Monday, October 22, 2012

DOUBLE MUDDER AND THEN SOME


The weekend of October 13 was the start of a very interesting and grueling week to come.  Saturday the 13 was the first of two Tough Mudders I would be running.  I had signed up back in June.  You had the choice of Saturday or Sunday, but if you signed up for both days you received a 50% discount of the second day.  A easy decision as far as I was concerned.  My thinking was “I’m an ultra runner a 10-12 mile course just isn’t going to be enough”  that’s why I’ve never signed up for the Warrior Dash.  Let me say now, one day was challenge enough.

The atmosphere was electric!!  The music was non-stop, the MC was very motivating and the participants were wound tighter than Niles Crane.  Everyone was full of energy and eager to engage with fellow competitors.  I was fortunate to get into the 9am start, which was the first wave.  To get into the starting corral you had to climb over an 8 feet wall.  I was a little keyed up and ran an jumped higher than I thought possible, good and bad thing, I slammed my ribs right on the top of the wall.  Thus knocking the wind out of myself, as well as cracking a rib which I realized later that night.  I won’t bore you with every obstacle, just the highlights.  Mud was the taste of the day!!  We ran trails that were muddy, went through obstacles that had mud, walked through creeks that had plenty of shoe sucking mud and plenty of belly crawling through mud. 

The Arctic Enema was the first surprise as I have taken hundreds of ice baths and jump into Smithville lake just about every New Years day.  Well all I can say is I have never experienced a cold such as The Arctic Enema!!  It is about five feet deep and you have to completely submerge to go under a dividing wall.  I was numb for about the next ten minutes. The second day I had to talk a young girl through this, as she was starting to panic from the shock of the cold.  The icing helped my ribJ  My rib was a little sore but the adrenaline of the day kept me from thinking about it. 

The trails we ran were always steep climbs with dangerous descents, so much so the second day, after the rain, we had to slide down instead of run. All the obstacles were challenging, actually harder than expected.  The biggest surprise was the eclectic shock challenges.  I knew there would be the Electric Shock Therapy, this is the final obstacle you run through with wire hanging down that flowed with 10,000 volts of therapy.  I thought no problem, just sprint and dive through.  The surprise was The Electric Eel!!  This is a military crawl of about 20 yards, in mud, with wires hanging down every six inches or so.  With the same electric therapy.  I’m don’t want to be dramatic but it felt like I was being hit with a hammer every few seconds.  About five yards from the end of the Eel I blacked out.  The next thing I knew I was standing up unable to see.  Once my vision cleared it was time for about 50 yards of mud followed by Everest!

Everest is a half pipe you had to run up and climb over. Almost impossible by yourself.  There were a few that could do it alone but most of us needed assistance.  I was still dazed while standing in line waiting my turn.  I kept seeing people try and slide back down, over and over.  There were participants at the top trying to pull others up.  Just the thought of trying to get this done over and over again was draining.  I took a deep breath and ran as hard as I could, drained from the last 10 miles, I ran straight up and didn’t stop.  I was able to grab an extended hand and climbed to victory!! 

After Everest it was time for a finale Shock Therapy and then the coveted Tough Mudder orange sweatband.  I was covered with mud from head to toe and exhausted. What a great day!  As I told my wife. I have never had so much fun getting my ass kicked!

Back to the hotel and all the pain set in, I realized after cleaning up that my rib was cracked and Sunday was going to be quite the test.  I ran a double Brew to Brew with a cracked rib once, so I wasn’t worried about running it was climbing, swimming, crawling….  I won’t go into the details of the pain and struggle, once I prayed and decided to do it, I just did it.  It was tough, but seeing my wife praying over me at the start helped pushed me to the finish.

  I trained very hard for this but could have trained harder.  I watched all the TM videos trying to structure a strength training plan to overcome these obstacles, while building my endurance for an upcoming 50k with a client.  My finale thought for Tough Mudder is, don’t underestimate the challenge.  Be prepared!!

I had scheduled Monday as a day off, thank GOD, which was needed.  I rested, ice bathed, stretched, refueled and pounded Advil.  I worked Tuesday with no problem but my real challenge didn’t start until Wednesday.  I had to run with clients Wednesday thru Saturday, Wednesday was 3 miles, Thursday 10 miles, Friday 8 miles and to top off the challenge the KC marathon Saturday.  I did go and get taped up with Kinesio Tape to ensure stabilization.  Like I said I have ran with broken and cracked ribs before, it is painful to start but once I find my stride I can absorb the pain ok.  I would rather run with a cracked rib than sneeze, if you have experienced this you know exactly what I’m talking about.  The 10 miles was tough!  So tough that my client I ran with, who is a doctor, insisted on prescribing a pain killer.  I did take a half dose Friday and Saturday morning. 

I must say the week went way better than expected!  The power of prayer is amazing!!  The marathon went great and my client, Sarah Somasegaran, ran a 50 minute PR!!  She ROCKED!!

As I write this I am medicated, so sorry about any errors.  It was an amazing and productive week.  After struggling for a year to get back to peak fitness I am very satisfied.  In closing I leave you with this scripture Habakkuk 3:19, check it out! 

GOD is my strength!!
 K2
Choose to Succeed!
Philippians 4:13
www.koachkarl.com