One Tough Mudder

There's something truly satisfying about challenging yourself and then overcoming that challenge.
Two years ago I undertook a new challenge when I signed up to do my first half marathon in Nashville. Last year I competed in the same half marathon, but this year I tried something new.

Last weekend I participated in my first Tough Mudder. A Tough Mudder is a huge, frequently muddy obstacle course laid out over 10-12 miles. The goal of this obstacle course is not about the time required to finish it, but rather more about working together as a team to finish. Myself and two other girls I work out with were on a team with a group from another gym. My mother-in-law also came to cheer us on.
When I signed up to compete, I looked over all the different types of obstacles the courses may have. Some of them made me a little nervous, but I was excited to compete and see what I could do.

Since the Tough Mudder was in Topeka my mom, my sister and my niece were able to come watch as well. Spectators couldn't see the entire course, but they were able to follow some shortcut routes to see a lot of the obstacles.
It was great to hear my little two-year-old niece cheering me on saying, "Go Lyndee!" And it cracked me up when she started to cry because her mom wouldn't let her do some of the obstacles, too. She kept saying "I do it! I do it!"
When we got to the course, one of the first things we had to do was have our participant number written on our forehead and arm with permanent marker so we could be identified in pictures. You can't wear any bib numbers in this race - it would get too wet and muddy to read.

Our course was 10.9 miles long with 26 obstacles. Here are some of the pictures from the course.
The first obstacle was "Balls to the Wall". Here we had to do a rope climb to get over a tall wall.

These were the funky monkey bars. Rather than being level, they inclined and then declined.  

Here I was going off the "Walk the Plank" obstacle. You have to jump off a 15 ft. ledge into cold, muddy water. My friend Carole said we should jump at the same time. As soon as it was our turn, I looked at her and said "You ready?" She said "No." But I told her, "Too bad we're going any way." I didn't want to give myself any time to get nervous by standing and looking at the jump. :)

After we climbed out of the water, we had to slide down a mud hill. Sliding down/climbing over  muddy slopes was a very frequent occurrence during the race.

This was my friend Carole going through the electric eel obstacle. You had to belly crawl through the water and do your best to avoid the wires hanging above you - otherwise they'd give you a really good shock.

This was after I finished the electric eel. Luckily I made it through without getting zapped. Sometimes being small/short has it's advantages.

This obstacle was called Everest. We had to run up and over this sloping wall. I don't know if I ever could have made it up by myself, but thankfully other mudders are there to give you a hand.

This obstacle was called "Just the Tip". We had to make it across this wall hanging on by just our fingertips. The first part and the end weren't too bad - the boards were built out from the wall just a bit, so there was a little more grip. But in the middle a 2X4 was drilled directly into the wall so the only grip you had was your fingers across the width of the board. The fact that I can't stand to have long fingernails was very helpful here and gave me as much grip as possible, and I was able to make it across.  

This was the final obstacle - Electric Shock Therapy. You have to run through but the wires hanging down can shock you. At this point I was feeling pretty good about how I'd done throughout the course - but Tough Mudder got me in the end. I truthfully have no idea what happened - all I know was I was running through and the next thing I know, I've  face planted in the mud. Whether I slipped and fell or got shocked and knocked to the ground, the result was the same - A face, mouth and nostril full of mud.

I can honestly say this is the dirtiest I've ever been in my life.

Once you make it through Electroshock Therapy, you earn your Tough Mudder headband, shirt and a Dos Equis. :)

There were a lot of other obstacles, too, but these were some of the ones with the best pictures. We had a blast, and I may have to try my hand at another Tough Mudder in the future.

Call to me in times of trouble. I will save you, and you will honor me. Psalm 50:15

The other day I was reminded of how true this Scripture is. Prayers are powerful, and God loves to answer them. He might not always say yes, but if we go to Him, we give Him the chance to work in our lives. He will use our prayers to show us that He is always with us and always listening to us.

Happy Mother's Day! Hope you all enjoy your Sunday and have a good week.

Lyndee