Post Race - AZ Mudder

Post Race - Arizona Tough Mudder 2013

Well, I'm still considered a "go amateur". No, I did not lose it this time, but somehow this ultra simple, two button device, has the capability of malfunctioning; I blame the user. I captured roughly 70% of what I wanted to showcase. In the beginning I struggled keeping it on, powered on that is. Who knew it could be so difficult. I ended up accidentally turning it off for the first three or so obstacles. Also, the battery died before the last three obstacles- Cage Crawl, Everest, and Electroshock Therapy - all fantastic filming opportunities. Oh, there were also multiple signs and employees yelling before specific events that warned you to hold onto your GoPro. I'll take an ounce of credit for that. I wonder how many GoPros emerge on Sunday when all the water obstacles are drained.
Here is a mini breakdown of the day...

Go'Amateur' user still 

We arrived a little behind schedule, I'll blame the Hawes exit. We ended up racing at 10:00 instead of 9:40. What a gorgeous day it turned out to be! No clouds, just sun. This picture is early in the morning..the clouds went away ;)

View from the side of Everest - beautiful day. 

Temperatures in the upper 60's, just warm enough to enjoy the water obstacles, except Arctic Enema of course. I'm not sure it is possible to be warm enough outside to enjoy a submerged ice bath. Trust me, it is colder than you imagine.

First things first...enter the starting area by scaling an 8ft wall - no problem :) Next up, get motivated by TM's great announcer, Sean, and feel the camaraderie building as the wounded warriors are being honored. Pretty amazing what some people can overcome. Just in our heat alone we had missing limbs and even one man running with oxygen attached. Impressive.

Next, finish the TM pledge and the countdown begins...

First obstacle - jumping through some mud trenches, a little introduction to our new future. The rest of the obstacles described will most likely not be in order... I also skipped describing a few, the post was getting a little lengthy.

Kiss of Mud- army crawl under barbed wire in the mud. Being short has some advantages.

Arctic Enema- jump in a dumpster filled with with bright colored water and ice. When you first jump in, it isn't so bad. People typically think, 'yeah this is what I expected'. Then you dive under a board with barbed wire over the top. When you emerge on the opposite side you have completely changed your mind about it being what you expected or were told about. It is cold. Unimaginable really. You can't breathe and you are disoriented. Your muscles start to freeze up while you're expected to swim then climb out. You start to climb down the other side and realize you are getting light headed and a pounding headache. Trust me, it is bone chillingly cold. The photographers that set up camp at this obstacle end up with some terrified looking expressions...see photos!

Walk the Plank- This obstacle happened earlier in the race than past races. This obstacle is quite enjoyable. It is just a mini cliff jumping experience. I'd say a 15 foot jump into water. Typically cold water, but it was pleasantly warm this time. In fact, I kind of wanted to swim around for awhile.

Boa Constrictor- Two sections of giant PVC pipe filled partially with cold water that you belly crawl though. Great one for us shorter people. Simple. :)

Funky Monkey. Monkey bars built in an A frame. I made it across the inclined bars then I slipped. Splash landed in the cold water below. Chris made it across though! Nice job! 

Hangin' Tough- These are the rings I complained about in my last post. There were significantly fewer this time, but I was still unable to master it. In fact, I did worse. Guess I know where to focus some training. 

Cage Crawl- This was a new event for me and pretty simple. If you are claustrophobic you may not have loved this one. Multiple colored, cold water pools with a chain link fence over the top. You were required to lay on your back, hands holding onto the fence, then pull your body along. This event managed to fill my ears with water, cover my body with green slime, and magically turn Chris' hand orange even though we went through a green pool. :) 

Everest - 1/4 pipe greased. In my pre race post I mentioned I may have jinxed myself. I didn't, thankfully I still made it up on round one! 

Electric Eel - Lay on your belly, army crawl as fast as you can over a giant tarp of water and ice while getting shocked. I have been shocked on this one in the past, but this time was much worse. It was a constant stream of electricity flowing through my body...zap after zap after zap. Still loved it though! 

Mud Mile - multiple mud trenches about waist deep. Climb up, over, and into the mud - repeat. Second pit in a mud war between Chris and myself developed . Lots of splashing, thankfully no dunking. This later turned into myself getting white washed with mud - hard, clumpy, thick mud. Brilliant facial really, plus I got multiple comments on it! Here is a shot of me cleaning my face off... taken from the GoPro footage that will be in the next post! 

Buddy Carry - Not sure the official name of this one, but you carry another person for about 50 yards, then stop, and switch to be carried for another 50. Someone's ankles may have been dragging on the ground near the last 10ft. of this one...sorry! 

Screen captured these shots from the GoPro footage! 

Hold Your Wood- grab a log/stump and take a lap with it. I feel a little pathetic with this one, some may consider it smart, but I just felt like i was cheating...I carried a small log. It couldn't have weighed more than 15 pounds. Consider me a weakling :)

Fire Walker - leap over fire into a trench of mud water. This was my first fire experience at a mudder. I liked it! 

Running - 12 Miles of running itself is definitely an obstacle. No complaints there! This course is flat and on asphalt...simple. It was a beautiful day with direct sunlight and I felt great, both my body and my lungs. I have a nice blister under my toe from a pebble that was lodged under there for 6 miles; no real injuries though. I run in Vibrams and recommend them for all trail running and especially mud related running. Love them. Not getting tired during this event helped me gauge where I'm at in relation to my endurance training for World's (much more to come on that in the new future.. I have a coach now!)

Electroshock Therapy - This time there were mini trenches so you were unable to sprint straight though. You had to be more conscious of what was below you. You also couldn't sneak under the wires by swimming. Apparently, TM staff is enjoying forcing everyone to get shocked. :) I managed to stay on my feet this time, bust still got shocked about 5 times. Chris wasn't as lucky. He may have tripped and took a face plant. I'm glad I didn't end up on the ground because his knees and hands got shredded somehow during the fall. Maybe there was hidden barbed wire...typical! 

So, overall, I felt fantastic while racing, didn't get winded at all, had a lot of energy, and a ton of fun! Much needed and quite relaxing. In comparison to the Vegas TM the AZ race is still much easier. Vegas was constant hills, longer swims, and sand...so much sand! Arizona has no swimming, no sand, and is flat. Much easier, in my opinion. Why didn't I do my qualifying here?! I recommend the Arizona location to anyone out there who is borderline with completing a Tough Mudder. Great introduction! I think my next one will be in one of the many mountain locations. If I had the capability of traveling to more of these races and not missing extended days of work due to flights I would purchase a season pass and compete every couple months!! Semi obsessed! Come join me! You'll love it!

More photos and video footage coming soon! Photos on this blog are mostly taken from the TM Facebook page from mostly the AZ race! Thanks!! 

Post Race - still need to purchase this shot since it has a copyright all over it :)