On Saturday, I ran my second Tough Mudder down at Phillip Island. This time was a much different experience than the first time, given that I was a lot more prepared and injury-free!
I teamed up with Andrew again. And because Gordon is currently working in Indonesia doing some good deeds, he couldn't make it. But Andrew's wife, Jen, signed up, having watched us the first time, exclaiming "I reckon I can do that!"
Preparation
I don't wanna get into the boring details of it, but basically:
- From September onwards, I walked up to 6km a day in my commute to/from work.
- In the preceding weeks, I went on a very strict ketogenic diet. This was a last minute, all-out effort to cut a bit more weight. It worked.
- In the preceding weeks, I also upped my running/jogging/sprinting and did kettlebell workouts 3-4 times a week. Mostly clean+press ladders, but I threw in some swings+push up gassers occasionally.
- In the week before, I did a lot more foam rolling and mobility work than usual.
- The day before, I loaded up on carbs and drank a lot of 50/50 water/gatorade mix.
- In the morning of the event, I mixed a teaspoon of this magnesium powder stuff I decided to try with some water, and had that along with some eggs, a banana and some more water/gatorade.
The Event
The ice bath (arctic enema) still sucks. It sucked last year and it sucked this year. But luckily it was the first obstacle. Why does it suck? All of my muscles tightened up. My chest tightened up, which sucks as an asthmatic. And I felt ridiculous trying to get my legs out of the bath, which was just around chest height, because everything was so tight and it was hard to move.
The mud mile was a lot more fun this year; instead of cramming a few hundred people into waist-deep mud, single file, they had a much wider area to move, and about half of it was piles of mud that we had to "climb" over before falling into another mud bath. Team work was pretty important here, as was helping out anyone around you. Probably my favorite obstacle of the day!
Along the way, I was reminded that running in paddocks makes you fear for your ankles and knees. I was so sure I was going to roll an ankle. I certainly saw plenty of people who did.
After about 12km - a lot further than I expected - the cramps started to kick in. There's nothing more annoying than attempting to run while your adductors are cramping. The way you end up compensating for it makes you look like a zombie from a B-grade horror movie desperately chasing after fresh brains.
And after about 15km, I hit the proverbial wall. Stints of jogging didn't last long, and when I did get a decent burst of energy that inspired me jog for longer than 30 seconds, the cramps decided to kick in again. Lots of walking happened from there on out.
Diving from a platform into muddy water - which, by the way, makes it impossible to see anything, like, you know, how far away the surface is - is an odd experience. It's not a high enough platform to really be dangerous, but it's high enough that, in mid-air, you have enough time to think "oh shit, I'm still falling!"
On the second-last obstacle, Everest - that quarter-pipe that's prevalent in every Tough Mudder video on YouTube - I injured myself. Upon getting to the top, on my 3rd attempt, I grabbed the arms of two guys who were helping me up, and I guess the guy who grabbed my left arm pulled a little too hard; I felt my shoulder come out! I had to keep yelling "let my arm go, my shoulder's fucked!". And when he did, it must've gone back in, because I could move it in a full range of motion again, but it felt baaad! But it's all good! I went to the physio yesterday and there's no major damage. I just have to go easy on it for a couple of weeks.
Luckily the last event didn't really need my shoulders to be healthy; electroshock therapy!
Last year, the shocks were mostly tame, but you could feel them. This year, it was a whole other story. That shit hurt! I got zapped a good 9-10 times and by the laughs it was giving Cherie and her friend, James, it must've looked great. I guess it's true; there's nothing funnier than watching big, tough men cower and scream like children after a few zaps!
The End
Jen and Andy finished strongly and without injury! They, and Brendan, a guy we befriended at the start and ran the whole course with, were a lot of fun to do it with!
It was a great day and I was happy with how much better my running capacity, and performance on the obstacles, has gotten since my first Mudder!
I've been telling myself that this was the last Tough Mudder I'd do, but... it really was a lot of fun. We'll see if I sign up for the September run...
