Mud Run Reviews: Tough Mudder Tri-State 2014

SO! Finally got myself a Tough Mudder headband. I earned that sucker. I didn't run or train enough, but I enjoyed myself a whole helluva lot.

Quick description of a Tough Mudder. It's an un-timed Obstacle Course Race (ocr) that normally goes between 10-13 miles. There are thousands of steps run in muck deeper than your ankles, hills slide down on butts because you're afraid you'll end up there eventually anyways, and over 20 obstacles meant to push you to your limits.

It was cold (not much above 50 degrees) and rainy. We showed up at Englishtown Racetrack and immediately got soaked. We eventually made our way to the start, at the actual starting line for drag races. To kick off your heat, you chase a monster truck down the track. Nifty.

I'm not going to go through all the obstacles because it would be far longer than this needs to be. Climbing over mud berms, running through a motocross track covered in mud. Jumping into barely unfrozen water in a shipping container. Crawling under barbed wire, and then pulling yourself up a buried, inclined water drainage pipe, falling into a giant mud puddle at the end of it. Jumping off a 15 foot high plank into a 12 foot deep water pit.

This face happened a lot.

I normally run Spartan Races, and they are WAAAAAY more competitive. This one is entirely opposite. More team building and centered around comradery. Really nice change of pace.

Honestly, it was awesome. Unbridled kick-assedness, for about 3 1/2 hours.  I paid WAAAAY too much money to do that silly thing, and it was worth every penny.

I want to make sure I do a little better next time around, so I'm going to start training tomorrow for next years. (Seriously. Tomorrow. But that's a whole new blog post.)

Tough Mudders are no joke, but if you have a great team like I did, it's totally doable. Plus you get some really nifty bruises.

**So, I wore a GoPro. I've got some video I'm going through, but I've got to be honest. It's not as exciting to watch as it is to live it. But I'll do my best to find good stuff.**