Break Down - Tough Mudder Chicago 2013

The last few months have sped along at a rapid pace.  The training runs, races, and sweat are all I have to show for it so far.  However, now that I am a few days away from the Chicago Tough Mudder, time has started to drag its heels, but not with the usual anxiousness that I have had before.  Inevitably, the week before a major race I have butterflies.  I'm always questioning my training and whether I will perform as well as I had hoped.  I don't feel that this week primarily due to the last few weeks of training I have done.

I validated my running training with a new half-marathon PR at the 500 Festival race in Indianapolis on May 4th.  It was my 4th race in a two week period and I did far better than I could have hoped.  I was able to maintain a good race pace around 7:30, but I still find that I am going out too fast on my starts.  I need to hang back more and relax for the first few miles.  I know that around mile 8 to 10 I will start to fade if I do a "jack rabbit" start.  Otherwise, my legs feel good for the Tough Mudder this weekend.

Strength-wise, I feel strong but slightly edgy.  My body isn't used to taking it easy anymore.  I feel far more confident about this run than my previous two Tough Mudders last year.  However, there are a few things that have limited my training.  My climbing wall is finally up and in service as of 3 weeks ago.  I had to complete my crash mat before I would use it.  Better safe than sorry.  Plus, falling 10 feet onto concrete is not fun. But it wasn't early enough to work on my grip strength.  In addition, I've had to be exceedingly careful in taekwondo practice to keep from injuring myself during sparring matches.  I didn't want to risk twisting my ankle so close to the race.  I have a tendency to do just that when I spar hard for several days.  Pulling back on the sparring has limited my explosive power.  I feel I will have adequate reserves but I would feel better knowing I have the leg strength to give me that extra boost for the "Everest" obstacle and the jumping power for several others.

Regardless of the training issues, I feel calm and ready for this race.  I have no doubt in my mind that I will place in the top 5% for this Sunday's event.  Now, it is just a matter of not hesitating at any obstacle and surging forward after each obstacle is complete.  This will keep my average pace per mile under 10:45 minutes/mile.  Running the two half-marathons before this event really boosted my confidence.  Especially after running a trail half-marathon around 1:50:53 when I was tanked from a PR on a 5k two days before.

Note to Self:  Allow adequate time to recover between races or train back to back for them.  One day of rest is not enough!


Tough Mudder Chicago 2013 Break Down

• Roughly an 11 mile course from my shoddy GPS mapping over the course layout
• Extremely flat course.  Less than 150 feet of total elevation change (Gains and losses of no more than 10 feet at a time)
• Approximately 2 obstacles per mile with the exception of the last mile which has 5
• Longest stretch w/o obstacles: mile 3 to 4
• New Personal Obstacles (never attempted)
• Dong Dangler
• Twinkle Toes (Obstacle canceled at first TM in 2012 due to lighting storm)
• Wounded Warrior Carry
• Glory Blades
• Revenge Obstacle: Hangin Tough (Lost the last ring when I swung up and was 1 inch too short)
• Biggest Frustration:  Back and forth meandering to get distance due to small venue size (Previous experience at Wisconsin 2012 TM)