TM Debrief #2 - Fitness & training

So how did all of our incessant, torturous and life-disrupting training go in preparing us for the Tough Mudder? And what will we take out of that for next year's event? (Or Sydney if we feel really keen/crazy?

1. Running

We all admitted after the event, from the strongest runner to the weakest, that we'd trained ourselves pretty well for the distance and terrain. The combination of interval work (sprinting & jogging) that we'd done during the week, combined with personal weekend runs and the regular biweekly Lysterfield jogs had us incredibly well equipped for the event.

To be honest, I didn't even really notice the distance - The breaks at obstacles gave us all the rest we needed, and even with us running pretty much between every obstacle (where possible - mud sometimes made that less than safe) we never really felt like we were pushing ourselves too far on the run sections. And while this is in part perhaps due to the nature of this particular course, we did find ourselves passing an awful lot of people who were now just walking - So we have to credit our training with a fair chunk of that.

• Recommendation: If you can comfortably jog 18km over a couple of hours, you should be sorted. Slot in some intervals in there as well, and you'll be fine. 

2. Strength

This was a bigger unknown. It's pretty simple to test how far you can run and in what time, but strength was a bit unknown.

To be fair, I think we were also well prepared for that too - and our hats off to our training for having a good idea of what we'd need for the day. On more than one occasion (such as crawling through devil's beard or kiss of mud) we'd all think "So THAT'S why he made us do that!". 

We certainly noticed the benefit of having done a lot of core work in preparation. It's surprising how much it was called on during the crawling sections especially and the sore abs the day after was evidence of that. I think it was a surprise to me how little you could use your legs on a lot of sections so having a strong enough core (and the upper body to go with it) helped immensely.

• Recommendation: Core work ain't just for Pilates chicks. You'll need it on the day so suck it up and do those burpees, bridge walks and sit ups. 

Upper body was an area where I noticed, despite the focus we'd placed on it in training, I  still struggled at. Everest proved that to me without a doubt, as did Funky Monkey - and even the Berlin Walls to a point. Yes, you've got a group who'll help you get through that sometimes, but it's a boon to be able to pull yourself up on your own. So I'll be focusing on that a lot more this year.

• Recommendation: Pull-ups. Don't just settle for chin-ups - Reflect the experience of the day and learn to pull yourself up with the grip you'd use on the day (palms facing forwards). 

I also noted the importance of not just strength, but EXPLOSIVE strength. Launching oneself up a Berlin Wall or Everest could get you a good way through the obstacle before you needed to rely on your (weaker) arms.

• Recommendation: Go for speed and strength. Squat jumps, scissor lunges, etc.

3. Technique

I hadn't thought too much about technique personally - apart from on the monkey bars where I'd resigned myself to failure anyway. But there are certainly some techniques to learn. Being able to launch oneself up a wall - targetting the foot on a small hold and transferring horizontal motion into vertical - is a good skill to learn.

• Recommendation: Playground climbing walls to practice running jumps (eg. Berlin Walls) and find a local skatepark at a quiet time with some mates to practice quarter pipes.

The other thing which we did, and would definitely recommend, is running wet and swimming fully clothes. Melbourne had a huge problem on the first day with lots of people getting into trouble at walk the plank - I have no doubt these people could swim and were confident they could swim the required 50m, but I reckon many of them hadn't factored in wet clothes and shoes - which sucks the power out of you and makes your legs useless. Make sure you've done it, know how you handle it, and if need be bail from that obstacle.

We also noted how quickly the number of people walking increased once they got wet. Again, I reckon many hadn't got used to running wet and the shock on the day (combined with everything else!) took more out of them than it should. Get yourself used to that and you'll be well on your way to doing better than most!