Day 219 - World's Toughest Mudder - My Experience: Part 3

In part 3, we pick up right where I left off in Part 2, after just conquering Everest!

Swamp Stomp/Log Bog Jog

After leaving Everest behind, we headed into the forest again for a short run before coming across some pretty serious mud pits. Swamp Stomp wasn't necessarily one giant swamp to traverse through, it was more like a series of mud obstacles. Some mud pits were shallow enough to get through easily, but there were a couple of pits that had you up to your armpits, wading through mud.

I would like to point out that these were not filled with muddy water, but thick, sloppy, mud! As one Mudder in front of me remarked, "You could take a diarrhea in here and nobody would notice..."

Electric Eel

After exiting the forest, now that I was covered in mud, I came to my absolute least favorite obstacle at Tough Mudder; Electric Eel. I had commented after completing Tough Mudder Toronto at how much I hated Electric Eel when compared to Electroshock Therapy. I find that at least with Electroshock Therapy, you can run faster to get out of the "live" field as quick as you can. With Electric Eel, you have to crawl through a field of live wires, so moving through it quickly doesn't exactly work.

Hangin Brain

To be honest, I am not too sure what Tough Mudder was aiming to accomplish with this obstacle. It was essentially Berlin Walls 1, but the walls themselves were tilted on about a 20 degree angle towards you. I guess they figured that if the walls themselves were slanted, then they would be harder to get leverage to get yourself up and over, but I really did not see many people struggling with this one at all. Considering the skill level and athleticism of the field of participants, everyone seemed to be clearing this one with little to no problem at all.

If, for some reason, someone could not clear this obstacle, they had a penalty Arctic Enema on hand as well.

Island Hoppin

After Hangin Brain and a very short run, I came up to Island Hoppin. I remember seeing this obstacle in the 2011 WTM video, so I knew what to expect with this one. There are a series of floating platforms that you must jump from one to the next to make your way across. The water here was shallow, so we were informed that if we fell off any of the platforms, we must get back on and continue from there, there was no option to swim to the end of the obstacle.

Pirate's Booty

After Island Hoppin and then a quick jaunt around the lake, it was time to go swimming. Pirate's Booty had us start out with a swim that was about 200m (in my estimation). At the end of the swim, I then had to scale about a 30 foot high cargo net. The lake was very cold, so by the time I was climbing the cargo net, my hands and feet were pretty much numb. It made for an interesting climb to say the least!

Underwater Tunnels

After I was up and over the cargo net, there was another very short run before getting back in the water. This time the swim across the lake was about half the distance as compared to Pirate's Booty, but it was probably worse due to the fact that we had go completely under 3 separate barrels to reach the other side. If I wasn't cold before, I certainly was now!

Balls to the Wall

After exiting the water, it was time to head on over to Balls to the Wall. This is a new obstacle, or least new to me. You basically have to use a rope and only 2 ledges to climb up and over a wooden wall. The picture below shows the backside of the obstacle.

This is where things started to get interesting for me. I am not sure why or how it started, but trying to jump my feet up to the first ledge on Balls to the Wall caused my calves to both seize up on me like nobody's business. I have a feeling I was dehydrated from being a bit overheated in my wetsuit, so I really started to struggle at this point. I collected myself and was able to get up and over the wall, but was definitely starting to hurt!

Drag King

Right after Balls to the Wall came Drag King. Here, there were pairs of tires tied together. You needed to grab a rope and drag the tires about 200m in one direction, then turn around and drag them all the way back. Due to the heat being generated in my wetsuit, I hated this obstacle far more than I probably should've.

Competitors were trying many different techniques at this point just to get those damn tires down and then back up the track.

Mud Mile

Once I got those damn tires back up the track, I headed on a short run over to Mud Mile. A perfect time to get muddy and wet again! Mud Mile at World's Toughest Mudder was definitely taken up a notch compared to what I experienced at Tough Mudder Toronto. There must have been 15 mounds and valleys to climb up, over, and through. Not only that, but each trench had muddy water that came up to chest level.

It was cold, it was muddy, it was difficult to get through...but I have to admit that it was pretty awesome!

Berlin Walls 2

Upon exiting Mud Mile, there was a very short run before coming up to Berlin Walls 2. At the Tough Mudder Toronto event, I struggled to get over the second set of walls simply due to the fact that they were placed so close to the end of the course. I struggled, but made it. Afterwards, I had no doubt in my mind that they were probably the toughest obstacle on the course.

World's Toughest Mudder was no exception. After experiencing some pretty bad calf cramping at Balls to the Wall, I attempted to have a fellow Mudder give me a boost. I managed to get up and grab the top of the wall but just could not muster any jump to get myself up, my calves were toast! I was then forced to take the penalty obstacle - Arctic Enema. Upon exiting the Arctic Enema, I came to the realization that this really was no worse than swimming through a New Jersey lake in November anyways, so ended up opting for this penalty obstacle my second lap as well.

Electroshock Therapy

Last but certainly not least (because Tough Mudder always like to leave this bad-boy for the end) was Electroshock Therapy. Not much else to be said about this one that hasn't already been said before.

Quote of the day:
"If we never felt like a failure, perhaps we have failed to define the meaning of success."
~ Anton Suharyanto

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Day 132 - Tough Mudder Tactics: Mud Mile

There seems to be a slight discrepancy in what obstacle I actually competed in at Tough Mudder Toronto. The differences? Not a whole lot, but allow me to explain. The obstacle on the Tough Mudder course map, not to mention the sign leading up to the obstacle on the course had it titled as "Mud Mile".

Slosh through up to a mile of waist-deep sludge as you try not to lose your shoes in the mud. Balance and coordination are required if you want to make it through this obstacle without face-planting… but what’s the fun in that? Real Mudders eat mud for breakfast. On some courses, Mudders will encounter obstructions throughout Mud Mile that require them to fully submerge in the mud to slosh onward.

By reading the descriptions, however, it turns out, the obstacle in question at Tough Mudder Toronto was actually more similar to "Dirty Ballerina".

Leap with the grace of a black swan muddily over our 4-foot-wide mud pits. 4 feet may not sound challenging at first, but the tracks of leaping Mudders will erode the mud pits into wide, jagged-edged muddy gaps. Should your inner ballerina stumble, as she often can, you’ll find yourself submerged in a mud pit and calling your teammates for an assist.

So again, what is the big difference? Not a whole lot, either way, you are trudging through mud. To be honest, I have a bit of a fear for sinking sand, or in this case, sinking mud, so I was glad to see that the obstacle as actually more similar to "Dirty Ballerina".

As you see in the description, there are 4-foot wide 'trenches' dug out, and your goal is to leap over a series of them. However, I ran the 9:30am heat on Sunday morning, so there was already 14k+ people who clamoured through this obstacle the day before. So, instead of nice, square, dug-out trenches, the obstacle was more of a series of muddy mounds that had been worn down and rounded off from all of the folks the day before.

This made it essentially impossible to leap over each trench. Instead, I climbed up and over each mound separating the trenches. The trenches were full of water and mud, so I ended up getting quite muddy by the end of this obstacle.

Because this turned into more of a climbing event, rather than a 'leaping' event for me, total-body strength was definitely required to get in and out of multiple trenches. Each trench, I would say ended up being well over 7-8 feet wide at the widest points, and at least 4 or 5 feet deep. It took a bit of patience and coordination (and strength) to climb out of each trench, as they trenches were deep, and the slopes were muddy.

In summary, you may want to change your strategy on this obstacle depending on when you are timed to run the course. If you are one of the first heats on the first day of competition, you may be able to get away with 'leaping' over each trench. If, however, you race later in the day on day 1, or race at all on day 2, this may become more of a climbing obstacle rather than trying to jump over each trench.

Quote of the day:
“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”
- Pablo Picasso