World's Toughest Mudder 2021

 Race: World’s Toughest Mudder 2021

Date: 11.13.2021

Time: 60 miles (12 laps) 

Place: 65 out of 133 Male Contenders 

Pre-Race Conditions:

Viva Las Vegas! 

The nice thing about flying to this race is it makes it easier for Thursday to be a hang out day. We got to go down to Fremont Street and see the light show last night. The goal was to go ziplining but there was a 4 hour wait and that was way too long. Today we got the tent and then headed down to the strip to walk through a bunch of the casinos. We started at Caesars, walked to the Venetian, the over through the Mirage to see the tigers (we didn’t because it wasn’t worth $25 to us) then moved our way to New York New York by hitting the Bellagio, Aria and the MGM park. Lunch was at Urban Tom’s in New York New York. I always forget how much there is just to see here and really need to come back when I can just explore and lose money. We finished our exploring with seeing the fountains at the Bellagio to Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance. 

We are right now driving from Vegas to Bullhead. It’s about 90 miles south. After a lot of walking today it’s a nice little break so I can relax a bit then get there and go for my penultimate run. Tomorrow’s just an easy shakeout run before the big one. 

I’m going in with my running and strength being the strongest I think I’ve been. My grip strength is probably lacking for 24 hours. I was able to hold my own on obstacles at Toughest Chicago in August only failing 2 the whole race. The goal is to rack up some bypass wristbands and use them once I start failing obstacles to avoid some of the nastier penalties. 

I think I’m the most ready and healthy (except this cold that hit last week that’s almost gone) I’ve ever been going into this event. My goal the last 3 years has been 75 miles and the first 2 years were hampered by stupid rookie mistakes that took me out. I’ve now have more experience, better training and a better understanding of my body. In 2019 I got my dirty silver of 80 miles and had 2 hours left where I could have gone out for 85. I was told I would regret that and to this day I still get upset that I left miles on the table. This year I want to make my push for the gold bib, 100 miles, orange jacket. The course is going to be tough but the weather should cooperate with some big mileage. My backup goal is 90 miles and bare minimum of dirty silver again 

I’ve looked at that picture of the gold bib on my wall for the last 22 months. I hit 55 miles in the 11 hours and change in Chicago and was still running strong on a flat course. I need to keep that effort for probably 16 hours and then can start to fall off a bit. My plan is to keep my pits short. In 2019 the long pits cost me about a full lap. That’s not going to happen this year. 

My biggest concern is my grip strength and making a mistake. The distance and time isn’t bothering me at all. 

Tomorrow morning we are setting up our tent and dropping off a few things then going to relax at the Airbnb and have dinner at the casino after the race briefing. Saturday morning the race starts at noon and we will be there about 9 to bring in the rest of the gear and food. There’s 3 hours between the time we get there and the start. It always feels like it goes by in the blink of an eye and 42 porta potty visits. 

Almost to Laughlin now so I’m going to end this and start thinking about doing this run in about hour and then getting some good sleep. 

Race Recap:

This didn’t go anywhere near planned. It was hot, dusty and I was feeling off right from the time I woke up. 

We got to the race earlier than we had planned and had no troubles getting in and finishing setup. Those 2 and a half hours flew by. I got my gear on and a last bathroom trip before I felt my shoes were catching my big toe and decided to swap. As normal I jumped into the start corral late and worked my way to the front. 

The pre race briefing and Sean’s speech were pretty short and sweet. They gave us the last couple minutes to stand up and get ready and then we were off. It was a loose sandy narrow uphill start. We took off and jockeyed for positions and then started to settle in. I paced right behind Amelia Boone and with Evan Preparis and a few others. We kept our pace fast but comfortable. We hit the water station at mile 2 and all grabbed some water to hopefully cool down. A few of us soaked our buffs and put them on our heads. I took a few seconds a couple miles later to soak mine at blockness. It was hot. Towards the end we were thinking the top distances were going to be about 90-100 miles based on the heat and course. Someone said that coming up to the finish line they were 7-9 minutes behind pace. 

I met my crew in the quick pit and grabbed my hydration belt and headed out for lap 2. I moved well for the first mile sipping on some cold tailwind. After that I started to get some stomach distress and slowed down until I could get to the water station and a stop in the porta potty. Got there and stopped and then felt better. Took off into what I was hoping was some cold water obstacles. 

Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. There was very little water in the first 2. The muddy barbed wire crawl was more crawl than mud and mud mile was more mile than mud. They were trying to fill them with water from trucks. That plan didn’t go that well. I finished lap 2 slower than I wanted and swapped to my vest with some tailwind and fit aid. Also got an Imodium to deal with anymore GI issues. I went out for lap 3 and took it easier knowing that sundown was going to be about 4:30 and if I could make it to that I would be better. Lap 3 was another struggle. I was feeling nauseous, low energy and a little light headed. I came back to my tent after that lap and sat down for a while trying to regroup. While I was trying to get ready to go back out I saw TJ come in from his lap. I got my crap together and ran up to him and asked to run with him. I finished getting my gear and was walking by Matt B Davis who stopped me to ask if I was ok. I told him I was struggling then continued on to TJs tent to get going on our lap. That was a 15 minute pit break. My plan was to keep them all under 3 minutes. 

We headed out on lap 4. It was comforting to have him there next to me in case something happened. I was seriously worried about passing out on a lap. We moved pretty consistently through the lap hitting the water station and he forced me (didn’t take much) to have 3 cups of water. That started to make me feel better. We finished the lap together discussing what gear changes we were doing for the beginning of night ops. We said it was going to be a 4 minute pit and got through it pretty quick and went back out. 

I’m struggling to remember much about what happened on laps 4 and 5 and how out of it I was. I had talked with a few people at brunch about conversations I don’t remember having. TJ and I did our lap 5 pretty easily. The only thing I really remember is that blockness was covered in vegetable oil. We finished the lap and went back out for 6 after a quick trip to our tents. 

I don’t remember much happening lap 6 until getting to the gauntlet. TJs headlamp died on him about then. I told him I’d finished the lap with him and then since I was feeling better I was going to quick pit and head out to get some more miles in. I completed Funky Monkey and TJ failed it. As he went to the hoppy ball penalty I started walking to slip and squeeze, got through it and was helping some others when Juls and Dolby came through. They told me to go and after I explained I was waiting on TJ since he didn’t have a headlamp they told me they would get him the next mile and a half back to the pit. I picked up the pace and started moving well. Finished lap 6 and went out for 7. Now I was feeling better and back to running at a good pace. I saw Matt B Davis chatting for a quick minute on course while he was live streaming. Cruised through that lap and went out for 8. 35 miles in and still on pace for 75+. That’s where the wheels came off a second time. I made it through pretty fast but started to get light headed again and went to the tent to sit down after the lap. 

After a short break I decided that I needed to take a break and try to recover and recoup to get more miles. I talked to Bruce and we came up with a plan for me to sleep for about 90 minutes. 

My dad and Nick said I could use Juls tent. She was due to come into the pit in about the next 10 minutes. I ate and drank a couple bottles of water. I was checking my phone and saw a message from Toni Ann. I messaged her back to see where she was. I figured bouncing some ideas off of her to get me back would be a good idea. We met up by the hospitality tent and I told her what was going on. She asked me a bunch of questions about my hydration and fueling. We both thought I was doing everything right. Unfortunately it seemed the best plan was to take a nap and see if that helped. I laid down in Juls tent and Nick said he’d wake me in an hour and a half. I slept for about 45 minutes then woke up because I needed to pee. That was a great sign for me that I was starting to feel better. I went to the porta potty and then back to the tent to nap a bit more. Nick woke me up and told me he’d give me another 15 minutes. I think I laid there for another few minutes and decided to get up and move. 

Next step was to figure out what to get out and run in. It was still pretty warm and low wind. I was concerned about going out and being too cold and suffering too much. I started walking around to loosen up, checking the orphan tent for Anke to see what the orphans were wearing. No one saw her there so I went by TJs tent and couldn’t find Mike or Rachel so I started back to my tent. On my way I saw Hannah and Dave’s tent so I asked their crew what they had on. Dave was still in shorts and no shirt. Hannah had gone out in her full wetsuit and regretted it. I decided shorty was probably the way to go. 

I made it back to the tent where the guys had my stuff ready, got changed and Anke walked me to the start line to throw me out on a lap. I was really warm and sweating taking the first bit as a very slow jog / power hike. It took about a quarter mile before I was dying and needed to do something. I stopped, took off my bib and vest and peeled my shorty down. It was 2.5 miles before any decent water. I got my vest and bib back on and started at a decent run. This was way more comfortable. I made it through the few obstacles and got to cage crawl. Time to get dressed again. While I was pulling my wetsuit back on I saw Mike Steffano and we chatted for like 5 minutes. He had just gotten there and was wandering the course. He asked how I was doing and I filled him in and let him know about Fear the Beard coming up. I made my goal 50+ miles during that lap knowing that I couldn’t go home without even a Brown Bib. I slowly made my way through the lap and decided to go through Electric Avenue instead of Arctic and We’ll Swung. Made it through with only a few zaps. Frickin’ Laser Beams was easy and fun. 

Next lap I made it just about 2 minutes before I saw the one and only Hannah Carta. I picked up the pace and caught up to her. She was struggling alone and wanted someone to run with. I was feeling pretty strong after my nap so we took off and I helped boost her up through some of the obstacles making her life a little easier. She said she was going to bypass Funky Monkey so I used my band. I was pretty sure I could have done it but didn’t want to risk getting split up. We managed a 1:21 lap and felt pretty comfortable. Coming into the pit we talked about what we needed to do. She was going to take a longer break than I did so I started the lap easy and it wasn’t long before she caught up and we were off again. Sometime during that lap we got separated. She continued to crush it, moving on and ending up getting 5th overall and 1st in her age group. 

I think I was running with Johnny as I finished my lap 11. We knew you had to finish after 8AM to be considered a 24 hour finished and get your bibs. We ran up to the finish asking what time it was to a frantic Kyle telling us to stop so we didn't cross early. We quickly said we wanted to cross before 8 to make us HAVE to do another lap. The plan worked and we had to go back out. My plan for this lap was to go out for a fun lap and then spend some time on Everest. Those guys were beat up and looked like they could use some help. 

Last lap started warm like before. I crossed the start line with JahLisa and walked with her for 30 seconds before she forced me to go on. I then caught up to Juls and we did the next couple miles together until about Ladder to Hell. I think after that Dave Carta came by and I ran a couple miles with him before getting separated and I did the last little bit from Electric Avenue to Everest alone. I got up the level up side with a little help and then turned around and told the guys I was going to hang out for a bit. I think they thought I was going to stay for a few people then I started to settle in and stayed for about an hour. We lifted a lot of people up in my time there. My shoulders hurt from that. Those guys' hands and arms were torn up. I have to say that was a great part of the race for me. I only wish I was more prepared and had stocked up to be there later. 

After about an hour I was getting pretty warm from the sun and decided to move on. I did a quick lap through Mini Mudder to get a headband and then moved on to the finish line. I crossed and immediately saw Sharkbait and got my fireball shot, medal and bib and went back to my tent to call it a day. This was a really rough event for me. I have never been passed so much at a race. It really added fuel onto the dumpster fire that was my race. After my nap and rally I made the best of a bad situation. I think this was the race I needed, not the race I wanted. It could have definitely be a 90+ mile event. I wanted this to be my last year as an individual but it looks like I have to redeem myself next year. I’m already registered. Pensacola Florida here we come. 

The Bad:

The bad was definitely the dehydration / boardline hyponatremia I was in. Pee should never be that color so early into a race. I was able to get back out there and learned my lesson. 

The Good:

The amount of fun I got to have and people I got to run with. Normally I wouldn’t get to run with Juls, TJ, Hannah or Dolby. It was fun to spend some miles with them and help them through their race and keep them going. It was an amazing time that only me not feeling good allowed me to do. 

Moral of the Story:

It wasn’t the race I wanted but I made the best of a bad situation (feel like a broken record with this). I learned my mistakes and some important things about listening to my body when I think something is off no matter how I feel to figure out why I feel off. I can’t wait until next year despite having to go through that training cycle again. 

Best Moment:

Easily the best hour of my race was the hour I spent on Everest pulling up runners. I got there on my last lap and told them that I’d help. The Everest Angels were pretty beat up by that point. At first they thought I was staying for a few runners. Not over an hour that I stayed for. It was nice to help out and still be out on course even when my goals were shot. 

Worst Moment:

Worst was coming to the tent after mile 40 completely destroyed only 10 hours in and on once for 75+ and realizing that I needed a break. What I though was a bit over 2 hours ended up being 4 hours and 14 minutes of trying to get sorted. Still not 100% sure what went wrong but I’m leaning towards prerace electrolytes being low from stress, the dry desert and this cold. 

Funniest Moment:

The tortoise. Everything about the tortoise. Don’t touch the tortoise. Don’t talk to the tortoise. 

When going through the med check after one lap I was asked to point to all the different animals on the board and the last one was the tortoise. The medical guy slapped my hand and told me not to touch the tortoise. 

It was a continuous running joke on course looking for it. 

Map:

Results: 

https://toughmudder.com/endurance-results-leaderboard/?eventid=186269#0_39D3E1

Gear:

• Altra Superior 4.5s

• Injinji Toe Socks

• 2XU 3.4 Tights

• 2XU full tights

• Swim Cap

• 2x Black Diamond storm headlamps

• Shorty Wetsuit

• Speedo Swim Googles

• Gorilla Gloves

• Gurney Goo

• Trail Toes

Nutrition:

• Tailwind

• Fitaid

• Body Armour

• Applesauce

• Pizza

• Untapped Maple Shots

• Saltsticks

• Applesauce

• Bananas