**updated** Tough Mudder {giveaway}

Erin, get your tough self ready, because you are the winner of this Tough Mudder giveaway! Congrats! We will be in touch very soon!

Hi everyone! It’s me, Kirsten.  I’m back over here guest posting at Shrinking Jeans because I have some amazing and awesome and, quite frankly, a little scary news.  Wait! Don’t go!  It’s scary in a good way.  Have you heard about the Tough Mudder event? No?   This is an event that is not for the faint of heart.  My husband emailed me last week and said, “Hey! Do you want to do this?”  We have a couple of friends (who are a couple, too) who have signed up for it.  They both ran Nike Women’s (half) Marathon last year with us.  So I clicked on the link.  This is what I saw.

My first thought was my husband was off his rocker.  A 10-mile course in the mountains with obstacles such as the Log Bog Job (swampy run plus logs to go over and under) to the Twinkle Toes (walking across a log bridge trying not to fall into icy water) and ending with ElectroShock Therapy (sprinting through a field of dangling live wires).  But the more I looked at it, the more I thought that this would be something to push myself and test my whole body limits.  I mean, come on! I ran a marathon in January.  I know what it’s like to test my limits.  I can do this.  And then I read this:

FACT – Marathon running is simply boring. And the only thing more boring than doing a marathon is watching a marathon. Road-running may give you a healthy set of lungs, but will leave you with as much upper body strength as Keira Knightley. At Tough Mudder, we want to test your all-around mettle, not just your ability to run in a straight line, on your own, for hours on end, getting bored out of your mind.

And I had to laugh.  I’m a runner.  It’s who I am.  I push myself regularly on my runs, and I can admit and attest that it takes a certain mental fortitude to go out for 3-hour run.  That’s hard.  It can be boring.  You have a lot of internal dialogue with yourself – some of it not so nice.  I’m not stopping running any time soon, as I said it’s part of who I am.

Isn’t ChristieO always telling us to get out of our rut? To try something new?  To push our personal boundaries?  And she is the pro at that.  The girl completed a Half Ironman last November.  If we should listen to someone about pushing boundaries it would be her.  And isn’t the Tough Mudder just a whole lot of that crammed into one event?

Another thing that sold me on the idea of participating in the Tough Mudder was the fact that they don’t call it a “race”.  The creators have made it about camaraderie with a nod towards the British Special Forces who helped design the event.   “We want everyone to compete, but being a Tough Mudder is also about making sure no man is left behind, not worrying about your finish time.” And because of this sentiment at every start line they make all the Tough Mudders accept “The Pledge”.

As a Tough Mudder I pledge that:
I understand that the Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge.
I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time.
I do not whine – kids whine.
I help my fellow Mudders complete the course.
I overcome all fears.

A little more info on the Tough Mudder event in general.  There are events all over the country.  From Southern California to Minnesota and Michigan to Texas, Florida, and Pennsylvania.  You can even find events abroad in Tokyo, Melbourne and London.

So this September you will find me, along with my husband, and hopefully as many crazy friends we can convince to join us at Squaw Valley in California getting wet and muddy and zapped.  There is a whole training plan to get you ready for your event.  I will be writing more on that in a future post.  You may even see a vlog of it!  Want to hear the amazing part?  You know you do!

Tough Mudder is giving Shrinking Jeans one entry to any of the following events in 2011:

• Southern California – May 28 or 29
• Colorado – June 25 or 26
• Wisconsin – July 23 or 24
• Northern California (this is where you will find me!) – September 17 or 18
• Central Texas – October 8 or 9
• Virginia – October 22 or 23
• Tri-State area – November 12 or 13
• Florida – December 3 or 4

Now don’t be shy.  There is plenty of time to get moving and find yourself a local buddy and convince them to be a little crazy and push their boundaries too.

In order to enter, tell me what has been the biggest obstacle you’ve overcome so far in your weight loss/fitness journey?  Was it finding what motivates you?  Or seeing someone you love struggle with their own health?  Or finally accomplishing something on your Bucket List that you were always scared to do.  Share it and you can become one of the few, the strong, the crazy few called Tough Mudders!

Contest will run until the end Wednesday, March 30th. A winner will be randomly chosen and announced that week! Good luck!

Disclosure:  Kirsten received a free entry into the Tough Mudder competition, as well as one to give away. No monetary compensation was received. The opinions expressed in this series belong to Kirsten. :)

Tags: Challenges, extreme competition, featured, giveaway, Kirsten, no whining, obstacles, overcoming fears, racing, running, series, tough mudder

Category: Announcement, Giveaways, LOVE IT, MIND IT, MOVE IT, Product Reviews, The Sisterhood