Tough Mudder?

roadlesswritten

Has anyone done a Tough Mudder? How fit do you have to be? I'm not sure if I can make it but it seems like a lot of fun

yesimpson

I'd be interested to know too! I'd love to do one but I think I need to build up my upper body strength a lot first.

lottycat

Hi ladies, I did one in 2013, and am signing up for this years London South when I get paid tomorrow (these things don't come cheap!)

When I signed up for the last one I was the fittest I've ever been - still no athlete, but a regular gym visitor, could run 10k and had been doing a bit of weight/body weight training - only a bit though! Buuut as the event drew closer my personal life got a bit messed up and my training pretty much went out the window. So by the time it came around I was definitely not in the best shape, and no where near as prepared as I wanted to be. I actually had a total girl-meltdown the night before and nearly didn't do it.
But my very supportive boyfriend and amazing team mates (who had also not done as much training as they'd have liked) got me there and in actual fact the day was amazing.

Here are my top points to help you out, from a normal girl, not an athlete.

1. Get a team. It's really no fun on your own, and unless you're a body builder some of the obstacles are pretty much impossible on your own.
2. Run. It's 10-12 miles, so some running training really is essential. You don't need to be able to run 12 miles stright, each time you get to an obstacle you get a running break so if you can run 5-10k I think you'll be fine. Bare in mind a lot of the running is up and down hills so practice that. Also run out doors, on the beach, in the woods and on grass. Treadmills and roads are dull anyway and don't really prepare you.
3. Don't stress the obstacles. They are mostly unpleasant, in a cold muddy wet way. It really is mind over matter. Most of them don't really involve loads of physical strength, just a positive attitude. There are loads of friendly folk that will help you out.
4. You will need to do some strength training though - Obstacles like monkey bars, and rope climbing come up a lot. Realistically, very few people actually complete them without falling the water/mud below, but you'll feel bad if you don't give it a damn good go!
5. Water. There is a lot of it. If you are scared of water or can't swim I really would advise against it. There's no shame in skipping out bits that you really can't/don't want to do - a few members of my team skipped bits. But there's no point in training and paying all that money if you are going to skip more than you do.
6. HAVE FUN. My lasting memory of that day is that we laughed the whole way around the course. It really is fun. The sense of team work and comradery (sp?) is like nothing else I've ever experienced. You will have a blast.

In summery, no. You do not have to be a body builder or an athlete, just have a basic level of fitness. If you sign up now and start a training regime, even very slowly at first, I think anyone could do this. There are lots of very manly men there prancing about being macho, but I am a very geeky, girly, uncoorinated girl, and I did it. You definitely can.

yoovie

Im addicted to them.

they are not to be taken lightly.

they do require a certain level of fitness that should not be underestimated.

Even for those of us that have completed half marathon length races, been lifting weights for years and have done these races before - they are HARD, they are exhausting, and push you farther than you expect, and force you to face a lot of fears and many many people cannot finish them.

If you havent been working out regularly for some time, it will require a lot of hard work to get to that point.

But lots of us prefer goals that demand respect and unbelievable amounts of hard work as opposed to baby steps. For those people, I often recommend signing up for a race at least 6 months out and forget about losing weight.

This is about training.

And when someone asks why you workout, how much weight do you wanna lose? You can answer - oh im not trying to drop weight, Im in training. Losing weight is just an awesome side effect

this is one of my most poignant tough mudder moments

yoovie

also check out this new video that wasnt made by TM

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Safety-During-a-Tough-Mudder_New-York-257611591.html

AllanMisner

I ran one with my daughter a little over a year ago and plan to run another one in March. If in doubt, I’d encourage you to do a warrior dash or spartan sprint first (they are shorter). Things to work on:
- Get a team together, although most folks on the course are very willing to help everyone else.
- Ability to keep going for 3+ hours (even though there are lots of breaks in the running, fatigue sets in toward the end).
- Upper body strength for climbing.
- Be comfortable swimming with shoes on.
- Be able to accept change.
- Sign up early to get the best rate.

yoovie

1. Get a team. It's really no fun on your own, and unless you're a body builder training specifically for a Tough Mudder or similar, some of the obstacles are pretty much impossible on your own.
3. Don't stress the obstacles. They are mostly unpleasant, difficult and challenging in a cold muddy wet dangerous, physically exhausting way. It really is mind over matter. Most of them don't really involve loads of physical strength, just as well as a positive attitude. There are loads of friendly folk that will help you out.
4. You will need to do some lots of focused strength training though - Obstacles like monkey bars, and rope climbing come up a lot. Realistically, very few people women actually complete them without falling the water/mud below, but you'll feel bad if you don't give it a damn good go!

In summary, no. You do not have to be a body builder or an athlete, just have a basic moderate level of fitness. If you sign up now and start a training regime, even very slowly at first, I think anyone could do this.

agree with most of what you said, with a couple tweaks just from having a different experience in my mudders.

i do get that everyone has a different experience in some way.

PRMinx

Running the Tough Mudder was one of the best days of my life. It is no joke though. I trained for the better part of year, which consisted of running (I wanted to get to a sub-30 minute 5k) and CrossFit. In addition to training, there's the mental challenge.

Two word: Artic. Enema.

AllanMisner

I also heard they are adding tear gas to the event. Fun fun!

roadlesswritten

@yoovie -- that picture is priceless!!

@PRminx -- I don't even know what that is and I'm still afraid lol

@Allan -- wow didn't realize it's 3 plus hours jeezzz


Thanks for all the input everyone! Just curious, is it something you would ever do again? How did you train for them? It seems like there's a big cross over with Crossfit

For now, I think I'm going to start training for a 5K and see how that goes. I walked/jogged one the other day and that was tough for me so whenever that starts to seem easy then go for something bigger.

yoovie

AllanMisner wrote: »

I also heard they are adding tear gas to the event. Fun fun!

it's not real tear gas LOL

different ingredients and it's mostly meant to make your eyes water and your scratches and cuts sting for a couple moments

yoovie

roadlesswritten wrote: »

@yoovie -- that picture is priceless!!

@PRminx -- I don't even know what that is and I'm still afraid lol

that picture was me after the Arctic Enema. so - yeah - totally backing up her post.

my last one took me about 3 and a half hours.

PRMinx

yoovie wrote: »

roadlesswritten wrote: »

@yoovie -- that picture is priceless!!

@PRminx -- I don't even know what that is and I'm still afraid lol

that picture was me after the Arctic Enema. so - yeah - totally backing up her post.

my last one took me about 3 and a half hours.

That's about my time, too.

That pic was me as I was jumping. Coming out the other side...man, I barely remember how I got out of that dumpster.

BUT, I will say this for the artic enema, after I warmed up my muscles felt great and I picked up some speed.

jgnatca

Signed up in August this year. Working on my running first.

PRMinx

jgnatca wrote: »

Signed up in August this year. Working on my running first.

Good for you! Go get it.

quellybelly

In for more info

PRMinx

roadlesswritten wrote: »

@yoovie -- that picture is priceless!!

@PRminx -- I don't even know what that is and I'm still afraid lol

@Allan -- wow didn't realize it's 3 plus hours jeezzz


Thanks for all the input everyone! Just curious, is it something you would ever do again? How did you train for them? It seems like there's a big cross over with Crossfit

For now, I think I'm going to start training for a 5K and see how that goes. I walked/jogged one the other day and that was tough for me so whenever that starts to seem easy then go for something bigger.

There's a lot of crossover with CrossFit for a couple of reasons:

1). A big part of CrossFit is about supporting our military, navy, airforce. Since the Tough Mudder was started to raise money for the Wounded Warrior project, CrossFitters naturally gravitated to it.

2). The core movements in CrossFit, aside from lifting, are pull-ups, pushups, burpees, squats and box jumps. These are all things that will help you crawl, climp up walls, do the monkey bars, etc.

ew_david

I did Michigan last year and it was a blast. I didn't have a team; I signed up as a single. I'd highly recommend a team. Even though I got adopted by people during the race, it would be more fun to do it with people you know. That being said, those people should have a similar fitness level to your own.

Training: I trained hard for about 5 weeks because it was kind of a last minute decision to do it. However, I had been lifting for about 18 months, I just needed to get the running/endurance part down. Even with that base, I had issues with my legs cramping up about halfway through until the end. Hydration is also important. Start hydrating WELL before that day. Everyone's experience is different; take it with a grain of salt.

I'm doing 2 this year, along with the Spartan Trifecta.

Muddy_Yogi

@yoovie‌ I saw this thread and knew you would be here ya little ADDICT! lol

Lots of good insight here.

I would say it is definitely not for someone completely out of shape....For those that are getting there....well you can walk ... you can skip obstacles....but do you really want to miss out on the fun?

I am running my second one in July. I will start seriously training for it next month. It is no small task. It is totally WORTH all the hard work you put into preparing your body and mind for what is ahead of you as much as one possibly could....

asdowe13

I wish a tough mudder came to a city near me

EmmieBaby

Haven't tried a TM (yet) but I have completed a Spartan Sprint last year.

I went in with no training (and overweight) and it damn right nearly killed me. The obstacles are no joke and I finished with many cuts and bruises (my fiance twisted his ankle but still finished)

I completed with a time of 3.5 hours which I am proud of and I am aiming to do better this year!
I recommend training before doing a TM as the lovely ladies above have mentioned