So You’ve Signed Up For A Toughest Mudder… Now What?

At my first Tough Mudder ever in 2016 in Atlanta, I met a fella named Zach who told me that he was doing two events that year.  I told him that he was crazy and I would never do that.

In 2017 I did three events.

At my first Tough Mudder of the season in 2017 in Atlanta, I met a fella named John who told me that he was doing an event called Toughest Mudder that night. I told him that he was crazy and I would never do that.

In less than three weeks I’m going to Toughest Mudder Midwest.

Let’s just say that I’ve learned my lesson regarding calling people crazy for doing something and saying that I won’t do it.

When I decided to do a Toughest Mudder event, I made friends with people who have completed them and asked them questions.  I joined Facebook groups.  I read articles galore.

But the thing I learned quickly is that for every article posted that says one thing, there’s another out there that says the exact opposite.

If you were to propose a question on any one of the Tough Mudder groups about something, you would receive more replies than you can shake a stick at.  Every single one would be different than the one before it.  While frustrating at times, this is because everyone has different goals and a different body and are capable of different things.

And for someone that is a bit of a Type-A and has never done this before, it’s a bit terrifying that there isn’t one answer.

I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating:  the morning of my first Tough Mudder, I almost didn’t go.  I allowed myself to get worked up and to feel overwhelmed and underconfident in my abilities.

And maybe that’s a little how I feel right now about my first Toughest Mudder.

Because really, WHAT DO I THINK THAT I AM DOING?!

This is my first event of this sort and it’s the unknown that makes me feel this way.  I can read articles all day, but most of those are written by people with 10% body fat who can run a mile in 6 minutes who have a goal of 30+ miles.

I mentioned before that my goal at Toughest is 15 miles.  This means that I’ll likely pit twice.  Has anyone come across an article geared towards someone who will likely only pit two or three times in the 8 hours?

I haven’t.  If you have, please leave a link in the comments.

My race plan (which isn’t really a plan right now, mostly just race thoughts) is to not die, start the race in my wetsuit, have strawberry Uncrustables for when I pit, gels for on the course, and dry socks.

The gear that I’ll be packing/wearing:

• A wetsuit
• A windbreaker
• Headlamp and a spare
• Strobelight and a spare
• Shoes and a spare pair
• Socks and two spare pairs
• Baselayer and a spare set

But I look at that list and think: Is that really going to get me through EIGHT GRUELING HOURS?

I start questioning things.  Like, I don’t really eat when doing a Tough Mudder and those can take me about 4.5 hours.  What difference do those 3.5 extra hours make?

And what should I eat before the race?  Before any other race, I normally eat about half a bowl of oatmeal, but I have a WHOLE DAY before this one.

And should I nap before it?  What if I can’t fall asleep?  Should I have a super lazy day?

And do I show up in my wetsuit?  Or will I have time to put it on once I get there?

And how hard is it to get in and out of a wet wetsuit if I need to pee?

So here’s my question to y’all readers:  How did you prepare for your first Toughest Mudder or similar event as far as gear and nutrition go?