Countdown to Tough Mudder - 30 Days

On Monday we met for our first official Tough Mudder team training.  (Read more about Tough Mudder in my previous post.)  Yes, we needed to start training but the idea was mostly to get us all together because we hadn't yet done so since becoming a team.  We'd been trading emails about travel arrangements and what to wear (Andy and my "Hunger Games" theme ideas didn't go over so well with the rest of the team) but that was about it.

So we met at a local park that has several playgrounds, a track, and lots of space to run around.  It also had lots of children to set a terrible example for how NOT to use playground equipment.  (Sorry, parents.) 

I had initiated the training session so I think everyone was expecting me to have some sort of plan in place.  My plan was to show up and figure it out when I got there, maybe work out for 30 minutes, chat about some details, and be done.  Not much of a plan, right?  (Please don't ask to see my lesson plans at work, either.)  It would have been all fine but Andy was ready and sprang into action, leading us through the park from one playground to the next.  We scaled plastic walls, crawled under picnic tables, pulled each other up slides, leaped onto the backs of bleachers, hoisted each other into trees, ran on the balance beam, and swung across the monkey bars.  Between obstacles we did push-ups, jumping jacks, burpees, and mountain climbers.  Then we went through it all again.  Oh, Andy and Malakeh are really hardcore and even belly-crawled across the entire sand volleyball court!  The rest of us wimped out on that (sorry Andy - next time).

I totally forgot to take pictures of us in action but I did go back and take photos of some of the equipment we used.*  We tried to focus mostly on upper-body exercises.  Ugh, it's 3 days later and my chest and lats are STILL sore from this workout!  I guess that means I was doing something right!

So here are some of the things that we used:

Railings - We used just our arms to move across railings.  This was a majorly difficult workout for my triceps!

  

Walls - So these aren't quite the "Berlin Walls" we'll see in Tough Mudder but it was good agility training.

Balance Beam - We need to practice our balancing acts for "Twinkle Toes".

Slides -  These were harder than they look to climb up so it was just some good old-fashioned grit needed to get yourself up.  With the tube slide, we had to help pull each other up from the top.  Yay, teamwork!

Picnic Tables - Good for running over and crawling under.

Monkey Bars -  Very important for Funky Monkey, but they're a great way to build upper-body strength in general.

* While sprinting around the park taking photos with my phone, I made sure to tell parents I was not taking pictures of their children.  I think that made it way less creepy.  Right???

Do you have any playground workout suggestions?