Ever heard of a tough mudder before? I hadn't. And while the Tough Turtle was more of a family friendly fun-for-all-ages version, I was not prepared to learn that this wasn't just a 5k, it was a 5k obstacle course. So not only was I getting used to the idea of running three miles, I also had to wrap my mind around doing things like climbing over walls, wading through mud, and jumping over stuff. I couldn't back out because I'd already spent the money so there was nothing left for me to do but commit!
From January to April I worked on building up my stamina while running and building muscle through some strength training on and off with my trainer. Week by week as the event got closer the Tough Turtle people would announce what the obstacles would be and I grew more and more nervous. I thought "what have I gotten myself into? I can barely do a pull up!" While I was starting to feel more confident in my running ability after couple months, the thought of pulling myself up over a 10 foot wall sent me into convulsions. And what's more, I had ZERO race experience and had no idea what to expect. As months turned to weeks and then to days, I was a wreck. I kept having mental flashbacks to elementary school gym class and how much I was a sixth grade rope climbing failure.
Luckily, I was not alone. I belong to a young professionals networking group here in town and a couple of the ladies I've met through that were also running so we were on a team together. It made a big difference to have a support system in the months of training leading up to this race. We would check in with each other from time to time and send encouragement.
The morning of the race came and I was so nervous. I woke up early, some from anticipation but mostly because Cat Cora demands to be fed at 6:30 a.m. sharp regardless of day of the week! I made some coffee, ate a little oatmeal, pinned my race bib to my tee shirt and got ready to go over to the park. Our heat was at 9:20 a.m. and it was a beautiful sunny and clear day but a bit on the chilly side. The temperature will come into play a little later on. I met up with some of the members of our team and waited to be called to the start line.
And we're off! There's me, Jen, and Jen's brother Jimmy. As you can see, we were dressed for the weather. I am so glad I had my long pants and a long sleeve shirt on. Those sleeves came in handy later on, too!
Even though I was still nervous and questioning if I could even finish this race, I was really excited to finally be doing it.
My only goal this race was to finish and complete as many obstacles as possible. I wasn't running for time or to win. The obstacles as I mentioned before were not as intense as the official tough mudder ones look like. There was no barbed wire involved, thankfully! There are some pictures on the event's Facebook page that show what most of the obstacles were like. I am proud to say I completed every obstacle but one, the haystack, due to the fact I would have an allergy attack of epic proportions. We had to do all sorts of things from running up a steep hill to wading through waist deep water and ultimately military crawling through compost. Remember the long sleeves? They saved me from getting completely covered in compost!
I finished a few minutes behind Jen & Jimmy, we estimated about 43 minutes total so that's roughly 10 minute miles and 10 to 13 minutes to complete the obstacles. I have to tell you, the feeling I got turning the corner onto the last bit of straightaway and crossing the finish line with people cheering me on and the banjo player doing providing finishing music (this is Ithaca, after all) was an incredible feeling.
Here you can see how high the water was we had to wade through!
I was so proud of myself for accomplishing my goals and overcoming my fears of participating in this race. I've come a really long way since January not just physically but spiritually and emotionally. Realizing that this is something I can do and not just think about doing. Now that I've proven this to myself there are no more excuses for not exploring my capabilities further. I successfully completed the Color Splash Run 5k last weekend and my next race won't be for a little while but I will have the memories from these past two weekends to keep me going toward 13.1 in just eight short months.
