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!!
Choose to Succeed!
Philippians 4:13
www.koachkarl.com
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