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Tough MUdder.

For those who have done the challenge, how far do I 'really' need to be able to run to complete the course. I have heard that it's only 500m to 700m between each obstacle and you get regular rest breaks.

I am trying this long distance running thing but it bores the crap out of me. I tried 8km this morning and after 4km I just lacked motivation to keep running, I really hate it.

I prefer doing interval work instead but wanting to know how far should I be able to run comfortably to meet the needs of the challenge?
 


mate, mix it up! every km or lap of a park, do some pushups, situps, burpees etc. It will break up the monotony of a road run/long run. Change the route of your run, change the park you go to, change the music in your iPod etc!

Tough mudder is 21km, the obstacles were about 800m apart in some parts and up to 2km in others, but you do get a little break at each obstacle due to a bottleneck of people catching up then spreading out again...
 

Cheers, yeah have tried that lol. I run along the Brissy river along southbank over to the city so it's a pretty cool view.

Would a comfortable 5km run be enough?

Last year I trained for the event (but didn't go) and I managed 10km but got bored of that too. I ended up doing 1km fast runs with a 400m walk and totalled around 7km doing it that way. It was more interesting focussing on 1km runs than thinking about the total distance.
 


Thats a pretty good idea, enjoy your runs, empty the brain on the way! Doing it your way is a smart thing too. You may be able to eventually get those 400m into a slow jog with the KM going quicker. Set markers on the run as you go, sprint between light poles and jog when you get to a park or a hot chic! haha
 

Same here, I signed up in Dec last year for Tough Mudder in 5 weeks time from now after doing SFA for a few years. That led me to crossfit, and crossfit led me here. How about that.

I went in the 15km spartan race a few weeks ago as a tester, it was doable and I havent ever run more than 3km straight through before, I did walk a little when calves were cramping towards the end, but otherwise slow jogging depending on the gradient. The challenges were a bit tedious and catered to most, only 2 or 3 memorable challenging ones. The spartan race attracted less athletic people than I expected (esp the chicks!), and although its cheesy as fck, getting those people outside and moving can't be a bad thing, unless it kills them which I thought at the time was a very real possibility.

I'm booked in another one this weekend, True Grit. Fcks me why I'm doing these things all the sudden, I guess a health check of how the training is going I suppose. It's a bit shorter at 12km but 30 obstacles, we'll see.
 


Well done mate. Seems you have prepared well.

I have heard TM isn't as hard as it makes out and the biggest thing to overcome funny enough is the amount of actual mud. My mate did the Sydney one and said the obstacles were challenging but said he knew it was ToughMudder, but enough of the f&*king mud! The mud mile was his worst, just a long slog through thick mud where it was impossible to get across without the help of others. Then after that, there was more mud lol.

I still have a fear that I'll be under prepared though.
 
Cheers mate, I don't think you can ever be too prepared for them. Mud - yeah my eardrums kept popping after an hr or so when running, I dug solid mud out of my ears later that night. Chockas. Also, wear minimum clothes. Shoes socks and running nicks, it's a bit gay but that mud is fcking heavy, tshirt got ditched after first obstacle, there were literally piles of tshirts for the first few kms on the trailside. And shoes with some grip, that helps ha ha.
 


yeh! Dont wear volleys thinking 'ah who cares if i wreck them' you'll be slipping everywhere! Speaking from experience! haha
I wore a dress in warrior dash, but in tough mudder just a singlet and footy shorts. Had an old pair of NB that fit and ran well which i didnt mind trashing. Mud for days after, black boogers and all
 
I did it last year in Sydney. Awesome fun... Particularly the electrocution! People handle it differently. I remember one bloke got zapped in front of me and dropped like a bag of concrete into the mud. Total face plant. He kept trying to get up, got zapped, and back down. It happened a dozen time and was very entertaining. He didnt quit, he just kept going till he got it done.

It is a long distance, but not overly hard from a cardio point of view. Just make sure you've got the km in your legs so you don't cramp. It's not a race, and I highly recommend it.

Coin
 
Got back from True Grit an hour ago, run out of tamborine forest. Was more cardio challenges and hills than spartan, but shorter distance at 10km. I suspect tough mudder will be similar but with a shed load more mud. Again I combo'd jogging with walking, couldn't quite jog it straight through due to those hills!
 
Did murder in Sydney last year it was the mud that got to you in the end constantly slipping and sliding around my legs were so fried by the end of it cardio wise I thought I could have ,kept going.

I'd go for tights like and o,d list if skins or k mart cheapies saves your knees and calves getting banged p as much

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2
 
Alright I'm starting to get Toughmudder anxiety. Less than 5 week to go. I ran 8km this morning and didn't do it fast but was comfortable doing it. Will be working upto 10km next week and on Saturdays I run a circuit around my house with a shitload of hills which was around 7km all up. Working up to 8-9km over the next couple of weeks.

Apart from that, I do 1 strength training program with weights and 2 body weight routines, Bas Rutten all round workout, full of pushups, situps, lunged, jumping squats, burpees, hill climbers, shadow boxing.

Coming into the final stages, what would be the biggest thing I would need to focus on. I will also be incorprating hill sprints and more pullups and some tabata training.

What is the one thing for people who have done it wished they focussed on the most?
 
Thats some crazy training...
Are you looking to place well?

Me and the boys are just gunna jog/walk the whole thing. Just a bit of fun. Could never fit in the training required to do okay at it. Lifting first.

You sound like you are well prepared mate. Ill probably be in morph suit. Haha

Tim.
 
lol. As I said, I got anxiety. I'm doing it with a couple of mates who are genetically gifted athletes and have set the bar high. I struggle to get through that training though. Probably like you, I'm more into weights and the cardio endurance stuff is not my forte and I'm pushing around a 100kg frame.

Guess I'd rather go overkill now.
 
Hey mate,
based on my zero 1st hand knowledge of TM, but reflecting on spartan and true grit, I think if you can jog/run at least 50% of the race distance on concrete/footpaths etc you will be ok. You won't be competitive but you won't suffer either, and if you have above average strength and musc endurance like most here, you will make it comfortably and be in top 20-30% of entrants. If you want to post a competitive time you need to work on the running which is a whole other ball game I personally have zero interest in nailing. If you are already at 7km, you are on the way there. I'd also start mixing in the other exercises with the running - e.g. 3x20burpees/situps at 2km, bear crawl forwards and backwards for 50m at 4km etc, lunges for 100m at 5km etc, 2x 30 airsquats/pushups @7km etc that will give you an idea of how you feel after completing a few of the challenges between jogging. Mix that up with a long run once a week to stretch it out, pace yourself differently throughout the training run as well, e.g. race pace +10% for 1 or 2kms. Seriously think about what a bucket of muddy water dumped on you before you start the training jog would feel like, it should make you re-evaluate clothing options. Most races seem to start by making competitors get smashed in mud or water within 1-200m, think it over. And get some of those gu shots to stash in your pants, 1 every hour or so I reckon. And dont wear gloves ffs.

My team mate is thinking about training soon, I said we should prob run our own race.

 
Thanks for that. Yeah my aim is to just complete the event and not place. Have watched a few videos now and it seems majority of people are walking by the end of it anyway and it seem a mental slog to get through it.

I'm doing my all terrain run this Saturday doing hills and forest run and apparently it's going to be raining at the time so good chance to test the clothing out and get amongst the mud.

Thanks for the info.
 
as [MENTION=16157]Rich[/MENTION]; says, theres plenty of bottlenecks at the obstacles where you are waiting around to get on and this gives you time to catch your breath pretty well.
As i said earlier, combine weights and running for some cross training sessions which will see you thru ie pushups into chinups into a 200-400m run outside. Alot of the stuff can be done at your local park if you think outside the square. Burpess, pushups, lunges, prison squats, planks, situps etc can all be supersetted together with a run around the oval or to the next corner of the park. Its enjoyable and tough training!
 
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