Saying "Yes"

I figured that I would follow up on the post that Brian made about resolutions.  I'm not usually a very big fan of making New Year's Resolutions for the reason that Brian mentioned - specifically, people tend not to follow through with them, but I thought this warranted a quick note.  My resolution (if we want to call it that) is actually more of a life philosophy: say yes to more things!

I've not always had that philosophy, though.  I am actually a pretty introverted person who hasn't been comfortable with leaping before I look, but a few years ago I read a book by a British guy named Danny Wallace.  The book was called "Yes Man", and some of you may have seen the movie that was based on it.  As is often the case, the movie was okay while the book was fantastic.  I won't recap the whole book, but the central premise of the book is that Danny Wallace made a pact with himself to say "Yes" to every request - regardless of what it was - for the better part of a year.  In order to keep people from taking advantage of this, he kept this pact to himself, but it lead him into some pretty crazy adventures.  Some requests lead to small changes (e.g. "Fancy another pint?" leading to a night of drinking), while some lead to large changes (e.g. "Who's willing to go to Edinburgh for a comedy film festival?" leading to a job on British TV).  I won't give away the entirety of the book, but the central theme is that almost every great thing that has happened to each of us is the result of saying "Yes" to a request.  It's the kind of lesson that most self-help books try to convey, but does so with humor and a spirit that makes the lessons infectious.

What does this have to do with me, though?  Well, when I read this book the first time, I was at a pretty tough place professionally.  I wasn't a huge fan of the job that I had, and I was looking for some way to take control of my own life.  I had been offered a dream job, but one that would require a legitimately large amount of upheaval in my life - both financially and interpersonally.  I struggled with whether to take the job.  The book ended up being the catalyst for me to say "Yes" to the job, and since then my life has been better and different than I would have ever imagined.  What this has demonstrated to me is the power of opening myself up to the opportunities that present themselves.  The fitness goals that I've been able to set and achieve have been the result of that openness, and the objective of qualifying for the WTM with Brian, Danny, and our as-yet-to-be-found 4th team member, is another outgrowth of that philosophy.

As a final thought, I'm a pretty big fan of the Life Hacker website, and there was recently a post on there that raised an interesting point about setting up the conditions under which we actually try new things and make the changes that we'd want to see.  The specific post that I'd like to talk about starts with a great Oscar Wilde quote: "I am not young enough to know everything", but the focus of the post is on making sure that we stay "young enough" to try new things and take chances.  For me, this is a mindset that I try to keep every day.  Even though, at times, it's difficult to maintain the level of cluelessness that makes it possible for young people to try new things, that doesn't mean that it's impossible either.  After all, if we say "Yes" to opportunities that arise, we may just find a spirit of adventure that makes our lives richer than we ever would have thought before.  You may even find yourself addicted to Tough Mudders!

 

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My Mudder Resolutions

A resolution can be defined as a resolve or determination.  People everywhere are making their own resolutions which statistics show most will break before Punxsutawney Phil does his shadow search.  Since this blog will chronicle our year in the mud I thought I'd put together a list of things that I have on my resolution list to accomplish in 2013.  One of the ways to make a resolution stick is to make it public.  I should have that covered now that I am putting this list on our blog. They are really in no particular order.

1. Qualify for the 2013 World's Toughest Mudder (WTM) 
2. Compete in the 2013 WTM with Patrick, DC, and a yet to be found fourth member.  I'm quite sure we will find this person during our journey this year.
3. Complete a Tough Mudder on consecutive days (Saturday and Sunday).  This is the current plan for Miami in March.  Isn't that how you would spend a weekend in South Beach?
4. Finish two laps of a Tough Mudder in 2013 without ending up in the emergency room.
5. Double/Double - Two laps on Saturday and two laps on Sunday.  This one might be a stretch but it would serve as great preparation for WTM.  
6. Complete a Tough Mudder in at least five different states.
7. Complete the Dong Dangler/Ball Shrinker obstacle without completely falling in.  I had two very ugly attempts in South Carolina.  Luckily, we have no video footage.
8. Dominate the Funkey Monkey obstacle.  I was satisfied with completing this obstacle once in Pennsylvania until DC did it twice in Carolina.  Patrick and I did as much swimming as we did crossing the bars on that trip. 
9. Meet and befriend an amazing cast of characters throughout the journey ahead.  
10. Wait on Patrick to catch up to me for at least one obstacle.  Although I have narrowed the gap, the one consistent factor in each race is that somebody is waiting for me.  I know this is a goal that DC and I share.  It will happen and I will have footage of it!!!

I'm quite sure there are other things that will go up on this list as we get into 2013.  I'll keep you updated on our progress!  All three of us talk about the World's Toughest Mudder as an end goal for this year in the mud.  Check out the 2012 event below!

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3 Leadership Lessons From Everest

The obstacles that you encounter at Tough Mudder can be exciting, scary, dangerous, and flat out insane (see any of the electroshock obstacles) all at the same time.  One of the signature obstacles that you will see on every course is Everest.  Everest is billed as a quarter-pipe that you will have to sprint up and enlist the help of other competitors to pull you over this beastly summit. To make matters more difficult, Everest is always coated in mud and grease.  This combination which will likely send you right back from where you came. Check out my epic fail on this event in my first ever attempt.  

There are numerous leadership lessons that you can learn from this obstacle which we have now faced four times and will be seeing again soon in Miami.  Here are three to get us started.  I'm quite sure DC and Patrick will have their own thoughts on these.

Vision - The first thing you do when you reach the obstacle is to make eye contact with someone at the top of the ramp.  Although we have just started to be able to get up without assistance you always need someone on standby.  Once you have initiated the eye contact, you know have a clear path to the top.  

Leaders must know where they are trying to go and help others navigate the path.  

Team -  One of our fellow mudders who will likely join us for some events in 2013 had some troubles with the obstacle which required the help of many (including two Tough Mudder staff members).  He was able to reach our hands on the first attempt but that was where the progress stopped.  We were not able to pull him up and he was unable to provide much assistance.  At this point several people ran over to help and with the support of others we were able to haul him up.  Exhausted but victorious....This was one of my favorite moments on the course since it took all of us to help.  You can see us waiting for his arrival in the picture below.

Vision is important but it will ultimately require a team of committed people to accomplish the goal.

Learning from Failure -  You've already seen my epic fail during my first attempt.  I learned several things through that failure and by watching others suffer a similar fate.  The first thing that I learned was that speed will be your best friend and a lack of it will be your downfall.  The other interesting piece was that people made the mistake of jumping before they reached the top.  You can actually run all the way up the ramp if you ignore the vertical piece of the ramp and keep running.  Once again speed will be the key.  Many people jump as the ramp becomes vertical and the fall short.  Those fails not only help you learn a better way to complete the obstacle they also make for hysterical bloopers.

Failure is only fatal if you don't learn something in the process.  

Learning from failure is typically the key to moving any initiative forward. 

I always look forward to this obstacle for several reasons.  The first is that it typically means the end of the race is near and the celebration with your team can begin.  The second reason has to do with the interactions you have with teammates and fellow mudders.  We have all written about how we are drawn to these challenges because of the camaraderie.  Camaraderie abounds throughout the course but it all comes together at Everest.  

I look forward to reaching the top of Everest many more times in 2013 and learning more lessons about myself and our team.

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Take Control

If the purpose of this blog is to lay out the lessons that we've learned about leadership, education, and life in general from training for and participating in Tough Mudders, then I guess the biggest lesson that I've learned is that it's on us to make the changes that we want to see.  Danny hit it right on the nose when he compared the TM to playing golf.  As collaborative a venture as it is, the reality is that it is a challenge between me and the course.  Every success (and failure) I have on a Tough Mudder course starts with my own initiative, hard work, effort and skill.  The collaboration may be the thing that gets me over that last little bit, but it would be useless if I didn't put the work in ahead of time. 

In adapting this concept to my life outside of TM, I have started to see that if I want things to happen in my life, I can't wait for outside forces to make them happen.  I have to take the initiative and lead the way.  For example, in my professional life, it is expected that I write and publish academic papers.  I will admit that I've had trouble with this in the past because I'm not a natural writer and the process always seemed sort of "opaque" concerning how to make this happen.  However, I've started to see that my perceptions were the result of seeing the process as separate from myself.  I was waiting for the papers to write themselves, and disappointed with myself when they didn't.  In reality, I was right in being disappointed in myself, but it was for the wrong reason.  I should have been disappointed that I didn't take the initiative to get the papers written.  The same can be said for grants and consulting.  In the past, I was disappointed that I wasn't getting grants or consulting gigs or jobs because they weren't coming to me (for whatever reason).  Now, I understand that if I want to have those things happen, I have to make them happen.

Of course, all of this sounds very trite and smacks of lessons that every self-help book will give.  Perhaps it is, and that none of this is earth-shattering in its insight.  Of course, it's easy to say that from this side of having learned that lesson.  I know lots of people who sit and complain about things not working out for themselves - all the while, waiting for some mythical outside force to make things right.  This was me for a long time...I waited for things to come to me and was disappointed when they didn't.  In reality, I should have been disappointed that I wasn't out there making things happen.

Just to be clear, though, this doesn't mean that I'm a proponent of rugged individualism where everyone is out for themselves and doesn't worry about anyone else.  The fact is, I would probably have stopped running mudders after the first one if Danny and Brian hadn't been up for more.  The competition and collaboration that I've found in these two guys has pushed me further than I would have imagined possible, but that possibility wouldn't have been met if I hadn't decided to get prepared and meet the challenges that we've set for ourselves.

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How in the World Did I Get Here?

The old saying that the journey of a thousand miles begins with one single step is certainly true.  For me my journey of a thousand miles began with a single step straight into a mud-filled obstacle challenge that showed me that my life needed to change.

Hold Your Wood - Carolina

I participated in my first Tough Mudder only as a dare from  Patrick whose backstory you can read here.  I did not train for the event at all.  I had actually let my weight balloon and fitness was the furthest thing from my mind.  I had become in my own words "Chunky but Funky".  I even spent the day before the race tailgating at a University of Virginia football game.  This was hardly  a recipe for success but it was an absolute recipe for disaster.  I am the last of the three to post my story to start this journey of "Our Year in the Mud".  This is fitting since Patrick and DC spent most of the first race waiting for me to reach each obstacle so that we can go on.  This exemplifies one of things that draws people to this type of challenge.  Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge that requires assistance from a team or even perfect strangers.  I'm pretty sure I almost died up in Wintergreen during the first race.  That may be a slight exaggeration which might be a theme that you see during some of these posts.  I do know that I never would have completed it without DC and Patrick.

The humbling experience at the first race inspired me to get in the best shape of my life.  We signed up for a second race and I began training.  This could be considered by many as a mid-life crisis which could be accurate (let the record show I am the youngest of the three) but it is more about three guys who are challenging ourselves to push the limits of what is possible.  During the training for the second race I was able to drop nearly 40 pounds which made running more of a possibility.  I was excited to see what we could do with some intense training.  The second race was in Pennsylvania and our team which expanded to four absolutely crushed the course.  You can see a comparison of me running the same fire walker obstacle at the two races.

Fire Walker - Virginia

Here's a hint:  I wasn't actually running in the first picture.  I was being overcome by smoke because I couldn't move another step.

Fire Walker - Pennsylvania

As guys typically do we decided to raise the bar again.  We set our sights on a third race in South Carolina which would mark the anniversary of our first race attempt.  This time we would run it twice which meant instead of 12 miles and 25 obstacles we would take on nearly 24 miles and 50 obstacles (no exaggeration on this one).  Could I actually go from barely completing the first race to running it twice within the period of one year?   This would motivate me to train even harder.  Working out tends to get boring by itself.  I need a challenge to motivate me and Tough Mudder, Patrick, and DC became that motivation.

This time we expanded the team from 3 to 5 with only 3 being crazy enough to take it on twice.  I'll save the whole South Carolina story for another post but we did manage to complete the course twice, inspire a lot of people in the process, and even save a life.  That's not bad for a day in the mud.  I did end up in the ER but isn't that how you should live your life????

October 2011 - Wintergreen, VA

We now have our sights set on competing in the World's Toughest Mudder.  To accomplish this latest challenge we will crisscross North America competing in Tough Mudders to prepare for the 24 hour race in October 2013.  Our next race is scheduled for Miami in March.  This time we will run on both Saturday and Sunday.  It definitely isn't the way most people would spend their time on a vacation to South Beach.  As you are beginning to find out...we aren't most people.  We'll keep you posted on the training, the races, and even some leadership/education lessons learned along the way!

October 2012, Florence, SC

                                     

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My Backstory

So, since Danny's posted about his, I guess it's time to say a little bit about my backstory.  It's not all that interesting, but it may be illustrative of the types of events that might lead a relatively dormant, slightly overweight, rapidly approaching middle-age, American male to start to try to reverse some of those trends.

The starting point for me was actually pretty mundane.  I was driving my car in early 2010 and I realized that I was sweating a little bit.  Now, it's never really a good thing to sweat while sitting still, but I also realized that I had a bit of a gut - actually, hell, I'll be honest - it was more than a bit of a gut.  I was nearly 240 lbs and on the slippery slope to being an overweight, middle-aged statistic.  Just another of the faceless guys who populate corporate offices, eat at chain restaurants for lunch and puff their way through mowing the lawn every other weekend.  The kind of comfortable, sedate existence that leads to an early grave.  I was never the best athlete, but I wasn't inactive either.  I played High-School football, basketball and track & field, and I liked to think of myself as capable of so much more than I was demonstrating.  What I needed was something to kick me in the ass.  Something to get me into the gym and away from the pizzas.

Luckily, the answer to my predicament presented itself in the summer of 2010.  I was asked to go to Sri Lanka for three weeks for some consulting.  During my time in the heat near the equator, I ate mostly fish and rice, and came home having lost nearly 15 lbs without even trying.  I've usually had trouble staying motivated to work out because it takes a while to see results, but I could see the results immediately. But, additionally, I also brought back something else...a case of jetlag that allowed me to be up early to go to the gym.  I got into the habit of getting to the gym at 6:30 am and doing 30 minutes of weights and 30 minutes on the elliptical.  This gave me the head start and the opportunity to keep seeing results.  I started to see the weight really come off, and I got down to 180 lbs at my lowest, eventually settling into a maintainable weight of around 185.

At that point, I think I probably could have continued the workout schedule that I had set for myself, but, if I'm honest with myself, I probably would have gotten bored and started to slack off.  This is where the second serendipitous event happened - I read an article in ESPN the Magazine about the Tough Mudder.  I was instantly intrigued, and knew that I wanted to try one.  After all, in my head, I'm still a 16-year old boy, and what 16-year old boy doesn't want to run around in the mud?  The collaborative nature of the event appealed to me (I'm not looking for a competition to push me, but camaraderie does). I just needed to find someone else, or a group of someones else, that would do it with me.  I was lucky enough to talk a friend (Danny) into the madness, and he talked another friend (Brian) into joining the craziness.  I don't think any of us really knew what to expect, but Wintergreen in October of 2011 gave us all a challenge that we loved and became addicted to.  This lead us to Pocono in May of 2012 and then onto South Carolina in October of 2012.  Over time, others have joined us - none of them, though, seem to be as addicted as the three of us are.  We've pushed each other and try to set new challenges for ourselves for each new Mudder we run.  In Wintergreen, the challenge was finishing (that challenge was larger for some than it was for others, although I won't say who - his name rhymes with CRY'N, though). The challenge for Pocono was to finish without being crushed by the event.  And the challenge in South Carolina was to run two laps.  Our next challenge is to run a Saturday Mudder and then follow it up by running the Sunday Mudder.  With each new challenge that we achieve, I realize that there's so much more that we can accomplish.  The challenge now is to aim high, and work our asses off to get to the World's Toughest Mudder next winter.

I'm not sure what the future holds, but I can say, I don't see any regular lunchtime meals at the TGIF right next to my office park in my future. I won't necessarily turn down a pizza, but it will be paired with a 63-day course of Insanity.  Thinking back, I realize that the 240 lb guy in the car in 2010 couldn't have imagined completing anything like a Tough Mudder or actually working his way through the Insanity workout regiment, but the guy who's typing this blog post isn't willing to accept sweating while sitting still anymore either.

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My Start to "Our Year in the Mud"

My Start to "Our Year in the Mud"

Usually when I think of starting a work out regimen and adopting 
a rigorous nutritional diet, I think WTF - not WTM. But I have to admit I'm inspired. Getting inspired at 39...now that's not too bad. I've often heard that one needs to make their mark by the time their 40, so I guess there's no time like the present. Maybe I'm confusing inspiration with the onset of my midlife crisis. I was really hoping to hold that off until I was at least 45 or so, but I don't think a midlife crisis is that bad when it comes to getting my mind wrapped around trying to compete in the World's Toughest Mudder. I mean I did just complete two laps at the Society Hill Mudder so aiming for 4 or more at this years World's Toughest doesn't seem that unreasonable. (As long as I don't reflect on that ridiculous Artic Enima obstacle.) I did just successfully spend the last 45 minutes going through my meal plan for the week. Maybe this year will be My Start to "Small Victories."  Dropping down to my ideal 180 is probably going to be the hardest challenge in this whole endeavor.

This isn't going to be the first time I've prepared for a Mudder. Well I can't really say I prepared for my first one. I got up to a maximum 4 mile run but that in no way prepared me for what I was about to face at Wintergreen last year. That course was accurately described as up the mountain and down the mountain. A tough course - probably the Toughest yet for me at least. Then came Pennsylvania and a Double Mudder at Society Hill. A bit of veteran I have become. 

But again, this time I truly feel inspired to get ready. I mean - I am blogging about it. Truly, I'm not sure how you couldn't be inspired if you followed any of the results of the 2012 World's Toughest Mudder. My hat is still off to the great coverage available on MudderNation. I spent the better part of the day calling out to my two girls to come and watch the latest video - especially those covering Amelia Boone. A true inspiration to all of us - not just the girls and women out there!!!!

This will be the first time though that I really get prepared. Prepared mentally, physically, and spiritually. Yes - spiritually! Go ahead and say it - it's not a bad word.

I actually thought of a pretty good start to this journey. Over the past weekend, I completed a 13.5 mile loop hike around Three Ridges in the George Washington National Forest. I have done parts of that trail a couple of times, but never the entire loop. Good strenuous hike over beautiful mountain peaks and along wonderful mountain creeks. (Ahhh you didn't know I was a poet as well did you. It all just flows.) I'll have to admit it was tough. I haven't been in the back country of any forest since my oldest was born, and I truly forgot how to pack. 51 pounds on the back!!! About 20 pounds of it were never used. Note to self - leave the change of clothes in the car, denim is heavy. And yes, one sweatshirt is plenty for a weekend hike. But we did find a Weirwood. How appropriate for a December hike - Winter is Coming!!!

One of the great perks of the Tough Mudder, for those of you who don't know, is that it isn't really a race. It is truly about the camaraderie. I mean granted I'm on a team of two other males so it is probably always a race, but to me it's a lot like golf. No matter who is out there with you, it is still you versus a little ball that just lays there and mocks you. The Tough Mudder is about me. My race. My preparation. My test. Having 2 buddies to pull me a long is a huge bonus. And I definitely would not be out there if it wasn't for them. I guess in all things there is a benefit to having, as I like to call them, a couple of Mudda Brothas!

So here I stand - or actually sit as I work to draft my first post - preparing to commit myself to a year of P90x, Insanity, and running. Running - yes for the first time in my life I'm going to commit myself to running. I WILL FEEL A RUNNER'S HIGH I SWEAR IT!!! That, in and of itself, will be a victory for me. There is very little exercise that I love less than running. I guess that is why I'm grateful that I've actually found a race that makes me run - along with wading through chest deep mud, jumping into freezing water, crawling through narrow underground tunnels, and ultimately learning to enjoy a good electrocution. I mean you really haven't lived until you've had an electrical wire ping you on the top of your head. (Put a helmet on, hit yourself with a hammer and you too can enjoy all there is to a good 10,000 volt shock.) 

Wait a minute - maybe this is a midlife crisis. I guess we shall see. But I don't think it can be all that bad. At the end of this thing I will probably be in the best shape of my life.

So let's go. 13.5 mile hike - check!. The first day of Chest and Back P90x behind me (seems like I just finished 90 days of that stuff) and Insanity plyo in the back of my mind for this evening. Should be fun!!!

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What This is About

This blog is meant to document our mission and path towards the World's Toughest Mudder competition, and the leadership and educational lessons that we've learned from the process.  We, as a group, will be posting about our own individual initiatives to get in shape, stay healthy, qualify for, and compete in the World's Toughest Mudder in 2013.

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