I am a TOUGH MUDDER!

What's a tough mudder you may ask?!  Well, it's someone who completes what is touted as "Probably the Toughest Event on the Planet."  That's right, baby, the toughest event on the planet!  Boo-yah! 

Here's the official 2011 Virginia video:

It was at the Wintergreen Ski Resort - yes, a ski resort!  Which can only mean we had to climb up and back down not one, not two, but SEVEN hills ski slopes.  One of which was over 1000 feet in elevation.  Shoot. Me. Now.  There were about 20 other obstacles, which did not even begin to compare to this monstrous climb called the Death March. 

I started this post shortly after the run, but was holding off on posting until I had more digital pics to post.  However, after looking into the picture options earlier today, I'm not sure I'm willing to shell out $79.99 for the 15 digital pics they have of me.  G$'s mom, sister, and nephew came out to cheer us on, so I'm going to stick to the few free pictures I have from her.  Here's a link to the official site with our pictures (Bib  #9353, #9354, and #9355 if you want to see pictures of G$ and J$). And yes, we did have to have our numbers written on our foreheads and legs with permanent marker... 

Here's our picture after finishing.  They don't hand out finisher medals, they hand out finisher orange headbands.  I know, kind of weird...  

Here's a brief recap on a few of the obstacles that really stick out in my mind: 

Chernobyl Jacuzzi.  Despite being described on the website as an icy mixture, I somehow missed that while reading, so I was not quite prepared.  As we were running up to this obstacle, I saw pallets of bags of ice and thought OH NO, this isn't just a water obstacle!  This was by far, probably the worst of the obstacles and I'm not sure the video below does it justice.  I didn't calmly get into the water.  I jumped (per G$'s instructions), but didn't jump far enough, so I went under. Came up.  And then had to go under again to get under the barrier in the middle.  Oh. My. Goodness.  It was cold!

Mystery Obstacle.  At the registration area, there was a sign stating that the mystery obstacle involved smoke and spiders.  I immediately said, uh-uh, not doing it if there are live spiders.  We get to the mystery obstacle about three-quarters of the way through the entire race, and I climb up the ladder and into a tunnel where I can't put my feet on the ground, nor could I see the bottom, so I had to just drop and trust that there were no spiders.  I sucked it up and dropped.  I lucked out, no spiders.  

Please forgive my horrible hunch and awkward facial expression.  I was in serious pain. :)

Monkey Bars.  This is the first obstacle where I got to feel how cold the water was and this also happens to be one of G$'s favorite story to tell.  I get both my hands on the first bar, then while attempting to move one hand to the next bar, I immediately drop into water.  Yup, epic fail.  And let me tell you... the water was cold. 

J$ and G$ with me slightly behind. 

Did I mention that G$ and I didn't quite train for this?!?! Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. G$'s brother, who had been training and running about 30+ miles a week was a good sport throughout the run, very encouraging, so thanks, John, that was much appreciated.  However, after the run was over, he apparently spent the entire drive back to DC complaining about how we didn't train...  whoops.  John - you had every right to complain and I'm certainly not holding that against you.  We let you down.  Big time.

That being said, we finished!!  And I'm very glad we did it!  There is a 2012 Tough Mudder tentatively scheduled in DC and as long as it is not taking place at a ski slope, I'm hoping to do it.  I'll keep everyone posted on the details as it's officially announced in case anyone is interested in signing up!