{"id":4312,"date":"2014-11-03T12:55:26","date_gmt":"2014-11-03T20:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/?p=4312"},"modified":"2026-02-26T11:14:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T17:14:52","slug":"socal-tough-mudder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2014\/11\/socal-tough-mudder","title":{"rendered":"SoCal Tough Mudder!"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Oct 25th, 2014, I completed the SoCal Tough Mudder obstacle run in Temecula, CA. It was a 10.6 mile run on steep dusty hills with 25 obstacles. The parking lot was a mile away, so I\u2019ll gladly add 2 miles to say it was about 12 total.<\/p>\n

This race has been a long time coming. The last obstacle race I did was the Spartan Sprint in Feb 2013. I registered for the Phoenix Tough Mudder a long time ago, but I ended up working in France during that time, and the NoCal Tough Mudder was on the same day that our moving truck was being unloaded.<\/p>\n

I was a little nervous going into this Tough Mudder, because I\u2019m not in as good of shape as I was at the last Spartan Sprint, and Tough Mudder advertises itself as the toughest obstacle course in the world. But I think I am still in better shape than the average Joe, and much of these races really just come down to mental toughness. Kind of like the Toby Keith song, \u201cI ain\u2019t as good as I once was, but I\u2019m as good once as I ever was.\u201d Yes, I just quoted a country song\u2026 Becca smiles! Of course that\u2019s a recipe for injury, weekend warrior style, but every now and then you have to be okay with that risk, just to know you\u2019re still living.
\n\"Elevation<\/a>
\nIt was fun, Tough Mudder is cool. I recommend it to anyone who wants to face a hard challenge. There\u00a0were definitely plenty of people on the course that weren\u2019t in good physical shape, but I presume they finished and had a great feeling of satisfaction afterwards.<\/p>\n

Tough Mudder has developed a great culture around itself, \u201cMudder Nation\u201d. Tough Mudder is not a competition. You\u2019re only a loser if you give up. There\u2019s no pressure to do anything you\u2019re not comfortable doing, and there\u2019s no penalty for not doing it. \u201cLive to see the next obstacle\u201d is an expression you\u2019ll sometimes hear. Team work, comradery, and respect for your fellow mudders are at the top of their values.<\/p>\n

But I know you\u2019re most interested in seeing me in action, so let\u2019s get started. I put this map first primarily to show the elevation profile. The trail was loose rock and dirt, making footing and breathing a real challenge.<\/p>\n

\n

Kiss of Mud was a piece of cake. The wire was high until the end.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Funky Monkey was one I was pretty concerned about. I had heard that they slick the bars with grease and some of the bars roll, but I had no problem keeping a grip on these monkey bars.<\/p>\n

\"C<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

The Arctic Enema was one that I had no concerns about. No matter how cold, I figured I could get through it. The water wasn’t as cold as I expected but it was dirtier than I expected. The wood behind me is a barrier, you must swim under it. I just jumped in and went under the board in a single motion. Getting out was a little bit harder than I expected, both because your body is in shock, and because there wasn’t much to climb on.<\/p>\n

\"D<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Warrior Carry is typically done over your shoulders, but my shoes were slipping a lot and the first part of the carry was down a pretty steep hill. I figured if I was going to fall, it would be better for us to fall on our butts than me plant his head into the ground. I\u2019m guessing it was about 50 yards.<\/p>\n

\"E<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Ladder to Hell was like climbing on an adult sized jungle gym. You can\u2019t tell from this picture, but I\u2019m probably about 15 feet high.<\/p>\n

\"J<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Ah, the Swamp Stomp. This was one of my favorite obstacles. About a \u00bc mile of the thickest mud you can imagine. It didn\u2019t smell too good either. This stuff was so soft you would sink up to knees if you stood up, but so viscous that my leg hairs felt like they were being pulled out. I nearly lost my shoes a couple of times. When I pulled my arm out of the mud it wasn\u2019t recognizable, looked more like a log. This event came towards the end and really seemed to zap a lot of people\u2019s energy. It did take a lot of core muscles to extract and then relocate each limb.<\/p>\n

\"R<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Electroshock Therapy, a hallmark for Tough Mudder. Yes, random wires really do shock you at random times. And when they do, your body really does have an involuntary response. I saw people black out. I saw people totally face plant because they temporarily lost control of their body. I got hit 3 times, caused my body to jerk and jump for sure, but I never saw spots or blacked out. Somehow I was able to push through on my feet.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\" \"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

Here\u2019s our SpaceX team at the end with Tough Mudder \u201cCoach\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Z<\/a><\/p>\n

I think I did pretty good on Tough Mudder. I definitely won, it didn\u2019t beat me. I was able to do all of the obstacles on my own except for the Pyramid Scheme, which you aren\u2019t supposed to be able to do on your own. Pyramid Scheme was probably my favorite obstacle, too bad they didn\u2019t get some pictures of me on it. It is the epitome of strangers getting really close and personal to help each other out.<\/p>\n

Mount Everest is very similar to Pyramid Scheme, and I fully expected I would need help to complete that one too. Turned out that Everest was much easier for me than I expected. I was expecting the surface of Everest to be slicked, but it didn’t seem slippery to me besides some incidental mud.<\/p>\n

\"owies\"<\/a>I came home with a couple of minor injuries. On the first obstacle, I jumped down off the top of a wall and must have landed too hard. It hurt, but it hurt a lot more about mile 3. I was surprised to see that it was black and blue when I took my shoes off at the end of the day. Becca thought I might have broken it, but I don\u2019t think it hurt bad enough for that. The swelling and discoloring has mostly gone away now a week later, but it does aggravate easily and I haven\u2019t braved a run on it yet.
\nMy other injury is my right middle toe. It\u2019s hard to see here, but my toe nail is completely black. I tried to get a running start to scale one of the Berlin Walls and apparently kicked the wall too hard. I got over the wall okay, but when I came down the other side and started to walk on it I thought there was a pretty good chance I had already lost my toe nail. It\u2019s still there and I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be losing it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Several people have asked me to compare Spartan races and Tough Mudder and which one I liked better. It\u2019s kind of hard to compare because I had different teams that had different goals. Tough Mudder was all-in-all more enjoyable. They also have a wider range of obstacles I believe.<\/p>\n

Spartan, I thought, was more hardcore. The obstacles at the Spartan races definitely required more upper body strength than the Tough Mudder obstacles. And the burpee penalty for skipping or failing obstacles means there is no easy way out. But Tough Mudder has a larger selection of obstacles and I\u2019m looking forward to getting new obstacles the next time I run Tough Mudder. I don\u2019t know how much variety Spartan has in its obstacles.<\/p>\n

The fact that Spartan times and ranks you is kind of nice. I really felt good about the fact that I finished in the top 13% of the people who ran last year\u2019s Phoenix Spartan Sprint. If you think you\u2019re in good shape but would like to have a better idea of how good you are, Spartan seems like a good judge. Tough Mudder doesn\u2019t track time or rank.<\/p>\n

Tough Mudder intentionally tries to tap into your fears. Are you afraid of heights, water, claustrophobic, electrical shocks, anti-social? Tough Mudder has something that is likely to rattle your mental cage, in addition to challenging you physically. That\u2019s kind of cool.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s amazing how much easier it is to train when you have a date on your calendar. I was able to say yes a lot easier to waking up in the morning to exercise and no a lot easier to things like sodas and deserts just because I knew Tough Mudder was coming. Doesn\u2019t really matter what the event is, just something that you know is going to kick your butt unless you do your part to prepare for it. I thought Tough Mudder was easier than Spartan, but I\u2019m thankful for every minute I spent preparing for it so I could enjoy it and master the obstacles.<\/p>\n

I imagine my choice of Spartan or Mudder will largely be made by social factors. SpaceX has a good group that has run several Tough Mudders now. I\u2019d rather run with a team and get to know some co-workers than run the Spartan by myself. But if the situation were reversed, I\u2019d probably be just as happy to run the Spartan.
\nI thank God that I am physically able to play and work hard. About 4 years ago I thought I would never be able to \u201ccompete\u201d again due to painful knees and being overweight. God healed my knees and has helped me reclaim my health. I feel like life has been extended for me, and events like this help me measure and appreciate it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Oct 25th, 2014, I completed the SoCal Tough Mudder obstacle run in Temecula, CA. It was a 10.6 mile run on steep dusty hills with 25 obstacles. The parking lot was a mile away, so I\u2019ll gladly add 2 miles to say it was about 12 total. This race has been a long time…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10,212,105],"tags":[648,82,647,236,646,174],"class_list":["post-4312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-nate-2","category-photo","tag-challenge","tag-nate","tag-obstacles","tag-physical","tag-tough-mudder","tag-workout","wpcat-10-id","wpcat-212-id","wpcat-105-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p504YJ-17y","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19899,"url":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2022\/03\/tough-mudder-2","url_meta":{"origin":4312,"position":0},"title":"Tough Mudder","author":"Becca","date":"March 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Nate and Hannah did a Tough Mudder on Saturday and survived.","rel":"","context":"In "Hannah"","block_context":{"text":"Hannah","link":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/cat\/kids\/hannah"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/hannah-nate.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/hannah-nate.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/hannah-nate.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/hannah-nate.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/hannah-nate.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11530,"url":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/tough-mudder","url_meta":{"origin":4312,"position":1},"title":"Tough Mudder","author":"Becca","date":"September 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Nate, his brothers, and his nephew did a thing yesterday. More photos will likely come when Nate gets home, but I doubt we'll get all the stories. ;) All photos here","rel":"","context":"In "Family"","block_context":{"text":"Family","link":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/cat\/family"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/group.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/group.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/group.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/group.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/group.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20708,"url":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2022\/04\/highlight-reel","url_meta":{"origin":4312,"position":2},"title":"Highlight Reel","author":"Becca","date":"April 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is a highlight reel Hannah made of their Tough Mudder adventure in March. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=z4BE4C4URYE","rel":"","context":"In "Hannah"","block_context":{"text":"Hannah","link":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/cat\/kids\/hannah"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/HomeVideos-e1656168282994.jpg?fit=663%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/HomeVideos-e1656168282994.jpg?fit=663%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/HomeVideos-e1656168282994.jpg?fit=663%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2676,"url":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2013\/03\/spartan-sprint-2013","url_meta":{"origin":4312,"position":3},"title":"Spartan Sprint 2013","author":"Nate","date":"March 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A few weeks ago I completed the Spartan Sprint, a 4.7 mile trail run with frequent obstacles.\u00a0 It was a lot of fun and I\u2019m glad I did it, but there were some aspects I didn\u2019t enjoy as much as the 8.5 mile Super Spartan that I did last year.\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/cat\/health"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Nate-and-Chris-Holt.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Nate-and-Chris-Holt.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Nate-and-Chris-Holt.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Nate-and-Chris-Holt.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Nate-and-Chris-Holt.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Nate-and-Chris-Holt.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1845,"url":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2012\/02\/super-spartan-race-been-there-done-that-got-the-t-shirt","url_meta":{"origin":4312,"position":4},"title":"Super Spartan Race – been there, done that, got the t-shirt","author":"Nate","date":"February 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Becca and my parents are relieved that I survived the Super Spartan Race this Saturday. 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The Course Sweep stays with the last people on the course and calls\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nate"","block_context":{"text":"Nate","link":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/cat\/nate-2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/09-jan-17-spartan-volunteer.jpg?fit=1200%2C930&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/09-jan-17-spartan-volunteer.jpg?fit=1200%2C930&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/09-jan-17-spartan-volunteer.jpg?fit=1200%2C930&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/09-jan-17-spartan-volunteer.jpg?fit=1200%2C930&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/09-jan-17-spartan-volunteer.jpg?fit=1200%2C930&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4312"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35123,"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4312\/revisions\/35123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}