Fuck EVERYTHING about Tough Mudder. Pardon my language.
It was cold, I am not good at hiking, and holy crap was that 12 miles of uphill. I left a longer post under a TM thread in the Womens, but to summarize, I was fail. I couldn't run, so I trudged. My fiance stayed with me and I'd wait for him when he did something I couldn't (climb a 15' wall, climb ropes, put up with insane electrical shocks, etc). Because I couldn't run, it took 5.5 hours. I was sobbing at the end, completely broken and exhausted. I would consider a Spartan Run or one of the shorter-distance challenges, but would have to be trained for a year and paid a crap-ton of money to be put through that insanity again.
A HUGE thank you to luckytotri for the shoe recommendation - they made it so I could walk up huge inclines of clay-mud where men in old running shoes were sliding down. I am hoping to wash and keep them... or bronze them or something. They made a BIG difference in my being able to finish.
My course map:
http://toughmudder.com/.../SoCalWinter_Map.pdf and 2300' of elevation, give or take
The rest of my week was quiet. I was recovering from last Sunday's half mary and only did a 40 min bike ride on Wednesday, when I could walk again without a limp. My coworkers treated me, alternating, like a leper or a queen. Even after a huge dinner on Sat. night, I was down to 137lbs - my lowest in over a year- with a body fat % down to 20 (from 35 3 months ago).
Now I am focused 100% on my first Tri on 4/20. I need to bike more and swim more, so I'm going to be setting a harsher schedule. I am thinking of doing a strength-training session with my spin coach (she's awesome) once a week, but we'll see... work is kicking my ass with CRAZY long hours and stress.
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You. You make me stronger.