Tough Mudder Houston - November 2, 2014

Quick recap of the Houston Tough Mudder I did with my cousin Sheldon on Sunday, November 2nd. Sundays are light days at these events. The first start time was 9 am and the last was 10:20. We started at 9:20 and were close to being one of the first ones done.

Main takeaway is that the Houston course was flat and dry. A lot of field running as opposed to sloshing through mud or going up and down mountains. We ran the entire 10+ miles and finished safely under the 3 hour mark. 

Second is that I still need to wok on my upper body pull strength to get me over the Glory Blades, Berlin Walls and even through the Pole Dancer. Already on the off season priority list so no surprises. 

Before picture

Obstacle by Obstacle:

• Quagmire - a lot of mud we had to slog through
• Warrior Carry

• Blades of Glory - I used the support beams to help me over but next year I plan on getting over it without that crutch.
• Prairie Dog - go through a tube into a muddy water pit and out. 
• King of the Mountain - approximate story and a half of hay bales.
• Pit Fall - slide under electric wires into a crawl through water. I got zapped twice. Not fun.
• Mud Mile 1 & 2 - The first Mud Mile was just a trench to slog through while the second included mud pits to get in and out of. A lot of help was needed for everyone to get through it as the walls were high and flat.

• Balls to the Wall - The high wall with a rope. Glad they had this as it is one of my favorite obstacles. Challenging enough without needing help.
• Beached Whale - New one. It is a huge inflated oblong pillow that you can't get over by yourself. With a muddy area before the approach you needed a boost to get up and then a pull from someone at the top to get you up. Helping from the top was difficult since there was no solid area to secure yourself. I helped some people up and then slid down the back - not on purpose. 
• Kiss of Mud - a Spartan like crawl though mud under barbed wire complete with rocks. 
• Soggy Bottom was another slog through mud. 
• Berlin Walls
• Arctic Enema - I got a good jump and landed just in front of the wall so that I could go under it and come out the other side in one smooth move, never stopping at the front side. 

Sheldon

• Devil's Beard - better here than at Tri State since you had to go over hay bales while under the netting. At Tri State you just walked under the netting.
• Pole Dancer -  I didn't make it across. Maybe because I made my strides with my arms too long but more upper body strength would have helped. I tried this twice and didn't make it. I was not happy and it is something that I will conquer for the Poconos Mudder in April of 2015.

• Bale Bonds - big hay bale piles to get over
• Walk the Plank
• Everest - I could have made it with less help if they let me me. Once I get my hands to the top of the wall I need to swing my legs up to hook the top and pull the rest of me up. As soon as I got my hands up there people were pulling me straight up. Not the way to do it but I got up on the first shot. 
• Funky Monkey - After nailing this for the first time at Tri State I wanted to make sure I got it this time and I did. Mission accomplished. 

• Legionnaire's Loop
• Lumber Jacked - A log suspended 6 feet that you had to get over. Extremely difficult to do by yourself without using the side supports. We used the side supports. There were 3 of them. Mission accomplished. 
• Second obstacle was a great one. We had to get back across the Funky Monkey but with a twist. There was a pole suspended from the monkey bars with chains. You had to shimmy across that to the half way part where you then had to cross over one set of rungs to another pole by using a ring. You then shimmied across the second pole. Nailed it. Challenging. Great obstacle.
• Turducken - Down a pipe into water. Then pull yourself out of the water up a slippery slope with a rope. Then jump into a muddy water pit that had a large pipe at the top with a 2x4 at the top of that which you used to pull yourself up. We all needed a boost to get to the 2x4 to pull ourselves up and out. There were 2 of these pits. 
• Electro Shock Therapy - We were about to go but a guy cut in front of us and got absolutely lit up. Knocked down 3 or 4 times and the crackling of the electric wires was loud. We opted out after that. 

After crossing the finish line we decided to take on the Military Challenge. Push a weighted sled about 20 yards, do 6 pull ups, a crawl under netting, 20 elevated feet push ups and then pull the sled back to the starting position within 2 minutes. I didn't do it in time but put forth a great effort considering this was after I finished the Mudder.