Official Tough Mudder Pictures!

Oh how sweet - we look like Little House on the Prairie! This is the Hero Carry, and Drew toted me down the hill, then Dean toted me back up. I didn't tote anybody because of the crick in my neck. Oh yeah, did I mention I did this with a crick in my neck? The only time it really hurt was when I jumped off a wall that was higher than I thought, didn't stick the landing, and was propelled forward onto all fours...luckily into nice soft sawdust, but still gave the neck a yank.


Funnest obstacle ever: Block Ness Monster. Hang on while it rotates and carries you over.


Oh wait, wasn't I supposed to sit up at the top and swing my legs around so I could land on my feet? (Yes, I crashed into the water with my mouth open and nearly choked to death, but when I surfaced, some guy standing nearby yelled, "Dude, that was AWESOME!")


Drew demonstrates proper technique.


And this would be Shock Therapy. Run as fast as you can through dangling wires with 10,000 volts of electricity. Drew assured me it wasn't the voltage that would kill you, it was the amps...because why would they kill paying customers?


After taking about 4 shocks and jumping haybales in ankle-deep mud, I went down...


And apparently took a shock to the head, thus the jutting tongue. I have no recollection of that.


That could explain the incessant jerking movements that have plagued me ever since. No, I'm just kidding about that. But I'm not kidding about THIS:

That's the back of my left leg, which I apparently threw over walls so violently that I sustained massive hematomas. (Note to self: Next time stop the aspirin one week prior to event.) I have bruises on both kneecaps, right hipbone (which makes sense if I was lying on that while throwing the left leg over), left lower rib, and right armpit. Too bad they don't have pictures from the walls or Everest, where you run up a quarter pipe and either leap or get pulled to safety - I chose the latter.

So enough about my late-in-life athleticism....let's talk about cooking. I cooked this last night:

Pioneer Woman Beef with Snow Peas - Asian flavored with sherry (I'll use less next time), soy sauce, brown sugar, and ginger. YUM! Not as good as the Orange Chicken, but much less work. So I'm recovering from Tough Mudder by having a busy call week, but what I'm REALLY looking forward to is the Duran Duran concert in New Orleans next Sunday!!!


Is anybody else going? Now if you're one of my sewing buddies, we can share a room, as Dean attended a Duran Duran concert with me in Pensacola years ago, and was NOT a fan. My sister and I rushed the stage for Save a Prayer at the end, and when we turned around to scout out our husbands, they were SITTING at the rear of the auditorium checking their watches. Anyway, let me know if you're interested, seriously! Did I mention that with every purchase, you get their latest Paper Gods CD mailed to you for free? I KNEW that might change your mind....

I Survive the Tough Mudder

But first, I went to St Louis for a work meeting, which was comprised completely of pediatric educators. So do you see the red bottle on the table in front of me? That would be a Budweiser which a pediatric neurologist brought in...and this was the very first meeting of the conference at noon, so it's not like it's the last day and this is an evening meeting....and would THAT even be okay? I was just stunned, but nobody said anything as far as I know.


Secondly, my sister went to Galena, IL for a visit and very kindly stopped in the LYS and bought me some yarn! This is a hand-painted mohair-wool mix - can't wait to pick out a sweater pattern for it! And did she buy me a vintage coat pattern too?


No - it's a notebook - how clever!!!


And so, on Saturday, we traveled to Milton, FL, for my first and Dean's and Drew's second Tough Mudder. They have funny signs.


So here I am all marked up and rarin' to go.


The boys had numbers written on their arms, but mine were covered with sleeves, so it had to go on my head.


And here's the after shot.


No action pics yet, though I'm hoping they'll post some eventually, and if you want to see what we did, just go to YouTube and google "2016 Florida Tough Mudder." People have started uploading their GoPro videos today, but I didn't want to share someone's personal video here without permission.

Let me just say that in 4 hours, I ran 10.5 miles, did 21 obstacles without backing down, and took 4-5 electrical shocks at the end. And obstacle-wise, I did require a leg-up to clear the 10 and 20-foot walls, but I did the "Liberator" wall that you climb using 2 pegs you put in holes all by myself! And I was a big girl and leaped off the 15-foot King of Swingers, even managing to grab the T-bar, until I lost my grip about halfway through the swing and fell into the water. Also I did the Arctic Enema icebath with no coaxing or whining. That's why I was so happy in this pic:


I highly recommend it - it's kind of like recess when you were a kid, if you grew up in the country surrounded by red clay and rednecks. It was totally fun and I didn't hate a single minute of it, though I did get a little tired climbing up sandy mountains in the glaring sun. They had plenty of hydration stations and bananas, and there was always more nice cool mud when you started getting hot.

Now today, I feel like I've been run over by a truck, and I have matching purple bruises over the backs of my legs from climbing over the walls, but doing that empowered me to hang up the blinds in Lucas's room instead of waiting for Dean to get home and do it. (Climbed up a 20-foot wall, I can CERTAINLY climb up a stupid ladder.) You go, girl!

Tough Mudder 2015

Drew's just an exact replica of Dean minus 30 years.

This was in the warm-up area before they got the pep talk. First they did some jumping jacks:


then they did some stretching while being warned about obstacles to avoid depending on your medical issues. Very reassuring!

These ladies in St. Patrick's Day attire actually handed out beads to kids in the crowd - cute!

Had to crawl through a little cold mud to start off.

Then after 3.8 miles and a few more obstacles we couldn't see, the Arctic Enema - this is full of ice water, and it's about 50 degrees outside.



So they didn't die of hypothermia, and it was another 3 miles or so, some more obstacles, and then Everest:



followed by another mile, then a tent full of tear gas called Cry Baby:



And after the Mud Mile, which I didn't get to, there's Rope Something-or-other, followed by Pole Dancer.



After this was a short jog to King of Swingers, where you have to leap off and grab the T-bar, and attempt to ring a bell before plunging into 12-foot deep muddy water. Drew would be the one in the center leaping off with one leg - and he was the only one to ring the bell!


I believe Dean is the second from the left, and he doesn't quite make it.



Finally, here's Electroshock Therapy, with 10,000 volts randomly distributed in these wires I believe. Drew took a buzz to the top of the head that went down his neck and gave him a headache for a couple of hours.



How nice to finish 11.3 miles and tons of obstacles after 5.5 hours with a big smile on your face!

Lucas and I logged 7.8 miles of walking on spectator paths, and I hit over 15,000 steps on my Fitbit, so we weren't TOTAL slugs - ha! What did YOU do that was tough this weekend?