The definition of Tough Mudder can’t be any more obvious. I didn’t believe it until I did it but it is true. It is really tough and it is really muddy. I would have to say that they are right when describing the race in the documentation and I have never experienced an event like this that tests toughness, fitness, strength, stamina, and mental grit. I’m sure there are other races that come close but I haven’t experienced them yet.
So a group of CrossFiter’s from Canton CT decided to take a weekend and enjoy themselves. We started the weekend off with a nice drive to Vermont. Stopping at the most Organic restaurant we know, the People’s Pint in Greenfield MA. We enjoyed eating the most delicious chicken wings and starting the weekend off right with some organic beer. We left to head up to Vermont and enjoy a lazy evening by the fire and play silly games.
Friday came and went and more people joined us on Saturday. Some of us dared to go visit the mountain and watch a little of the race. It didn’t look “that bad” and the water didn’t look “that cold”. Heck if these people could do it so could we. But I have to admit a little fear started to kick in. Looking around the house later that afternoon I noticed the drinking coming to a stop and all of a sudden people cheered with water bottles at dinner.
Sunday morning came and Race day had arrived. Everyone got up and a few volunteers cooked a nice breakfast. It was funny because a pile of eggs got left on the table and all of the bacon didn’t get eaten. The Saturday morning breakfast looked like everyone had starved for a month but not on Sunday. The fear of going 10 miles had kicked in and no one wanted to be “that guy”.
So we ventured our way to the mountain to get our registration packets. The sun had peaked through that morning and it was looking like it was going to be a pretty nice day.
We entered the starting gates as a team and we all had a partner. The excitement was in the air. It only took a few minutes after the start to realize we had a long day ahead of us. The second mile was a two mile death march directly to the summit of the mountain. Legs started burning and we had just started.
The next few obstacles seemed pretty easy. Some muddy switch backs that just seemed like you had to get through them. Then it happened, our team mate Adam lost his shoe in five feet of mud. We all tried to dig for it but there was no hope of ever finding it. We had only gone two miles and Adam didn’t have a shoe. Adam didn’t look back. He finished the race with one shoe and a tapped on sock. I have to say that was one of the toughest things I witnessed all weekend.
Some of our members started feeling the pain and some old injuries started to appear that we haven’t felt in a long time. It wasn’t until we got to the obstacle called the “Ball Shrinker” that we all realized how cold the rest of the day was going to be. The obstacle was a tight rope that put you chest deep into 35degree freezing cold water. You could only go as fast as the person in front of you and that person couldn’t move fast enough. After exiting the obstacle I literally pissed myself as my body started to go into hypothermic shock. My legs didn’t want to work and I couldn’t close my hands. I just looked at everyone and realized that misery had struck. I told everyone to keep moving and not to stop. This was only obstacle eight and we had twenty more to go. What did we get ourselves into?
The next few miles seemed to go straight back up the mountain. We got through some muddy obstacles but we started to dry off. It seemed manageable again. The obstacles came and went and some fun one too. Nothing like running up the side of a half pipe hoping you partner catches your hand at the top.
Then we ran up on one of the most feared obstacles of all. It was time to “Walk the Plank”. This was a 15 foot obstacle that you had to rope climb up and jump off into a freezing cold pond and swim your way out. The water temp was 35-40 degrees. I watched my team mates all jump in and it didn’t look “that bad”. They simply jumped in and swam as fast as they could. So I jumped in right after them. When my body entered the water I thought I was going to drown. I just remember trying to swim to the light and wondering when someone was going to jump in and save me. It was only a few seconds under the water but it felt like eternity. After exiting the lake the true cold had set in and there was no turning back from being cold and wet for another five miles.
The obstacles seemed to come and go the Under Water tunnel, Glacier, Blood Bath, Funkey Monkey, Berlin Walls, and the Fire Walker all seemed to go by in some sort of haze. Exhaustion and cold had set in and we all put our mental grit together and made it through. We could smell the finish line and there was nothing that was going to stop us.
The two most fun obstacles happened at the end. I don’t know if they where actually fun or we where so damn happy that we could see the finish line. The slippery slide that ended in a pool of freezing water was a lot of fun. The cold didn’t even bother us at that point. Then a few of us held hands as we ran through the electric shock therapy that consisted of live electric wires that shocked you as you went through. This was the end and we could all say “we did it”.
It was now time for a cold beverage and gather everyone one up as fast as possible and get them into the hot shower and sit by the fire place. We had all done it and experienced it together.
The one thing that isn’t described in the race documentation is the bonding experience you get when doing the race with friends. It was the true mental grit that we all witnessed in each other during extreme pain and agony. It was the support for each other to make sure we all pushed ourselves as fare as our bodies would take us. It is seen at every workout at CrossFit Legitimus and it shined on that cold day in Vermont. This bonding experience will never be forgotten.
by Brian Smith
