Tough Mudder!

13

Replies

  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member


    OK I have Vibrams I was wondering if I should start training in them.... I kept imagining losing my shoes in the Mud......Well This is so exciting. Thanks for the feed back :smile:

    i have the new balance minimus shoes designed/made by vibrams. they're great.

    i've done four mud runs, including TM, and have never lost a shoe.

    My boyfriend wore his vibrams for a tough mudder and he bruised his heel very badly on the first half mile. There will be rocks that you can't see. More foot protection is advisable.

    he probably doesn't know how how to run properly, or wasn't used to the vibrams, and he probably wasn't paying attention to the course.

    i've put a lot of miles in my vibrams.
  • MikeyD1280
    MikeyD1280 Posts: 5,257
    Hooray! I have done both a Tough Mudder and a Spartan Beast Race, and here's my 2 cents:

    - DO wear gloves! I've done one with/one without, and you can remove them on a specific obstacle if you need to, but they protect your hands on seemingly innocent things like sliding down a rocky-muddy-ledge into a water obstacle. Also helps with crawling. We just bought cheap gardening gloves and cut the tips of the fingers off. Worked really well. The second race I didn't have them, and got several gashes on my palm that could have been avoided
    - DO wear socks! I did not for my first two mud races (Tough Mudder and a 5k mud run) but went for it on my Spartan Race, and it helped SO MUCH. Didn't feel all those annoying little rocks in your shoes nearly as much. I have some UnderArmor sport socks, and they worked great. Didn't weigh me down at all. Also, lace up your shoes REALLY tight! Lots of sticky mud will try and take them off
    - for the Tough Mudder I was fine wearing shorts, but for my Spartan Beast Race I lost a ton of skin on the back of my calves due to rope burn. In the future, I will likely wear shorts with knee-high compression socks to try and lessen some of that. I don't mind a few scrapes, cuts, and bruises, but feeling like the back of your legs got toasted in a sunburn is not-so-fun
    - work on upper body strength, but don't sweat it. It is a group event, and you should have people to help you along the way. I cannot do an unassisted pull-up, but I scaled Mt. Everest with the help of a bunch of guys. I fell off the monkey bars, but I was expecting to. YES the bars rotate, and they are inclined. GAG.
    - I'll echo the running advice. Work up your endurance, but I would say if you can only complete 6 or so miles straight you will still be just fine
    - Agree with the event is as hard as you make it. I've always gone out with friends and we journey as a group, help each other, and are not going for time. If someone is tired, we walk. I've always finished over 4 hours, but I'm not looking to set any records. If you want to push yourself more, go for it!

    Overall, they are very very fun events =) Enjoy it to the fullest!

    I still don't agree on wearing gloves or wearing socks. Maybe it is just preference. I saw someone wearing gloves took them off put them in their pocket, some even held them with their mouth and they end up losing it when they fell into the water. Why bother worrying about extra stuff to carry. Your socks will be wet half the time, I did it in cold weather, and having wet socks and cold temperature just freezes the toes and maybe if its cold enough frostbite.

    word... it is called a TOUGH Mudder for a reason... no doctoring things up. :drinker:
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    Hooray! I have done both a Tough Mudder and a Spartan Beast Race, and here's my 2 cents:

    - DO wear gloves! I've done one with/one without, and you can remove them on a specific obstacle if you need to, but they protect your hands on seemingly innocent things like sliding down a rocky-muddy-ledge into a water obstacle. Also helps with crawling. We just bought cheap gardening gloves and cut the tips of the fingers off. Worked really well. The second race I didn't have them, and got several gashes on my palm that could have been avoided
    - DO wear socks! I did not for my first two mud races (Tough Mudder and a 5k mud run) but went for it on my Spartan Race, and it helped SO MUCH. Didn't feel all those annoying little rocks in your shoes nearly as much. I have some UnderArmor sport socks, and they worked great. Didn't weigh me down at all. Also, lace up your shoes REALLY tight! Lots of sticky mud will try and take them off
    - for the Tough Mudder I was fine wearing shorts, but for my Spartan Beast Race I lost a ton of skin on the back of my calves due to rope burn. In the future, I will likely wear shorts with knee-high compression socks to try and lessen some of that. I don't mind a few scrapes, cuts, and bruises, but feeling like the back of your legs got toasted in a sunburn is not-so-fun
    - work on upper body strength, but don't sweat it. It is a group event, and you should have people to help you along the way. I cannot do an unassisted pull-up, but I scaled Mt. Everest with the help of a bunch of guys. I fell off the monkey bars, but I was expecting to. YES the bars rotate, and they are inclined. GAG.
    - I'll echo the running advice. Work up your endurance, but I would say if you can only complete 6 or so miles straight you will still be just fine
    - Agree with the event is as hard as you make it. I've always gone out with friends and we journey as a group, help each other, and are not going for time. If someone is tired, we walk. I've always finished over 4 hours, but I'm not looking to set any records. If you want to push yourself more, go for it!

    Overall, they are very very fun events =) Enjoy it to the fullest!

    I still don't agree on wearing gloves or wearing socks. Maybe it is just preference. I saw someone wearing gloves took them off put them in their pocket, some even held them with their mouth and they end up losing it when they fell into the water. Why bother worrying about extra stuff to carry. Your socks will be wet half the time, I did it in cold weather, and having wet socks and cold temperature just freezes the toes and maybe if its cold enough frostbite.

    word... it is called a TOUGH Mudder for a reason... no doctoring things up. :drinker:

    if you must wear socks, you need to find the water wicking kind. running in wet socks is worse then running in no socks, imo. i prefer to run these races in compression underwear and a pair of gym shorts that cut above the knee, my minimus shoes with no socks, and no t-shirt.

    i wear the gym shorts because i am a little modest :blushing: and they're called compression underwear. i see people running/exercising in just those and it's like eeeeewwww. and a decent pair of gym shorts don't absorb too much water. get them cut above the knee because if you wear long shorts it can restrict some movement when climbing or sprinting up a hill.

    i found even the idea of gloves to be restrictive. too many things could go wrong. imagine you're climbing an obstacle and the glove material gets caught on a nail or something, and when you jump off the glove holds you in place and you hurt yourself??

    i like to do these races with the least amount of gear possible. no gloves, no shirt, no camera, no goggles. just shoes, shorts, and guts.
  • Hooray! I have done both a Tough Mudder and a Spartan Beast Race, and here's my 2 cents:

    - DO wear gloves! I've done one with/one without, and you can remove them on a specific obstacle if you need to, but they protect your hands on seemingly innocent things like sliding down a rocky-muddy-ledge into a water obstacle. Also helps with crawling. We just bought cheap gardening gloves and cut the tips of the fingers off. Worked really well. The second race I didn't have them, and got several gashes on my palm that could have been avoided
    - DO wear socks! I did not for my first two mud races (Tough Mudder and a 5k mud run) but went for it on my Spartan Race, and it helped SO MUCH. Didn't feel all those annoying little rocks in your shoes nearly as much. I have some UnderArmor sport socks, and they worked great. Didn't weigh me down at all. Also, lace up your shoes REALLY tight! Lots of sticky mud will try and take them off
    - for the Tough Mudder I was fine wearing shorts, but for my Spartan Beast Race I lost a ton of skin on the back of my calves due to rope burn. In the future, I will likely wear shorts with knee-high compression socks to try and lessen some of that. I don't mind a few scrapes, cuts, and bruises, but feeling like the back of your legs got toasted in a sunburn is not-so-fun
    - work on upper body strength, but don't sweat it. It is a group event, and you should have people to help you along the way. I cannot do an unassisted pull-up, but I scaled Mt. Everest with the help of a bunch of guys. I fell off the monkey bars, but I was expecting to. YES the bars rotate, and they are inclined. GAG.
    - I'll echo the running advice. Work up your endurance, but I would say if you can only complete 6 or so miles straight you will still be just fine
    - Agree with the event is as hard as you make it. I've always gone out with friends and we journey as a group, help each other, and are not going for time. If someone is tired, we walk. I've always finished over 4 hours, but I'm not looking to set any records. If you want to push yourself more, go for it!

    Overall, they are very very fun events =) Enjoy it to the fullest!

    I still don't agree on wearing gloves or wearing socks. Maybe it is just preference. I saw someone wearing gloves took them off put them in their pocket, some even held them with their mouth and they end up losing it when they fell into the water. Why bother worrying about extra stuff to carry. Your socks will be wet half the time, I did it in cold weather, and having wet socks and cold temperature just freezes the toes and maybe if its cold enough frostbite.

    word... it is called a TOUGH Mudder for a reason... no doctoring things up. :drinker:

    if you must wear socks, you need to find the water wicking kind. running in wet socks is worse then running in no socks, imo. i prefer to run these races in compression underwear and a pair of gym shorts that cut above the knee, my minimus shoes with no socks, and no t-shirt.

    i wear the gym shorts because i am a little modest :blushing: and they're called compression underwear. i see people running/exercising in just those and it's like eeeeewwww. and a decent pair of gym shorts don't absorb too much water. get them cut above the knee because if you wear long shorts it can restrict some movement when climbing or sprinting up a hill.

    i found even the idea of gloves to be restrictive. too many things could go wrong. imagine you're climbing an obstacle and the glove material gets caught on a nail or something, and when you jump off the glove holds you in place and you hurt yourself??

    i like to do these races with the least amount of gear possible. no gloves, no shirt, no camera, no goggles. just shoes, shorts, and guts.

    That's pretty much what I wore. Compression underwear and gym shorts. My shorts did get super heavy and I had to pull out mud out of my pocket. I wore compression shirt, and vibram toe shoes.

    At the TM I was at..5 guys were wearing cheetah thongs and cheetah thongs only...
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member

    At the TM I was at..5 guys were wearing cheetah thongs and cheetah thongs only...

    OMG I'M GONNA BE ON THE WEBSITE!!!

    ugh
  • That was you?!
  • RobynLB
    RobynLB Posts: 617 Member
    What do you all think of rash guards vs. tech tees for tops in the cold / wet? I wore a rash guard running in the rain / cold yesterday, and I was surprised it was much more comfortable than my long sleeve tech tees.
  • dtennisman2006
    dtennisman2006 Posts: 7 Member

    At the TM I was at..5 guys were wearing cheetah thongs and cheetah thongs only...

    OMG I'M GONNA BE ON THE WEBSITE!!!

    ugh

    Hahahahahhahaha.
  • GBOGH_5
    GBOGH_5 Posts: 174 Member
    If anyone else is doing the Austin one in April, I am looking for some folks to run with. I am signed up as an individual, but think it would be fun to meet up with some folks and do it as a team. I'm signed up for 9:00 AM, but can always change it. Just message me.
  • RobynLB
    RobynLB Posts: 617 Member
    you can skip any and all obstacles, even the electrical ones. they tell ppl with heart conditions and history of seizures to skip those.

    you aren't eliminated or anything. there is no timing chip for tough mudder. this is about finishing with your team and with a smile on your face.

    Well, you CAN skip shock therapy, but that's the only way to get to the finish line.
  • cleotherio
    cleotherio Posts: 712 Member
    OK, I realize this might seem silly, but the cheetah thongs made me think of something. I wore a black shirt when I did the TM. So did about 75% of all the other competitors. When you're looking through the hundreds of photos on the website after the event, it's way easier to pick yourself out of the crowd if you're wearing something that stands out a little. You can search photos by your bib number, but if it's not visible in the photo, you won't get tagged. You don't have to go so far as a cheetah thong though...
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    OK, I realize this might seem silly, but the cheetah thongs made me think of something. I wore a black shirt when I did the TM. So did about 75% of all the other competitors. When you're looking through the hundreds of photos on the website after the event, it's way easier to pick yourself out of the crowd if you're wearing something that stands out a little. You can search photos by your bib number, but if it's not visible in the photo, you won't get tagged. You don't have to go so far as a cheetah thong though...


    i wore a yellow bandanna.
  • yoovie
    yoovie Posts: 17,121 Member
    no camera...

    now im confused -_-
  • MDLNH
    MDLNH Posts: 587 Member
    I'm competing in my 1st Tough Mudder in August 2013 at Mt. Snow (VT) . . . Going w/ a group from my CrossFit box - Can't Wait !!!!
  • Abells
    Abells Posts: 756 Member
    The whole race is mind over matter!

    I never ran over 6 miles before and I completed the whole thing (12.25) easily in 40 degree weather in October. I do do crossfit but I think im in better shape now then when I ran it.

    YOu have to mentally prepared and have someone awesome to run with! the camaraderie you get from the TM is amazing! Whether you think you can do an obstacle or not get it in your head that you are going to do them all no matter what -- no matter if you fall off and into the freezing water -- be confident and you'll kick it's *kitten*!
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    The whole race is mind over matter!

    this.

    i'll occasionally get messages from people about things like the best gloves to wear, if they should wear goggles, or what kind of shoes they need.

    i usually respond with something along the lines like "hey, did you message me last week that you can't run 3 miles straight yet, and can't do a single boy push up? get on that before you go shoe shopping."
  • sdereski
    sdereski Posts: 3,406 Member
    It's fun. It's not very though, or I should say, it's only as tough as you make it. My boyfriend and I signed up for one at the last minute last Summer, and we just showed up without doing any special training. As long as you can run 3-4 miles at a time, do pushups and pullups, and crawl / climb over things, you're pretty straight. It was a great time. There were people of all ability levels, and almost everyone was walking some of the course after the first 4 miles. It was at a ski resort, so the hills were a bit much-- and I am a hill / trail runner.

    The obstacles were sooooo fun! The freezing water is way worse than it looks, but everything else is pretty benign. I didn't get the shocks too bad, but my boyfriend got a big one that threw him to the ground. Lol. The whole atmosphere it a blast. We're doing one in February, and I'm thinking it's going to be a little colder this time.

    This was pretty much my experience. Did Tough Mudder Toronto last August. it was the most fun event i've ever taken part in. Have to agree that the Artic Blast was the worst! This one was also at a ski resort so the hills were a challenge. I am a runner as well, but for one member of our team, it did her in...she walked around 5 or 6 obstacles because she just didn't have the strength left after trying to run.
  • rebeccap13
    rebeccap13 Posts: 754 Member
    Hoping to do one soon, just have to see if I will have enough vacation time to get to one in 2013. Lots of weddings to go to... maybe I can convince one of them to get hitched a the finish line or something ;)
  • flechero
    flechero Posts: 260 Member
    Hoping to do one soon, just have to see if I will have enough vacation time to get to one in 2013. Lots of weddings to go to... maybe I can convince one of them to get hitched a the finish line or something ;)

    Half naked people and free beer..... make the TM the bachelor party!!
  • justal313
    justal313 Posts: 1,375 Member
    I'm competing in my 1st Tough Mudder in August 2013 at Mt. Snow (VT) . . . Going w/ a group from my CrossFit box - Can't Wait !!!!

    We're doing that one as well because the Warrior Dash wasn't the slighest bit daunting.

    I am now training for a half marathon AND the TM. I'm clearly doing my midlife crisis wrong.