I took part in the Tough Mudder Southwest on 19th August 2017 and what an unforgettable experience it was. We drove up the night before, as we were a good 3 hour drive away, which we didn’t want to do the morning of the big day!!

Signing the waiver!!

I woke up Saturday morning feeling so anxious and nervous!
My stomach was in knots!

Since Luke has previously done 10 Tough Mudders prior to this it’s tradition that I always do him a “Tough Mudder pack” and he did the same for me…. unfortunately I couldn’t bring myself to eat a thing as I really felt like I might throw up!!
I literally had to force myself to eat a banana and a protein bar and managed a few sips of the fuel protein shake.

I think I did about 5 wee’s before I left the hotel!! I was absolutely dreading what I knew lay ahead of me.

All I can remember once we had arrived and made our way into the Tough Mudder Base Camp, I was looking around feeling like a fish out of water! I couldn’t believe that I was there as a participant rather than a spectator. I was overwhelmed, nervous, and wanted to so desperately back out!!

Soon it was our time to go into the warm up zone, I’m not kidding when I say my hands were shaking! My face was a pure look of panic for most of the mandatory warm up and I had worked up a bit of sweat by that point…… seriously if I couldn’t even handle a 10 minute warm up how on earth was I going to tackle the course?! The next few minutes went by like a blur, I remember the TM pledge and getting down on one knee and listening to rules about health and safety. Then it was time to go! I remember Eye of the tiger playing and the 10 second countdown beginning, too late to back out now!!! The countdown got to zero and off we went. In my head I just kept telling myself to keep on running as everyone was watching!! At least try and look like a pro!!

Relieved when I rounded the first corner and could slow the pace down a bit, I didn’t feel too bad in doing so as people were walking but my first time TM buddy Teresa (Luke’s mum) and I settled on more of a jog to keep moving.

Teresa and I were quite quiet for the first mile, I think we were just trying to focus and pace ourselves. So it started off quite serious, plus I was dreading what obstacles were going to be waiting for me!!
Below I have included the course map…. how INSANE is it!!
I’m not going to talk about all the obstacles in depth individually as I’d be here all day and the blog would go on and on!!…..

Some of the obstacles were a lot better than others, and didn’t involve too much at all, and to be honest they were a welcome break from the more intense ones!

But there is one obstacle I will talk about!!

Let’s talk about Artic Enema! The obstacle I had been dreading for 8 months! The one that I had laid awake at night worrying about! The obstacle that makes or breaks you, and no at this point I do not think I am being dramatic!…. So what is artic enema? I found this little quote online which sums it up- (As Tough Mudder’s head course designer likes to say, jumping into Arctic Enema “is like quickly eating ice cream and getting punched in the balls at the same time.”) ….. But technically speaking it is a 0-Degree Dumpster filled with ice cold water and ice cubes topped with a wooden divider that you must swim under! Sounds brutal right? Well it is!! I knew I didn’t want to do it and a part of me was thinking I wasn’t going to do it, but the other part of me knew how disappointed I was going to be if I didn’t do it. We hit artic enema just after mile 3 so quite early on in the course, the 5 minutes leading up to it I felt confident enough to do it, then rounding the corner and actually seeing it, I was like NO WAY!!!!
Luke and my mum were telling me I could do it, and the rest of my fellow TM’s were also very encouraging. It was NOW OR NEVER!! I remember feeling like a bag of nerves, I remember Luke telling me that I must go down the slide, and I remember one of the marshals telling me to go. The rest is a bit of a blur! I remember hitting the water and going under, it was colder than I ever imagined it would be, it’s a pretty indescribable feeling to be honest. I didn’t panic I just went with it, as I come up for air Luke was there and grabbed my hand and pulled me back under so we could get under the block of wood. My next thought was GETTING OUT !! Seriously I was like a bat out of hell, and seemed to make it out of the dumpster faster than the ones who went down before me!!
Once I was out I was so relieved and overwhelmed I cried!! Not ashamed to admit that, but I was also so incredibly proud of myself. And even more so since I watched this obstacle on YouTube and seen that quite a few people struggle with it, and don’t make it the whole way across, they get pulled out midway!

Now feeling like I could pretty much conquer anything the other obstacles I faced were okay in comparison, although still really difficult and challenging.

Augustus Gloop

The mud mile

And Everest

All of the above obstacles were extremely challenging and difficult and really pushed me to the limit! But I can proudly say I did them! With pictures to prove it!!

There were other obstacles around the course where family didn’t get to spectate, and most of them I did, but some of them I just couldn’t do. All in all I think there were 4 or 5 that we didn’t do, out of 22 I don’t think that’s bad!

There were many times around the course where I felt myself slacking and the pace slowing, and I felt like giving up! That’s where the fellow Tough Mudders come into it! EVERYONE I encountered that day was so friendly and encouraging, little pats on the back, high fives and “keep going” were just a few things that happened along the way. At the beginning during the warm up, you are told that Tough Mudder isn’t a race but a challenge its about camaraderie and helping each other out, something I can definitely confirm that I saw happening.

It was such an insane experience, I find it actually hard to describe. I am so proud of myself, I went out of my comfort zone and tackled it head on. I have the t-shirt the head band and the bruises to prove it!!I have learnt that I am actually quite tough, and taking part in Tough Mudder has taught me that I won’t break if I try new things and it’s okay to step outside of the comfort zone.

I would definitely recommend it to anyone, it’s an amazing experience! However I won’t be going back to get that second headband!!! EVER!!

What an experience! Tough Mudder you certainly live up to your name!!

The post Tough Mudder…… the Journey is over! appeared first on Lifestyle Lisa.

Speaking of make-up I have booked myself in for a spray tan and to get my eyelashes done the week before!…. I know people think I’m mad and I’ll be covered in so much mud nobody will even notice. Well the way I see it, I’m probably going to finish last, and pretty much suck at all the obstacles so the least I can do is try to look decent at the end of it! Seeing as I won’t be able to wear actual makeup tan and lashes will have to do!!

I also had a little pre Hair trial too as I need hair that’s going to withstand the mud and water so a messy bun just won’t do!!! But we are thinking probably French plaits, hopefully they will stay and last the duration!!

Lastly I have also purchased a new pair of trainers! They are not the ones Luke wanted me to have, but the ones he wanted me to have were proper running trainers and I wouldn’t have been able to wear them for classes, so for me I thought it was a complete waste of money!! Instead I went for some cute Nike Trainers in black and pink, which although are not official running trainers Luke said they would do! Look at the end of the day trainers are not going to make any difference for me! I’m still only going to be able to run 2 miles at any given time! So unless they are super trainers my £25 Nikes will do!!

With 12 days to go, I’m still out there trying and we still all meet for what has become our weekly Monday night run. I can add another 2 miles to the bag-NON STOP!!! It was tough, it doesn’t get easier, and I accept that. I think this was possibly my best week so far as I completed the 2 weeks quicker than I ever had before and at the fastest pace I have ever managed!! So all in all I was pretty happy!
9 days left…… that’s 1 more Monday 2 mile run!!!! #nervous #notready

The post 9 Day’s to go….(My Tough Mudder Journey) appeared first on Lifestyle Lisa.

Speaking of make-up I have booked myself in for a spray tan and to get my eyelashes done the week before!…. I know people think I'm mad and I'll be covered in so much mud nobody will even notice. Well the way I see it, I'm probably going to finish last, and pretty much suck at all the obstacles so the least I can do is try to look decent at the end of it! Seeing as I won't be able to wear actual makeup tan and lashes will have to do!!

I also had a little pre Hair trial too as I need hair that's going to withstand the mud and water so a messy bun just won't do!!! But we are thinking probably French plaits, hopefully they will stay and last the duration!!

Lastly I have also purchased a new pair of trainers! They are not the ones Luke wanted me to have, but the ones he wanted me to have were proper running trainers and I wouldn't have been able to wear them for classes, so for me I thought it was a complete waste of money!! Instead I went for some cute Nike Trainers in black and pink, which although are not official running trainers Luke said they would do! Look at the end of the day trainers are not going to make any difference for me! I'm still only going to be able to run 2 miles at any given time! So unless they are super trainers my £25 Nikes will do!!

With 12 days to go, I'm still out there trying and we still all meet for what has become our weekly Monday night run. I can add another 2 miles to the bag-NON STOP!!! It was tough, it doesn't get easier, and I accept that. I think this was possibly my best week so far as I completed the 2 weeks quicker than I ever had before and at the fastest pace I have ever managed!! So all in all I was pretty happy!
9 days left…… that's 1 more Monday 2 mile run!!!! #nervous #notready

The post 9 Day's to go….(My Tough Mudder Journey) appeared first on Lifestyle Lisa.

Week 26 and I am now just 4 weeks away for partaking in my FIRST TOUGH MUDDR! I can’t believe it’s almost here! I am so nervous, not one little bit of me is excited!! I’m hoping that nearer the time I might have a little bit of excitement in me!!

I’ve accepted the fact that running isn’t for me and I will never find it easy, and in 26 weeks it has never got any easier, and I certainly don’t expect it too now! I will never be able to run 5 miles non stop, even though when I started this back in January that was my initial aim.

But I will carry on for the next 4 weeks, until my Tough Mudder is over! Then no more running for me EVER!!!

Well this week I am super proud of myself, actually I am super proud of myself and my Tough Mudder buddy Teresa! On Monday we completed a 2.21 mile run!

As I mentioned in last weeks blog I was disappointed that we didn’t push our 1.71 mile run to a 2 mile run!! I was so exhausted and couldn’t muster up the motivation to go that little further! Unfortunately I kicked myself for it afterwards! This time I was more determined than ever to hit the 2 mile mark! Luke had mapped out a new route for us, which would make sure that we did make 2 miles, well provided I lasted that long!!!

Okay it was a hot evening! And that was even more evident as soon as I started off. Luke is a much faster runner than I am not to mention better, but I don’t feel compelled or pressured to try to keep up with him, instead I now find it more important to try and concentrate on my breathing and do it at my own pace.

It was HARD, like really really hard!! A large part of the run was up hill, which was my biggest struggle. I was determined not to stop although my pace was pretty slow, but I made it to the top of the hill without stopping once!!! I’m pretty  proud of myself!

Obviously what goes up must come down, and running back towards home was slightly easier as it was all down hill!!. I couldn’t wait to get home and drink an ice-cold bottle of water!! I was also very very happy to have done 2.21 miles!!! I’m sure that’s a new PB!!

The struggle was and still is very real and we are of course 4 weeks away from Tough Mudder, and clearly things are not going to get any better now!! So this is it!!!! It’s 2 miles or nothing!!!!

After my 2 mile run, I decided I didn’t need another run, this week….. because I don’t want to over do it do I?!

Thursday I sweated and glowed my way to a 435 calorie burn at clubbercise!! Not bad is it!! Hoping the momentum keeps up for week 27!!! We’ll see…………

The post 4 WEEKS TO GO!! (My Tough Mudder Journey) appeared first on Lifestyle Lisa.

I have tackled this week pretty much head on, although I wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for a text from my Tough Mudder buddy, that came on Monday.

Quite clearly I didn’t fancy a run, and if it hadn’t been for my TM buddy Teresa messaging me I would have been quite happy to head home and chill out! Knowing that this was a great opportunity not to have to run on my own for a change and to hopefully get in an extra session, we settled on a 7pm run and managed to rope Luke into coming too.

Monday had been a fairly hot day, and by 7pm the temperature had only cooled slightly, even so I was in high spirits and really really glad of the company! We managed to do 1.71 miles!! (That deserves a high five) And I have to say I am so proud of us!! We stopped once or twice and only very briefly, then we were straight back on it!! 

The real drama came when I was running back towards home and a fly full on flew into my eye!! I mean vision impaired or what!! Teresa was on hand to help me remove the fly from my eye, but I wasn’t impressed, I mean this is one of the reason I don’t run!! 

Fly aside it was a good run and as I said I’m proud of us!! But I was kicking myself for not pushing it to two miles!!…. NEXT TIME!!!!

So Wednesday i wasn’t too bothered about running since I had done pretty good Monday night, but as in always say anything is better than nothing, so I decided to take myself on a short 10 minute run. It was pretty standard, just a short loop then back home to see Luke and have some dinner. The main thing is I got out there and did something!!

And then we have Thursday night! clubbercise night!!!! It was so muggy and the routines were pretty energetic, so once again i left class looking a pretty disgusting sweaty mess!! But i absolutely love my Thursday night class, and the 350 calorie burn that goes with it!!!!

The post Getting the motivation back! (My Tough Mudder Journey) appeared first on Lifestyle Lisa.