So I just signed up for a Tough Mudder.......

Dirty Toes Joe

Barefooters
Jul 20, 2010
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How's that for incentive to step back into the running world? The event (doesn't seem right to call it a "race") is June 29th at MIS in Michigan. That gives me just over 5 months to train. Good thing my wife and I started Insanity just after Christmas.

Has anyone here done one of these? Any pointers for training, besides licking the business end of an extension cord? How 'bout footwear? I'll probably get some new vibrams...my original KSOs blister the pi$$ out of my arches everytime I wear them for more than a day or two. Any suggestions as to which model?


So, anyway, it's good to be back here amongst fellow barefooted freaks. I've missed you all....well, the ones that were here when I quit hanging around, anyway......
 
Welp, good luck on that. Here's the thread I started when I was considering it: http://www.thebarefootrunners.org/threads/nothing-good-will-come-of-this-im-sure.12734/

I can't speak towards footwear much, though I was considering wearing a moc or the like and slathering my feet with Body Glide to help prevent blisters.

I asked a friend of mine do did it in TX a bit ago and her response:


Ice mud= terrrrible, horrible stabbing pains of iciness all over my body until I finally warmed up again. Oh, and while i was in the ice mud, i could barely breathe. maybe I'm just allergic to the cold.
The 10 mile course was not bad, I took it at my own pace and may have gone slow, but overall, the length of it is totally doable. It helps to have a group together that can help everyone over the really huge obstacles. I think there were some 10-foot walls and maybe one 20-footer. The group helps with moral too, because you can joke together, sing stupid songs and just generally be goofy.
To be honest, the worst thing about the whole thing was the drive up to, parking at and dealing with the crowds within the race. If you go, go early, because if you're going at a decent pace, you'll end up running into the slowpokes from the heats before you and people tend to bunch up around the obstacles because they take longer to go over/get through, then you have to wait... and wait... (i think after about five miles in, my group ended up waiting for at least 10min per obstacle, just because there were so many folks in front of us.)
I'd recommend doing it, just to say you did though. Maybe you'll get lucky and the people won't bunch up so much for your race- who knows?

Apparently the electric shock - while painful - is not a deal breaker for most.

I'm still working on getting in shape - I might go nuts and sign up for one later this year for the helluvit
 
I read your thread. At first I was a little disappointed, but then I realized you only had about a month to train. That would be silly. I'm doing it with a couple friends, both ex-marines (i'm not ex-anything). We have 6 on our team total. Should be a hoot.

Thanks for the info!
 
I read your thread. At first I was a little disappointed, but then I realized you only had about a month to train. That would be silly. I'm doing it with a couple friends, both ex-marines (i'm not ex-anything). We have 6 on our team total. Should be a hoot.

Thanks for the info!

Oh yes - I think when the conversation first started, I had two months training - of course one of those months (January) is spent undoing the excesses of the holiday season so I'm sort of glad that this did not shake out. There is such a thing as too much hubris...
 
I'm all signed up and training for my first Tough Mudder this September. I normally run in VFF Bikilas, but am thinking about getting the Spyridons for the TM. I've seen a lot of good feedback on the TM training blog and other sites. I wish I would have worn them when I did the Warrior Dash a couple years ago! The old school shoes I did wear were like heavy mud bricks at the end of the race! Ugh...
 
That looks very cool! Best of luck! Read a few articles on it my various folks, a couple said VFF's sucked, not enough traction, but Vivo Neo Trails did well. Let us know how it turns out, and what footware you chose!!
 
Well, I did it. I completed the Tough Mudder at Michigan International Speedway this weekend. Before the naysayers start in - no, it’s not a half marathon, or a full marathon, or an ultra. Yes, it’s overhyped and probably overpriced. It’s also a fricken’ blast!

I posted way back in January that I had signed up and was using it as motivation to start running regularly again and working out. Let’s just say the training program fizzled out. I didn’t feel too bad, though. Nobody else on my team stuck to their training programs, either.
I almost didn’t make it to the race at all – I stayed with my sister, who lives 28 miles from the venue. I only gave myself 2:20 to get there. Traffic was unbelievable – and it was all from this event. I was technically late, but since they release people in waves I still made one of the last waves for my start time. I ended up catching up with the rest of my team at the first obstacle, but only because they stalled to wait for me.

I decided to wear my Merrel Road Gloves. I almost didn’t wear them – they are the only pair of shoes I’ve purchased since going mostly barefoot a few years ago. I’m a horrible tightwad and everything on the Tough Mudder website says your shoes will be trashed. I practically broke out in a cold sweat at the thought of throwing away my Merrells. I thought about it, though, and I didn’t see how getting them muddy would ruin them. I was right. My buddies were wearing giant, water and mud-logged running shoes which were absolutely trashed by the end of the race. There’s nothing absorbent in my Merrells, though, so I literally flushed them out with the garden hose and some dish soap and they look better than they did before the race. Traction was okay - I had no more problems staying upright than anyone else did. They also seemed to stay on my feet pretty well – I didn’t tape them, and they never seemed like they were going to get sucked off by the mud.

Everything I wore was made of synthetic fabric. I avoided cotton due to its absorbent qualities. One of my teammates had a cotton t-shirt on and threw it away about 1/3 of the way through the race. The tech fabrics breathed, dried quickly and didn’t seem to stick they got wet. I also intentionally wore underwear that was slightly snug. They used to fit…..who knew that tech fabrics shrink? I still got a lot of sand, gravel, mud and ice in places that none of these things should ever be, but I think it would have been a lot worse without the extra protective layer. And they kept the big chunks out - after the “arctic enema” obstacle one of the guys on my team pulled several ice cubes out of his shorts.

I definitely needed more help than I thought I would on a lot of the obstacles. Chin-ups and I have never gotten along well. Turns out we should probably get re-acquainted. Overall, though, the event was a blast. I really liked how it’s not really a “race.” Nobody pays attention to your time. There’s no prize for coming in first, or for being the top in your age bracket. The obstacles weren’t overwhelming. I couldn’t have done the walls without help, but they’re designed that way. I had a great team of guys and I would do it again in a heartbeat. My wife went as a spectator, and she wants to participate next year.
 
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how about that electric fence? i won't do this based on the fact they charge spectators. that's just wrong.
 
The electric ones suck, but it's just a gut-check. You have to accept the fact that you're going to get zapped and just GO. I grew up with horses and have been lit up by an electric fence many times. Pain-wise, it wasn't any worse than that.

I agree it seems wrong to charge spectators. On the other hand, I think my wife would have payed any price to see me slip, fall on my face and get zapped by electricity. The obstacles are pretty entertaining to watch. A lot more so than watching an actual race.
 
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A week later and I will say this: The Tough Mudder was awesome. The noravirus I brought back home - not so much. My house has been a puke and...other stuff...factory since the Monday after the event. I, my wife, and both sons have all been sick with it, on different days, of course. Only the 3 year old has escaped it, so far.