Tough Mudder: Part 2 – Before the Race

Sorry for the delay in this post - it took longer than expected to get the photos loaded and we were busy getting Cameron ready for Wyoming at the end of last week after recovering from Tough Mudder earlier in the week. Next few posts should come back to back.

Cameron & I after being branded with our Race Numbers. The hot pink sleeves were for warmth. It was about 45 degrees that morning.

Our Team

We headed up to Tahoe Friday evening after passing London along to spend the weekend with her Grammi and Poppy. Our team captain, Tui, was kind enough to secure a cabin for all of us interested in coming up to acclimate to the elevation. We arrived just in time for a nice pasta-filled dinner. With all the energy we would be expending Sunday, we needed to carb-load to some degree. The cabin was also fitted with a hot tub on a balcony overlooking the drive way. Many of us spent some time in the hot tub catching up or getting to know each other, as besides Cameron, Jeff and Tui, I didn't know a sole. Luckily, all my teammmates were friends of Tui's via skydiving, which tends to mean they were a friendly bunch in general.

Saturday morning, Cameron and I headed over to Reno to meet with his hunting buddy Gilles and pick up some supplies for Cameron’s Antelope hunting trip to Wyoming which is taking place this week. On our way back we stopped in to visit with Cameron’s grandparents for a couple of hours. That pretty much killed the day for us. By the time we got back to the cabin, it was 5 PM. Tui and Jeff were out shopping for ski boots, while Kyle and Angie were off getting supplies for the race - a fanny pack to carry fuel and gloves to help with some of the events. Kell and Lisa were the only ones at the cabin. Kyle and Angie would get back next and we all decided to start dinner, as we were aiming to head to early. It was another fun night, chatting and getting to know people as the last of the overnighters arrived (John & Brooke) but alas, it didn't last long given we all needed to get up at 5:30 AM. I was the first to head to bed at about 9:30 and I think everyone was in bed by 10. 5:30 AM still came too quickly.

Wrangling 10 people that early in the morning, with only two bathrooms, made for quite a feat, but we did get out the door just after 6:30 AM, which was 10 minutes past our planned departure time. While we were literally 10 minutes from Squaw Valley and our start time wasn't until 9 AM, ToughMudder recommends arriving two hours before your start time to compensate for traffic, transportation shuttles and lines at registration. So we technically needed to be there by 7 AM and not knowing how traffic would be to get in and up to Squaw Valley, we wanted to leave early just in case.

We quickly found out there wasn't a huge need. Parking and traffic weren’t an issue at all. Cameron and I breezed through registration, but some of our teammates did have to deal with some pretty long lines. The people-watching was amazing. ToughMudder encourages outrageousness – there’s a costume contest and a Mullet & Mohawk contest. There's even a tent where people can get Mohawks shaved right then and there. We saw people dressed up in everything from Harry Potter to a banana to a bride and groom on up to guys wearing nothing more than a speedo or loin cloth. I saw a lot of bare bottoms along the course thanks to those loin cloths, some of which looked raw thanks to the side effects of many of the obstacles.

Cameron spray painted his hair and bear white to be silly.


The next two hours seemed to drag on. There was a lot of waiting around before we finally headed toward the start line. Some of the waiting involved the fact that we didn't want to give up our bags until the last possible second. More of the waiting involved the registration process taking different amounts of time for each of our teammates and people running to bathrooms or cars. And yet still, on our way to the start line, many of us made beelines for the porta-potties one last time. This would be our last "bathroom" until we ended the course. Not that that didn't stop any one from making their own bathroom when it was needed.

We'd been joined by the last three of our teammates at registration - Kelley, Brett & Trina. The 13 of us were together, stretching and jumping around before the start gun. Before the gun, the announcer provided us with some words of encouragement and reminders for safety. Mainly, we needed to know that we could opt out of any obstacle – all we had to do to qualify as a finisher was to cross the finish line. If, at any point in time, we wanted to stop and get off the course without finishing, we just needed to throw up our arms in an X above our head.

After a quick reminder that Tough Mudder events are not races but tests of endurance, strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie, the National Anthem was played and then we were off. I think there was a gun but I really don’t remember.

Stay tuned for my next post about my experience with the first half of the course.

A Silly Group Shot Before the Event

Tough Mudder: Part 1 – About the Course and Obstacles

This past weekend Cameron and I participated in an event called Tough Mudder. Before the event I described it as a 10-plus mile obstacle course that was designed by the British Special Forces.
Here’s how the event is described on the web site, toughmudder.com:

“Probably the Toughest Event on the Planet…Tough Mudder is not your average lame-ass mud run or spirit-crushing ‘endurance’ road race. Our 10-12 mile obstacle courses are designed by British Special Forces to test all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie. Forget finish times. Simply completing a Tough Mudder is a badge of honor. Tough Mudder has raised over one million dollars for the Wounded Warrior Project…WARNING: Tough Mudder is 3-4 times longer and MUCH TOUGHER than a typical mud run such as Warrior Dash. On average, only 78% of participants finish the event. Only those in reasonably strong physical condition should enter.”

Our friend Tui (one of Cameron’s skydiving friends) was the one that asked if we wanted to participate and without hesitation, Cameron and I both said yes, even after reading the above statement.

We participated in the Nor Cal Event at Squaw Valley in Tahoe on Sunday, September 18. Here’s what was written about our event on Tough Mudder’s web site:

“Tough Mudder NorCal is rumored to be the steepest Mudder yet!”

Tough Mudder Norcal ended up being 13.2 miles long (that’s just over a half marathon distance) and included 22 obstacles. We would start at the base of Squaw, which is at an elevation of 6,200 feet. We would ascend to the very tip top of the summit, which is at an elevation of 9,050 feet (all this according to Wikipedia and verified by Squaw Valley’s own web site).

I’m saving my thoughts on how my experience with the course was for my next few posts. Today, I thought I would focus on describing what each obstacle was so you have any understanding of what we were up against.

Obstacle 1: The Braveheart Charge
The name describes it well. The idea is to begin the race with a run – straight up a steep incline.

Obstacle 2: Ball Breaker
Still running up a slightly less steep incline we now have large, balance-type exercise balls being thrown/hit at us.

Obstacle 3: Kiss of Mudd
The first of many obstacles that involved water. We had to crawl through cold, muddy water under barbed wire that was 8 inches above the water line. The water was probably a foot to a foot and a half deep. It was deeper at the beginning than at the end. I’d say we had to go about 25 feet under the wire.

Obstacle 4: Death March
Basically another hike up a steep incline.

Obstacle 5: Mud Bath
Here we had to climb into a large box full of cold, muddy water. I’d say the box was 5 ½ feet deep with water at 4 ½ feet. Half way through the box is a board blocking you from getting to the end without going under water. Barbed wire is above the board. The board dips into the water about 4-6 inches and is probably only 1-2 inches thick. Once on the other side, there is a small step to help you get out of the water and box. The box is about 12 feet in length by 6 feet wide.

Obstacle 6: Chernobyl Jacuzzi
Imagine the Mud bath described above but add in a layer of ice – 6 inches deep!

Obstacle 7: Everest
Imagine a skater’s half pipe and take away half so you’re left with a tall, sloped wall. This one was about 15 feet tall. Now get yourself over it.

Obstacle 8: Funky Monkey
This is your traditional play yard monkey bars on crack. First, they peak in the middle. Second, some bars turn. Third, some bars are greased. Fourth, if you slip and fall, you fall into cold, muddy water. Sensing a theme?

Obstacle 9: Mystery Obstacle
This turned out to be a Rope Climb. Basically you had to get yourself up 8-9 feet onto a platform and then climb down a wood ladder.

Obstacle 10: Devil’s Beard
This is a cargo net that’s been nailed to the ground on the sides. You have to navigate under it from one side to the next to get through the “tunnel” it creates.

Obstacle 11: Rock Slide
This one requires you to navigate down a rocky terrain which is slippery thanks to the small rocks.

Obstacle 12: Log Jammin
On the outside this obstacle looks like someone started to build a bad log cabin. Upon closer inspection there are logs in rows on the inside. This obstacle requires participants to climb up a row of logs and then crawl under a log wrapped with barbed wire. You start climbing up and you end climbing up, going up four times and under three.

Obstacle 13: Hold Your Wood
This one requires you to walk a length of the course with a piece of wood you’d normally spilt to use for firewood (this portion of the course a circle so that the wood logs were recycled for the next users).Some logs were large and long enough that two people would have to work together to get it moved.

Obstacle 14: Berlin Wall #1
This obstacle involves two solid wooden walls, 12-13 feet tall that you have to get up and over, one after another.

Obstacle 15: Walk the Plank
This one requires you to climb up a wooden ladder 15 feet and then jump into the cold, muddy lake on the otherside of the platform.

Obstacle 16: Underwater Tunnels
Once in the lake, swim fifty yards and navigate under three rows of barrels that have been wrapped with barbed wire.

Obstacle 17: Boa Constrictor
This involved two black, ribbed tubes that dip down, making a V, into muddy water. The object is to army crawl down one, cross through the water under barbed wire and army crawl back up the second.

Obstacle 18: Berlin Walls #2
This is another set of solid, wooden walls, one after another that you must get up and over. These walls were probably 10 feet tall.

Obstacle 19: Bale Bonds
Here large rounded hay bales are stacked on top of each other and you must navigate over them. The tallest point of each was probably 8-10 feet and there were three rows of these hay bales.

Obstacle 20: Turds Nest
This is another cargo net, again in a horizontal position, but raised above the ground. Basically the idea is to climb up to the cargo net via a wooden ladder, navigate across the net and back down another wooden ladder.

Obstacle 21: Twinkle Toes
Cross over the top pf a 20-foot long pond of cold, muddy water via a 2-inch wide board that wobbles more and more as you get to the middle. Fail and fall into the pond.

Obstacle 22: Electroshock Therapy
I think this one ends every Tough Mudder event. Simply navigate through a field of hanging live wires that carry a shock of 10,000 volts.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post. It will focus on what we did up until the gun to start our group sounded.

Who Does London Love the Most?

There hasn’t been much debate in the house about who London appears to love more – Cameron says she makes it clear that she loves her mama and that Daddy is chopped liver. Of course, she loves her daddy but does have those days that daddy just won’t do – she needs Mama.

She was in one of these moods Wednesday night. London was having a tough time falling asleep and got herself so upset that she couldn’t calm herself down. She has four teeth, including three molars, coming in and she hadn’t finished her dinner that night, so these factors weren’t helping her drift off. After she’d been rescued and put back to bed by me, she continued her crying. Cameron went up to see if rocking her would help. Soon he was back downstairs with London and as soon as she saw me, she wanted me. She’d only wanted me earlier when I’d gone upstairs to try and rock her and ended up back downstairs with her when she was so upset that her lower lip was quivering and she kept catching her breath. Cameron had tried at that time to hold and comfort her but she’d turn away to stay in my arms.

I always feel bad for Cameron in these situations because all he wants to do is comfort his little girl and make London feel safe, to be a strong Daddy for his daughter. I think its more about her age then anything. I’m sure there will come a day soon when I’ll be the chopped liver.

But we didn’t realize there was someone else in our household that she loves even more than Mama these days. That is until I picked her up from daycare yesterday. Its family week for the Froggy group and Miss Alicia had asked us to bring in some family photos on Monnday for some projects. I’d selected a photo of London and me, one of Cameron and London and a couple of London with each of her grandparents. For fun, I threw one in of Tulley and London.

Well yesterday the kids were finger painting trees to act as a frame for one of the pictures. Since there wasn’t a picture of Cameron, London and I together, Miss Alicia thought she’d let London pick which picture to put on the tree. Of all the pictures, London chose the picture of Tulley and her. Miss Alicia said she got real excited when she saw it.

So there you have it – London loves Tulley the most. And who can blame her – who doesn’t love Tulley. She’s a smart pup and does her best to make you feel better when you’re upset or not feeling well. And she’s always on high alert when things aren’t right.

Last night she saw me packing for Tahoe and packing up food for her and Melody. She knows what all this means and so she slept cuddled up next to me more than usual, with her head on top of me, just to ensure I didn’t leave without her. I blame Cameron for this complex of her. Ever since he snuck out in the middle of the night and came home with dead birds without her she tends to stay close by when any type of packing or prepping goes on. The night after that incident she slept on his feet so he was literally pinned down all night. He couldn’t move without her knowing!

And when I think about it, when London had worked herself into such a fit Wednesday night, it was seeing and cuddling with Tulley that truly calmed her down, not me.

Things are going great with the daycare and Miss Alicia by the way. London rarely cries as I leave when I drop her off. We have a calendar on our fridge of all the plans Miss Alicia has for them each day, with a theme for each week, as well as a color, letter, number and words of the month. This month the color is green, the letter is A and the number is 2. Words are Help, Up, Down, No and Please.

Last week was grandparents week along with finger tracings. We were asked to bring in two pictures of London. At the end of the week, we brought home a framed picture of London with stickers on it, a grandparents poem and a finger painting. We also had heart-shaped cards with her hand tracings cut out and attached to act like the front of the card. This was a great reminder that grandparents day was last Sunday. And each of her grandparents have received their gifts.

Plus, at the end of each day we get a report card of sorts that let’s us know what kind of mood London was in, how many dirty diapers she had, what she ate and what activities she did with her classmates that day. For example, yesterday she danced, finger painted, played fireman (this is also fire preparedness week) and played with the sensory box. This is also where we find out if she needs more diapers or if we need to bring something in or dress her in a certain color the next day – last Friday was wear green day and bring in your favorite toy day. It may be expensive but it is well worth the money in Cameron and my eyes more and more.

Girls Weekend in Tahoe

As I mentioned briefly in an earlier post, I recently went up to Tahoe for a Girls Weekend with a wonderful group of girls.

The weekend was coordinated by my ultimate childhood friend, Emily Moffett. I’ve literally known this amazing woman since I was born and have spent almost every Christmas Eve celebrating at her parents’ home in Chico. Her parents, Bonnie and Gene are a large reason why my parents moved us there when I was 15 months old, and why I got to grow up in such an amazing town. My dad made the decision to move us there sitting on a bench eating an ice cream cone outside Shubert’s in downtown Chico after biking there while we were all on a visit to see the Moffetts.

Any how, Emily had made arrangements for who ever wanted to come to spend a weekend at her parents’ cabin in Tahoe Donner. I jumped at the opportunity the second Emily started to plan the weekend, as my girlfriends had all just passed up the opportunity to go to Vegas and knowing Cameron would be taking a week to go hunting in Wyoming, I knew for my sanity I needed some time away from home and the chores that pile up there.

I’d met the other four girls attending this weekend through various activities leading up to Emily’s wedding last September and they are all a delight and fun to be around.

I was the last to arrive, thanks to a late start that Friday morning and the morons I had to deal with at the Natomas Safeway trying to get the makings for Saturday night’s dinner. Seriously, who still writes a check out where there is the ability to use debit cards any more? It had been decided via email that we would eat out Friday night and each of us would make a dish to eat in on Saturday.

We all ended up talking and catching up well past 8 PM before we finally headed out to dinner. And after we arrived I think we were all questioning our decision to go out – the hostess of the restaurant decided it would be a good idea to sit us next to a table of 6 or 7 ladies who were quite a few glasses of chardonnay in and most likely single, as they were flirting up a storm with the guys at the table across the aisle. The worst part was that our table and theirs were in a cove, so the noise they were making just bounced off the walls back into us. I could hardly hear myself think, much less try to hear what any one else at my table might be saying. Finally we were able to get our waiter’s attention (guess where his attention was!) and requested a change in seating. He obliged and we were reseated in a cozy corner across the restaurant. Overall the food was delicious and once we were able to hear each other we began to enjoy the dinner.

Saturday I was able to sleep in before heading out on a run with one of the girls, Katherine. The goal was to do 5 miles, but after 1.5 miles, I headed back to the cabin. The altitude and hills were definitely getting to me but I also run at a slow pace and was worried I was holding Katherine back. Hardly any body was up yet so I took advantage and jumped in the shower.

Once everyone was up and breakfast snacking had finished, we packed up lunch snacks, beverages, towels, chairs and put on our swimsuits to head for Donner Lake. We spent much of the afternoon sun bathing, talking and reading magazines before heading into downtown Truckee for a little shopping, where no one really purchased anything and just wandered around.

It was time for more relaxing back at the cabin and time for cooking! Boy did we eat like Queens that night. The first course consisted of assorted cheeses, grapes and crackers along with artichoke spinach dip, salsa and chips. The artichoke spinach dip was my first taste of a Skinny Taste restaurant and it was delicious!

From there we had chicken satay with several peanut sauces and then my noodle, cabbage and chicken salad. The main course included sliders made from grain-fed beef with blue cheese crumbles mixed into the meat, and sautéed onion and cheese on top, barbecued corn on the cob, macaroni au gratin and fresh heirloom tomatoes from Emily’s mother-in-law’s garden. I’m sure I’ve forgotten something as well. Did I mention we had the main course outside on the patio as the weather up in Tahoe that weekend was incredible, or that it took us 5 hours to eat it all (there were definitely leftovers that I brought home and Cameron indulged in).

When it was dark and a tad on the colder side temperature-wise, Emily got a fire started and for dessert we indulged in smores! We all went to bed after gabbing by the fire late into the night with full and indulged tummies! I'm definitely looking forward to the next trip, as we all agreed we should do this at least twice a year - once in the summer and once in the winter.

2011 New Year’s Resolutions Status Check

As I was flipping through my non-technical, paper calendar/notebook/organizational life, I happened upon my 2011 New Year’s Resolutions. My first thought was that I really need to move this document to the front of my calendar. It’s useless where it is – I don’t look at them often enough to remember all that I wrote down. Then I wondered how I was doing.

Resolution 1: Catching up on ALL of my Magazines
I’m almost caught up! I just need to get through my stack of September issues, which I started to tackled last Tuesday, and then I just have one extra October issue besides the normal number of magazines I get monthly. I’ve been most successful at this resolution thanks to my ½ hour lunches at work and by reading for 15-30 minutes before turning the lights out and falling asleep. I have found I sleep better on nights that I read a magazine, versus a novel like Harry Potter. The month I read Harry Potter 7 (just before the Part 2 movie came out) I had some outrageous dreams and sometimes read well past my bedtime.

Resolution 2: Eating Healthier Options, and adding Breakfast to the line up and establish a Consistent Workout Routine
I’m happy to report that I’m on track here, too. I’m better when I’m at work, as I have to make my lunch or spend my whole lunch driving into Natomas to pick something up. I pack breakfast with my lunch so this important meal doesn’t get forgotten either. But on weekends I tend to get distracted and forget the breakfast part of this resolution. I’ve also just started Weight Watchers in hopes of shedding some pounds, which has made me very cognizant of my eating choices and how much I eat. After one day on the program I very quickly realized why I wasn’t losing weight before.

Getting my thyroid medicine adjusted has probably helped as well – getting food poisoning over Labor Day weekend did not. I ended up taking a week off from Weight Watchers while my stomach went back to normal. I did lose about 3 pounds the first two weeks of the program, and that included a weekend I did not keep track of as I was with a bunch of wonderful women who all love food. Luckily, they turned me on to a new web site chock full of recipes that include the Weight Watchers Point value! Check it out: skinnytaste.com.

Getting back on a program for weight loss should hopefully get Cameron and me back into planning our meals on a weekly basis as well. We were doing well with this until I started working full time as I am no longer able to get to the grocery store two days a week like I had been doing when I was only part time.

Running and training for half marathons have helped me achieve the workout routine resolution. My next half marathon is October 2. Before that, Cameron and I will be participating in the NorCal Tough Mudder, a 10-mile obstacle course designed by the British Special Forces. This is taking place Sunday up at Squaw Valley. I’m sure a lengthy blog post will be coming as a result, once my arms are functioning again. The course calls for a lot of upper body strength that I possess little of.

Resolution 3: Decorating
My goals in decorating are not on track. Originally, I’d wanted to complete the family room, powder room and both bathrooms. Some of the reason why this resolution is not on track has to do with London – she’s just too mobile now and I just can’t trust myself to keep an eye on her while I work on such projects. Also, Cameron and my priorities in decorating have shifted.

The family room is almost complete. We added an entertainment center recently so all we need to do is add some throw pillows and do some paint touch ups. The throw pillows likely will come once HomeGoods opens in Folsom in October. Or maybe I’ll get around to making some.

The Powder room has been painted, though it is in need of some touch-ups. Cameron’s even cut a frame for the mirror which I finished painting a few weekends ago, so now we just need to get it up. After that, all that would be left to do is find a piece of art (or make something) for the wall the door opens into. That’s not a huge priority currently. If we can get the mirror frame up, and do the paint touch-ups, I’ll check this one off my list.

The other two bathrooms are probably going to have to wait until 2012. Maybe some paint will get up, as we do have paint swatches all over and I have decided on a color, but there are some major changes I want to make that I know we just can’t get done this year. In both bathrooms I want to take down the large wall mirrors over the sinks and replace with smaller, individual mirrors over each sink. That requires paying for some labor to take the mirrors down and possibly having some drywall fixed afterward, depending on how easily the mirrors come down. Not to mention the texture we would need added to the where the mirrors are to match the rest of the walls. I’d prefer to do the painting after these mirrors have been removed and the walls have been texturized. In London’s bathroom I also want to add some wainscoting which takes more money and time then I am ready to invest in it right now. With the holidays fast approaching more time will be devoted to crafts than household projects.

We also turned our painting projects back toward the arched walkways in our house and the walls that support them. When we moved into the house we painted the one that separates the kitchen and family room a beautiful olive green and have since decided to paint every arch-wall this color, minus the one in our bedroom. That left 2 walls to paint – one of which we completed before London’s birthday and after we painted the power room the same olive green. All that is left is the largest wall in our house – behind it is our bedroom, closet and laundry room. With football season beginning I think Sundays will be good days to set aside for my craft projects and this painting project. I can leave Cameron to play with London downstairs with football on while I get things done upstairs. We’ll see how well this plan pans out by the end of the year.