Tough Mudder - Tougher Missouri 2021

 Race: Tougher Missouri 2021

Date: 5/8/2021

Time: 1:29:02

Place: 3rd OA

Pre-Race Conditions:

Writing this from my first flight in almost 2 years. It’s strange to having to go back to the airport after so long and the dumpster fire that was 2020 and the start of 2021. 

I’m headed to Missouri for Tougher Mudder. 10 miles and 23 obstacles. First race since Greek peak in March of 2020 where I learned the very important lesson to begin the start corral at the start of the race. I’m slightly nervous because of all the race cancellations I’ve been focused on running and overall strength. Not obstacle or grip strength. We are going to see if I can still do monkey bars and a rig with the little I have been training. In my mind it’s just going to be a 10 mile push and hanging out with people that I haven’t gotten to see in over a year. 

This is the definition of Guerrilla racing. We get into Kansas City at about 9:30PM. Have to pickup the rental car, have dinner and then a 3 hour drive to the race. That means we are napping in the parking lot for a few hours prerace. Good news is that it won’t be a long drive to get there once we wake up. 

We’re in the air now. Time for a quick nap and another look at the course before we land and the adventure really kicks off. 

Race Recap:

Back on the plane after a fun weekend in Missouri. Nothing beats sleeping in a car for two nights for a race.  At least last night we were so exhausted from the day the wicked thunderstorms didn’t bother us much. The first night I learned to not park next to a trash can. That big raccoon woke me up diging for a meal at some point. I was too out of it to think of taking a picture. 

The race started from a full corral. I was definitely some prerace nerves and excitement that I haven’t felt in a while. It was great to hear Sean pumping us up for the run and having to take that dreaded knee.  CEO Kyle let us know that the whole heat was sold out and how happy he was to get back to events.  I couldn’t agree more. 

Off the start we went out quick to do the normal fight for early position. A brief look down at my watch showed a 6:00/mile pace for the first 200M. I was happy where I was sitting so I reigned it back into to a comfortable pace and decided to hang on for the ride. At mile 1 I counted that I was in 22nd place. There were a lot of rabbits to chase and I was smart enough not to fall into that trap. They mostly all faded by mile 5 which was a bit longer than I would have predicted they’d hang on. 

The entire course was flat. I saw some estimates of 500’ of gain but probably 100’ of that was obstacles. I hate running cornfields but this was a great way back into racing. 

Somewhere between mile 1 and 2 there was a pile of firewood in a bin. The guys in front of me grabbed one as they ran by.  There was no volunteer there but everyone was doing it. I wanted to be cool so picked one up and took off. After about a quarter mile we started to question why we were carrying that piece of wood. Slowly realizing we were in race brain and didn’t need to. At lumberjacked the volunteer was really confused about why we had the logs and we threw them to the side and moved on. 

The next few miles were nothing special. We just ran and did obstacles. Some of the rabbits fell off and we closed in together. First and second had a decent lead on the rest of the pack. I guessed maybe 2 plus minutes at one point. The real race was for third at that point and we all knew it. A group of us hit the log carry together. I got there in third and got my choice. Didn’t spend much time and picked something easy to carry. The volunteer was saying they were all heavy. Maybe I lucked out and got the light one. I power hiked with it on my right shoulder. I got passed by the 2 guys behind me on the loop who were running at a jog with it. When I dropped the log off I peaked at my watch and saw my HR was down to the low 120s. I lost 25M the 2 guys but was completely recovered to start back running and passed them easily. 

At mile 7 3rd-6th were all within 20’ of each other. We were running 3 wide down the trail talking about our watches being 3/4ths of a mile heavy and that it was going to be a fun finish.  

After about mile 8 we started to split up. I slid into 4th place hanging about 50M behind 3rd. My plan was the race didn’t start until rope a dope. Just before that obstacle we hit Artic Enema. Even though I got through it fast and smooth the cold hit me about 20 steps out of it and I slowed down to a walk for 3 deep breaths as my core tightened and felt like I was going to cramp. I got back running seeing 3rd ahead and rope a dope coming up. Of all the penalty obstacles this was one I was confident in. It has to be one of my favorites and one I can always complete. When I got there 3rd was already hanging on the rope pretty low and would take some work to get through it. I hesitated for a couple breaths and made my jump on rope 3. I had known that was my lane all race. One quick pull to the bar and I slid down a few seconds back. The race was now on. 

We cruised the last mile with me just a few steps back  into a 4 obstacle gauntlet at the end. We got to Shawshanked (water pit with a tube to pull yourself up then drop into another water pit) and he got into water pretty easy. I took a leap to get to the tube and got in and slid on the rocks and dirt in the tube. Sorry shins. I hit the water on the other side first and took off at a sprint to Mudderhorn (the 35’ cargo net climb). That net can drain you of energy quick. I started hammering up as fast as I can trying to make any more gap I could. As I was getting going I looked up and saw 2nd place on this way down. There was a very slim chance of me catching him but I was shocked it became that close. He seemed to be shocked that we were closing in. 

I got up and over headed over to blockness monster and leapt into the water. There were a few 5k runners already in there that stopped trying to get over to let me go. I flew over both blocks to their surprise and only had EST left. In my mind I knew that I was going to put it all out there and take the shocks if needed. I looked back and had a very decent lead so took some caution and eased my way through. No point in rushing and potentially tripping and getting hurt when I didn’t need to. 

Made it across the finish line in 3rd to see Kyle congratulating the finishers. He gave me the don’t give me a muddy hug look. I wasn’t backing down and he finally caved. A hug for him and then the customary post race chats. Then the desperate need for my dry robe and a beer before getting the ability to jump onto the podium. 

The Bad:

I am really out of race shape. With all the cancellations and uncertainty about events this year I haven’t been having focused training and it showed. I was hesitant into every obstacle. Normally I could just hit them in stride but during this race it was awkward and slow. 

With the next race 3 months away I think I have another month before focused training. Unless I last minute find something to slide in. 

The Good:

I was able to get my first solo OCR podium. And what a way to do it coming back to race season. It’s going to be some good motivation to get back into a real training plan and focused on what could happen later in the season. 

Another positive is I’m mostly unscathed from the course. Some cuts and scrapes. A small tear on my finger. Back to training this week. 

Moral of the Story:

What I’m doing is working. To decide to race 7 days before and sleeping in a car before the race I wasn’t sure what to expect for this one. It turned out better than I had hoped. 

Next on the hit list is 36 hours+ at Ode to Laz unless I can slide something at the end of the month in my schedule. I’m back hooked on racing. We hung out most of the day on course and in the festival after we were done. It felt so good to be back in that environment. 

Map:

Results: 

Gear:

2xU ¾ compression tights

Injinji crew toe socks

Altra Superior 4

Garmin 935 + RunSwimTri HR monitor

Fuel:

untapped Mapple fuel