Masters Running

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Grandma Jeanne Takes On the Wisconsin Tough Mudder 9/7/14 (Read 37 times)

    Who'd a thunk a 62 year-old woman would be out running hills, scaling obstacles, jumping into dumpsters filled with ice water and getting zapped by 10,000 volts of electricity? Well, I guess that would be me!

     

    My son and daughter-in-law had originally hooked up with a team called "Mind Over Mudder" early last spring. When I looked at where the course was located, the length of the challenge and some of the obstacles, I thought "this is stuff for young folks." Then the week after Memorial Day came, and my dear sister/best friend went into cardiac arrest. I lost her in July. We always talked about some of the crazy things we had done over our lives, and I knew this was something she would try without even thinking twice. So the day of her funeral, I told my kids "I'm doing it."  I've had back surgery and have flare-ups every now and then, and they did their best to try and talk me out of it. Later that day (and $180 poorer), I was a member of the Mind Over Mudder team.

     

    How does one train for something like this? I read the stuff on their website, got my favorite PT at the Y to train with me and give me some ideas on what to expect, and talked to my son and some other people who had done one before. I thought if I worked hard increasing upper body strength and got my core into better shape, with one longer run a week I'd be fine.

     

    Well, let me tell you about yesterday. This Tough Mudder was held at the Road America track in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The track is in the middle of the Kettle-Morraine escarpment and is very hilly. After we arrived, we did the write your number on your arm and forehead thing and went to the start for our 9:40 time. This event is untimed, and there were lots of crazy people there. As we were waiting to start I said to my son "there's one thing I'm not seeing here." When he asked me what that was, I replied "old people." Game on!

     

    The course was 10.6 miles, and the first obstacle was before the race even started - 3 small walls to climb over. The first 4 miles were uphill with some steep inclines on wooded trails - with lots of rocks and tree roots sticking out. There were some mud pits and other small pleasures to deal with. Then around the 4-mile mark we hit "Balls to the Walls" which involved climbing a rope over a wooden wall, then descending on the other side. No problem with this one.

     

    The next was "Warrior Carry" which involved two people taking turns carrying each other for probably a half mile. Oh. On uneven gravel. DS and I partnered up on this one and we decided that I would carry him first. I weigh 118 pounds - he's down to 210 since he started his marathon training. I made it about 4 steps and my knees buckled from under me. So he carried me to the halfway point, then I picked up my DIL and carried her to the end.

     

    The Mud Mile was next. Got dirty and moved on to "Hold Your Wood" which involved picking up a big tree stump and carrying it uphill for a short distance. DS and I were together on this one again. He took the front and I had the back. Unfortunately, he's 6'2" and I'm 5'3. He was walking so fast and his legs are so much longer than mine it was hard to keep up. But we got it done.

     

    "Twinkle Toes" was easy. It was walking over a tree log that had been greased with mud and butter. If you lost your balance and fell in, you landed in a pool of mud. Piece of cake.

     

    "Berlin Walls" and "Pyramid Scheme" involved a lot of teamwork trying to get up tall wooden walls and half pipes. The guys got up first, then the girls got running starts to grab their hands and try to hoist themselves up to the top. I was very happy we had a lot of men on the team!

     

    "Arctic Enema" was interesting. They had huge dumpsters filled with water that they kept adding bags of ice to. I'm sure the first people who jumped in it for the day weren't too bad off, but by the time we got there, the water was so cold and muddy - and deep - it was pretty gross. Once you jumped in, you had to swim under a pole to get to the other side, then climb out. Talk about heart shock! A lot of people had trouble with this one.

     

    "Prairie Dog" was crawling through mud under electrically charged wires. If you stayed low enough, no problem.

     

    "Devil's Beard" involved a large, heavy netting that you had to lift over your head and walk under. Again, I tried to stay behind DS because he was so much taller than me, but had a hard time keeping up. And that netting was nasty heavy!

     

    "Pole Dancer" and "Funky Monkey" were tests of upper body strength. Pole Dancer was trying to maneuver across bars using your arms, Funky Monkey was monkey bars that had been greased with butter and mud. If you fell off of either, you landed in - you guessed it - a mud pit. I didn't make it very far on either of these obstacles, but my son, daughter-in-law and her sister rocked them.  I thought I had done a pretty good job of working on my upper body with free weights and machines, but I wasn't very good.

     

    I loved "Walk the Plank."  For this one, you climbed a platform, then jumped off into a small pool and had to swim about 50 yards to the other side.

     

    For repeat Tough Mudders, they had an obstacle called "Fire in the Hole." I'd do another event just to get to do this one! You climbed a ladder, then went down a water slide that had a fire ring at the bottom and landed in a small pool of water.

     

    Lots of hills with narrow trails that were slippery with mud along the course. The decline was worse than the incline. At least you had halfway decent footing trying to get up some of the hills. Coming down? Not so much.

     

    The grand finale was "Electroshock Therapy." I was almost happy to do this one because the finish line was right behind it. Electrical wires charged with 10,000 volts of electricity were hanging over a pit mounded with mud. You had to either run fast and jump over the hills of mud, or go low to get underneath them. I was so tired by this point. I tried to start out running but got zapped a couple of steps into the obstacle. The jolt took me down and I was forced to crawl through the mud to get to the other side. One more zap for good measure and I was done!

     

    It took our team 3 hours and 40 minutes to cover the 10.6 miles and I know they could have done it faster if I hadn't held them back. They had rinsing stations (concrete platforms with garden hoses and incredibly cold water) and changing tents so you didn't have to trash your car driving home in your muddy clothes. Had a nice cold beer before we left, which I was happy to share with DH since he was kind enough to come down and follow us around with his camera. He got some awesome pictures. I wish I knew how to post them.

     

    The weather was decent - sunny and around 56° to start getting into the lower 70's by the time we had finished. Lots of great support on the course during the race. One of the guys on our team blew out his knee and we had him on a cart and back to the start area within 5 minutes. Some of the proceeds go to the Wounded Warriors Foundation, and our military was well represented along the course. The race was pricey - they charged for parking, bag drop etc. and the entry fee was big. They must be doing something right because there were a lot of repeat racers at this one.

     

    It was a great day with my family, and I made a memory. My sister would have been proud!

    SteveP


      Jlynne, I am so incredibly impressed. Outstanding!

      SteveP

      wildchild


      Carolyn

        Jeanne, what an awesome thing to do!  I personally don't think I'd pay good money to crawl in the mud and get zapped by electricity, but doing it with your DS and DIL sounds like fun.   And your sister would be proud of you.

         

        I'm posting some of your pictures from facebook here for you.  You'll have to describe these for us!

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

        I hammered down the trail, passing rocks and trees like they were standing still.

        stumpy77


        Trails are hard!

          I'm confused.  I looked through your pictures (via Wildchild) and I didn't see anyone who looked like a 62 YO woman.    Were you hiding?

           

          That's a long run with a pretty amazing list of obstacles.  Sounds like fun.  To hear someone else describe it, anyway.  Pretty sure I couldn't handle it.

           

          Good for you--it sounds like another fond memory of your sister to add to your files.

          Need a fast half for late fall.  Then I need to actually train for it.

           

            Thank you Carolyn!

             

            -The first picture is my daughter-in-law Maggie and son Jeff jumping into "Arctic Enema"  The expression on her face is priceless!

            - My son Jeff and I exiting one of the many mud pits.

            -Team "Mind Over Mudder"

            -Me doing the "Walk the Plank" obstacle where you climb a platform, then jump into a small pool and swim a short distance

            -My daughter-in-law's sister Mary climbing one of the wall obstacles on the course.

            -Left to right: my son Jeff, me, Mary, my daughter-in-law Maggie, and Kyle, who blew out his knee around the 7 mile mark and didn't finish

            - Our group all shiny and clean before the race started

            - Finally, Mary coming down the "Fire in the Hole" obstacle

             

            My DH got some awesome pictures!

            Mike E


            MM #5615

              You are a freakin' ANIMAL!!!!  That was one of the coolest race reports ever.  I can picture my sister in Heaven, going around bragging about her little brother who does all these marathons, when your sister points down and says..."Well, THAT's my sister."  I don't think there will be any argument about who the toughest mudder around is.  Nice job!

              Slo


                Pretty cool...and you are looking mighty fit !

                 

                I'll skip the shock therapy...and that's coming from a guy who works as an electrical controls specialist.

                 

                A very nice accomplishment!

                 

                I had to come back to add...As a midwesterner...I fully appreciate your opening with "Who'd a thunk"!

                Dave59


                  I thought these insane mudder things were 3 miles long, but 10.6?!  Is there a stronger word than insane?

                   

                  Sounds like you had fun though so I guess that's ok.   I just can't imagine what it was like.

                   

                   

                  coastwalker


                    Hi Jeanne,

                     

                    Wow - I think you are the Toughest Mudder! What an amazing accomplishment, and a great RR too. Congrats on taking on the challenge and getting it done. Your sister would be very proud of you, and I am too. How's the guy with the bum knee?

                     

                    Jay

                    Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos.


                    Sayhey! MM#130

                      You are a freakin' ANIMAL!!!!  That was one of the coolest race reports ever.  I can picture my sister in Heaven, going around bragging about her little brother who does all these marathons, when your sister points down and says..."Well, THAT's my sister."  I don't think there will be any argument about who the toughest mudder around is.  Nice job!

                       

                      Just great....I KNOW my big brother's gonna find these two and start nagging at me until I do one now.  He knows how to haunt me.

                       

                       

                      I have a feeling this report's going to go viral.  Superb in just so so so many ways.    ...And I think the term is BEAST, Mike.

                      https://agratefullifedotnet.wordpress.com/  (for a piece or two of my mind)

                        Awesome race report!!  Nothing like pictures of the real deal!!  Great Job JLYNNE!!

                        denise


                        BlazinCajun

                          Now that race sounded so much fun and doing it with family makes it even more memorable. Loved the descriptions. Good job!

                          Andrew
                          ------------------
                          God, my Lord, is my strength;
                          he makes my feet swift as those of hinds
                          and enables me to go upon the heights.
                          Hb 3:19

                             

                            Wow Jeanne, you rock!  I had the same thoughts as Stumpy, where is Jlynne?  There are only young folks in these pictures!  And you look like you do have good upper body strength!

                             

                            Heart-stopping ice cold water submersion, no thanks
                            Electric shocks, no thanks

                            "During a marathon, I run about two-thirds of the time. That's plenty." - Margaret Davis, 85 Ed Whitlock regarding his 2:54:48 marathon at age 73, "That was a good day. It was never a struggle."

                              ...Astounding///////............that is a GREAT race jylnne

                              ..nothing takes the place of persistence.....

                              BTY


                                I don't possess the vocabulary to respond to this race report. I guess awesome in the literal

                                Meaning would come close. I'm laughing though at the decision making. "Here, let's start by me carrying you". Ok, not so much after all.

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