Cramming for Tough Mudder

With Tough Mudder just four days away, I'm down to my last couple of workouts.  On Friday and Saturday, I'm not going to do anything strenuous.  I might go for a jog on Friday, but Saturday is going to be spent getting to the event and checking into our apartment at Wintergreen.

Here's what I've done over the past few days:

I missed logging a day from last week:
10/10:  I went into the gym that night to do a basic workout.  I focused on lifting weights.  I don't remember everything I did, but I do remember doing M100s, barbell complexes, and working on my back and chest.

10/14: I worked out at the gym.  I changed things up a bit and did several Near Muscle Fatigue exercises.  I used a barbell with 20 lbs on it.  I did bicep curls, flat bench press, and shoulder press.  I also worked on my core with crunches, planks, leg lifts, etc. 

10/15: I did the 5-mile loop around Lake Habeeb.  I started to go around a second time, for a full ten miles, but just couldn't see my knees making the trip.  I did the first 5 miles in about 54 minutes.  I'm really hoping that the obstacles throughout Tough Mudder will allow me opportunities to give my knees a break.  Based on the course they have up on the website, I might just get lucky.

10/18:  I really don't think I took two days off, but I can't remember what I did either Sunday or Monday, so all I've got is Tuesday.  I worked out at the gym.

1. Dumbbell Curls, 30 lbs each, 10 reps, 3 sets.
2. Dumbbell shoulder press, 15 lbs each, 10 reps, 3 sets.
3. Dumbbell tricep extensions, 15 lbs, 10 reps, 3 sets.
4. Dumbbell shoulder raises, 15 lbs each, 10 reps, 3 sets.
5. Dumbbell flat bench, 45 lbs each, 10 reps, 3 sets.
6. Dumbbell row, 80 lb dumbbell, 10 reps, 3 sets.
7. Core: crunches, leg raises.

10/19: Last run.  3.64 miles in 34 minutes.  I ran with my Minimus shoes, and spent about a third of the run on the front of my feet.  My calves are killing me, but my knees aren't.  I feel like I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't.  Again, hoping that obstacles allow me to use different muscles and give some things, particularly my knees, breaks (albeit brief).

Trailrunning Training

Tough Mudder is part obstacle course, part mini-trail-running marathon.  The course I'll be running/climbing/swimming/crawling on is ten miles long.  Conveniently enough, just ten minutes from my house is Lake Habeeb, part of Rocky Gap State Park.  Coincidentally, the trail that loops the entire like is....5 miles long!  So while I haven't gotten up to 10 miles yet, I could, in theory, run the lake twice, and somewhat simulate a Tough Mudder course.  So now all I need is a good solid thunderstorm to turn it into a mud bog, a few monkey bars, and a couple of people to Taser me (Warning: expletives abound in the video, but you'll see why) as I run to get the full effect. But we'll work up to that.

In all seriousness, this loop is actually a great trail to run/bike/hike.  Here's me carrying my son in a baby backpack yesterday morning.  We did about an hour and a half, maybe 2.5 miles, before it got too hot to really have a toddler out.

After dropping the family back off at the house and fueling up with a PB&J (my son's, which he refused to eat) and a few pieces of fruit, I headed back out to the Lake for my first full run around it.  By the way, unless you're living in a cave, you know that it's still really hot out:

www.weather.com

But the trail around Lake Habeeb is pretty well shaded, and I brought one of my Camelbacks filled half with water in a liquid state and half with it in solid state.  So I ran.  And honestly, while it was really tough, it just didn't seem as hot as the other night.  I did have to stop and walk a few times, but once was because some friends called from out of town- they were passing through town on their way to vacation and wanted to stop in for a few minutes.  The rest were because I was exhausted.  I think the heat just really takes the energy out of my legs.  Normally, I can just run and run, but man, the last two runs have been in this heat and it's just brutal.  Luckily, Tough Mudder seems to relish the cold and my event is at the end of October, so hopefully it will be kind of cool.  

So my plan is to keep running around the Lake, and maybe sometime soon I'll throw in a swim across a portion of it to simulate the water obstacles in TM.  So stay tuned for that!