So I just got my camera developed that Brian carried during Tough Mudder so I thought it's as good time as any to share my experiences. I tend to be long winded so feel free to skip over it, I had told Lisa I would share.
For those who don't know my co-teacher came to me and said her boyfriend had signed her up. She was freaked out because she wasn't in shape and she was nervous about the whole thing, she asked Brian and I to do it with them. I signed up right away and then started ramping up my workouts. My co-teacher spent one month working out then stopped. When I hurt my ankle I was worried I wouldn't be able to handle the obstacles. My boot camp coach(who is AMAZING) was a good help in getting me over this. The Wednesday before the race my co-teacher finally told me she wasn't going to do the race. No surprise at this point but I couldn't believe it took her this long to come out and say it. She has become really flakey and unreliable as of lately but that's a story for another time.
Brian came down and picked me up because after I was going to Vermont to spend a week with him then the plan is for him to drive down with me on Saturday and he can also see his mother on mother's day. (We grew up in the same town so his family is still there and so am I.) Saturday we drove up to Mt Snow in Vermont and checked in to the place we were staying at. Mt Snow is 3 hours from my house and 3 hours from where Brian lives in Vermont. After we checked in we decided to to the mountain and check out the people running on Saturday. (Tough Mudder is Saturday and Sunday.) We saw about four or five of the obstacles and this calmed my nerves a bit. I'm usually a very calm person but I was very worked up for this. From the time I woke up on Saturday till we got to the mountain that day my heart was beating so fast. Brian was worried because everything was making me panic. I settled down fast once I got to watch a little of the obstacles.
After that we went into the center of town to have dinner. The whole town goes into Tough Mudder mode, they say this is a huge weekend for the town, this year it was even bigger then any day during ski season. We went to this cute little restaurant called The Anchor. I had their Tough Mudder pasta bowl, it was GIANT bowl of pasta, I think Brian had some type of pasta too. Everyone in the restaurant was talking about the race. After dinner we went back to the B&B to get our stuff ready and call it an early night. I couldn't sleep(of course) so Brian and I spent lots of time going over the things I was worried about and our game plan.
So our alarm goes off at 7 because Tough Mudder asks that you get there two hours early due to traffic and having to get your number. I actually really enjoyed not having to do a packet pick up, its nice to get your number then go run. (This wouldn't be logical at most big races.) So Brian and I get there and we go our separate ways as number pick up is done by last name. I get my bib (number 15663), I also got a number to put on my bag, a wrist band with my number and a wrist band that tells them I'm old enough for my free beer after the race! Brian meets me to get our numbers sharpied onto our foreheads. Due to the obstacles and a large number of people loosing their numbers on the course they use a marker to put your number on your forehead and either your arm or leg. After this Brian and I go to buy some Tough Mudder souvenirs, at each race they have a few location specific things, I of course got a VT shirt. Then we checked our bag with our clothes to change into after. We had enough time to kind of wander around and check out some stuff they had going on. (Free mohawks and mullets, food stands, keg toss... you know typical race stuff.)
We finally decide to make our way up to the starting area to watch the group before us go out. They have heats going out every 20 minutes but when you line up you are probably at the start for about 10 minutes so our time was 10:00 but we probably didn't head up the mountain till 10:10. At the start you can get a free picture taken. (I haven't received mine yet but still very cool that they do this.) We watch the group before us charge up the ski slope and now it's time for us to line up. Oh but this is tough mudder so to get to the starting line you have to climb over a wall(they call these walls Berlin Walls, they're also obstacles out on the course) this one is about nine feet high. I'm not sure how many people are in each wave but it's a good number. Here is a picture of Brian and I waiting after we climbed the wall.
Oh yeah have I mentioned we made Brian's tie and we tore up a cheap suit for him to wear? I have on a tutu and leg warmers over my usual under armor running gear.
So Tough Mudder has this guy... I call him their hype man. He is the one to send each wave off. He talks to the group, tells them stories, has them chant. There's lots of him yelling tough and the group yelling mudder. He had us throwing mud at him and each other. Now here is my first moment where Lisa came into my head. Tough Mudder raises money for the Wounded Warrior foundation. I feel fortunate to have many people close to me serve in the military and come back to me healthy, I realize I'm one of the fortunate ones so this cause tends to have a soft spot in my heart. Tough Mudder has raised about three million dollars for Wounded Warrior so far. Due to this they tend to get a large number of service men and women who run this race.
Before the race the hype man told us to remember this story when we were out on the course feeling like we couldn't do it. He told us a story of a guy who ran Tough Mudder after he'd lost both his legs serving over seas. He said he did the whole course. The hype man told us he's seen people do it who are missing legs, arms and eyes among other things he's seen. He said to us that we are all athletes and we should picture suddenly not having legs, how we would handle it. He told us if this man could finish this race after loosing his legs then we could do it with the legs we had. This is when I thought of Lisa, Lisa saying at least you have legs. It was the moment when I truly knew I'd be able to do this.
(ok this was longer the expected, it's going to have to me a multi-part report. off to eat dinner.)
: HEAT ARE GONNA KICK SOME KNICKSTER BOOOOOOOTTTTTTYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
. As do many of us. 
So interesting. From Samuel de Champlain to now. Wow that's one elderly horse snake. Or his great great great great grandson is!
Then of course they have to show the replay in slow mo - just in case you missed the actual motion of the kneecap dislocating the first time - and DOUBLE OUCH!!
before I go catch up! 
This thread is over four years long and strong so often there's a break in the festivities so to speak. And then it picks up again. Nice to have you here. So many connections you already have - the running, the races, the science geek. Laughing, I just realized none of which is me. 
