Tough Mudder/ Spartan Run

addysolari
addysolari Posts: 181 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey all,

To anyone that's done an obstacle event like Tough Mudder:

How hard was it to do?
How good does your cardio have to be, I know its 20k's or so but if its broken up by obstacles how good does your cardio have to be?
What training did you do?
Was it worth the money?

Thanks
-Adam

Replies

  • AllieGeorge23
    AllieGeorge23 Posts: 26
    In for replies
  • GillianMcK
    GillianMcK Posts: 401 Member
    Scottish person here, our Spartan Sprint wasn't very good, they had a wall as the first obstacle, so it took us 20min of queuing to get to the first obstacle (after which it did ease considerably), ours is only a 5k, there's only 1 Spartan Beast in the UK and it's about 8hrs drive away so never done it.

    Tough Mudder Scotland was better in my opinion, the running is probably the most important part, there are always people at the obstacles that will help you with the obstacle but you need to be able to get there yourself.

    Our mad guys have just completed Dirty Weekend which is 20 MILES and 200 obstacles and they all loved it, one of them changed his training this year and done more running than weights and knocked nearly an hour off his time from last year so from that I would say the running is important, but at the same time it's good fun and the time limits would almost allow you to walk the course if you wanted to!!!
  • EllaIsNotEnchanted
    EllaIsNotEnchanted Posts: 226 Member
    I've done 5 TM (I think, I can't keep track) & signed up for 2 TM back to back. I have only done Spartan Beasts. I have no idea what the sprints are like at all.


    You could suck at strength and if your cardio is well enough survive any of these events.

    I've heard mixed opinions about TM versus Spartan Beast. So, here is my personal opinion.

    I am weaker in strength training so Spartan is a harder race. To me Tough Mudder is all mental. You just have to go through ice, heights, shocks, and a bit of crawling to get through.

    Spartan Beast isn't mental at all it's strength. If you are good with rope climbs-awesome. Another plus is that Spartan has a punishment if you do not finish the obstacle. You have to do burpees. Mind you, a lot of people cheat. I ended up my last race doing 120 burpees (this is not bragging, I really need to work on my rope climbs & pull ups).

    Tough Mudder has no timer. this kind of sucks for me because I have no idea if I am getting a personal record or not. Spartan Beast you are being timed and that is awesome (for me).

    what training I did: I'm currently working on more strength (lifting). Before I used to do Insanity thinking that was all I would need for the obstacles. I just recommend being able to run 12 miles non-stop and you're probably good to go. Do some hill workouts (for running). For strength, if you're able to do pull-ups then I think you're also fine.

    Was it worth the money: for me, yes. I love this stuff. I get all giddy when I think of running events. I waste my money on 5ks and marathons and so forth, but it is because I enjoy it. That's going to be up to you. However, there are ways to save! Volunteer a day and you get a free race or 50% off. Again, I'm doing TM back to back this year so I get 50% off. There's military & health profession discounts and if you're a complete bad *kitten* fund raise yourself to a race.

    How hard is it? Well, that's up to you. You put in the effort and choose how hard you want to make the event.

    I honestly think an average joe can do any of these races don't let the advertisement gimmicks scare you off.

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