Tough Mudder 2022
My annual testing of my fitness
This year’s Tough Mudder looked a little different than last years. Not because we’re back to a bunch of people on the course (although it meant waiting for obstacles). Not because they added a 10K course and renamed the Classic to 15K.
Nope, this year I went solo and relied on strangers to help me through.
Not by choice, but life happens and my teammates had to bow out due to work and sick kiddos. So I put on my big girl pants and stepped out of my comfort zone to make new friends.
Luckily I fell in with a great group of guys who let me join them because most of them hadn’t done a Tough Mudder before. Big shout out to them for the help and trust they gave me.
With us doing the 15K, we had 30 obstacles, 31 if you count the course itself. We had some storms roll in the night before so the course was the muddiest I’ve ever seen it. Thick mud that grabbed your feet and pulled you under topped with slippery mud that dumped us on our butts a lot.
We got muddy quick because our first obstacle was Quagmire, followed by climbing over hay bales at Bale Bonds. Sack Up was a quick loop of carrying a bag of sand (wet, but didn’t stink like the ones at Spartan).
We worked as a team to get everyone up and over Berlin Walls and then it was onto Mud Mile, my favorite which the guys couldn’t believe. Kiss of Mud and Pitfall ensured we stayed nice and muddy.
And then I started failing obstacles. Funky Monkey was another no go for me this year as my upper body strength is still not the greatest, followed by the Gauntlet. One of these years, I’m going to crush these obstacles.
Lumberjacked was a quick hop (I cheated slightly and used the sides to kick myself up and over). We slithered through Electric Eel without much incident (a couple of the guys got zapped). Devil’s Beard was nailed down tighter than normal so we ended up crawling through it.
I skipped Reach Around because my lack of upper body strength mixed with my fear of heights kept me from attempting it.
Tight Squeeze ended up giving me a face full of mud and I got nice and clean in Shawshanked (even though I took the pipe wrong and had to turn around at the top before plunging into the water). Hero Carry saw me giving a piggy back ride to a guy bigger than me until we hit a muddy patch (we were laughing too hard because it was his first ever piggy back ride).
Texas Hold ’Em bucked everyone off. The mud made everything too slick to get a good footing. Dong Dangler definitely tested my ability to sloth climb across a very long slack line, but I did it. Cage Crawl was another quick and easy (all be it, cold) water obstacle.
I chickened out on Ladder to Hell, partly because I couldn’t reach the rungs this year. Swamp Stomp replaced last year’s Creek Crossing and I skipped Well Swung (again, need to work on upper body). King of the Mountain had me inhaling more hay.
I fell off of Skidmarked again this year, but by then, we were exhausted by scrambling through the mud. Some parts of the course were so slick that you slid back half a step for every one you took forward.
Everest spit me back out due to lack of traction. Block Ness had me coaching the guys on how to get the blocks spinning to get through. They added a slide to Artic Enema as well as making it deeper. Not sure I’m a fan.
Castaway dumped me and my teammate into the water as well as having the clip catch my hand every time we moved forward. I skipped the Mudderhorn due to exhaustion and the fact they went back to the old style of one tiny beam to stand on to get to the cargo net. I was at the point where my arms were shaking and there was no way I could pull myself up onto the second part.
Last, but not least, Electroshock Therapy. This year, we did what my team didn’t last year: we linked arms and went through as a team. I’m proud to say I took my shocks like a champ.
All in all, while it was a different experience with strangers, this year was still a good experience. It reminded me how the Tough Mudder community bands together to help one another out.
Who’s ready to join me next year?
