Calling all Tough Mudders !!

i love tough mudders. as the event isn't officially timed, people aren't really concerned with course performance. people stop and help each other and motivate each other.

the most obvious thing about these obstacle course races is the thing that people seem to take for granted and not train for properly: the distance. a tough mudder is 12-14 miles long with varying degrees of elevation. it can be very hilly!! therefore you need to prepare for that kind of distance.

please don't be intimidated. you can walk the whole thing if possible. i haven't done an obstacle course race where i haven't walked parts of it. yesterday i ran a spartan race and pretty much walked 4 out of 8 miles.

so if i could give you one tip is to start moving. walk, run, bike. whatever.

Yeah!! Good for you!
A year will give you plenty of time to train for it.

First thing I would say is make sure to sign up with a good group of people. Train together even if it is one day a week. Running TM really will make you form a bond with your team when the event is over. You'll meet some of the coolest people running a TM. Everyone's adrenaline is so high you feed off of each other and everyone is there to help you. That was my favourite part of tough mudder. Mudders, whether you know them or not, are there to help you along the course!

The biggest thing I would recommend is working on your endurance.

Gloves - my team and myself found them to be more of hindrance and ending up tossing them. I saw a lot of people doing the same thing on the course.

Clothes - Sport socks, I wore dry-fit tank and spandex shorts. I would recommend bringing goggles for the water obstacles. I found those work. I would also recommend bright matching clothing of some sort for your team. We somewhat matched and it made it easier to locate each other on the course. Also, if you wear bright colours it will be easier to find yourself in pictures after! Be creative and have some fun with your outfits!
Also, bring a towel to dry off with and a large towel to get changed under after the race.

Shoes - Make sure you get a proper running shoes and you have time to work them in. I didn't throw mine away because they were still good but if you have a pair that are near the end of their life use those. I would highly recommend training and running TM in minimalist shoes.

Water - there are plenty of water stations on the course, I brought water and found the water stations to be enough. They also have bananas at the water stations. We brought gummy bears and power gels for the event. I found the gummy bears to work best to get and keep our energy where it needed to be.

I agree with the post before me - train outside.

The last thing to remember is some obstacles may seem impossible to you or you may be too scared. Take a deep breath and run full force through that obstacle! If you don't you may regret it at the end.

The course will get you dirty, scratched up, beaten up and you'll walk away with a body full of bruises and at some points in the race you will be thinking what the heck did I get myself into! But you'll walk away with the best feeling you've ever had once you complete the event! TM is something you won't regret! Can't wait to do my next one!

If you have any questions feel free to message me! Good luck and some fun!

Doing a TM in August and just posting to have this for future reference