.
Take before and after pictures. It was quite hilarious to see me all nicely put together to start the race and then to see an exhausted, in pain, muddy version of me afterward. Good for a laugh.
Just have fun and don't be too focused on your time. The one I went to the atmosphere was amazing. People were really encouraging and supportive, giving each other boosts over the obstacles and cheering on runners that were slowing down or having troubles. It was great, so try and create or add to that.
Enjoy it and report back how it went!
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-Elle-
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I'm fully expecting to be battered and bruised afterward, but it should be a good time regardless. They actually don't have clocks or timers at the Tough Mudder at all, so the only goal is just to finish. According to the map they released, the course is 16.5 km long and I bet the average team will finish it between 3.5-4 hours.
I've actually been training with some trail running minimus shoes for the past 8 months, putting them through the paces with the plan of using them for tough mudder now. It's at the point now where the shoes still work great, but I'm totally cool with them getting destroyed during the process. I've also got my obnoxiously tight compression shirt ready to go!
I didn't train for that long. That's impressive. When I did Mud Hero, which is like a tiny fraction of Tough Mudder, I probably did about a month's worth of training for it. Basically, just biking, running and some lifting of light hand weights. I was not at all prepared for running the really steep hills. That's where I struggled. Did really well with the obstacles, but got killed trying to run up the hills. When I ran before the event, it was on even ground and pavement, no hills or grass. I would have killed it if it had been even ground we were running. Dammit.
So, hopefully, you've been running steep inclines and on grass.
Smart with the shoes. I have two pairs of runners and I have had them for about two years. I will protect them with my life because they are so comfortable. I was not going to risk losing them, but probably should have gotten something better than Walmart brand.
I would love to try Tough Mudder. My cousin does it in Vancouver and the pictures he posts are always insane. I didn't realize they had an event out here until it was too late. Next year, I'll try it. I'll start breaking in my shoes now.
Eastern girl is dead on about clothing. My wife has done a few of these, she thought long sleeves would be a good idea. After the first mud pit, it was a soggy, heavy mess.
Well, I wouldn't say the 8 month thing was only for tough mudder. I used to do a lot of rock climbing, but have found it getting harder and harder on my body so I've been trying to branch out to some other activities. I've been trying to do more trail running, but I think the mud/slip factor is going to be crazy at the event. I heard the most common injury at these things are twisted ankles, so watch the ground!
I honestly think the obstacles won't be too challenging, but it's still trail running for almost a half marathon. I only started running in the last few months, so that's my primary concern haha.
I don't think it'll be that difficult for you especially since you have all that upper body strength from rock climbing. I always hear that the running is a joke because there's always lineups and such at the obstacles so you can easily catch your breath.
I don't think the running is going to be difficult. I think it's the obstacles and the bruises on the legs that will be the hard part. Best thing is though, is that if you're not in shape for this, this will jolt your body into full workout mode afterwards, I've heard.
I am running the Spartan in Red Deer on Saturday. My main concern is I dislocated my shoulder at the end of July and it still ain't right. The body weight/pull concerns me.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
Well, I wouldn't say the 8 month thing was only for tough mudder. I used to do a lot of rock climbing, but have found it getting harder and harder on my body so I've been trying to branch out to some other activities. I've been trying to do more trail running, but I think the mud/slip factor is going to be crazy at the event. I heard the most common injury at these things are twisted ankles, so watch the ground!
I honestly think the obstacles won't be too challenging, but it's still trail running for almost a half marathon. I only started running in the last few months, so that's my primary concern haha.
I wouldn't be too concerned. These are marketed and aimed at those individuals that finish in the bottom 50% of entrants. These companies know they will get the top half back, but it is the bottom half that needs to enjoy themselves and re-purchase next year.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
Corporal Jean-Marc H. BECHARD, 6 Aug 1993
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I am running the Spartan in Red Deer on Saturday. My main concern is I dislocated my shoulder at the end of July and it still ain't right. The body weight/pull concerns me.
If your shoulder can't support the weight or move well, you might want to just walk around the obstacles that might aggravate it. Otherwise, I recommend trying to consciously keeping your muscles engaged when doing a pulling motion or holding up your body weight. The second you ease off it might dislocate again...
If your shoulder can't support the weight or move well, you might want to just walk around the obstacles that might aggravate it. Otherwise, I recommend trying to consciously keeping your muscles engaged when doing a pulling motion or holding up your body weight. The second you ease off it might dislocate again...
Sadly this is not the first dislocation I have had, well first for this shoulder.......
Apparently if you can't do the obstacle in the Spartan you have to do 30 burpees to continue on.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
Running it this year, ran it last year in Whistler.
Finished in 3 hrs (they do have a clock at the finish so you can figure out your time if you look at what time you depart at) We ran the majority of the way, most people were walking. I bet 3/4 of the people seemed to be walking or a very slow jog. Like previously said in this thread, people are there for fun and not to race. You run about 1km (4-5 minutes) and then wait/do an obstacle, lots of time to rest up.
Tips:
1) Shoes - Tie your shoelaces good, they will be covered in mud and some places you are waist deep in mud and if your shoe is lose you will lose it in the mud and won't be able to get it back. Saw a couple people running with 1 shoe left.
2) Gloves - Buy a pair of $10 gloves from Rona. You do a lot of crawling and it does a number on your knees and hands. Gloves also help a bit for grip and not getting splinters.
3) Clothing - I wore shorts and a underarmor long sleeve. It worked well. The first obstacle was the artic enema (jumping into a dumpster full or ice, submerging yourself and walking across) so you are soaked the entire race. They make sure you are almost always wet. By the end we were quite cold, they do have thermal blankets that a lot of people are walking / running with.
4) Start times - It doesn't matter what your start time is, just get there and register. Then they call by time and you just walk up and jump into this wooden rectangle. When it fills up they do the speech/cheer and then they let them go. If you don't like your time and want to go early/later just show up then. **It MIGHT not be like this in Drumheller, just giving the Whistler experience**
5) Obstacles - Cold water sucks. Elecricity + Cold water....
From what we experienced on our team, do not take your shirt off right before crawling through the electricity. The electricity really hurts, feels like a good ol punch. Most people cover their faces with their hands and run through it.
Have fun, it's quite the experience. Will be interesting to see how the mud is in Drumheller compared to the mud in whistler.
The drowning of Avishek Sengupta at an obstacle challenge last April was ruled an accident, but his family and friends believe that the sport’s most prominent company did a terrible job of monitoring safety at a water obstacle called Walk the Plank. Elliott D. Woods looks at the life of a remarkable amateur athlete and explains why his tragic end may lead to a multimillion-dollar legal fight.
I've done the last two years. With 8 months of training, you are going to be laughing. My concern was running because my cardio was not up to par, but my strength was decent. I trained towards a comfortable 45 minute 10km. For the TM, I ran much slower than that pace (it took 3 hours) and I found the experience surprisingly easy.
I recommend the Salomon Speedcross shoes. They are very lightweight, dry easily, and are as close to cleats as you can get without being cleats. I didn't slip at all. I don't think gloves are necessary; it's just one other thing to get wet and possibly cause blisters. Just wear Dri-fit clothing and you'll be fine.
This year's race had a lot of prone-crawling on rocks. My knees were quite butchered but I can't imagine there's much you can do to protect yourself without looking like a wimp.
Just go and enjoy it and don't get hung up on your time. We stopped atop the half pipe for about 20 minutes and helped all the ladies up (wish I was single for that) and it was a blast. It was just as fun interacting with everyone else as doing the course itself.
Oh, they offered a one-time only $59 registration for next year's course. If you want to do it again, it will never be that cheap. We didn't bring our wallets so we missed out.
I was thinking of bringing a waterproof/shockproof camera (not a gopro). I'm envisioning it getting muddy in like 2 seconds and never being able to get a good photo.
Cuz let's be real. Doing a mud race starts at the gym, and ends on facebook
Anyone have experience bringing a camera/gopro to these things and keeping it clean enough to take decent videos or photos?
I was thinking of bringing a waterproof/shockproof camera (not a gopro). I'm envisioning it getting muddy in like 2 seconds and never being able to get a good photo.
Cuz let's be real. Doing a mud race starts at the gym, and ends on facebook
Anyone have experience bringing a camera/gopro to these things and keeping it clean enough to take decent videos or photos?
I suspect I will not "Aroo" on Saturday...
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
Tough Mudder itself seems to be partnered with Garmin for gadgets, but I'm not going to bring anything of the sort. I know my garmin watch can probably hold up, but I'd rather not risk it in favour of taking in the day and having a good time. I have heard that they sometimes hand out garmin cameras for teams to use during the race however.
I did the Spartan a couple of weeks ago here in town. I'm going to Tough Mudder to cheer on a buddy this weekend. Good luck to all of you - I think this would kill me.
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We may curse our bad luck that it's sounds like its; who's sounds like whose; they're sounds like their (and there); and you're sounds like your. But if we are grown-ups who have been through full-time education, we have no excuse for muddling them up.
Tough Mudder
