During Mud Mile 2.0, which is essentially wadding through muddy water and over mud mounds, it was hailing/raining freezing rain. There was barely anyone actually doing this obstacle as I approached it, since it was so cold, and most people just ran the trail to the right (out of the mud). At first, I tried to conquer the obstacle but again, I panicked and bailed. RJ was doing just fine but and this point, we were a team so I told him, “Let’s bail on this one, it’s not worth it.” It’s not like my opinion was unpopular, as there were literally a handful of people trotting it out the hard way, but I did feel bad when RJ bailed on the obstacle when he possibly could’ve completed it.

With that said, I later learned that RJ was having trouble with upper body obstacles, as he skipped King of Swingers, Funky Monkey 2.0, and the rope climb. At King of Swingers, I held on to the swing but was unable to ring the bell. My grip was completely lost for Funky Monkey 2.0, and that was the first time I’d ever failed any type of Monkey Bar obstacle in any OCR event.

WHERE I EXCELLED

During the running portions, I was pacing RJ a bit, and his strength clearly lied in hiding the fact he was hiding his coldness. After all, RJ had lost 100+ pounds naturally, without surgery, just from going to the gym and eating right. On a day like this, his strength of not complaining about the cold or shivering at all was better than my willingness to turn on the heat and just finish the course. My legs felt relatively fresh on the course which was odd considering I just ran my first half marathon the day before. I could’ve kept the same pace I did at the half-marathon (my good old 10-minute mile) during this event if I wanted to. For the rope climb, my hands were SO slippery, but I muscled myself up using my feet. I saw other Mudders attempt this obstacle and just say “Screw it, too slippery.” Not me. When I somehow got to top, I shouted down, “That was so hard!” to Mudders that were unable to complete it. Anyone that started the course after 10:30am can attest to the fact that getting up that rope must’ve felt awesome, and it did. What is becoming my favorite part of Tough Mudders is Arctic Enema, sliding into a freezing ice bath, going under a dunk wall, and climbing out. Here’s an interesting story about that obstacle.

As I approached Arctic Enema, I saw a female Mudder contemplating whether or not to do the obstacle. There multiple voices telling her what to do:

Spectator (not sure if her mother, but definitely older than her): “Don’t do it. This is stupid, get down from there.”

Mudder friend on the course: “It’s up to you. It is cold out here but do what you want.”

Tough Mudder Volunteers: I’m not sure if they spoke up during the scared Mudder’s hesitation but after this Mudder was talked off doing Arctic Enema, the volunteers were talking amongst each other, expressing the fact that spectators should not be negative like that.

I didn’t think twice about doing Arctic Enema and luckily this obstacle was around mile eight or nine, and by then, the rain had stopped (it stopped raining around mile five or six for RJ and I). The scene of the Mudder, who likely paid for this event, being scared by a SPECTATOR, into skipping an obstacle represented the exact reason why I do OCRs. Close-minded worriers are often unable to think outside of their “boxes” and consider the fact that people enjoy accomplishing new things and pushing themselves to the limit. Our TV-obsessed parents couldn’t imagine sacrificing luxury to find their purpose in life. I signed up for a Tough Mudder, so unless it’s myself that’s getting in my own head, no one else will be getting in my head.

POST-EVENT FESTIVITIES