Tough Mudder - 2019 Toughest East

Race: Toughest East 2019 - 12 Hour

Date: May 18, 2019

Time: 10 laps for 50 official miles

Overall Place: 7/ 472

Gender Place: 7/ 384

AG Place: 4/ 88

Pre-Race Conditions:

I had planned on writing this earlier than hours before the race but like this race plans are going to change. Last night was a good shakeout run in the heart of amish country. There were horses, cows and ducks along the route. It’s nice to have a route to explore.

This morning after breakfast we found a place to get horseshoes for $5 each. We stopped and hopefully it brings me luck.

The details of the course are sketchy at best. 5 miles and 19 miles with rolling hills. I don’t expect Tough Mudder to give us too brutal of a course. I’m guessing ~500’ gain per lap. I have my plan for 50 miles but hoping that I could get close to 60.

Interrupted by the need for a nap. After struggling to get one in I plugged in my binaural beats and passed right out. Yeah to the 45 minute sleep cycle. I can definitely say nerves are acting up right now. Hopefully in a half hour when we get to the venue that will be replaced by excitement. Overall I’m feeling ready. Some soreness and tightness from the week with hockey and the long drive. I’m curious to see how the new vest and replacement belt work. Replacement because my other one is most likely still at the race 3 weeks ago in NJ.

My mantra this race: “Happy Gilmore accomplished that feat no more than an hour ago”

Race Recap:

A 12 hour race becomes such a blur even during it.

It’s started at 7:15 with us having to jump into the corral for the race briefing and Sean Corvelle’s pre race inspiration and pump up. Another great speech. I pushed up to the front of the corral and was in the second or third row with minutes left. Then came the 10 second countdown. At 0 we took off. I went out with the front pack trying to separate from the pack incase there was a tight spot. The leader took us out fast. We were about a 6:00 minute pace touching high 5s on the downhills. After all the talk of rolling hills it was a surprisingly runnable course. With only one nasty climb up on the trails between mile 3 and 3.5. The first hour is the sprint lap. No obstacles are open so it’s just a flat run. My first 5 miles were 6:44, 7:37, 7:36, 9:06 and 7:18. I felt really good and was only maybe 15-20 seconds back from the leader and kept fighting the idea to push for the green sprint lap winner bib or the ‘Green Bib of Death’ as named by Rea (who won it then went on to win WTM 2017). I fought that idea back and paced out comfortably completing my first lap and then without pitting continued on to lap 2.

Lap 2 started just as fast but now we were pretty spread out. The barbed wire crawl and mud pit were now open so we got to get wet and cooled down. It was a welcomed slow down to cool off. Hammered out lap 2. I got back just in time to hear that the A frame and Electro Shock Therapy were opening in 8 minutes. I was with another 2 runners coming into the pit when we heard that. We discussed and figured we’d have to pit less than 3 minutes to beat the obstacles opening. Not a problem that early in the race. We got to bypass the obstacles and start lap 3.

Lap 3 started right before 9:30. We were told all obstacles would be open by 10PM so I knew this was the one to settle in and start the long grind through the night. Lap 3 brought on one challenge as a hole in my shoe opened up right by my left big toe and my toenail was catching on it. My plan was to do a shoe swap after lap 5. Those plans were accelerated to a pit after 3 for shoes and my Neptune shirt. The weather was perfect to stay in my long compression pants, injinji tall toe socks, Neptune and swim cap.

Back out for lap 4 in cruise control. After lap 4 we had to start checking in at race central. They provided a good incentive for lap 4 and after you could check in and receive an orange band to bypass any obstacle. No questions asked. I collected my bad, saw the leader board flash I was in 10th place overall and headed back out wondering how the other leaders were feeling and if they could keep their pace.

Lap 4 and 5 were uneventful. Cruised through without incident. Lap 6 became the beginning of strategic racing. I had failed Funky Monkey this lap and had to run about a 2 minute penalty. I found out people were using their feet on the monkey bars so they were wet. I probably could have got it playing safer and matching on the bars. I hammered that penalty. Something about failing and that cooling swim out of the obstacle energized me and I was on a mission to make up that time. That was the last lap I tried funky monkey. It got one of my bands from now on.

Laps 7 and 8 became true grinds. It did get a little bit colder but still warm enough to just keep swapping Neptune pouches. I would start strong out of the pit and then fade about mile 2 and have to start packing kit kats and gummies into my face then about 3 I was back going. One nice thing later in the race was Artic Enema was about a half mile from the finish. That ice cold water felt great on the legs. Not so good having to submerge fully. I definitely spent more time talking to the volunteers while standing in the ice water than I should have. After 8 I swapped my headlamp for one that was bright. It didn’t slow me down at all but 6 hours is probably the limit I should have one on before swapping.

Lap 9 was a grind to sunrise. I used my bands at Funky Monkey and Everest to avoid penalties and keep the forward speed. I ended up cruising into the pit after see a couple other guys on the lap also on 9. They were hurting and slowing down. I was still able to run and put minutes on him after we hit Black Widow together. I kept checking over my shoulder and never saw him. I also saw the sprint lap leader towards the end of the lap. I thought he was moving good but fell apart when I charged the downhills.

I came into the pit after lap 9 with the sun fully up. I ditched my headlamp and got a quick snack to head out and try to stay ahead of those other guys. The start line closed at 7:15. I started lap 10 about 5:50 and knew if they were going to beat me they would have to hammer this lap and sneak in a hellaciously fast last lap. The sun was up. It was warm. I had 2 bands left per my plan. I pushed and ran as much as I could still touching into the low 8s. I dropped my band at Funky Monkey and flew through everything dropping another band at Everest. There was a short line and I wasn’t waiting. I was home free until the gauntlet. A momentary lapse in concentration and I missed the 3rd ring. I hung on for a moment trying to recover but my hand slipped. A dip in the water followed by a few choice words and I was out and onto the penalty flying through the loop and headed downhill to Artic Enema. I think this is the only time I didn’t take my time. I almost dove in. Only half mile left and the only time anyone had the opportunity to pass me was on that penalty. I headed into the pit circle threw my hydration belt to someone and told them to toss it by our tent and headed up the A frame as fast as I could then through Electro Shock Therapy as quick as I could to the finish.

My dad met me at the finish where I was on the verge of collapsing. I turned in my chip and then began the 500’ super long walk back to out pit. We stopped by hospitality for a bagel and cream cheese before our tent where I finally after close to 11.5 hours got to stop and sit down and relax and eat.

The Bad:

Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition… I did better but definitely was putting myself into a worse calorie deficit as the night went on. I have a lot of research to do here and figure this out.

Chemical burns hurt but smelling salts work great. I popped one after lap 8 pit then began climbing the A frame and tucked it in my wet waistband. I didn’t realize it until after I got down that it was a bad idea. The upside is that I wasn’t focused on my legs.

The Good:

The best thing is that I was able to walk mostly issue free the day after. Some stiffness and scrapes. It’s amazing how far I’ve come since that first half marathon 4 years ago and could barely walk for days after.

I ran 50 miles without any running pain. There was fatigue and soreness but no pain. All the exercises and pose running is amazing. I was still able to touch down into the low 8 minute mile pace 11 hours in without the need for much hiking.

Some of my nutrition did go right. The FitAid trick to get the aminos in my system and avoid the tryptophan crash worked great. I wasn’t sleepy at all. The other was is my idea of if I was walking I was fueling. Unfortunately I was only doing some tailwind and not more in those moments.

Moral of the Story:

This was an amazing race. Another one still on the edge of that age group podium. I didn’t win so I learned some of what worked and things to work on heading into Bigs in about 11 weeks then Killington in September and finally WTM in November to cap off the year. My dad (aka Pit Daddy) was awesome to have in my pit pushing us and hanging out with the Canadians. I couldn’t have done this without him.

I got my Contender status along with Sherilyn for Atlanta without killing myself. Mission accomplished.

If Tough Mudder keeps up this quality of events and makes the small tweaks here and there this may be a good series to run next year if the incentive is back.

Equipment:

Shoes: Altra Superior 3.5

Gear: 2XU compression pants, Injinji smart wool crew socks, Neptune Performance Shirt, Black Diamond Storm Headlamp, Nathan Peak Hydration Waist Pack, Dirty Girl Gaiters

Fuel: Tailwind, FitAid

Coaching: Bruce Seguin, YancyCamp GetAGrip

Map: