Worlds Toughest Mudder was the race of the year. This was is what I have been training for all year. This is what's been on my mind every single damn day since I completed my first WTM in November 2015. I was like Smeagol-
I needed that brown bib. I wanted that brown bib. That brown bib was going to be mine.
I felt like I was in the best shape, running wise, entering this race. I had been working with an amazing running coach, Dennis, and really stepped my endurance game up. I was slightly concerned about my grip/arm strength, since I didn't really work on advancing that the past year. But I knew I could make it through and do penalties when needed.
November was growing closer and the puzzles pieces started to arrive all over my Facebook feed. I knew the time was coming. Surprisingly I wasn't nervous like I thought I would be. I was enjoying actually getting involved in the WTM Community page and helping get the puzzle pieces to see the course map.
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| Run spelling WTM (mine is upside down), gear packed & wetsuit selfie |
I made my packing list, double and triple checked that I packed everything I thought I would need for 24 hours of fun in the desert. And just like that me, Pete, Jon and our amazing pit crew, Lilo and Trizzle were off to Vegas!
Once in Vegas we did the usual Wal-Mart trip for all the essentials, mainly Pop-tarts and soup. Next
came check-in and setup. This year the check-in process was so much better than the previous 2 years, even though they didn't have me on file. No worries though, they quickly figured it out. Since Pete has done more WTM and more overall miles he got to go into the pit area first and snagged our group a great pit spot right by the hospitality tent, where we began building our 3 tent compound complete with lots of lights to find us easily in the middle of the night. After setup we tried our best to scope out the course, but not much luck, as TMHQ was in high alert and not letting people roam around the course. That's until the carbload dinner where TMHQ went over a couple of the new obstacles (Double Rainbow, Kong, Augustus Gloop, Stage 5 Clinger, Giant Wedgie and Funky Monkey the Revolution) and through the course map. Side note I'm still a little salty there was no dessert at the dinner. After being scared shitless about these new obstacles we went back to our hotel and got everything ready for the big day.
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| 2016 WTM Course Map |
Finally, the day was here! We brought in the rest of our gear to our pit spot and anxiously awaited to be called to the corral, where Sean would give us one of his glorious and inspiring speeches, that always seem to give you chills. The seconds counting down to noon seemed to last forever. Then all of a sudden the horn went off and everything turned to a dust storm. I didn't do as well as I would have liked on the first lap and unfortunately didn't make it past the start line again before the horn went off symbolizing that the obstacles were open. But honestly I was very excited to go through Augustus Gloop to cool down, but when we got there one of the cages fell and they closed it, making everyone bypass it.
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| Augustus Gloop |
Up next was Stage 5 Clinger, I skipped this obstacle the first couple of laps 1 because 1) the line was extremely way too long and 2) the water penalty was super refreshing since I was so hot, especially since I decided to put on my wetsuit after 3 lap so a repeat of 2015 didn't happen again to me. Unfortunately, it never really got cold out so I was overheating for a couple laps, to point I didn't think I could go on. Thankfully my pit crew got me some nice, old, carbonated Coke. Don't know if it physically did anything, but mentally it did everything!
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| Stage 5 Clinger |
Giant Wedgie was just a giant pain in the ass.
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| Giant Wedgie |
After that was Everest, where you do Everest 2.0, 1.0 or penalty. I was doing good until sometime in the middle of the night when I got there and everyone at the top just left and there all alone, so I opted for the penalty rather then wasting time and waiting for others to come. And it gave me a chance to pee :).
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| Everest |
Operation! A total mental obstacle, that I aced every time. I may have gotten shocked a couple times but never dropped that coveted plastic, orange bracelet!
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| Operation |
Next was the Grappler, an obstacle I would have never completed without the help of fellow Mudders and TMHQ changing the rules throughout the event. I really need to learn how to throw a rope I guess.
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| The Grappler |
What goes up must come down and that was done by rappelling down Abseil.
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| Abseil |
Pyramid Scheme I thought would suck, because it usually does during regular Tough Mudders, but THMQ was kind enough to put some helpful ropes on it, which made it doable alone.
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| Pyramid Scheme |
Up next is something I've only ever completed once and it happened to be last year at WTM, Funky Monkey, but of course it couldn't be the Funky Monkey seen at regular Tough Mudders. TMHQ had to change it up a bit by adding some wheels to the second half of it and naming it Funky Monkey the Revolution. Throughout the night TMHQ also added a plank to walk to the wheels. Still didn't complete it and did the penalty every lap.
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| Funky Monkey Revolution |
Finally, my all-time favorite obstacle Blockness Monster! Every time I see this obstacle I get excited.
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| Blockness Monster |
The next obstacle I had been dreading since the puzzle piece for the map had been released- Double Rainbow. This obstacle looked sketchy as hell to me and I was sure I was going to die trying to do this thing. I climbed up the ladder and waited my turn in line. Finally, I was up. I jumped and prayed I could make it to the next trapeze bar. I DID IT! I actually made it across! I attempted this obstacle the first couple of laps until the grips on the bars were gone and they were nice and wet.
Double Rainbow
Another favorite that is seen out on regular courses is Backstabber. I was lucky enough to actually test this obstacle out at an innovation last after WTM 2015. THMQ was nice enough to have a piece of wood at the bottom to make this a little easier as the hours went by.
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| Backstabber |
Next up was the a Tough Mudder staple- Kiss of Mud 2.0. I feel like sometimes there was water in this obstacle and sometimes there wasn't. You also got a nice view of the beautiful sky if you rolled through this one.
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| Kiss of Mud |
After that there was a nice climb up to Ladder of Hell. Another obstacle seen at most Tough Mudders. I took the time to glance at the top of the ladder every lap. It was a pretty breathtaking scene as the sun rose.
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| Ladder to Hell |
Twinkle Toes was up next. This was pretty easy for me to complete. Thanks mom for making me do dance for all those years! I was pretty bummed after they closed this obstacle.
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| Twinkle Toes |
The next obstacle, Turducken, was great for me because I got to lay down for a couple of seconds every lap. The only other thing I remember about this obstacle was that there was a lot of wood debris from the log we had to go under and I was getting that it kept getting stuck in my hair.
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| Turducken |
Up next was the Gamble. I crossed my fingers every time I rolled the dice, hoping I didn't get any even numbers because they were the harder versions. Rolling 1 or 2 got you Berlin Walls, 3 or 4 Balls to the Walls and 5 and 6 Liberator. Luckily if my memory serves me right I only landed an even number once and there was other Mudders there to help me get over the Berlin Wall.
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| 2015 WTM The Gamble |
Second to last obstacle and one of least favorites Kong. I don't know what it is that I don't like about it, I just don't. Except when TMHQ added the slack line to walk across. I did like that. But then they took it away because I believe someone got hurt, which I'm not shocked.
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| Kong |
And finally the dreaded Cliff. This is my least favorite thing to do. Last year I was scared of it but every lap just kept getting worse and continued this year. I bruised my tailbone both years, thanks wind. I also ended up bruising the insides of both of my arms, thanks fear, because I was so scared and too busy screaming that I forgot to cross my arms as I jumped.
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| The Cliff |
Then the lap is over and ready to be tackled again and again and again. This year was amazing and I can't believe I did what I set out to do.
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| Getting my Brown Bib! Not sure how my bib ended up like that. |
Of course there's things I wished I could change (LUBE!!!) and done better, but here's to next year and doing even better!
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| Killing time before my last lap |
