On the Tough Mudder ...

I'm having a hard time blogging this latest race I've completed. Maybe because I just can't come up with just the right words to describe how freaking hard it was.

Near death experience maybe?

My friend Maija-Liisa (who I was friend's with in high school .. who also ended up in Castle Rock) asked if I wanted to run with her and a few trainers from her gym. "SURE"! Sure? Sure.

So I joined the 24 Hour Fitness team. In a race .... well .. not really a race. More like a death march.

10 miles. 23 obstacles. 5,500-12,000 feet climb in altitude.

My biggest fear in agreeing to be on this team was that I would be the one lagging behind that they all had to wait for. Yup, for the majority of the race .. that fear was a reality. Poor team mates.

Suffice it to say that this race was the hardest thing (next to labor and delivery) physically I've ever done in my life.

We completed it as a team ... right to the very finish. A total of 3 hours.

The obstacles ranged from crawling in the mud ... jumping over hay bales in a muddy snowy field with people spraying you with firemen hoses ... wading across water that was 36 degrees ... sliding down an icy hill on my ass - feeling as if thousands of needles were penetrating my skin ....scaling 12 foot walls ... going through tunnels full of water ... cargo nets ... huge containers of green water filled with ice-cubes ...mud trenches ... electric shock ... not to mention running straight up a mountain in between all these obstacles.

There's NO way I could have done that race without a team for help and support. Gunner was always waiting to help me pass whatever obstacle was next. Lifesaver.

Sometimes I think races like this test not only your physical abilities but your mental stamina as well. There were definite times during this race that I had to talk myself through whatever my body didn't want to complete.

Probably the worst part of the entire race was how horribly cold I got. It was pretty soon into the race that water was introduced. Cold ... bitter ... 36 degree water. Not only did it take my breath away ... it felt like it was squeezing my lungs so hard that I couldn't breathe. Even after being out of the water and running again .. I found it hard to warm my body temperature back up. I don't think I can recall ever running a race and feeling my entire body shivering uncontrollably. My feet were so numb it felt as if I were running on huge boulders. There was a point where Gunner had to find me one of those shiny aluminum blankets to wrap around me.

That's when the mind has to take over. When the body is failing miserably ... the mind has to take control. To tell the body that it indeed CAN move forward.

I had to keep fear in check. What I wanted most was just to be warm ... and JUST when my body would feel the sun's warmth I would turn a corner to find yet another damn water obstacle. Brutal. Towards the end there were the monkey bars .... a lot of them. But under the monkey bars was .. of course .. more water, in case you fell. Awesome. That alone was enough to fight my way over those things. I was NOT going to get wet if I didn't have to.

My favorite obstacle was actually the electric shock at the very end. When I first read this online I totally didn't believe they would REALLY have something that could shock you. Yeah .. pretty much this race was a no joke .. you might die race ... and they were NOT kidding ... electric shock? Indeed. One hit my back and shocked me right through my chest. You're body just instantly seizes. It brought guys to their knees. BUT ... I knew just beyond those wires was the finish line. I've never been so ready to be shocked... (yes .. it hurt like a mother)

The race pushed my physical endurance ... my mind pushed my body ... pure exhaustion ..

I'm so glad I did it ... mostly to prove to myself that I could.

But really not sure I'll be signing up willingly next year to do it again. Maybe it's like labor ... time dulls the memory ...