It isn't every day that one gets the chance to jump into a pool of ice water, swim underwater to the far end, break through the ice, and then laugh at yourself as your muscles completely fail you in your efforts to simply climb out of the freezing wet, unable to feel your legs. Nor do we often have the opportunity to crawl under a real army tank through thick, wet mud, carry someone your own weight up a long hill, climb high walls, steep ramps, and other forbidding obstacles, run through cages fitted with thousands of live electric wires, and attempt to conquer a dozen or so other fitness challenges, all during the course of an otherwise normal but very hilly, twelve-mile run. Tough Mudder is truly an assault course, designed to challenge and entertain reasonably fit individuals, with a variety of creative stations. I didn't master all of them, but I did complete the course.

The first few events were relatively tame … Continue reading →