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moonbeam13 — How Tough?
Published: 2014-08-18 22:18:46 +0000 UTC; Views: 9408; Favourites: 14; Downloads: 0
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This weekend I tested my mental grit and my physical strength by participating in Tough Mudder (emphasis on the mental grit). Staged across a series of ski mountains, Tough Mudder Toronto presented a gruelling set of obstacles over a 16.5km course, check out the map below:
What this map failed to mention was the obstacle "Hold your Wood" which I'll get to and the general treachery of the course due to torrential downpour and thunder storms 
Meet my excellent team! My husband Rob aka gimp , my cousin Jason and my friend Jason (because why get confused with names? 
Look at how clean and cute we were and how dry it was 
On our way to the start line, we had to scale a 7 foot wall just to get to the start line (for funsies). Once there, the emcee proceeded to get us 'warmed up' and we recited the Tough Mudder Creed
As a Tough Mudder I pledge that:
* I understand that Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge.
* I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time.
* I do not whine - kids whine.
* I help my fellow mudders complete the course.
* I overcome all fears.
and then we were off... UP A FREAKING SKI HILL. So this is the part where your brain just likes to mess with you and your flight instinct kicks in. It sounds a little like "omg what are you doing, you can't do this, your lungs are coming out of your mouth, you are going to die". It takes a lot of effort to get your fight instinct to respond but once it does, it's glorious!
We had an amazing friend with us who spectated and took some great pictures and a video along the way. Jess is a rockstar for enduring the weather and she even climbed one of the ski hills just to get this shot:
Now let's get to those crazy obstacles!
1. Glory Blades - Successfully completed - Learn More
Glory Blades are 2.5 meter walls that are slanted.. toward you.
I used the support beams to get leverage and successfully got over these.
2. Mud Mile - Successfully completed - Learn More
It is what it sounds like, a series of waist deep mud pits that you need to slosh through and over to get to the other side.
3. Just the Tip - Attempted not successful - Learn More
In this one, you scale a wall using just the tips of your fingers. While I was doing well, I couldn't see past the guy in front of me and failed to see there was a transition coming and when I missed it.. I landed in the water below
4. Hold Your Wood - Successfully Completed - Learn More
You grab a log from the pile and with a partner or by yourself (depending on how big your wood is
5. Devil's Beard - Successfully Completed
As you can see it's a cargo net that you need to navigate under to get to the other side. We had a moment of brilliance with this one and opted to run it backwards so the back end of us forced the net up and it was much easier, save for a little rope burn, heh.
6. Arctic Enema - Successfully Completed - Learn More
This obstacle sucks. It's a giant bin of ice water with a wooden divider in the middle. You jump in, swim under the dividing wall and come up the other end. Everything goes to hell after this because your body doesn't know what to do with itself. Enjoy the video:
7. Bale Bonds - Successfully Completed
This one consists of rows of 4 foot tall bales of hay that you need to climb over. With a bit of a running start, this got to be not too bad.
8. Warrior Carry - Successfully Completed (admittedly I did nothing but hang there
This is just a fireman's carry and I had the honour of being the passenger as Rob just threw me over his shoulder. I think you're supposed to switch off but A> I can't carry 210lbs on my back and B> I never saw the switch-off point 
9. Berlin Walls - Successfully Completed - Learn More
This obstacle is a series of 3 meter wooden walls. You need teamwork to get over these, unless of course you're part kangaroo, or 12 feet tall. With a little boost from my friends, I was up and over all of them!
10. Walk the Plank - Successfully Completed - Learn More
First you climb the ladder.. and then you jump 12 feet down into a muddy pool of water. I am not a fan of heights but I did it and I'm tougher for it
11. Ladder to Hell - Successfully Completed - Learn More
Ladder to hell is a giant climb up and a giant climb down. It's really nice if you have long legs but for those of us on the 'fun-size' scale, it's a feat!
12. Everest - Successfully Completed - Learn More
If you've ever watched "American Ninja Warrior" you've seen the Warped Wall. This is the Warped Wall but it's been greased because.. why not? I successfully grabbed the top of the wall but I did require some assistance to get my footing to get up top. I'll need more training for Ninja Warrior
13. Balls to the Wall - Successfully Completed - Learn More
This is a wall scale using a rope.. covered in mud
14. Funky Monkey - Attempted not successful - Learn More
These are monkey bars on a steep incline and greased. So I had a couple of problems here, first, they were greased and my hands were freezing due to the weather, so my grip was questionable. I did try to get a swing going to give me momentum but it just wasn't enough, after 4 bars I hit the muddy water below and had to swim to the other side. More upper body strength training and possibly gloves, will help next year!
15. Kiss of Mud - Successfully Completed - Learn More
Barbed wire hangs above you and you have to belly crawl through the mud to complete it.
16. Electroshock Therapy - Successfully Completed - Learn More
This obstacle is no joke. You run through a series of live wires to complete the course. I got hit by two wires at once, in the thigh and it was not a tickle. My knee buckled but I managed to hop onto the other foot, get hit by another in the arm before getting out the other side. This is the one obstacle I'm not sure I would attempt again.
And there you have it! Tough Mudder achievement unlocked and another thing off my bucket list. We're already signed up for next year so I guess I should start working on that upper body strength!
Be fearless, it's far more fun
Would you/or have you participated in an adventure/mud run?
Which of the obstacles looks the hardest to you?
Which one looks like a piece of cake?
What's the last thing you did that scared you?
Skin by Dan Leveille
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Comments: 89
Awesome! My son and I have been traveling during the Summer to do these. Our first time was in Michigan in 2015. Last year we did 11 more events, including Toronto! So far this year we've done 7 events. Traffic kept us from getting to Virginia in time for Saturdays run or it would have been 8 (We run both Saturday and the Sunday following). We'll be in Toronto this year as well and expect to get our 25x headband on Sunday! It would be so cool to meet you there!
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THAT IS INCREDIBLE holy cow! I'm hoping I can do it this year, still planning to see if I can work it in! I'll let you know <3 Regardless, congrats for being amazing!
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Our start times are 8 Sat and 9 Sun, any chance you'll be there?
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Unfortunately, I managed to wreck my knee and couldn't participate this year but I hope you had an excellent time!!!
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Sorry to hear about your knee. I hope it isn't anything too serious.
We had an excellent time in Toronto! People their are amazing every year and we always make new friends there! Maybe we can catch you next year!
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This looks like way too much fun, sad we're very limited on cool stuff like this as we live in a very urban area, but I've seen advertisements for these 'zombie chases' which me and some friends were considering, would get us all a bit active too.
Hope you guys had a really good time!
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Sounds like you had great fun, eh! 
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You've stonewalled me with this like holy crap. I was thinking of doing tough mudder but daaaaaayum that's seriously seriously hardcore. You're really wonder woman! xD Some day....I shall aspire to this. Really though some of those tasks holy hell woman
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I hope you do it, it's totally worth it!!! <3
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I only knew about this in the last year as one of of the people I work for participated in this in uk.. looks grueling
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...It's nice that no one went to the hospital, I guess.
I'm pretty sure I would've broken a couple o' bones.
Congrats!
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Oh my, what an experience! I never knew that challenge existed (well, until you explained it in your last journal, that is). Congrats on finishing it!
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I did it in Lake Tahoe in 2011, and want to do it again next year. It's absolutely a charge (in some cases literally)
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heh seriously, that electroshock crap is no joke :/ I'm signed up for next year! RAWR
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I quite enjoyed "Walk the Plank"...and by "enjoyed" I mean it was the combination of how well I muscled through it by how much hypothermia I managed to nearly get from it.
Same for the "Chernobyl Jazuzzi"
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You absolutely should! It's amazing
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I could never participate in such a thing. Physical exercise scares me. I used to have really bad body pain when I was forced to have physical education classes in school. As soon as I moved to college and stopped exercising all my pain was gone. I can now walk for hours straight or run without any type of pain, and I couldn't before. They say physical exercise is good for you. That might be the case for most people, but I seem to be an exception. I'd never try sometyhing like this, since I'd just be too scared to be in pain again.
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Don't be, I'm totally fine now that I can control my own levels of exercise rather than having some school make me things my body can't handle just because I'd need some useless grade
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That last pic is priceless! Kudos to you for doing this. Guess with the right people around it's pure fun and hell at the same time
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Absolutely! the teamwork part is amazing
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Yikes, that must have been epic. I would only be able to take part with 5 years trainging towards it 
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FIVE SKI HILLS.. that part was brutal because they hit you at the lowest energy points of the course
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I MISREAD THAT 
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Wow, this sure looks like a challenge! And you did great!
I'd love to participate in this one! 
I did participate in this color obstacle run in May. I'm not sure if you're familiar with it, but we got handed white T-shirts at the start, and we ran the 5km course. On the way there were several obstacles similar to those mentioned here (but not as tough!) and the staff was beside the obstacles, throwing colored powder at the participants. When we got to the finish line, our T-shirts weren't exactly white anymore! 
Out of these, Funky Monkey sounds the hardest. Greased monkey bars? Sounds impossible to me.
Arctic Enema and Elecrtoshock Therapy just sound plain mean!
Glory Blades and Bale Bonds sound the easiest
The last thing I did that scared me has got to be applying for a university out of town. I've lived near my home town for all my life, and moving far away from it really scares me, but in a good way
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I have heard of the colour run! I thought it was just a race, I didn't realize it had obstacles so I'll check it out
I've seen people after that run, it looks amazing! Good luck with your university application
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It's a relatively new thing in Finland, so maybe there are no obstacles in other countries--I'm not sure
Well, here's what me and some of my friends looked like after the run. I swear I still have some of that blue powder on my sunglasses!
I'd really love to go next year as well (or participate in their other events, the Mud Run or the Snow Run), but I'm not sure I can afford it. This year my school sponsored our participation fee, since they're trying to encourage students to exercise and do teamwork. It was a great idea, and I hope my university will do that too! C:
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That looks like so much fun!!!
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That would be epic! I hope you do it
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That looks so awesome! 
I'd definitely want to participate in something like this! I think the obstacle that looks hardest to me is Balls to the Wall, while the one that looks easiest is Arctic Enema. Hmmm last thing I did that scared me was when I was ghost hunting alone in a vacant lot near our house at 1 AM. That was some months ago. Just wanted to see if the rumors were true but in the end I didn't see anything. :3
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I had a ton of fun, and it was quite the experience 
Arctic Enema seems like not a big deal but your body's response to being iced like that is a muscular shut down and I had a moment underwater where I couldn't find the bottom of the barrier because my brain was just too cold to think. It was more challenging than I thought!
GHOST HUNTING! That sounds fun
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