My Tough Mudder Experience

I’ve never been confident in my physical abilities and have never viewed myself as being strong or capable of completely anything physically demanding. I was never particularly good at any sport while growing up besides being apart of the Cincinnati Ballet. When ballet I mentioned, typically ones first thoughts are very feminine, delicate, and graceful. When my brother participated in sports such as football he was described as strong, aggressive and powerful. I always knew that’s how I wanted people to view what I did. I wanted to prove not only to other but to myself that I could be strong, powerful, and aggressive.  I also wanted to prove to myself that I could accomplish anything that I had put my mind to and trained for. This is what led to my decision to participate in the Tough Mudder.

Tough Mudder is a twelve-mile mud course with twenty-five military obstacles. This is described to be “one of toughest obstacle courses in the world”. Tough Mudder is typically completed by men in their twenties who are also extremely physically fit. As a young female who was not near as physically fit I felt pretty uncomfortable, doubtful and anxious. The purpose to the Tough Mudder events is for people to prove to themselves that they are capable of accomplish such a challenging goal if they stay dedicated and really put the effort and hard work into achieving that goal. I wanted to be able to share that experience with many other finishers of the Tough Mudder obstacle course.

After months of intense training and preparation, a few of my athletic male friends and I had arrived at race day. When we arrived to the course my nervous were running wild after seeing the other competitors. I found myself immediately questioning my abilities and doubting my chance at completing this rigorous course. I felt out of place and as if the other competitors were questioning my presence at the event. Regardless, I completed the course with all the physically fit men and preformed at the same level. It was an extremely gratifying and amazing experience.

As mentioned, the goal of this event is to prove to one’s self that one is capable of anything. The event always is extremely encouraging of camaraderie. After completing the event I realized how much support and encouragement I had received from the fellow competitors. I found myself wondering I had such negative feelings about the other competitors before and made such a strong assumption. I left this event raising several important questions to myself and with valuable lessons.

Events such as the Tough Mudder are important to be involved in. It is important in life to reach out of ones comfort zone and accomplish something that didn’t seem possible. It completely changed my way of thinking and has led me to grow as a person. We have the freedom and ability to participate in events such as the Tough Mudder, so why not be apart of something different? It is important for us as citizens to express our freedoms, explore, and to challenge our beliefs and ourselves.