Indiana Tough Mudder 2011 Race Report (lots of pictures)

Indiana Tough Mudder 2011 Race Report

I'm in a writey kind of mood this morning so I'm gonna bust out this sidelined runner's race review.  I sadly and with much much much angst did not get to participate. My drop-bag was packed with my race shoes and clothes and I was incredibly tempted to strap up and tough it out.  Pre-race time I had my right shoe (this is my broken air-cast foot) out in my hand ready to lace up. My foot doesn't hurt so long as I don't do any lateral movement I kept thinking to myself. My friends and team mates will help me along when it does and the cold will probably squelch most of the foot pain anyway.  However, the prospect of re-breaking the foot and this time having the bones move out of place, require a surgery I can't afford to fix, and being sidelined even longer helped me put my shoe where it belongs, back in the bag where it stayed for the rest of the day.

Doing some research on the Funky Monkey. The monkey bars are slick from mud and water. The challenger first climbs up at about a 35 degree angle for 25 ft, and then back down at the same angle another 25 ft over a 5 ft trench of icey water. This was one of the most physically demanding obstacles (devilishly placed a mile from the finish) and I would say maybe 30 % of the people made it across. I saw exactly one female make it.  She was smart, tough, and wiley enough to throw her legs up to spider climb across. This was also a tactic some guys used that worked well. I discovered that it is much easier to swing across the wood beams than to use the slick bars. Also, that's me in the walking cast dead center.

So I besieged my sorrows with a drink and the good company of my best friend AJ who was also spectating and cheering the team to finish. Pre-race traffic was well directed and it took us very little time to park. Tough Mudder (henceforth TM) recommended we show up 2 hours before our race start time.  The event was held at the Badlands Offroad Park in Attica, IN. It took me just short of an hour to drive in from the west side of Indianapolis.  TM descended groups of 500 warriors at a time to do battle. First wave left at 9:00 AM and then every 20 minutes thereafter. Team BYOBadass was set to march into battle at 10:00 AM. We arrived at 7:30, parking was easy, they shuttled us to the start area in yellow school busses. Packet pick-up was well orchestrated and a cinch. They had about 10 different lanes that were divided up alphabetically. I had a short adventure in which I thought I left my wallet in my Jeep. Government ID is required to get in as you have to sign a death waiver. Officially I was there as a participant and needed to sign my waiver. So I hopped a school bus back to the parking lot and halfway there realized my wallet was in my sweatshirt pocket the entire time. The super nice bus driver took pity on my broken foot and waived down an approaching bus full of anxious athletes.  I then boarded the inbound bus back to the registration area (which was also the start/finish line and party zone area).

We had almost an hour and a half to kill before team BYOBadass could charge. There was a celebrity keg toss where you can launch empty kegs at the likenesses of Justin Bieber, Harry Potter and the Incredible Hulk. There was plenty of food and swag for sale. There was a ridiculous costume contest. So speaking of the dress for the day, most popular thing to wear was any and all types of compression gear. It won't hold water and will keep in some marginal warmth. Anything cotton is a poor choice as it will weigh you down and provide no real warmth from the cold. The temp wasn't too bad, somewhere in the high 40's for race time, but the wind was fierce and sucked the warmth right out of everyone.  The other most popular choice of clothing, none at all. There were hundreds of people in little more than their underwear, and some literally in only underwear and shoes. Hey, less is more right?

My favorite costume was of course my good friend Brian and his home made daisy dukes, belt buckle, and Uncle Sam tuxedo t-shrt!

So 10 AM finally rolls around and the team has the pre-race butterflies, we trot on over to the start line and watch as the team and the other 494 runners in this wave get pumped up by the TM staff. Hoo-RAH! Take the pre-race pledge:

I understand that Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge.

I pledge to put team work and camaraderie before my course time.

I do not whine, kids whine.

I help my fellow mudders complete the course.

I overcome all fears.

Que the orange smoke bomb, time to run.

AJ and I managed to hobble around to about half the course. The TM course at Badlands was winding, hilly, rocky, sandy, muddy, and waterlogged.  A good portion of the 12 miles was run through flooded forest swamp. Everything else was a constant up and down with very little flat land. It did serve a benefit of cutting down on the heat sucking wind through the main part of the course (or so I've heard). It was very windy at "Walk the Plank" and all the obstacles in the start/finish area: Funky Monkey, Electroshock Therapy, Mt. Everest, Firewalker, and several mystery surprise obstacles. There were definitely more obstacles on the course than on the official map. I will now show you the course in a series of pictures.

 Course Shots

Berlin Walls and Dolan's Balls (my daisy duke wearing buddy is spread eagle on the back wall here)

 Bekkah was fierce!

Funky Monkey (Some people climbed on top and walked over)

 Barbwires and mud.

 Claustrophobic much? Nice VFFs

 Just brutal! That neon green stuff is ice!

 Chernobyl Jacuzzi. There is a semi trailer full of ice parked next to these all day to make sure it stays nice and cold for everyone.

 Live wires above!

 Props to this dude and group, they carried that kettlebell the whole way, and those backpacks are just 60 lb. weights!

 Still happy and smiling 1/3 of the way through. This is immediately before the jacuzzi =)

This dude is dedicated. That is the TM pledge inked on his back, yes it is real, and he is a TM legend.

Walk the Plank

Swim it out Dolan! Challengers had the option to get out right after walking the plank, or to swim 50 yds. Most people got out. 

And of course, THE MUD!

There were many more obstacles undocumented here. Everyone who completed this has had nothing but great things to say about it. TM people are great people. Everyone extended a helping hand to others. It was very much about team work and camaraderie. Even people who came and ran without a team, felt like they were on a team because of the outreach of everyone else. I would highly recommend it and officially throwing down the gauntlet for anyone to come out and run with me in March. My foot will be stronger than ever and ready to deliver a swift kick to this TM course's ass! 

4410 Steps to a 5k...Just 1 to an injury

Went out for a Saturday afternoon run. Nothing special, wasn't feeling great. Had a World Series game 7 kinda hangover (the one where your team lost) that was kinda just "sticking" around. Low grade, down mood, and I knew a quick sweat and run would pull me right out. So I set out the front door in my VFF's (you know those toe glove looking monkey shoes) for a 5k route from my driveway and back loop.  Kept it slow and chill, but quickly realized how dehydrated I was. The blustery day was really drying my mouth out, bad. Ten minutes into the run I was ready for a serious tall boy of ice water. Oh well, it's a short run I told myself. I was keeping a nice 180 cadence, short strides, and just dialed it in for the run. About 18 minutes in I could feel slight pain in my right forefoot. Nothing sharp, very dull, just enough to know to keep it easy, focus on form and quick light foot strike.  No sprint to the finish like usual, no PR attempting. So I sailed through the rest of the run at the same pace and still set a 5K pr by a few seconds. Nothing to brag about, but it gives me a lot of satisfaction that I can simply go out for a run and set a PR without trying. Once I actually run a race again, it won't be setting PR's on an casual run. Can't wait to see what I can do when I go all out! Anyway 24:30 for 3.2 miles at a 180 cadence I have figured to be 4410 strides, or 2205 per foot.

After my run and cool down walk I approached my front door and up two brick steps, only to remember I exited the house through the the garage door and the front door was locked. I needed to head back to the driveway and to my Jeep so I could open up the garage.  Loose brick on the top step! I stumbled down the two steps, managed to keep my balance, but then with the last little step to keep from faceplanting, my right foot went off the brick walkway, down into the yard. I landed on the outside edge of my right foot and yowza, SHOOTING PAINS! Shit, shit, shit...I'm ok, I'm ok, I'm ok. Walk it off Josh. Ok walking is getting hard. Open the garage door. Limp inside, grab alcohol ice pack from freezer, apply to foot. 15 minutes later stand up. Oh shit this hurts, fall to knees.

Next day, still coudln't bear any weight on my right forefoot. Did some Googeling and paid a visit to WebMD. Hmmm, I must have a stress fracture to a metatarsal. Slight swelling, but no bruising yet. Ok, maybe it's very minor. Found a cool youtube video on how to self diagnose a stress fractured metatarsal bone.  It was posted by an Orthopedic sports doc so it must be legit, right?. Ok, it's the third one that hurts. Hmmm, he said the pain should be debilitating. It's tender, but doesn't knock me to my knees. Well at least not when I press on it, putting my body weight on it, totally different story.

This happened on Saturday, now it's Monday afternoon. Have been hobbling around on crutches to keep as much weight off it as possible. Have also realized there is some serious pain in the 5th metatarsal, but not as centralized. Just a general surrounding pain near the joint. Using the RICE method. Lots of Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. It's a good excuse to not wear shoes at work, but have you ever tried to walk on crutches, carry your thermos of coffee, your lunch box and make it up 6 steps to the office front door? Yeah, this place is not ADA friendly. Still not bruising, so not a total break, maybe not even a stress fracture.

Only three weeks to the event I have been training for, Toughmudder Indiana. This afternoon my foot is actually feeling stronger and for the first time I'm optimistic it might be a sprain and not a stress fracture. We shall see. I am also worried that I might recover, only to hurt myself even worse covering 12 muddy off-road miles and 20+ obstacles. Had a I been wearing traditional running shoes, my foot wouldn't have gotten hurt from the fall. The shoe would have protected my forefoot without a doubt.  But I bet the shoe would have caught and made my ankle roll instead, and somehow that seems much much much worse. So in a far out way, I'm thankful to have had on my monkey shoes.

Even when you stumble, you're still moving forward.