Mud runs and other obstacle course races

[JirinPanthosa]

Anyone else here who does mud runs like Tough Mudder, Spartan Race, etc?

I started a couple months ago and it's been great. For years I've been saying, I'm going to wake up early to run or lift weights. I didn't start actually doing it until I started doing mud runs.

What do you do to prepare for them? I've been hill running, going to indoor rock climbing gyms and trying to do a variety of bodyweight and dumbell exercises. The one major problem I've had is upper body strength, getting through obstacles like rope climbs where you have to pull up your entire body weight using only your arms. And I don't know where to find monkey bars that aren't on childrens' playgrounds.

I'm signed up for one of these every 2-4 weeks from now through January. Those of you who do these, how do you prepare? What are some cool experiences you've had on races?

 

[Pegaritaville]

The only one I did was the 5K "Dirty Girl" Mud Run charity race. It was held at a ski area so there was an awful lot of uphill running (seemed like it was more uphill than downhill). Since it was such a short race there was no training needed, but I probably could have used some for a few of the obstacles (the rope climb and the net climb). My biggest problem was I wore the wrong footwear- I wore Keen sandals instead of shoes and got blisters from the mud rubbing between my feet and sandals. I'm planning to do it again next month.

 

[Sigokat]

I've always wanted to do one, but they are never close to where I am stationed at or else I'm deployed (like now).

Question: Do you have to do the rope climbs with only your arms? Its much easier to climb a rope using your legs. That's who we are taught in the Army to climb a rope.

 

[mimic]

I'm signed up for the Ragnar Relay because a coworker needed a 12th person for her team. I'm kind of regretting agreeing to it. I need to start training for that but all I ever want to do is go climbing, which I do 4-5 days a week.

 

[Use of Time]

Long distance runner with a couple of marathons under my belt. Spent 5 years in the Army doing a few team building exercises similar to a mud run. I would like to do the tough mudder but have had a hard time finding someone to partner with. The distance seems to intimidate a lot of people.

 

[Kirby]

I know two people who have done the Tough Mudder here in Colorado and they both loved it. I would like to do it, but I'm not anywhere close to being in the proper condition for it, and with my general laziness I don't know if I'll get serious about training.