What should I wear to Tough Mudder??

I'll start out by saying this post is going to contain some foul language.  I had a couple miles yesterday at the start of Tough Mudder Vermont to do some thinking and keeping this one clean is going to be impossible. No muddy pun intended.

Am I an expert in this? No.  I have run seven of these things from Vermont to Florida though, so if you've never run one this may be helpful to you.

So your buddies convinced to to sign up for your first Tough Mudder.  It's been six months and you've trained hard.  You did some running, maybe some shakeweighting, possibly some Crossfit or Zumba classes.  It's getting close and you're wondering what to wear.  Now if you didn't prepare, and plan on wearing some ridiculous costume, this post probably isn't for you.  But if you plan on taking the day slightly serious, while still having fun of course, I'll help you with some gear choices.

Starting at the top. "Should I wear a hat?" -  This is totally up to you.  Do you usually wear a hat? You do understand you'll be jumping into dumpsters full of ice, off twenty foot high ledges into water, and under mucky brown ponds right?  If you still think it would be an advantage for you to wear a hat, by all means wear it.  you can always leave it in "Arctic Enema" a mile into the course.

"Do I need swimming goggles?" - Really? Stop it, now.  You'll be under the water for all of 2 minutes during the three plus hours the event's going to take.  If you look cool in your swimming goggles, wear them.  It'll give the rest of us something else to point and laugh at.

"Do I need Cold-Gear?" - Is it going to be cold?? I live by the philosophy that less is more. I'd rather be dry and cold than wear a bunch of heavy wet clothes.  I've run every one in a tank-top and shorts.  Most of the time the tank-top gets soaked with mud and I end up taking that off.  So am I cold? Absolutely.  If the sun is out I'm loving life. Will I dry off? Yes.  Meanwhile you'll be soaking wet in your three layers, hey whatever works for you.  If you're afraid of scrapes the long sleeves and leggings will help prevent them on your knees and elbows.  I like to finish with some battle scars though.  Gives me a week or so to remember what I did over the weekend.

"Do I need a Camel-bak?" - Do you? If you can't run 3 miles without needing water you'll need a Camel-bak.  It's that simple.  If you can go 3 miles without water, don't bother.  It's just more to carry.  I hydrate well before-hand and train without water so I can go 3 miles no problem.

"Should I bring energy gels?" - Yeah, why not? I usually throw a 'Gu' in each pocket just in case I need a boost.  I don't recommend you use them when you train though.  You're better off training without them so you don't rely on it.

"Should I wear gloves?" - That's totally up to you again.  They might help on a few obstacles if you think your hands can't handle climbing walls without them.  If you need some I left a pair on the side of Mt Snow about halfway through the course from 2011.  If you can find them they're all yours.  I haven't worn gloves since.

"What kind of shoes should I wear?" - This is where I'm going to get heated, so buckle up.  This notion that "Tough Mudder will ruin your shoes so wear old ones" is total horseshit.  You've spent the last six months watching what you eat, doing your pushups, and running, and now you're going to skimp on the one thing that separates your body from the rest of the course?  Don't be a dumbass.  Tough Mudder DOES NOT ruin your sneakers and I'll explain how I clean my stuff at the end of this post.  If you choose to wear an old pair of running sneakers, prepare to be slipping all over the course.  Don't even get me started on these "Vibram five-finger" nutjobs.  The next fucking person that's wearing footgloves that slips and falls and almost takes me out in the process is going to have a muddy imprint of my Salomon Speedcross 3's across their back.  That's great that you like to run in them, and you like having a conversation starter.  When they offer you no advantage on the course and you're slipping and they fill with mud, I'm happy for your stupid fucking choice in footwear.  The best choice in footwear for Tough Mudder is by far the Speedcross 3's.  Check them out, they make a Men's and a Women's version.  They have drawstring laces so when you can't feel your fingers you can still tighten them.  I've never had one come off in the mud either so that duct tape nonsense won't be a thought.  Anyone that's ever worn them will swear by them.

Men's - http://www.salomon.com/us/product/speedcross-3.html
Women's - http://www.salomon.com/us/product/speedcross-3-w.html

These are a fresh pair of Speedcross 3's scaling a Berlin Wall.

That's my head to toe Tough Mudder gear suggestions.  I'm open to your criticism, but if you're only offering up what your buddy said, don't bother.

----------------------------------------

How to Clean your muddy gear -

1. When you get home the fist thing you want to do is rinse all your stuff off with the hose.  Just get the caked mud out of the soles of your shoes and off your clothes.
2.  Get some "Super Clean".  It's in a purple gallon container and can be found in hardware stores or auto parts stores.  Put your now rinsed clothes in a bin or bucket with a generous amount of Super Clean and fill to the top with water.  Let everything soak for a day.
3.  Now that your stuff has soaked give it another good rinse with the hose.
4.  Put everything in the washing machine.  You want it to be a full load, so if you need to add towels to fill it up, do that.  It's probably not the best thing for your washing machine so if you want to do it at the laundromat, by all means do that.  I run mine sneakers and all with the normal amount of detergent, and another big dose of Super Clean.  If your washer has the ability to run an extra rinse cycle, do that.  If not, run it again a second time without detergent.
5.  When the wash cycle is done I let the sneakers air dry and the clothes go in the dryer like normal.
6.  Go get them muddy again.

My Speedcross 3's after multiple Tough Mudder's and washes.  They look brand new.

Tough Mudder New England #1

My reward dinner of Sushi and Sapporo has just started digesting and I decided I'd try to hammer these thoughts out while they're fresh in my mind. 

Heading back to Mount Snow, Vermont for a Tough Mudder was very exciting for me because my first ever event was Tough Mudder here last year.  I can only speak for Mudders I've done, but doing a Tough Mudder at Mount Snow, Vermont is very different than any other event I've ever done.  Heading into town Friday night I was quickly reminded why it's so special.  Mount Snow is in a very small ski town in Vermont.  There are no chain restaurants and no big-name hotels.  "Welcome Tough Mudders" banners adorn nearly every business in town, and you can feel the local people truly appreciate you being there.  I had dinner at a local pub Friday night and every customer there was an obvious mudder.  Orange headbands were everywhere along with Tough Mudder T-shirts.  They even had a "Tough Mudder Menu" containing high-carb meals.  These businesses basically go flat during the off-season when the ski lifts aren't running, so this boost in the economy is greatly appreciated by the locals.

I also couldn't miss the Spartan Race signs scattered about like political candidate signs.  Spartan Race also rented a light-up road sign and the hired an airplane to tow a Spartan banner like it seems they do every week now.  I understand that marketing to Tough Mudders is their core audience, however it seems to be in poor taste.  It just feels like Spartan is a jealous bridesmaid never getting the attention she feels she deserves.

After a good night's rest at the Mount Snow Lake Lodge, I got up an headed over to the event.  I had planned on running alone so I was excited to see James from my Goruck Boston class there with some of his friends.  After some quick intros I decided that I would run with them for the day.  We jumped the wall to the start line and we were off.  We were in the very first heat of the day, so any problems that were on the course, we'd find first.  We were about halfway in the first pack of around 400 people and about a quarter mile in when we were all informed we went the wrong way.  Apparently one of the ropes fell and everyone just followed the leaders, going the wrong way.  We all got turned around and shortly after I lost James and the guys.  It was about this time I saw a customer of mine, Colin and a friend of his Dan,  and we decided I'd try and stick with them.  We ended up sticking together until the finish.  The biggest obstacle of the day would prove to be the mountain itself.  I could tell a lot of mudders were having a really hard time dealing with the miles of climbing.  I've never had a problem with hills and feel like my long legs might have put me at an advantage because I handled the mountain fine. 

I realized that even though I've done a handful of these, that every event presents it's own unique personal challenges.  With challenge comes both success and failure and this weekend proved that.  Last week I realized I'm able to scale the "Berlin Walls" without help, today solidified that.  I also made it across "Twinkle Toes" (a balance beam over water) for my first time ever.  I finished Saturday's Tough Mudder and was feeling pretty good about myself.  I had a nutrition plan laid out for me by a teammate from the week before, Tracy.  I stuck with that plan and was confident that Sunday would go just as well as Saturday.

Sunday morning we arrive to see that the mud is much more plentiful than it was on Saturday.  Even the start area is full of ankle-deep mud and the MC gets us fired up by getting a handful of mud and slapping on the person's back next to us.  Not far after the start we hit areas that were dirt the day before but Sunday was mud almost a foot deep.  Climbing a mud-soaked mountain is a very daunting task.  I just stuck with it and before I knew it I was 3 miles in.  There were two girls in tu-tus right in front of me when a spectator said to them "You are the first girls!".  I had hung with the fastest girls on the course and I was feeling pretty good about that, so I decided if they maintained their pace I'd try to stick with them.  After we ran next to each other a couple miles the introductions went around.  Beth and Hilary were both from CT, Beth lived in the same town as our NAPA store!  Pretty amazing how I can drive a hundred miles to an event like this and meet someone that probably passes by the store every day.  I ended up losing them around mile 8 near the "Underwater Tunnels". 

I was feeling good as I approached Funky Monkey.  I've made it across these monkey bars every time I've tried, but every event is different.  Sunday would prove to be one of those failures.  As soon as I got my hands on the bars I noticed they must have been freshly greased by TMHQ.  I got about 4 bars in and gave up my perfect record by falling off.  After this I decided I had to redeem myself by scaling the walls solo which I was able to do.  Back to "Twinkle Toes" I really wanted to double up on my success.  I got too cocky and started talking to another mudder, lost focus, and fell off.  Then I headed up and over Everest, through the shocks and on to my 2nd headband in as many days.  I finished feeling strong and full of energy.  I'm confident it is completely due to my diet that Tracy convinced me to follow.

If you take anything from this post I hope it's two things.  First, you need to do a Tough Mudder in Vermont, if anything just for the atmosphere and sights.  After climbing a half-mile up a mountain all you need to do is turn around and you can see what I mean.  The sights are breathtaking.  It truly has to be seen through your own eyes to appreciate it.  Secondly, all these challenges are different.  I still get butterflies when I see "Everest", and I hope Tough Mudder can continue to keep me feeling like that.  I'm now two weeks in after my first Tough Mudder of the year and I've completed four.  I'll be heading back to the Poconos next weekend, but I'm only doing Saturday.  I've shown myself doing it two days in a row is achievable, plus Sunday is Mother's day.  So Sunday will be spent making Mom happy, not running around in the mud.

Tough Mudder Pennsylvania

It's Saturday morning.  3:30 in the morning to be exact.  My alarm is going off but it doesn't matter, I've been up all night anyway.  Quick shower, some coffee, strap on my Salomon Speedcross 3's and I'm out the door on the way to Pocono, PA.  I fire up the playlist on my iphone and 3 hours and 200 miles are quickly in my rearview. I pull into Pocono raceway with a few hundred other early mudders and we hop the bus to Pocono Manor.  A quick check of the weather on my phone, 31 degrees farenheit.  Yikes.  Off the bus at 8:00 AM, perfect for an 8:20 start time.  After the usual Tough Mudder routine of picking up my bib and having my bib number written on me, dropping off my bag at back check, and some quick stretches, I'm off. 

The obstacles were the usual Tough Mudder fare.  "Kiss of Mud" was the first obstacle.  In this obstacle you "Army crawl" in the mud under barb wire.  Except this time the mud was frozen.  This would be the biggest challenge for the first few miles.  After a jump into a dumpster full of ice, I shook uncontrollably for at least thirty minutes and couldn't feel my hands for about an hour.  This concerned me because I really wanted to get across the "Funky Monkey" successfully to keep my perfect record going.  There were two obstacles I had never seen before.  One was the "Electric Eel" the other was the "Rings".  Electric eel is basically another army crawl, but in a pool of water, under dangling electrified wires that shock you as you pass under.  It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I was really excited to do the rings.  The rings are just metal rings hanging above a pool of ice cold water.  I felt my upper body strength was an advantage here but misjudged the last ring and almost implanted my face into the ledge on the other side.  Shortly after I breezed through "Electroshock Therapy" in front of a crowd of cheering spectators, gathered my beer, headband, and was on my way back to the truck.

This Tough Mudder weekend was to be much different than past event weekends.  Sunday I would be attempting to run the course again.  This time with a group of friends that met online months beforehand and only a few of us had actually met in person.  So after a quick shower and nap I headed over the New Jersey state line to meet up with everyone.  First up was Jen, Rich, and Jason.  After Jason was introduced to me he was only called "Sheetz" so that's how I'm going to refer to him. We headed over with Jen's hilarious father to get some dinner.  Jen told me a few times that this was her local watering hole and they did not disappoint.  The bacon was amazing, the beer cold, the dead animals on the wall were plentiful.  After some great food was had, and some beers guzzled, Tracy, Matt, and Brian showed up.  Followed not too long after by Jeff, Tim, and Jess.  It really was something special meeting everyone in person and feeling like we were all just old friends meeting up for a night at the pub.  The time quickly passed and we soon realized we needed to get to bed soon if we were going to do this thing in the morning.  Tracy passed out some magic elixir she called "Coconut Water", we drank them and all headed back to get some rest so we could meet up again nice & early.

We pull into Pocono Raceway and start running into all our new "real-life" friends.  We were joined by some of Jen's amazing family along with Jeff's amazing family that were there for support and to photograph some of the madness.  After another quick bus-trip to the event-site we met up with Jim & Kristy.  Jim had also run the day before and opted for a double-dose of insanity, but today his wife Kristy was joining him.  We grabbed our bibs and had our numbers written on us.  The girl writing on my arm looked up when she saw the faded number from the day before, "Umm, were you here yesterday?? Man, you crazy".

After some group shots, and some stretching we were soon on our way.  Up over the wall to the start line and the MC starts getting us fired up.  What Jen didn't realize is we told the MC it was her birthday.  Picture about 500 people close together on their knees singing "Happy Birthday" to you right beofre you go off on your first Tough Mudder.  That's something that can never be tainted and you'll never forget.  Then the national Anthem and we're off!! The day seemed like it was going to be warmer than the day before, and it was, but the wind was crippling.  After the first mile or two we decided it may be best for the group to split up and continue at a pace we were each comfortable with.  So Jen, Rich, Sheetz, Jeff, and I headed off.  We hung together for a couple miles until Jeff decided it was beer & cigarette time.  We had also picked up a guy by the name of Pete.  Pete was a New York Firefighter that was running solo and ended up staying with us the whole event.

The four of us and Pete continued together through the obstacles, dealing with extreme cold and wind, and bad muscle cramps.  We hit Everest in the midst of them dumping canola oil down it and Sheets was pretty well oiled up. 

Then came Electric Eel.  I got shocked much worse on Sunday then Saturday and the rest of the group agreed saying they could hear the shocks.  This seemed to trigger muscle cramps in Jen's leg and in my upper traps.  We powered on as we were about three-quarters the way through the course at this point.  I got to the monkey bars and assumed it would be a breeze for me, as it had been in the past.  One grip of the bar I realized all that canola oil they dumped onto Everest had made it to the bars.  The bars were extremely slippery and I thought I was going to fall a few times, but made it across.  Next up was the mud mile and we were all pretty cold & miserable.  Well that was until Rich turned to tell Sheetz "look out for that ledge" as Sheetz stepped off and got a faceful of mud.  This made Jen laugh hysterically for awhile and we forgot how cold it was for a bit.  Next up was the rings and I was determined to make it across, which I did.  Sadly in "Twinkle Toes" I fell off the beam and got wet.  I have yet to make it across, but this was the furthest I've made it yet.

So we were shaking uncontrollably, possibly hypothermic, but we were almost to the finish so we pushed on.  Before we knew it we were passing through electroshock therapy.  It was quite exciting seeing my new friends collect their first of many Tough Mudder headbands.  We did our best to get warmed up, hopped the bus back, and said our goodbyes.  We'll be saying "Hello" again before we know it I'm sure.  Lifelong friendships were solidified on that cold April day.

Thanks to all my new friends!! I can't wait to see you all again soon!!!