Tough Mudder - Tri-State 2011- Englishtown, NJ

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We are the Hotties, the Jalapeno Hotties!

I didn't pick the name.  I just tried to make the most of it.

My fellow Jalapeno Hotties and I paid a good bit of money, over $100, to beat the hell out of ourselves over the course of 12 miles.  From the the picture above, you can see it was a rough three and a half hours.

 Here's me up close and personal after I got home from the race.

I searched through the majority of photos that Brightroom Photography posted on their website and there was not one where I wasn't looking at the ground as a I ran.  At least I'm looking into the camera in these photos.  I doubt the women who look at these photos think they might not look good.  You all have a fan in me.  You're all covered in mud and you look exhausted and HOT!  Keep up the good work!
Is that weird?
Not sure, hut this definitely is.
In case you don't know what the Tough Mudder is, you should definitely check out their website.  (The video that comes up, definitely gets me fired up.)  So does this one.  The Tough Mudder is The Warrior Dash's big, bully of a brother.  It's more than 3x as long and about 10x as a mean.

You freeze your ass off at the beginning.

You get electrocuted by 10,000 volts at the end!  

That wasn't me, but that's a very good representation of my experience.  I caught a wire in the back of the head and definitely bounced my head off the ground.  I thought I might have had a concussion or broken nose.  At least my nose wasn't broken.

So that was the beginning and the end, but the middle....well, I'm not sure I can adequately describe the middle of the course itself.  I ran 12 miles through it covered in mud, there is a good chance I just forgot some of it!  A week later, my bumps and bruises are mostly gone.  The memories are a little hazy.  There definitely was a lot of mud and I know at one point I compared it to the Swamp of Sadness from the Never Ending Story.  Luckily, I didn't give up like Atreyu's horse.  God, that was a fucked up movie to be targeted at kids. There is no succumbing to the sadness at the Tough Mudder.

You can search the internet for how the marathon is a 'Triumph of the Human Spirit'.  Check out some quotes about running 26.1 miles. Having only run a half-marathon, I can only half relate to what that means.  Sure, there are races that are longer and more difficult.  I suggest Born to Run by Christopher MacDougall if you want to hear about the people who do them.  A marathon is the absolute farthest any portion of regular society will ever push themselves to go.  It's linked to mythical celebration of victory in Ancient Greece and it's name is used to describe any long, difficult task that tests the will of its participants.  On an individual basis, there is not an event that will test the will and spirit of the average person.  (Since I can't swim very well, I won't include an Iron Man Triathlon because I assume I'm at least close to average). 

The Tough Mudder on the other hand tests the individual as well as its participants as a group.  If you tried finishing the Tough Mudder or a marathon without being in at least decent physical condition you'd probably fail.  Unlike a marathon, unless you are an elite athlete, you are not going to be able to finish the Tough Mudder by yourself.  A marathon will test your will, but if you just keep moving your feet you'll finish.  However, climbing over the Berlin Walls, scaling the quarter-pipe known as Everest, climbing under the Devil's Beard, scaling the muddy hills of the Muddy Mile, or climbing through the Boa Constrictor is not possible without help from your fellow Mudders.   Other Tough Mudders pushed and pulled me and I pushed and pulled fellow Tough Mudders over and through numerous obstacles that might not have been possible without each other.  There is something special about helping both your teammates and people you don't know outside of climbing through a huge mud puddle through what could be compared to a gym class from Hell.
That's not something you get many other places.  The Tough Mudder isn't about who finished first.  The Tough Mudder is about everyone finishing!   The event raises money for the Wounded Warrior Project and was designed by the British Special Forces.  Before we were allowed on the course you take the Tough Mudder Pledge led by an MC who said Hoorah! a lot and also told us to take a knee.

Someone wrote on the comments on the photo page 'They had me at take a knee' and I can't help but agree.  Flashbacks to football camp and the brotherhood that I felt in high school and college immediately ran through my head. I won't exaggerate and claim my fellow Tough Mudders are now my brothers and sisters, but for those three + hours there was a definite sense of shared purpose and community.  As great as the sense of accomplishment was for me personally finishing, it felt just as good to know I helped other Tough Mudders complete their own journey.
Will I try the Tough Mudder again in 2012?  I hope so.  It won't be just for the group hug feeling I described above.  There were 2 obstacles - rope drag and Funky Monkey Bars - I'd like to try over again because those were essentially individual obstacles that I could not finish.  My effort and preparation are two things I can control and I'd like to prepare more and try those again.  Maybe I could be one of those elite athletes.  So look for more of these finisher badges in the near future.