This obstacle has you scaling a wall twelve feet high, using only a muddy rope and upper body strength. But there are pieces of wood nailed about every four feet, so you do have something to leverage yourself with.  And the rope has knots in it which makes it easy to hold on.  As I started, I was pushing with my feet, and someone behind me yelled to keep my body close to the wall.  So I did, and I made it over, with no problem.  Once you reach the top, you have to work up the courage to descend the rope on the other side, but I just didn’t look down, and held on tight to the rope. At this point, I knew there had to be some mud coming up soon, because we were all relatively clean.  Sure enough, I was right.

6.  Kiss of Mud

Kiss of Mud

This is where doing 3 minute planks actually paid off!  When I walked up to this obstacle, there were two sides.  One had dry mud, and there only two girls doing that side.  The other side was about 3 inches of muddy water on top of sticky mud, and there was a long line of people waiting for that one.  I heard some dude behind me say the dry side “must be the girl’s side”, so I immediately joined the line for the wetter, muddier one.  I totally forgot that I still had my shirt tied around my waist, and I should have either put it on (to avoid the bruises and scratches on my forearms, or taken it off and thrown it to the side to stay dry.  Oh well.  I got up with my wet, muddy shirt, and started running.  At this point we were meeting back up with the people who had just started, running in the opposite direction.  We quickly went through the next obstacle, which I could not find any info about beforehand, nor any photos to share.

7.  Bell Hop

This is exactly what it sounds like.  We went under three separate beams suspended at different heights (each a little higher), with bells attached.  You were supposed to jump up and ring a bell.  I tried, but unfortunately, old white chicks can’t jump.  Our next obstacle was one I had also dreaded.

8.  Funky Monkey

Funky Monkey

This is a set of monkey bars, fifteen bars going UP, and fifteen going down, over a body of water. Oh, and I think they grease the bars!  I don’t think I could do a pull up to save my life, and they say the best way to train for this is to do pull ups.  So I figured it was a done deal, if I tried this one, I would fall.  But I was on a roll…I hadn’t skipped any challenges, it was still relatively warm, and I was pretty muddy so if I fell at least I’d wash some of that off.  So I tried holding onto the first couple bars while standing on the platform.  My super sticky rubber gloves that I bought for this obstacle were useless.  I could not get a grip.  So I threw them to the side, grabbed the second bar in, and took off.  I did one bar at a time, letting my body swing (which is what all the tips told me to do), and before I knew it I made it to the top!  Then I had to come down the same number of bars, and at this point I just wanted to be finished, so I started doing every other bar.  And to my complete surprise and astonishment, I made it without falling!  When I gathered my gloves and started running, I was more out of breath at this point than I had been at any point so far.  But I was smiling.

9.  Bushwhacked

Except ours were uphill

We started our climb up to the highest point of the course, at Sam’s Knob.  We had a few obstacles on our way.  First was bushwhacked, which was basically heading straight up the mountain without using the trail.  But it wasn’t a big deal.  Since it was mid-day, most of the bushwhacking had already occurred.  We passed some veterans, waiting to help their friend up hill, and I shook his hand, and had a little cry.  Then, Hell happened.

10.  Underwater Tunnels

Underwater Tunnels

We’re at around 9,000 feet at this point, the sun was behind a cloud, and it felt like it was 20 degrees cooler.  This involved sliding down a tarp into an icy cold reservoir, then swimming under a series of floating tubes.  I’m a strong swimmer, so it wasn’t a huge deal, but this is when my body slowly began to freeze.  When I got out, my teeth were chattering and I couldn’t feel my feet.  I grabbed my almost-dry shirt from where I had thrown it, and spent the next 400 yards trying to get it on, while running to the next obstacle.

11.  Rail Garden

Rail Garden

This was just a series of hurdles, waist high or so, but pretty easy to climb over.  I was just trying not to fall on my face since my feet were so numb I didn’t feel like I could count on them to support my weight.  Still shivering, teeth chattering, I ran up to the next obstacle, and  froze, both literally and figuratively.

12.  Pitfall

When my daughter was little, Jeff would play a game with her in the pool, called “holes”.  He’d put her on his shoulders, and walk across the pool, every now and then yelling, “Holes!”, and bending his knees, sinking down into the water with her.  She loved that game!  But this version didn’t look like fun to me. The volunteer informed us that the wires we would crawl through were live wires, and carried electrical charges.  After crawling under that (just one bar), you had to wade through about 20 yards of muddy ice water that had huge holes dug in random spots.  So I watched for a few minutes, jumping up and down to try to get feeling back in my feet.  People were screaming as they were shocked, then falling into holes and getting submerged.  I truly think if it was just the electrical thing, I would have tried it.  But I could not handle both that and the cold water at that point.  So, with my head down, I took the obstacle bypass.  After that, I HAD to do the next one, which surprised me by being the hardest obstacle of the day, at least for me.

13.  Mud Mile

Mud Mile…I wish they were that small and slanted.

This wasn’t really a mile, but it felt like it.  It was a series of very tall, straight edged (I wish they were as slanted as in this photo) piles of mud between waist-deep, ice cold, muddy water.  I made it through, only because some poor guy was nice enough to give me a boost over the first one, and like a lost puppy, I followed him through most of the rest of them.  Until I got so cold that I sat on top of one of the piles, shivering, for a long time, trying to get the guts to slide back into that muddy pit of ice water.  I don’t know how many actual piles we had to climb over.  It felt like 50.  But was probably 6.  When I pulled myself out, I did a few jumping jacks, still not feeling my feet, and ran about 20 yards to the next obstacle, which I almost didn’t do.

14.  Walk the Plank

No, I did NOT do a belly flop!

Yep, another ice cold DEEP pool of water.  Climb up to a 12 foot platform, and jump in, then swim 40 yards to the other side.  I stood there, again, for quite a while, trying to decide whether I was going to do it.  I was SO COLD.   Ultimately, I decided that I couldn’t really get any colder, swimming was my strength, so I might as well just do it.  So I did.  Cold, cold, cold.  And that’s all I’ve got to say about that.  Thankfully the next obstacle helped get my blood flowing.

15.  Killa Gorilla

I can’t find any good photos of this one.  I think it varies, depending on where the event is located, but it was basically up a very steep, slippery, muddy bank, and back down on the other side.  Lots of “whoops” moments on this one, but I went sideways down and made it unscathed.

16.  Cliffhanger

Cliffhanger

I actually think I’m getting these last two kind of mixed up.  I actually think this was when we turned right and went straight up what felt like a 90 degree slope.  But it was slowly helping my feet warm up.

17.  Gauntlet

Gauntlet…cold cold cold cold!!!

This was more of the same, with some things to climb over.  But way steeper, muddier, and there were hoses spraying ice water in your face as you made your way down.  After this, we had a stretch of a mile or two of running.  I was SO happy for that.  No obstacles, and the running was kind of warming me up a little.  Surprisingly, I was passing people left and right.  There were a lot of people cramping up at this point.  I think the combination of the cold, the wet, and the altitude were affecting a lot of people.  I am very thankful that I’ve been hiking and running up and down this very mountain for a few weeks, so it seemed very natural to just run.  But my running euphoria quickly became panic when I saw the next obstacle.

18.  Pole Dancer

Nope.

I had forgotten about this one.  I have no idea if it is harder or easier than funky monky.  I knew it took arm strength, and I knew the water underneath was COLD.  I had no hesitations.  I passed it up.

19.  Ram’s Horn/Mystery Obstacle

For some reason, I can not remember this one.  I had done so many searches trying to figure out what it is, and couldn’t find anything.  Now, either they didn’t have this one, I didn’t realize when I went through it, or my brain was frozen and I can’t remember it.  Either way, after I skipped the Pole Dancer, I did not intentionally skip anything else.  Maybe someone out there can spark my memory.  But I DO remember an obstacle earlier in the course that wasn’t listed.  We had to go over and under a series of Round Tubes.  The low ones were REALLY low, so you had to crawl under, and the high ones were greased and slippery.  I got a boost on one, but for the rest, I just stepped on one of the supporting tubes and climbed over.

20.  Everest

Everest

This is the one that most people really need help with.  It’s a 1/4 pipe, greased and slippery.  You have to run up to the platform on top.  Thank goodness for the guys who grabbed my hand, and my leg, and very ungracefully helped pull me up.  Pretty embarrassing, but I made it.

21.  Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall

This was 2 12-ft. walls, with NO rope this time.  There was a little ledge close to the bottom that you could step on, but it basically took some wicked upper body strength to pull yourself over by yourself.  Then, on the other side, you had to slowly release and hang, then drop.  I saw a couple of people twist their ankles on the dismount so I was a little nervous.  On the first wall, a guy came up behind me and gave me a boost, but on the 2nd one I told him I was going to try it by myself.  I did it, but I cheated a little.  I stepped on the angled support beam on the side and lifted my leg up onto the top, then used my leg and arms to pull myself up.  Again, not pretty or graceful, but I did it by myself!

22.  Leap of Faith/Mystery Obstacle

Another obstacle I don’t remember.  Either they didn’t have it, I did it and I don’t remember, or I didn’t see it.  Either way, I have nothing.  I think it involves jumping over water onto a cargo net.  But I didn’t see it.  We did have another obstacle that wasn’t listed which involved pulling yourself with your forearms through an elevated narrow tube, then falling out on the other side.

23.  Devil’s Beard

Devil’s Beard

This is where I finally lost my dirty, muddy, red bandana, that I had been carrying for the entire course.  I had stuck it in the top of my shirt, into my bra top, but we had to crawl, or slither, underneath a VERY HEAVY cargo net.  It was so heavy it basically kept you from being on your hands and knees.  The easiest way was to just lay on your stomach and pull yourself through, bringing your knees up to your shoulders on each side.  Then, last, but not least…

24.  Electroshock Therapy

10,000 volts of live electricity?  My dear husband says there’s no way.  But that’s what they advertise.  Being small is actually a benefit.  Those big burly guys running through have more surface area, so it’s easier for them to hit a live wire.  There was a line for this one.  On the other side was the prize, the finish line, the orange Tough Mudder headband, and a nice cold Dos Equis.  I watched the entire time I was in line, and noticed that the people running through on the left side seemed to be getting shocked, and the ones on the right seemed to make it through ok.  So I stuck to the right side, put my hands up to protect my face,  ran through and jumped over the muddy piles of hay, and before I knew it I was done!

I’m not a beer drinker, but that cold one tasted good!  I walked through Mudder Village, took a few samples of protein bars, got my photo taken, and then easily grabbed my bag of clean clothes.  I was amazed at how quickly that process was!  Since I know Snowmass Village very well, I knew where the ladies rooms were, so I went down there to change clothes and pretty much had the whole place to myself.

It was kind of lonely, being by myself, so next year I am recruiting some friends to do it with me!

Here are some of the things I learned:

1.  You don’t have to have a team.  The theme of the day is “No man left behind”, and there are always people who will help you if you need it.

2.  There is no shame (other than self-induced) in skipping an obstacle.  They emphasize multiple times that if you’re uncomfortable with a challenge for any reason, have a heart condition (for the electrical ones), or can’t swim (for the water ones), that you should skip it.  It’s just a personal challenge.  I hope next year that I do them all.

3.  It is VERY helpful to have a strong running, or cardio base.  Even though my upper body is not where I’d like it to be, my legs and cardio ability got me through 75% of the event.

4.  Core strength is very helpful.  With that said, I think more functional strength training, using your body weight instead of weights is probably the most useful.

5.  Some people wore minimalist running shoes, like the Vibram ones with individual toes, or very thin soled shoes because they think they won’t hold water as much but I talked to a guy who wore them and he said they were the wrong choice.  His feet were very sore.  It’s a rocky course, so I grabbed an old pair of running shoes and they worked fine.  Just remember to double or triple tie them or you will Los.e them in the mud!  At the end of the race they have a shoe donation table so you don’t even have to take the gross muddy things home with you!

6.  I was afraid of being cold, so I wore an underarmour heatgear turtleneck.  Luckily I had a bra top underneath, because it started out pretty warm.  I definitely needed the long sleeves later in the race, though, so I’m glad I had it.  I wore tight fitting running capris and knee high compression running socks, which was perfect.  I still got a couple of bruises and a scratch or two on my knees, but it would have been much worse if I’d worn shorts.

7.  Costumes are fun and a conversation starter.  I talked to Waldo, Princess Leah, Uncle Sam, a gladiator and a ballerina.

8.  There are definitely some hard bodied, muscle-men and women, but there are also people who don’t look like they could run a bit.  Everyone there was doing the best they could, and that was beautiful.

9.  I was worried that I hadn’t “trained” for this event.  But for years, I have worked out 6 days a week.  It was a fabulous feeling to realize that all that working out was good for something other than just keeping me healthy!  I actually enjoyed this event, way more than I thought I would.

10.  Next time I am wearing my Go-Pro, even though I think it looks goofy.  I’d give anything to have footage of the challenges as I did them.

11.  I took an old red bandana with me, which came in very handy to blow my nose, or wipe mud off my sunglasses.  It was easy to throw it to the side when I went through the wet challenges, and I almost made it to the end without losing it.  I’m glad I had it.  And sunglasses were helpful when the sun was out.  It wasn’t a big deal to hold them when it got cloudy, or to toss them to the side during the water challenges.

12.  And last, but not least, next year I want to volunteer!  If you volunteer one day you can run the next day at a greatly discounted price (although the money goes to the Wounded Warrior Project, which I am happy to support).  But this morning I walked the dogs down the street to cheer on the runners and had so much fun, I want to work the course next year.