Vacay, Part 2.1: "Tough Mudder"

This post is dedicated only to the first half of 4 of our 7 days. Yeah, day 4 was that big. 

Alright, so this whole vacation was centered around one event. Tough Mudder. Typically a 12 mile run, with lots of military type obstacles thrown in all over the place.

I had signed us up for it in June of 2011, when Matt and I were in the middle of being apart for 2 and a half months. I was in great shape, cause in Alabama I just ran and swam and played--and got tan! And Matt was in Boise doing more MBA classes at Boise State during June, then an extreme month of ARMY stuff for ROTC in July.
Being apart for so long, I began to see an event like Tough Mudder as "romantic."

Even though the Arizona one was 6 months out (cause that was the closest one to Idaho at the time), I so thought we'd keep up our awesome physical ability with no problems.

Well fall came, Matt began to start school, the weather got cold, we planned out this trip to be a week, and we started not to be as "hard core." Worry set in. I tried my best to keep up with running and pull-up and push-ups and abs, but it was harder than I hoped. Especially in the month of November and December, when we got sick A LOT.
I was able to keep a run at 7 to 8 miles without issue, Matt got up to running 5 or 6 miles, and we both just did our best with upper body strength.

The day before the race I was REALLY nervous. My shines hurt from all the Las Vegas walking, and my cursed-high-arch feet were giving me issues. I just knew that we were not going to be able to do this... That I my legs and feet would give out around mile 6, and I would be crying the rest of the way.

But that was not the case!

After an hour wait to get to parking from the off ramp--traffic was so backed up, and we were nervous that we wouldn't get our start time--we registered, got our number on our face, checked in our bag, and got to the start line.

And this is what we did:

And it was awesome!! I'm so glad we did it. Matt is so glad we did it. And still, sometimes, I can't believe we did it. We ran all 12.5 miles, tried every obstacle, and helped people out. It took us 3 hours and 40 minutes, but we had a late start time so there was back-up at some of the events. Next time, if there is a next time, we'll go around 9 or 10 in the morning.

I am so grateful that our friends Michelle and Trevor came along and took pictures at most of the obstacles, and gave up moral support. It was great to see them on the side line waving at us, and telling us the we were awesome and crazy.

Most memorable obstacles:

• Arctic Enema--FREEZING water, beyond any cold I have ever been in. Took 2 miles of jogging to get feeling back in my fingers. 
• Berlin Walls--the first set were 10 feet high. Weren't so bad. But then they became 12 foot walls, and wet. And that's how I got my bruises. 7 walls, for crying out loud.
• Walking the Plank--A high platform that must be climbed, at the top jump into deep muddy water--which the bottom can't be seen. A little scary. 
• Mount Everest--A large quater pipe that must be scaled. I was really worried about this one. Didn't know if I had the vertical jump to get up it. 
• Typically there are fellow Mudders that grab the outstretched hands of those making the leap up. 
• Typically the leaping Mudder's hand in caught. 
• It took me 2 tries to get up. The first time I ran up and leaped, got some finger tips, lost grip, and slid all the way down. 
• On the second try I got lots of guys' hands. But when I tried to get up, I had nothing left. I said, "I have no upper body strength left. Here's my leg." And I swung my leg up, and all those Tough Mudder guys pulled me up. 
• Matt got it on the first try. He's awesome! Then we helped pull 3 more people up. 
• Electric Shock Therapy--This is absolutely crazy! And we believe the shock is much more than what they have done in the past.  People just ran through it in years past, but 2012 has brought a crazy change. Like zig-zag, and water, and I'm sure higher volts. 10,000 people, and that's no joke.
• Matt and I tried to run through it. 
• Matt blacked out from the shock.
• I have never, ever felt something like that and I never want to feel it again. 
• Oh, and it was the last thing we had to do before we crossed the finish line. Awesome. 

If you want to see more, just YouTube "Arizona 2012 Tough Mudder" and lots will come up! Especially the "Electric Shock Therapy," and compare the Arizona 2012 one to the Tampa 2011 one... you'll see a big difference.

Here are just some the pictures Michelle and Trevor took:
(Just ignore my tummy in the last few pictures... spandex and "mommy" belly don't mix.)

Good Sunday

The boys wake up early, like 6:30am. I have Matt get up with them, and I get and extra 45 minutes. 

Then Matt lays down to get an extra 45 minutes, and I get up to get the boys and myself ready for church. Surprisingly we are all in good moods! Set out some bread rolls to rise, and put the ganache on the cheesecake.

And we get to church ON TIME. Big accomplishment. 

Church went well. Sacrament meeting is a bit crazy at sometimes, but overall it was good. The two little boys go to Nursery just fine, and Isaac and I head to Primary. 

I teach the 4 year olds, and today I only have girls. 5 of them. It is a sweet class, with one very talkative visitor--who goes cross eyed when she talks to me. Hilarious! But I try not to laugh, because I don't know if it is on purpose or something she has to deal with. 

I hadn't been with my class the last 2 Sundays because 1) I have been out of town the first, and 2) I was sick the next. I looked over my lesson last night and thought, "I got this." Well I start the lesson and a little one says, "Um, we know this already. We got this last week." Awesome. Okay, well I wing it and have everyone repeat, "Agency--the right to choose!" over and over again. Then feed them goldfish and we color some pages. 

Come home. Feed the boys hotdogs, cheese, and chips. 

Put the rolls in the oven.

Matt sells his Fender amplifier (for electric guitars) to a guitar teacher who works at Boise State. Pretty sweet... Matt's 1/3 of the way to getting his new guitar! 

We load up in the van, with the rolls and cheesecake and head over to Eagle to have dinner with Matt's Aunt and Uncle, Grandparents, and niece and nephews. 

Dinner is great! We load up on yummy roast, potatoes, salad, etc. We talk, and the three boys have a blast running around the house with their "first cousins once removed." Isaac loves playing "hide and seek" and even hides so well none of us can find him! Eli has a tumble down the stairs, which throws him into a fit, but he recovers. Titus has a lot of fun with the football and getting lots of attention from his great-grandparents. 

We get home around 7pm. Get the boys ready for bed, with no fights.

Matt and I turn on ESPN2 to watch the repeat of the Australian Open (tennis) and eat cheesecake. 

It was a good Sunday. 

I'm grateful for God, family, and food. 

Innovation in Winter

The boys have imagination. The boys have innovation. The boys have each other. And I am so grateful for that they do, or winter would be unbearable.... shoot, life would be unbearable! What's childhood without imagination, innovation, and brotherly friends?

I'm upstairs doing laundry, and I hear some fun going on. What's this? A sofa cushion slide on the stairs? Awesome.

Titus is has been having a blast wearing all sorts of hats. As of now, beanies are his look of choice. We have been loving our little thug running around.

Guns, guns, guns! These boys cannot get enough of ARMY stuff. But where to put all the hardwear? How bout in the underwear? Yup, that works.

I guess having a winter is a good things, helps one appreciate the warm weather and nice days. But I also think it makes one think outside of the box for entertainment. I can see this through the boys. Lately running around the living room to wild music (that Matt wrote), crazy obstacle courses from the sofa cushions, playing "bad guy, good guy" with each other have been the fun of choice. 

And Titus (19 months old) has started to imagination play with toys by himself. 

Somethings can go too far though. Like dumping out all the q-tips on the ground, then throwing them at each other as missiles (Titus and Isaac). 

But they are only young once!