Recap of Tough Mudder

Adele, cialis 40mg Alison, Brandon, Bob, Janet, Tricia and I ran the Tough Mudder in Diablo Grande on Sunday.  Danny made a surprise appearance and ran the Mudder with us.  I”m not sure if this is cool or dumb, but Alison, Bob, Janet, Tricia and I did a CrossFit competition the day before.  Our legs were “well seasoned” before we even started the damn thing.
 
The first obstacle in the Tough Mudder is the terrain.  In previous years, you had elevation or cold to deal with.  This year, in Diablo Grande, it was hills, heat and dust.  It was in the high 90’s on Sunday, and the heat was present.  Team CFO stuck together and worked through the Mudder as a team.  The hills are no joke and never ending, but our regimen of squats of all types prepared our legs for what turned out to be a 3.5 hour effort.  Not bad for people that don’t work out for more than 20 minutes!
 
First off, Danny is a freaking machine.  If you haven’t seen him at the gym, quietly powering through all sorts of work, you should start paying attention.  He may be new to CrossFit, but he makes up for that in tenacity, determination, and sheer work capacity.  Danny was on full power at the Tough Mudder.  He was helping people at obstacles, pushing the group, just moving.  After several tough obstacles were hard mud piles that required teamwork to basically lay on the ground and create a human chain to pull people up.  Danny was THE puller.  On the final obstacle, known as Everest (basically a muddy half-pipe) you had to run high, and grab onto athletes that had stuck around to help pull athletes up.  Danny pulled athlete after athlete up the obstacle.  When it was time to go, Danny waved us off, and said he was going to stick around and pull people up.  He might still be there!
 
Alison and Tricia both completed the toughest upper body obstacles, the Spider Walk, the Monkey Bars and the Ring Swings.  The Spider Walk and the Ring Swing took me out.  Tricia didn’t finish the monkey bars last year, but this year she got it.  We have some badass chicks at CFO!
 
The obstacles at the Tough Mudder test all different things: upper body strength, height, darkness, tight places, cold water, going under water in tight places, balance, using port-a-potties, eating with dirty hands and electric shock.  Because we were in Diablo Grande, you had to look out for snakes.
 
I will talk about the electric shock.  There were two obstacles that required you to traverse areas with hundreds of hanging wires.  The wires were charged with electricity, and would randomly shock you on contact.  Talking to guys that did it last year, the wires were avoidable.  This year they were not.  I got hit 7 or 8 times, some stronger than others, and it jacked me up.  I don’t know if I’m being a baby, but I freaking hated this.
 
The Tough Mudder is fun, but it ain’t cheap.  Al and i signed up when it was announced at just over $100 ($95 to enter, $15 for insurance).  Close to the event, sign up was $225.  That’s a lot of dough, so if you’re interested, sign up early – like when it’s announced.
 
I have some equipment thoughts on the event, and it depends on how serious you want to take it.  I think the New Balance Minimus with Vibram soles are the best shoe choice, because they’re light, have some traction and drain well.  I wore old Adidas that I use to wear for CrossFit, and they were slippery bricks from the start.  This was fine, but if you’re looking to go fast and want some comfort, and are willing to spend $100 backs on shoes to wear in Mud runs, those NB’s seem like a good choice.
 
I have become a huge fan of hydration tabs.  NUUN are great and available at Raley’s.  Alison got ZYM tabs and we used them this weekend.  They worked great.  Through 2 long events back to back, hydration was never an issue.  I take 1 of these tabs everyday – proper hydration fuels performance, aids recovery and keeps you safe.  On the event days, when I was working a lot, I took 2 tabs.  I feel less sore than expected, and I attribute it to proper hydration.

Tricia gets her well deserved orange headband…You can’t buy one of these…you earn them.
 
Workout of the Day
 
Strength
Back Squat
3 sets of 5, 60% of 1RM.  Rest 90s after each set.
 
Metcon
10 Thrusters 135/95
50 Doubleunders
8 Thrusters
40 Doubleunders
6 Thrusters
30 Doubleunders
4 Thrusters
20 Doubleunders
2 Thrusters
10 Doubleunders