Happy Birthday Jamie!!

Happy 35th to the best mom and wife ever!

You are our 'homerun'!

TM: The Course

Tough Mudder Course:  A glimpse of our experience.

 

 

With a 9:20am official start time, we headed out around 7am. We had a 45 minute drive from Austin to Dripping Springs, plenty of time to ask what in the $#%#$ we were about to get ourselves into.  Once we found the farm to market road to turn off on, we we were directed to an open field to park.  Let me tell you, this event knows how to do things, from parking to water stops to first aid and back check, they know how to put on a race.  It a major operation!  After parking, we found the area to load the buses.  We loaded a yellow dog for a 5 minute ride to the event site.

 

Once we checked in and turned in our death waiver, we got our bib numbers and they wrote that number on our forehead and arms.  Then we checked in our bags and waited for our start time to be announced.

 

 

This is me attempting to get over a wall.  We had to get over this just to get into the "start shoot".  Once we were all in, they pumped us up with "Hoorahs", advised those with pace makers to skip the shock obstacles and reminded everyone that this was not a race but a challenge and team work was essential. 

Wes & I in the start shoot.

 

The start line... here we were honoring the flag and singing the National Anthem. 

Just getting started.  The smoke in the background was or official start cue.  The group was large the first mile and then everyone thinned out.  Once you were on the course you could be with people who started an hour before you if they were walking the course.  Your "place" was not a big deal, finishing was.  There were about 300 people in our start group.  They ran 3 different groups per hour for 7 hours... that's a lot of Mudders.

 

This was after our first event, bear crawling through the mud.

 

Here's Wes plunging in a mud water hole.  It definitely took your breath away! 

The flourescent shirt is me coming up from crawling through a tunnel that you went in at a decline and had to crawl back out at an incline.  Tough stuff.  This was definietly not for someone claustrophobic. 

More running.... the running was much tougher than expected.  We were in the Texas HILL country so there were no straight paved paths between obstacles.  It was all hilly terrain with lots of rocks.  Some parts we had to startegically climb.  It added to the challenge, but there were times I just wanted a flat surface.

Here's the Arctic Enema... a huge trash receptacle filled with ice water and I'm talking heavily iced water.  Wes waited for me at the top and we went in together.  The only way to get out was to submerge yourself under a board in the middle to get to the other side and climb out.  It took maybe 6 second... coldest 6 seconds of my life.

Here I am climbing out of the Arctic Enema.  I was SO cold.  I didn't want to move... I was trying to decide if I should laugh or cry.

Mud Mile - There were about 10 of these mounds of dirt to climb over.  You definitely needed some help on the other side for someone to pull you over.

 More Mud Mile.

 

Our team:  "Mind Over Mudder" after the Mud Mile.

This obstacle was called Island Hopping.  You had to jump from box to box to get from one side of the creek to the other.  The boxes were not sturdy...Wes made it all the way across.  I got a little over half way before falling in.

Run Forrest Run!

Final obstacle:  Electroshock.  The wires hanging down had elecrtic current pulsing through them.  There was really no avoiding them.  Just depended when and where you hit them and if the current was going through.  Wes and I both got shocks that knocked us to our knees.  Made for an great mud finish.

We made it!!!  Finish line goodies included a TM Finisher shirt, orange head band, and a Dos XX.

Family finish!!!

 

I have to thank Justin for talking Wes and then I into doing this.  We had a blast!  His girlfriend Christine was supposed to join us but she wound up getting sick, but not too sick to roam the course and catch us with a camera at the designated spectator spots.

 

 

We completed a total of 10.5 miles, 22 obstacles and best of all Wes and I did it together!

We are Mudders!!!

Tough Mudder Austin... DONE!!!  What an experience!  It lived up to all the hype.  Here is our team:  "Mind over Mudder".  Christine, far right, had an upper respiratory infection so she didn't get to get dirty with us, but I'm hoping she got some great action shots along the course.  

 

 

 

We were up early Sat morning and headed to Dripping Springs around 7:00am.  Once we found a spot in our designated parking lot, we loaded a school bus to be taken to the official event location.  I admit, my nerves were worse than anything I've felt in a long time, but once we got onsite and joined the thousand other "Mudders", I was just ready to get started.  Wes and I turned in our death waivers and then got our offical number markings.

 

 Wes getting his marks.

 

Kelcie & Rocky... our teammates.

There is so much to report on from the minute we took off to the 3 hours, 22 obstacles, and 10.5 miles later when we crossed the finish line caked in mud.  I'm hoping for some of those action shots to blog about that.  For now I can tell you we submerged ourselves in ice water, climbed steep rocky terrain, bear crawled through rocky mud, jumped from 15ft into muddy water, subjected ourselves to electric shocks... the one on my ear was a real "shocker"!, hoisted ourselves over walls, hauled logs, jumped over burning fire, swam through a creek, climbed through dark tunnels, and jogged most of the 10.5 mile course inbetween the obstacles.

Thing I loved about this the most is that I crossed the finish line caked in mud with my hubby!  This was definitely a team effort.

After the race, we found the kids.  Jason, Bruce and the Nelson's had brought them to watch and to see what all the hype was about.  We found them after we crossed the finish line and I think they were scared to touch us.  The looks on their face were priceless.  In this pic you see Avery cringing and Caleb wouldn't come anywhere near us.  Can't say I totatlly blame them....  the very last obstacle was the electric eel - running through electrical wires.  Wes & I both got shocks that took us to our knees.  The mud was thick so once we got through the finish line, we were MUDDY!

My shoes are in this pile.  These shoes will be donated to a good cause and it was one less muddy thing I had to clean.

Wes showcasing the mud, coveted orange head band that only finishers can get, t-shirt and a Dos XX.

After the race, we "showered" with low pressure water hoses, changed in tents provided, and enjoyed a few beverages and live music.  Once back at Jason's we couldn't wait for a shower!  There was no big after party as we were all exhausted, stiff and ready to end the night early.  We did enjoy reliving a few of the obstacles and showing off our knees and elbows that displayed physical proof (scrapes and bruises) of our Tough Mudder experience.  So glad we did this....

Before the Tough Mudder

Back in January, Wes mentioned signing up to do a Tough Mudder.  If you aren't familiar with TM, it's basically a 12 mile obstacle course testing your endurance, strength and in some ways, stupidity, oh and it involves a lot of mud!  I've had a few friends participate in TM and I've always said that doing one is too far "out of my box."  BUT, when Wes mentioned doing this and he was serious, I had to jump on board.  Tomorrow is our big day!

We're headed to Austin tonight to stay at Jason's before our big day tomorrow.  We have a 9:20am start time.  We've got our race gear packed including tennis shoes we are willing to part with when its all over.  Our death waiver is signed and I've watched enough videos of obstacles to know that this is going to be incredibly CRAZY!!

Below are a few pics I found when I googled Tough Mudder.  I think I;m most nervous about the ice bath, aka,  "Arctic Enema".  Stay tuned for a recap of our adventure! 

Chicago Cubs TBall

Austin was "drafted" to the Tball 6 yr old Chicago Cubs.  Surely he was a first round draft choice?!?  It is amazing to see how much this age has improved from last year.  For the most part, they "get it."  There are more balls thrown to first base, more outs made and just a better overall understanding of the game.  They will hit off the tee the first half of the season and go to live pitch the second half.   Austin's got a good grasp of the game.  He's a "smart" player and loves to keep up with how many total outs each team makes.  

 

Happy Friday!!!

It is absolutely gorgeous outside today!!!  No wind, lots of sun and temps in the mid-70's.  Wish I could bottle this up for the dog days of August.
Maurer Party of 5 is busier than ever these days.  Our new home away from home is Hohlt Park.  This week we were 3 nights, would have been 4 if it hadn't rained on Wednesday.  The kids are loving tball and showing improvement every game.  Good thing they have GREAT coaches :) 
We're ready for the Blue Bell Fun Run tomorrow.  Going to make it a family event again this year.  I'm interested to see how everyone does in the Kids 1-mile run.  Guess it really doesn't matter, walk or run, good time or bad, there is always plenty of ice cream at the end.
Have a great weekend!

Wes

It's been a while since Wes got his own post so I thought I'd give him a little blog love today.  This morning he and the boys were up early to fish in a Relay for Life tournament that we are a part of every year.  For those of you who know Wes, he is a major planner (even by profession), so yesterday afternoon he was getting bags, reels, coolers, clothes and anything else he could together so that they could get up first thing this morning and be ready to go.  I am so not a planner, but am getting better and for bday parties and busy weekends, Wes helps keep us prepared.
Wes recently took on a new postition at LCRA about a month ago.  His title is now Compliance Analyst.  I'd be lying if I told you exactly what he did, but it is an exciting move and he's still able to work out of LaGrange and can still work his 4-10 hour days and have Fridays off.  I'm very jealous of the Fridays off but not sure I could get up at 5am every morning like he does to make that happen. 
He's also coaching both boys in tball.  He's the quiet coach, never one to get too loud on the field but he does great with the boys and is always prepared.  When it comes to church, he's the one that makes sure we are up and ready to go and that our attendance is regular.  At home, he keeps up with the outdoor chores,  doesn't mind cooking meals and is the preferred trampoline jumper.  Couldn't ask for a better dad or husband for our crew! 

Hoppy Easter from Maurer Party of Five!