Tough Mudder Austin

Here is a link to the course we did- it was 10 miles of trail type running with 19 obstacles thrown in. Linc wasn't there for all the stops, so I am mostly going to post about what pictures I do have :)

The short synopsis, if you don't want to read the nitty gritty: It was hard, it was muddier than I even imagined, with more types of mud than I thought existed. It was so much fun I can't wait to do something like this again! I think I had a smile on my face most of the time.

Linc and Randy brought Mya and Kaylee and got there right as we were starting. I am SO grateful they were there to support us and take pictures! It was fun to do this knowing my girls were watching me and Hillary.

This was the first swimming obstacle. We had to climb up a wall and then jump from 15 feet up. Hillary had never jumped from that high, but I just counted 3-2-1 and we jumped, no time to get scared! The shock of the water was intense! You have to quickly move so others can jump, then you just take a minute to catch your breath and then swim to the shore.

There were a few obstacles that dealt with nets. This one was a net that we had to go under while climbing/crawling up a muddy hill. At the bottom is was easier to go butt-first rather than get all tangled. Jon has been Linc and my friend since we were dating- it was SO fun to do this course with him!

Once you get toward the top of this hill it got slick, so people were pulling on the net to get up, and there were people at the top holding the net to give tension. When you go to the top you just took someone's place and offered a hand to pull others up.

It was a lot more hills than I trained for. I know I could have trained harder in the cardio area, and when/if I do it again, I will be in better cardio shape. There were so many of these motorcross hills at the start of the race. My calves were burning!

The 5 of us mostly stayed together. Jon and Joel were in better shape and would sometimes run ahead and then back. I tried to stick back by Hillary and Ric and keep an eye on all 4 of them.

This net was the worst! The mud was thick like cake batter and when you lifted the net up it would drip down. Not so bad for those without contacts! I was constantly worried I would lose one throughout the race.

The mud mountain. Seriously sticky and thick mud with slick spots. I made it about half way before I needed a hand because I couldn't stop my feet from sliding. Did I mention how chivalrous this event was? It makes me a little misty eyed to think about it. Mudder men are awesome!

The reward of climbing up is sliding down. SO fun!

After doing a ton of obstacles back to back (if felt like) there was some back trail running and then we came back towards the main area through these bog areas. The mud/water ranged from thin and milky to the consistency of refried beans. Sometimes it was shin deep, other times you couldn't touch the bottom. There were areas that had trees to climb across too ;)

This rope bridge thing was unexpectedly difficult for me. It was late in the course and right after a swim under barrels so I think I was still a little stiff from the freezing water. But I wasn't about to walk around, so I got on and almost lost it a few times but kept going.

Hillary joined me and I was getting pretty close to the other side and thinking "Holy shit! I am actually going to make it!"

Then Hillary lost her grip and fell off and the slack in the line flipped me off. Hilarious! I almost lost my shoes in the mud trying to get out of this one.

The camaraderie was amazing! There is no way I could have done some of the obstacles without help. Period. So many people say that chivalry is dead...I disagree. Not just the three guys on our team, but across the board, you saw guys helping the chicks out with a boost or an arm to grab.

I am happy to say the ONLY thing I couldn't do were the monkey bars- which most guys struggled with! I tried them though, I jumped up and made it up two then fell down. They were towards the end of the course and really high up (thus the having to jump). This is Jon making his way across. I think he got two more then dropped. Joel is down in the water looking up- and if you look to the far right, you see my face, falling. I hit and dragged my shin down the side board and have a wicked bruise/cut. Battle scars.

This was the last of the swim courses. A lot of dudes were walking around by this point. The water was ice cold, so your muscles seized up a bit and you were doing those short hard gasping breaths. Starting on the other side, you had to swim to the barrels and then dunk under, come up and then dunk under twice more. Right before this I had a wicked calf cramp and was worried it would cramp in the water. Hillary helped me stretch it and I went for it. We did the 3-2-1 method again each time and just went for it. One of the harder things I did because it was later in the race.

This is the one I feel the most badass about! The boards were sooo slick with mud and wobbly by the time we got there. Almost every one would start it and fall off, try again and then just walk through the water to the end. Instead of trying to go straight like a balance beam, I went sideways, basically doing squats the whole way across and keeping low. I was the only one in our group that made it! My legs were shaking so bad, but it felt pretty awesome to not give up!

The walls were one of my favorite things, totally didn't expect that. I am so surprised I could get over them, they are pretty high up! The jump down feels awesome.

The shocks at the end weren't as bad as I imagined. I have been shocked before, so I knew what to expect. I actually stopped half way to dig a couple shoes of of the mud and throw them because the person in front of me fell. It was exhilarating- I know my face shows pain but I think I was just trying not to stop!

We all sprinted to the finish line after that and just like that- it was over! You get a bright orange head, a free Tough Mudder shirt and a beer :)

When looking through all the pics that Linc took, it was a huge wake up call. I know that you don't have to be skinny to be tough and fit, but it sure would be nice to carry around less weight. It's HUGE that I am posting these, some are SO very unflattering. I guess I can be the fat kid on the couch or the fat kid doing an event like this- only one really warrants pictures being taken :)

Jon, Joel, Me, Hillary, Ric- Team Filthy Minds!

Even with how sore I was Sunday and Monday, I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was really, really fun and not like anything I have ever done. I learned a lot about mental toughness. I think we all can do a whole lot more than we tell ourselves we can. There was never a moment that I wanted to quit and that surprised me. Having people there to help you along the way makes the process easier, and being able to cheer and encourage others on is never a bad thing. Doing something like this with my sister was the icing on the cake! I am so proud of her!