A big misconception about Tough Mudder is that anyone with high enough fitness levels can complete the course. Wrong! True, fitness can take you a long way, but at some point you will have a mental battle with yourself. Your body will beg your mind to reason with you to quit. This is more of an obstacle than anything a Mudder will face on the course.

We know how hard overcoming your own personal mind games can be, so to try and help you through in your hour of need, here’s a list of our top five tips for winning your mental battle.

1. Know what you’re getting into

One of the best ways to mentally prepare for a Tough Mudder is to know exactly what it is you’ve gotten yourself into - better the devil you know and all that. Swat up on what you’ll be facing over the 10-12 mile (16-19 km) course. You’ll come across challenges that you’ve never come across before while running a Tough Mudder. Check out our article on 20 Tough Mudder obstacles and how to beat them for the low down on some of the toughest parts of the course.

2. Prepare in mind and body

The biggest motivation for your mind to rebel during Tough Mudder is your body’s craving to quit. You can train your mind for the big event while putting in those physical training hours. Start your days with some hard workouts, at least twice a week push yourself to your rep limit and then do one more. Parts of the course will exhaust you, so doing this will get your body used to being uncomfortable and your mind used to dealing with it.

3. Focus on the next one…

You’re on mile five and your legs feel like they’re running in lead boots. You think of the finish line and how far away it is. Stop right there! If you carry on thinking like that then you’ll carry yourself into a mental meltdown. A key strategy for your mental battle around the course, is to focus on the forthcoming obstacle. Take them one at a time, and in between obstacles pick a landmark and head for that. Think of it like a big juicy steak, try guzzling the thing whole and you’ll be overwhelmed, cut it into chunks and you can savour and defeat that bad boy.

4. Mimic the surroundings

You’re going to face an array of challenges designed to try and get you running scared. Fire, mud, electric shocks, heights, you name it Tough Mudder’s probably got it. The best way to get you in the right frame of mind for these fears and obstacles is to try and train in those surroundings. Scared of heights? Try jumping off similar heights to the ones you’ll be facing on race day, into water of course, we don’t want any accidents. Try pouring a bucket of ice water over your head, then going for a run, you’ll be wet for a large part of the challenge. Never carried a log up a muddy slope before? Go find one and get running with it!

5. Pick the right people

Okay not strictly a mental preparation, but a good team with good morale can seriously improve your own mental state during the challenges you’ll face. Train together and get used to cheering each other on in training. When you're feeling like you can’t go on chances are your buddy will be in the same boat. Push each other through to Tough Mudder glory.