TOUGH MUDDER UPDATE: FOUR WEEKS TO GO

Jo on the Road is back, and this week I’m updating you guys on my progress for our Tough Mudder event in four weeks (the office update to come). That is only twenty eight days… TWENTY EIGHT. Not that I’m worried or anything. Ok, I’m a little worried. It probably hasn’t helped that I’ve been watching videos from recent Tough Mudders, like this one from the London event a couple of weekends ago:

(Warning, naughty language in the following video)

“It feels like being punched in the back” – well that just confirmed my doubts about the electric shocks! Aside from electrocuting myself, or willingly letting someone punch me in the back, I’m not entirely sure there’s much I can do to train for the shocks! However, the rest of the obstacles are perhaps a little easier to prepare for… although I don’t think I’ll be having ice baths any time soon!

Since my last Tough Mudder update, I have been in the gym before work every morning running miles and miles, squatting, bench pressing, lifting weights… ok, ok, there might be a slight exaggeration there, but I have been to the gym (she says as she tucks into a doughnut). I was beginning to think that I hadn’t made any progress but as you can see below, and I’m very pleased to say, I have!

In the space of a month my muscle mass improved by 3.7kg! This hasn’t stopped me worrying though, and I fear I still have a long way to go, considering I ran four miles last week and found that hard enough. Tough Mudder is twelve to thirteen… with twenty-five obstacles! Oh, if you’re not too sure what I mean by obstacles, here are a few examples…

Walk the Plank – Ahh yes, the part where you jump into a massive pool of muddy water… from a height of 15+ feet. Nothing like a bit of diving to accompany some electrocution! Maybe I should be practising my front flips and belly flops for this one.

Funky Monkey – the well-known funky monkey… sounds like some sort of crazy dance move you’d throw down on the dance floor, but oh no, not for us mudders. When it comes to be doing tough, the ‘funky monkey’ is there to test your extreme-ometer (I say that like the others don’t, they definitley do)! Not only do you need to swing gracefully from bar to bar without dropping into – yes you guessed it – more muddy water, you have to cling on for dear life when it comes to those greased up poles – mean Tough Mudder organisers!

Cliffhanger – “Leave no mudder behind”, a phrase I have seen all over anything relatively Tough Mudder related, and I have a feeling this obstacle will put this into motion. A slippery, muddy, ridiculously-angled hill, put there to be climbed and defeated by the team. Let’s hope our chain-building skills are up to scratch as we tackle this one together to get to the top.

Of course those are just a few of the many obstacles we will be tackling in four weeks time, and don’t forget the twelve to thirteen miles we will be running as well. I hear you questioning why I’m doing it, well for a little while I was questioning myself too. BUT I’ve heard it really is an unbelievable experience, and seeing as that’s what we provide on a daily basis, it’s only fair we try something new ourselves! Plus, we love a good challenge here at Extreme Element, and what better way to tackle one than in a team. There will be more updates to come… and when I survive I’ll be posting a whole new blog about my experience, and let’s hope I can proudly say I’m a true ‘mudder’… that survived!