The “Banditos” finished ToughMudder with all bullets intact! Okay, so mine were barely hanging on, but nevertheless, we got through the entire course with costumes in hand minus the mustaches. I tell you what, within the first 20 minutes of the race the voice inside of my head kept asking myself – ‘why in the hell am I doing this?’ We didn’t bother taking a look at the website to see what was in store for us, but had I known the temperature of the ‘Arctic Freeze’ water obstacle was going to be -20′ (I am assuming), I don’t think I would have jumped in.

Two hours later, almost finished, obstacle 22 or 23, crawling on ice while simultaneously being shocked with electrical wires….. that sucked. Lost one shoe, bruises all over my chest and stomach, legs all cut up…. done.

If you have already done ToughMudder and are looking for a new challenge, check out The Untamed New England Adventure Race. It is a high climbing, hard running, rocky riding, four-day, non-stop endurance challenge. Teams can go as long as 36 hours without encountering one of the predetermined transition areas with their gear. Amazing..

Pre Tough Mudder workout #2 (Oct.)

Location: Memorial Park       Days/Time: Mon & Thur. at 6:15 pm

Workout: 4 miles including 5 exercises

Start: At stretching area in front of tennis center (meet there at 6:15 pm). Start jogging toward Memorial Loop West. See trail map here.

Exercise 1

Approximately 5 minutes into the run (if you are running a 9 minute mile pace), you will see pull-up bars on your left. Do 6 pullups. See pull-up here http://bit.ly/o2Xt7H  (If you cannot do a pull-up, do 20 push-ups). Continue jogging.

Exercise 2

At the corner of Memorial Loop West and Memorial Drive (approximately 4 minutes later), do 12 bodyweight jumping lunges (6 each leg). See exercise here http://bit.ly/pLWIbX Continue jogging.

Exercise 3

Near the corner of Memorial Loop East and Memorial Drive (approximately 8-9 minutes later), you will see pull-up bars on your left. Do 5 pullups. (If you cannot do a pull-up, do 20 push-ups).  Turn back around and continue jogging back where you came from towards Memorial Loop West.

Exercise 4

At the corner of Memorial Loop West and Memorial Drive (approximately 8-9 minutes later), step to the side of the trail and do 15 body weight squats. See exercise here http://bit.ly/pcnKDP Continue jogging towards stretching area.

Exercise 5

Approximately 5 minutes into the run (if you are running a 9 minute mile pace), you will see pull-up bars on your right. Do 6 pullups. See pull-up here http://bit.ly/o2Xt7H  (If you cannot do a pull-up, do 20 push-ups). Continue jogging towards stretching area. Once you reach stretching area, you are finished!

If you are unable to workout at the park, try this – instead of just running, biking, stair master or whatever you do at the gym, mix up your workout. Do cardio for 5 minutes, get off the machine and do 15 squats. Continue doing cardio for another 5 minutes, then stop and do 20 pushups. Continue. The whole point of training for Tough Mudder is to get your body out of rhythm.

If you’d like to join us at Memorial Park, feel free to contact me at e_melchor (at) yahoo (dot) com. – Eric

Alright folks, Tough Mudder Houston is only 4 months away. If you haven’t started doing some kind of exercise to get your body pre-conditioned, better start soon. John, Angelica, and I will begin light training at Memorial Park starting Monday, Sept. 5th. Here are more details of the workout..

Pre Tough Mudder workout #1 (Sept.)

Location: Memorial Park       Days/Time: Mon & Thur. at 6:30 pm

Workout: One lap around running trail (approx. 2.88 miles) including 5 exercises

Start: At stretching area in front of tennis center (meet there at 6:15 pm). Start jogging toward Memorial Loop West. See trail map here.

Exercise 1

Approximately 5 minutes into the run (if you are running a 9 minute mile pace), you will see pull-up bars on your left. Do 6 pullups. See pull-up here http://bit.ly/o2Xt7H  (If you cannot do a pull-up, do 20 push-ups). Continue jogging.

Exercise 2

At the corner of Memorial Loop West and Memorial Drive (approximately 4 minutes later), do 12 bodyweight jumping lunges (6 each leg). See exercise here http://bit.ly/pLWIbX Continue jogging.

Exercise 3

Halfway toward Memorial Loop East (approximately 4 minutes later), do 10 Push-Ups with Knee to elbow (5 each side). See exercise here http://bit.ly/pJGjRO Continue jogging.

Exercise 4

Near the corner of Memorial Loop East and Memorial Drive (approximately 4 minutes later), you will see pull-up bars on your left. Do 5 pullups. (If you cannot do a pull-up, do 20 push-ups).  Continue jogging.

Exercise 5

Halfway between starting point and corner of Memorial Loop East and Memorial Drive (approximately 4 minutes later), step to the side of the trail and do 15 body weight squats. See exercise here http://bit.ly/pcnKDP Continue jogging until you reach starting point and you are done!

If you are unable to workout at the park, try this – instead of just running, biking, stair master or whatever you do at the gym, mix up your workout. Do cardio for 5 minutes, get off the machine and do 15 squats. Continue doing cardio for another 5 minutes, then stop and do 20 pushups. Continue. The whole point of training for Tough Mudder is to get your body out of rhythm.

If you’d like to join us at Memorial Park, feel free to contact me at e_melchor (at) yahoo (dot) com. – Eric

Tough Mudder training has begun. John, Angelica and I are training at Memorial Park on Monday and Thursday evenings. To see our workout, click here.

Ready for Tough Mudder Houston!? If you are looking to form a group, let me know and I will post it here with a link to your details. If you’d like to be a part of a group, me and a couple pals from Team COCI (Reason2Race) are going to do Tough Mudder and also help out some kids who are in need of emotional, social, and educational support. Feel free to read about my friend Gabrielle who is not only an amazing person, but was also very motivated to run for a bigger cause. If you like to run with Team COCI on Saturday, Jan. 28th, sign up for Tough Mudder using this link.

Stay tuned for tips on training and preparation. I think I will begin training in October and will post my workout schedule for anyone who is interested. Cheers!

If you are competing in the Tough Mudder race, you may be wondering what to wear in terms of type of shoe, shorts, and shirt (not the SuperMan cape or American flag thong). Here are some comments I pulled from around the web from other people who have competed in the race:

Shoes – Make sure the shoes you wear drain well since they will be wet for lot of the race. The lighter the shoes are the better. More than likely you will toss them after the race if they look anything like the photo above. Avoid cotton.

Clothes – Since everything will be wet and cold (the race will be in February afterall), the less clothes the better. Dri-fit or light weight gear will probably work best. Like the shoes, you will probably ditch the clothes as well since it will be hard to get the mud out.

Gloves – Light weight mechanix gloves from home depot or something similar. This helps with not worrying about rope burn or rocks while doing the military crawl.

Any recommendations or like to add any comments? Please feel free. If you are looking to join my team, email me at e_melchor (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Eric

Tough Mudder is coming to Houston February 2012 at Brackenridge Park on Saturday, January 28, and Sunday, January 29, 2012! The course is approximately 11 miles long and features many of the course favorites such as the spider web, the gauntlet and underwater tunnels.

Looking to conquer Tough Mudder? Feel free to post a comment and suggest some training tips along with your email address. If you are interested in training and doing TM with my group – Team COCI, let me know! You can sign up at the TM website under our group here. Team name: Team COCI Day: Saturday Time: 9:20am

Tough Mudder training has begun. John, Angelica, Albert and I are training at Memorial Park on Monday and Thursday after work. To see the workout click here.

In October I will be posting our workout routine. Stay tuned for details! I can be reached at e_melchor (at) yahoo (dot) com.

-Eric