preparing for my first mud run, need advice!

[stitchfan18]

I need any advice that I can get on how to prepare for my first mud/ obstacle course run. I was signed up to run a 5k run with just a few obstacles, but the event was cancelled and they let everyone transfer to the Ruckus run that is in town on the same day. Looking at the Ruckus website, the run is not only longer (4 miles,) but there are more/ harder obstacles. I'm completely new to this and would appreciate any advice. I would love to know what the wear, what I should be doing at the gym to prepare for the obstacles, what to bring with me for after the race, etc.
Thanks!

 

[poppinspal]

I'm doing the Tough Mudder in May which will be my first time running one of these races. It's 10 miles and so I've tried to research a lot about what to wear and how to train. The one thing I think people consistently agree on is that you should wear clothing that wicks. (under armour type stuff) I've also read that it helps to wear shoes with a good tread on the bottom but I can't convince myself it's worth buying shoes for one day.

I wasnt able to work out for two months due to an injury but I'd been running, doing a boot camp and squeezing in a kick boxing video when I wasn't doing the other two. I'm just starting to get back on that schedule. I'm not suggesting you need to register for classes but that it's more about doing some strength workouts. I wouldn't worry too much about the extra mile because from what I hear at all these races there's some down time where you're just waiting to get to the obstacle.

Obviously I'm no expert as I haven't done one yet but these are tips I've picked up.

 

[twoWDWfools]

I did the Warrior Dash two years ago and can say this. Be prepared to toss nearly everything you wear. Especially shoes. I kept a pair that were past running time just for that then switched to flip flops after. They had water trucks for rinsing you off but unheated water so it was cold. Yours may be different since not the same race. I brought shorts/bra/shirt to change into but had to do it at the car.

Note: it stormed for two days prior to our Dash so the entire area was a mud pit, not just the course. We were muddy before even starting.

Not sure how you'd train for the obstacles. Ours were scrambling over cars (frowned upon in our town), scrambling downhill, walking on and going over logs, scrambling back uphill (there were ropes), wading thru knee deep muddy water (something I normally avoid), hopping over "ruins", crawling thru cement pipes (see muddy water comment), climbing up & over large hay bail pyramid, then of course the fire jump (duraflame logs - not that high), moguls and the final mud pit.

I will provide this warning -- if you can find cheap/old cycling gloves, use them! The cement pipe and the mud pit both had sharp/rough objects that cut up our hands & knees. I crab walked thru the pipe to keep my hands up but not possible in the mud pit. The same thing happened to friends who did the same type of race in other cities.

All that said, it was a fun. My son, his girlfriend and other friends are doing it this year.

Don't over stress the obstacles. They will let you go around and keep going. My husband had an open wound on his hand so was not about to do the mud and it was fine.

Oh, one last note. Sunscreen. All over. Friend and I had tan marks from where the mud had not covered our arms/faces.

 

[jimandami]

We have done a Warrior Dash and a Rebel Race and will do a Tough Mudder and Spartan Race in the next couple months....these races are so much fun! As far as training, if you are reasonably fit, you will be just fine. For the first couple we did, I actually though the running was the hardest part (I hadn't been running much at that point) and if you have reasonable upper body strength, the obstacles won't be hard for you. As far as gear, wear something tight fitting that you don't mind getting really wet and muddy. For the first two, we just wore old running shoes and donated them after. This year, we both invested in trail shoes and will wear those. Some people duct tape their shoes on, but we never needed to (I did see several people lose their shoes though).

 

[stitchfan18]

Thanks for all the tips! I had my run on Saturday and it was lots of fun! I am probably going to toss my shoes, but everything else cleaned up fine in the wash! I'm not sure if I'll do many more of these types of races due to their cost and my nervousness. I was really freaked out about some of the climbing obstacles, especially since they were so muddy and slippery, I felt like I would slip off at any minute. Overall it went better than I thought, I just wish they had the climbing at the beginning and the mud more towards the end.

 

[poppinspal]

Congrats! I hope you enjoyed yourself despite your nervousness. Even if you never do another of these types of races you can still say you did it.

I'm just about a month away from my Tough Mudder race. Any tips on gear, obstacles, training or anything else?

 

[stitchfan18]

Congrats! I hope you enjoyed yourself despite your nervousness. Even if you never do another of these types of races you can still say you did it.

I'm just about a month away from my Tough Mudder race. Any tips on gear, obstacles, training or anything else?

I wore a running skirt with tight fitting compression shorts underneath which ended up being a great choice. I didn't have to worry about mud getting in my shorts, or flashing anyone when I was doing some of the obstacles. I wore all black so I wouldn't have to worry about stains, but it ended up being super hot.

I don't really have too many tips on training. I recently added more weight lifting into my workout routine, so I think that helped me with some of the obstacles. A lot required upper body strength and lower body strength. There were lots of climbing obstacles at my race.

 

[crewmatt]

1) be prepared to take about twice as long to complete the distance - so I would train to be able to complete a 10k if you're doing a 5k mud run. Its about the same level of exertion
2) its sometimes faster to walk, I've seen people trying to run in waist high mud, the less you fight it the faster you'll go
3) like everyone else says, burn your clothes afterwards, you'll be finding mud in places you didnt know it could get for weeks after. Pack towels and clean clothes that you still wouldnt mind throwing away - the mud does travel
4) bodyglide everything that moves beforehand, sand and dirt will get everywhere
5) have fun, dont worry too much about the obstacles, most of the races design the obstacles to be fun and maybe challenging, but few design them to be insurmountable. You'll mostl ikely have to climb nets, crawl, jump over fire, maybe get wet in a river or lake. Adding a little weight training wont hurt though.

 

[masc]

jimandami, just wondering if you've completed your Tough Mudder. We just did Dallas Tough Mudder March 31 and we are hooked! It was so much fun . I posted it was the hardest, muddiest, funnest 12 miles I've ever run.
Agree on wearing tight fitting clothes. I would recommend something that ties at the waist. A few guys had to hold their pants up. Dallas was very muddy vs some of them that are a little dryer. We did not tape our shoes but almost lost them a couple of times.

Study pictures from previous races to get an idea of the obstacles and how they are set up. The monkey bars are long and the bars rotate so this made it difficult. The electroshock was worse than I expected. My husband couldn't do it since he has metal in him (a cochlear implant) but I did them. Our race had 2 electric obstacles. One was crawling on our bellies through mud with the wires dangling over us and one near the end where we ran through the wires. The first shock kindof made me see stars. I wasn't expecting it to feel like that. After that I just hauled butt to get through it.

We ended up throwing every article of clothing , including shoes, away. Even after several washes everything smelled like gasoline/cow manure combined. Perhaps that was just from the site in Dallas. Not sure but they could not be salvaged.

We are runners and that definitely helped. We ran the Princess Half Marathon in February so were prepared for the 12 mile run. This really was one of my all time favorites. Have a great time.

 

[rutgers1]

Crossfit training is probably the best type of training for these types of runs, as it basically prepares you for everything. There are a ton of resources for crossfit online.

At the Spartan Race last year, there were people who were all-out RUNNING it, while there were others who looked like they were out for a hike. Of course, there were plenty who were somewhere in between.

 

[liam20]

I am sure that by now you have already done a mud race, how did it go? I did a Warrior Dash several years ago and had a blast!

I want y'alls opinion on an idea that I have been developing. Seeing as most people just throw out their shoes and even some of their clothes when they finish these races, would it be valuable to just buy a pair of cheap biodegradable mud run shoes before the race, and then just throw them out afterwards? Or would people prefer a shoe that they can use for several mud runs, something that is easy to wash and reuse?

Thanks!

 

[jimandami]

I am sure that by now you have already done a mud race, how did it go? I did a Warrior Dash several years ago and had a blast!

I want y'alls opinion on an idea that I have been developing. Seeing as most people just throw out their shoes and even some of their clothes when they finish these races, would it be valuable to just buy a pair of cheap biodegradable mud run shoes before the race, and then just throw them out afterwards? Or would people prefer a shoe that they can use for several mud runs, something that is easy to wash and reuse?

Thanks!

I prefer to run mud races in a shoe that is made for that sort of race (terrain, mud, etc..) that can be worn for several races. I have a pair of Inov-8 X-Talon 212s that I have had for over 3 years that I love!