Tough Mudder Part 2!

Picking up where I left off yesterday, I made my way up the spectator area and to this obstacle. It was called something like like Monkeying Around. 

The first thing I noticed was this little dog! He did not seem thrilled to be there. I stood and watched guys fall in the water for a while then asked the woman next to me what time the person she was waiting for had started the race. She said 8:20! Oh, so I had two hours at least to wait. Dang.

I backtracked until I got as far back as I could go. I was really worried about missing Travis and Austin in the crowd. I hunkered down in the long grass on this hill. Can you see the little trail with a few people on it on the top right? It was just far enough away that you couldn't QUITE make out the people. So I spent the next two hours straining to see if I could pick Travis out.

Here I am, wrapped in a blanket trying to keep warm. It would have been awesome if there was a food stand up there serving hot chocolate or something. 

There were probably 100 other spectators scattered over the hill trying to pick out the people they were with. Everyone was cheering on the people walking about the steep hill. This spot was about 2/3 through the course and pretty much everyone that passed looked miserable! The two women next to me had a LOOONG discussion about when it is appropriate to wear skinny jeans (with boots, and when cuffing to create capris according to them). It was riveting. 

Here they are! Travis says they were actually kind of clean here, they had done a water obstacle a little bit before I caught up with them. Austin was pretty miserable and cold, but Travis was in high spirits. About half of the people that passed had these emergency blankets.  

I waited forever to get pictures of them climbing this wall, only to find out they skipped it and went on and I missed them doing two more things! Ugh!

It was so muddy and gloomy.
Cute tutus guys.

I watched this one for a while and didn't see one person make it across! Travis says he saw a couple marines do it. 

Travis made this one on his first try! I was very proud of him! See him in the blue shirt on the right? This was a greased ramp and a LOT of people slid back down multiple times before making it.

This one was called Walk the Plank I think. I wanted to get a cool picture of Travis like this one...

But this is what I got. I especially like that he had his blanket stuffed under his shirt. This was the 20th obstacle, I think. I saw quite a few girls start crying when they saw it was another water obstacle. Also, notice the guy in just little shorts. There were a LOT of those guys, and they seemed to be doing well. Maybe because they weren't weighed down by soaking wet clothes.

Travis and Austin skipped the monkey bar thing and set off for the finish line. I had to go back to the "base" a different way. Here is one of the medic carts going by with a person completely wrapped in an emergency blanket. I walked up that path in the background, it was rough! So steep and muddy! I really wasn't cut out for Tough Mudder.

The last obstacle is called Electro Shock Therapy. Those strings hanging down are electrified and you have to run through. Travis says he didn't get shocked, which was good.

Here are my little buddies at the end with their head bands and free beers! I am really proud that Travis finished. He has been training for a few months and did such a great job.

Here are their nasty shoes. I made them sit on a blanket in the back and I drove them to our hotel. They did have showers at the event, but they were outside and cold and you had to wait in line. How miserable! You could also get a Tough Mudder tattoo there, but that seems like the worst time to do that to me. Exhausted and cold and muddy!

We went and got dinner then passed out around 9. Look at our hippie bathroom counter. Oh ayurvedic toothpaste. That magnesium bath is awesome for really. It make you sleep like a baby. The next morning Travis and Austin ate breakfast with someone who worked for Tough Mudder and he told them that the event had been one of the harder ones because of the temperatures and because it had rained before it. 

Tough Mudder really wasn't my thing, but I'm glad I went and supported Travis. I'm sure we'll be back. There is an event in Nashville in the spring that he is already excited for. This time we won't stay up the entire night before and hopefully someone will come watch with me so I'm not so bored. And I hope to actually see Travis do more of the course. I hope you enjoyed seeing all the mud. 

Tough Mudder

I mentioned last week that I was driving Travis and our friend Austin to Kentucky for an event called Tough Mudder. Travis has been looking forward to it for MONTHS. I have been dreading it, haha! But it was an interesting experience. 
We left Nashville around midnight on Friday (after a Die Antwoord concert, what?) and drove through the night. We got to Maysville, Kentucky around 6:30 am and ate a really disgusting breakfast at Hardee's, since it was all that was open. Fast food eggs are so gross! We parked at a school and trudged to the buses that were going to take us to the event. It made me feel like I was back in high school, waiting for my bus in the cold. 
We waited in line for them to register. Supposedly there were 10,000 people signed up for the run! I can't believe that! Thankfully everyone has an assigned start time, so everyone didn't show up at once.

They got their numbers written in permanent marker on their faces and legs. I was worried that it would be hard to get off of their faces, but it was gone by the end of the race!

Here is their before picture! How manly.
You have to jump over a wall to get to the start of the race. That is where I would have given up.

And they are off! The race is 12 miles long, with 24 obstacles designed by British special forces, or something. I wanted to see as much as I could, but there is a lot of the course that isn't visible for spectators so I tried to kill some time.

I ate french fries and read for a while. That was pretty much their vegetarian option. Well, they had soggy boca burgers and a gross looking veggie wrap too. Can you tell what I'm reading? The illustration is your clue!

Here is a silly picture of me FREEZING. It was around 45 degrees and cloudy and windy! I'm so glad I brought a blanket. Which I had expected to lay on and take a nap in the sun. I can't imagine how cold they were running the race, the were soaking wet after the second obstacle. 

My worst nightmare! Ah! Half the doors were broken too!

 I tried to make small talk to pass some time but it didn't work. I really didn't fit in, with my knit afghan, kitty phone, and Portlandia tote. But I kept reminding myself that this event wasn't made for me. Travis is such a good sport and does pretty much whatever I want, so I could make it through this one thing i wasn't really into for him. Of course afterward I'm going to come complain about it on the internet! It was actually fun by the end, just you wait.

Can you see that little line of people? I kind of zoned out and watch the racers run by for awhile. I overheard someone say that the average time was around 3 hours, so after 2 hours I took the spectator trail to try and catch up with Austin and Travis and see them do some of the obstacles. 

Look at how ominous the sky looks! It was such a weird day.
I'll show you some pictures of the actual events tomorrow!