Mudder Fudder, or Yikes! What Did I Get Myself Into?!

So in the middle of last week, I received an email, the text of which went something like this:  

In one of the more extreme bits of optimism in human history, my friend the Artist and I just signed up for this: <http://toughmudder.com/events/virginia/>. This will be... interesting. You are welcome to throw your hat into the ring too; I think  another friend just registered. We are scheduled (ha!) for 10:20 on Sunday.

I wrote back:

Hah!  Okay, so I looked on my calendar, thinking that for sure I had something planned that day....and, well, I don't.  Actually, what my calendar says is "60MIN CROSS TRAIN."

Do you really think I can do a 10 to 12-mile obstacle course?  Holy crap.  Wait.  You have to time yourself?  What kind of crazy thing is this???

Let me sit with this for an hour or two. 

Actually, had I looked on my schedule for SUNDAY and not SATURDAY, it would have said "8 mile run."  Anyway, my friend wrote back:

It is pretty crazy. And I think the chances of me making it there are probably about 70% since I'll have to feel much better by then. But it seemed like a good motivator and something fun.

Wait, you have a cross-training day planned 4 months in advance??

Uhm, righto.....yes, I do have a cross-training day planned 4 months in advance.   But that's because I have every intention of training for and peaking at the Marine Corps Marathon 10K (or what I dub the Marathon's poor ignored stepbrother) after the Army 10-Miler.

But let's get back to the issue at hand.  Within an hour, I had registered for a 1:20pm start for the über testosterone-laden Virginia Tough Mudder on SATURDAY, October 22.  Then I re-read the email thread, realized that my friends were doing it on SUNDAY, October 23, at 10:20am, and slapped my forehead onto my keyboard.  So now, not only am I in a panic about surviving the obstacle course, but I also have to hope that my registration arrived too late to guarantee a Saturday entry, which will allow me a free transfer into Sunday's event.  Fingers crossed.  Otherwise I'll be paying up the wazoo to transfer.  Gah!

And what exactly is Tough Mudder?  Well, here's how it's described on the website:

Tough Mudder is not your average lame-ass mud run or spirit-crushing ‘endurance’ road race. It’s Ironman meets Burning Man, and it is coming to a location near you. Our 10-12 mile obstacle courses are designed by British Special Forces to test all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie. Forget finish times. Simply completing a Tough Mudder is a badge of honor. Tough Mudder has raised over one million dollars for the Wounded Warrior Project.

WARNING: Tough Mudder is 3-4 times longer and MUCH TOUGHER than a typical mud run such as Warrior Dash. On average, only 78% of participants finish the event. Only those in reasonably strong physical condition should enter.

This weekend's Tough Mudder training consisted of looking for monkey bars in a city playground to practice swinging myself over raging rivers...I'll be all set for October, right?