We Are Tough Mudders

Can I just tell you how much I love me some summa'? (That's summer, for those who weren't catching my very cool, beachy vibe.) I feel like we've crammed our entire summer into the few weeks that make up the month of August. And man, oh man, are we having a good time. Since Pete finished residency, we've been adventuring as much as possible. I posted just a few of our staycation photos, but I'll soon be posting a whole lot more along with some of our other adventures from the past few weeks. And you know what? We've got an entire week coming up of out-of-town amazingness. Then, September 3, we all grow up. Well, at least Pete & Ella do. Pete officially begins his ER contract in Cloquet (though he's been working full-time the last two months already), and Ella heads back to Montessori. Sam & I will be left to our own shenanigans. Yay, us! No school for me, baby!

Clearly, it's been a slow blogging month. Sorry. Even though I may not have been writing in the midst of all our gallivanting, I was definitely taking pictures. Through the next couple weeks, I'll work to get everything posted. I love being able to share everything with all of you, our dear bloggy friends, but this blog also serves as our family journal of sorts. I don't want to miss documenting the fun we've during the last few weeks.

With this post, we're jumping all the way back to July 20 when Pete and I left the kids with a sitter (whom we greatly trust!) for the weekend to hit up a race we'd been looking forward to for well over a year. (Pete isn't in to running road races with me but started gaining interest once I discovered The Warrior Dash a few years ago.) We first discovered the Tough Mudder while I was pregnant with Sam, but we didn't know just when we'd be able to do it. At long last, we found a group of friends who were up for it. The team consisted of a nurse and a doc Pete worked with in Duluth and their husbands along with another friend. In all, we made seven. After a team meeting over amazingly fresh grilled fish (caught by one of the guys on the team), we decided we'd all head south to Somerset, Wisconsin for the race and stay in one of the couples' ginormous campers.


One week later, we all met up and hit the road.

We may have stopped for snacks along the way. No judging; we were carb-loading for a big race. I'm pretty sure this is exactly what they mean by proper carb-loading.

These deliciously "organic" cheese balls continued to fill us throughout the evening and the morning of the race. We don't mess around, people.

A little outdoor coffee in the morning to fuel our racing engines.

Enough messing around. We were ready to hit this thing.

Team shot. We needed one to compare to our muddy craziness that was inevitable by the end of the Mudder.

If you aren't familiar with Tough Mudder, you can get a pretty good idea of it by checking out this video over on YouTube. It's an event that travels around the world. It was first designed by British Special Forces. Each race consists of 10-12 miles of running/walking/hill climbing and 18-25 intense obstacles. Lots of the obstacles involve mud, a few have electricity, and nearly all require team work to complete. I was really excited when we first learned about it, but when the race came around and I wasn't quite in the physical shape I had hoped to be, I nearly backed out. In fact, a couple weeks beforehand, I told Pete I had decided I wasn't going to do it. After thinking about it for another night, though, I decided to give it what I could and see if I could get through it. I am SO glad I did.

At the end of most races, finishers get a medal and a t-shirt. We got a t-shirt, but the big reward for finishing a Tough Mudder is the orange headband. One other reward? Tough Mudder tattoos. Too bad all the artists were booked by the time we got through.

This race wasn't easy. Mentally, I knew I could get through. Physically, I wasn't sure my body was ready. That's not a normal feeling for me, but I've struggled a bit with it since Sam was born. Now that school is finished and Pete's schedule is smoothing out, I can really go after getting my pre-Sammy shape back. It's been tough. In the end, my team...especially Pete...helped me get through this race. I loved it. And yeah, we may have been covered with bruises and welts by the end,  but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Actually, the team started making plans for next summer right after we crossed the finish. I can't wait.

You can click HERE for a great Facebook album from Tough Mudder Minnesota that has some sweet photos of the day we raced.

After post-race festivities, we headed back to our campsite for showers that couldn't quite get all the dirt off, no matter how hard we tried, and relaxed the rest of the day. Sunday morning Pete and I drove back to Duluth. Another adventure in the bag. I can't wait for the next!

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What's been your favorite adventure of the summer? I'd love to hear about it! Just leave a comment below!

Then, check back soon to see pictures from all our staycation fun.