Approaching Each Obstacle: Part 2

This is a follow-up post to Part 1. As with Part 1, I'll be a bit more specific about my approach to the obstacles that a Mudder might include.  In this case, I'll take the obstacles as they happened in Society Hill, SC last October.  I'll describe each obstacle, give my impressions, and then define my approach to that particular one.

Official Course Map from Toughmudder.com

1. Log Jammin': This obstacle is made up of a series of log walls that you have to navigate.  The walls themselves are high, but they are staggered so you have to do some crawling.  The intention is to get you to climb over one wall, then go under the next, then climb, then crawl, etc.  If it's busy, and lots of people are going through, then you'll have to suck it up and do the climbs and crawls, but there is another way if the challenge isn't all that busy.  I'll do pretty much anything I can to avoid crawling (if I can), since I hate getting my knees and legs all scratched up, so my method for this obstacle is to climb over the walls, and then lay down and roll under the crawling walls.  This works pretty well if there aren't many people there, but you should be careful to look at the ground where you'll be rolling.  I actually got a pretty big rock to the lower back on this obstacle in SC, so be careful.
2. Mud Mile: This tends to be a large open pit filled with mud.  In SC it was a little bit different, but not so much so that it makes a difference.  The key is to just keep moving (you'll want to make sure that you have your shoes tied on tight though).  I will say, the SC mudder was the muddiest mudder we've participated in, and it really showed up on this event.  I had a blast getting into the mud and slogging my way through.
3. Dong Dangler: This event requires you to get across from a stand on one side of the water to the other shore climbing across a wire strung between two locations.  I've seen two ways to do this.  The first is to hang below the wire and shimmy hand over hand.  The second is to balance on top of the wire and pull yourself across.  The first option requires a good amount of upper body strength as your entire weight is suspended and all of the effort is put into moving the shoulders and holding on with your hands.  The second requires you to straddle the wire with one leg hooked on.  The SC mudder was the first that I attended that actually had this obstacle, so we went with option number one.  Needless to say, it didn't go very well.  We all made it a good distance across during our first lap, but barely made it any of the way on the second lap when upper body strength was gone.  I vividly remember thinking "just get past the rocks at the starting point so you can let go and fall into the water".  Prepare to get wet, though, because I didn't see many people making it all the way across.
4. Underwater Tunnels: This is a little misleading, because there aren't actually any tunnels involved.  Rather, you have to swim out to a series of barrels floating on the surface of the water (don't worry, they're tethered in place) and then go under them in sequence.  It's not too tough, but if you're not a good swimmer, then you may want to skip this because the water is deep enough that you'll have to swim.  The key for me was using my hands to hold on to the braces holding the barrels in place and use them to pull my way.
5. Kiss of Mud #2: Same as Part 1, but it's much more likely that the crowd will have thinned out a bit by now so rolling should be possible. 
6. King of the Mountain: This was more fun that I thought it would be.  It's a series of two "mountains" made out of hay bales.  Each side was stepped, so you can climb, but my approach was to lift with my arms and then twist so that I ended up sitting on the edge of the bale.  Then I would get up and do it again with the next step.  Going down the other side was a pretty simple slide from one level to the next.  The final part of the obstacle was the large roll of hay (maybe 5 feet tall) that you had to climb across.  They gave us plenty of room to get a running start, so it wasn't too difficult to jump, grab on and pull yourself over, but one of our team members (none of the authors of this blog) was so beat by the time he got here that he couldn't get over and an un-named mudder got down on hands and knees to let him step up on his back.  Talk about taking one for the team...
7. Hangin' Tough: The Rings Obstacle.  If you are of a certain age, you'll remember having to navigate the rings in gym class.  This is basically the same thing, just over water.  There are about five or six rings hanging down from a wooden structure, and you have to swing from one to the next to make it across.  I've seen people actually put their whole arm up to the elbow into the rings and hold on that way, but we chose the simpler grab with the hand approach.  Brian made it across during the first lap (although he did lose his balance on the other side and fell into the water, so I only give him partial credit), and he saved a dude's life on this obstacle during the second lap.  Since neither Danny or I made it across in either lap, Brian is the unequivocal winner of this obstacle for SC.
8. Funky Monkey: This is the bane of my existence, and there is visual evidence of my failure.  It sounds easy enough...monkey bars in a slight inverted V shape.  You get from one edge to the other without falling in the water.  The first mudder we did in Wintergreen had this, and I missed a bar and fell pretty quickly.  The second mudder in Pocono I made it to the very last bar, which I missed and fell.  As disappointing as that was, I was horrified to see my failure advertised in the official Facebook pictures of the Saturday Pocono mudder (I'd link to it, but the memory is too painful).  Imagine hoping that your picture would be one of the chosen ones to be included in the official set of Facebook photos, and then seeing that the chosen image is actually of your biggest failure.  Unfortunately, SC didn't go much better.  I actually made it most of the way across, but a guy next to me was swinging pretty badly and caught my leg (throwing me off stride).  I have yet to make it all the way from landing to landing, but I absolutely plan on crushing this event in Miami.
9. Boa Constrictor: A set of tube tunnels that you have to get through.  The first ones are angled downward towards a pit of water, and the second set are angled up from that pit.  The ones going down are pretty easy...get in, and you can almost slide down.  The ones going up are more difficult.  The tubes are too tight for most people to crawl, so you end up having to scrabble using whatever method you can to get up.  I tend to struggle on this because I try to bring my knees up.  It works, but it's slow going.  I know other people who go up on their sides or on their backs, but I've never been able to master that.  In SC, at least during the second lap, the mudder support crew put in place ropes on some of the inclined tubes so you could pull yourself up, but that seems a little too much like cheating for me so we didn't use them.
10. Everest: The quarter-pipe that you have to climb.  I've seen two distinct approaches to this.  The first, which most people employ, is running and grabbing for someone's hand.  The second, which is used when people are having real difficulty or are in special need, is that a group of people will lay down on the quarter-pipe to create a makeshift ladder that people can climb.  I've come to realize that the key to this is that you need to run through the obstacle.  Don't run to the goal...run through the goal.  Don't run just enough to get to the hands (or the support 2X4 along the edge).  If you run just to reach those, you'll probably fall short.  The key is to run through those things.  Don't think of reaching for a hand...keep running.  Don't just try to reach the edge...keep running.  We all made it up this obstacle both laps at SC, and it's become much less daunting.
11. Electroshock Therapy: This has been talked about before (Brian has a whole post about leadership lessons to learn from it).  The thing to realize is that you will be shocked, but you have to keep moving.  As with electric eel, the faster you move, the less the effect will slow you down.  As this is the last obstacle in every Mudder, we've gone through it in several different ways.  We've gone fast, we've gone slow.  The only thing we haven't done (yet) is to go through with your arms spread wide out.  The shocks aren't all that bad, in that they don't last long, but the will get you. If you want to minimize their effect, go fast.  If you want to savor it a bit, walk through and embrace the effects.

Anyway, that's the end of my post about how I approach the various obstacles at Mudders.  I'm not sure there's much to learn here about leadership or education, other than maybe to embrace the challenges that come your way.  Prepare for them, obviously, but embrace them regardless.  It's only by confronting them head on that you can actually succeed consistently.

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Leadership Lessons From Electroshock Therapy

“No one has a problem with the first mile of a journey. Even an infant could do fine for a while. 

But it isn't the start that matters. It's the finish line.” 

― Julien Smith

As I begin this post I am realizing that the title might be alarming to people who do not realize that Electroshock Therapy is a Tough Mudder obstacle.  It is likely still alarming even after you realize that there is an obstacle where you are physically shocked by live wires.  The video below brings this obstacle to life for people who have never seen or experienced it.  

Once you get passed the initial shock (horrible pun noted) of this obstacle there are some leadership lessons that are inherently built into it.  

1. Strategy - The great philosopher Mike Tyson once said that "Everyone has a strategy until they get punched in the face." This is certainly true with leadership and with this obstacle.  People face this obstacle utilizing many different strategies.  Some people try to carefully dodge the wires while others just run through as fast as they can.  These pre-conceived strategies often go out the window as soon as you hit a live wire.  I've seen countless people tumble to the ground (present company included) only to realize that they have to get up and keep moving with live wires all around.  Leaders work along the same lines.  The line that separates good leaders from great ones is the actions they take when the initial strategy fails.  How do leaders respond to adversity?  That's often the defining characteristic of many great leaders throughout history.  

2. Flinch - People often don't realize that success is not an isolated event but more of a cycle of events.  The basic foundation of success is failure which fosters growth and contraction.  Along the leadership journey you continually encounter hurdles that progressively get higher as you move forward.  This is also true with our journey in the mud.  The hurdles will get higher with each event as we move towards the "World's Toughest Mudder".  The temptation is often to flinch or hold back for fear of getting injured, failing, or even being publicly humiliated.  At the end of each Tough Mudder event you are faced with Electroshock Therapy as the final hurdle before the finish line.  There is always a huge crowd around to watch participants go through.  You have several choices as you enter this final obstacle.  You can flinch, slow down, and try to anticipate the shock or you can run full speed knowing that the shock will occur but you will move through it.  During our trip to South Carolina we were actually dared to walk through the obstacle instead of running.  We are never ones to back down from a challenge so we gladly accepted.  This meant not flinching or even running through the obstacle but embracing the conflict that was about to unfold.  Honestly, it was not nearly as bad as initially anticipated.  This is typically the case with conflict or change from a leadership perspective.  Once on the other side of an obstacle there is a certain pride and sense of accomplishment.  Push through your leadership obstacles and you will feel the same thing we do when we complete this obstacle (without the tingling feelings from being repeatedly shocked). 

3. Finish - This lesson ties closely to the quote that started the post.  Anyone can start a journey but finishing takes great strength, courage, and perseverance.  Electroshock Therapy is the very last obstacle that you encounter and you can see the finish line before you start it.  The only thing keeping you from the finish line is 10,000 volts of electricity.  Keep in mind that you can always elect to walk around any obstacle but that's not why you train, sign up, and start the journey.  As leaders the most intimidating obstacle occurs right before you complete an initiative.  Anyone can start something but great leaders finish what they started.

Leadership lessons abound on the course and these are just a few from the final obstacle.  It may be important to note that this is not the only obstacle/time where electricity is involved.  I'll save the Electric Eel and Shock on the Rocks for another time.  

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Approaching Each Obstacle: Part 1

I thought I would put together a slightly different type of post this time.  Up to this point I've focused on general issues I've confronted while either planning for or participating in a Tough Mudder event.  With this post, I'd like to be a bit more specific about my approach to the obstacles that a Mudder might include.  In this case, I'll take the obstacles as they happened in Society Hill, SC last October.  In this case, I'll describe each obstacle, give my impressions, and then define my approach to that particular one.

Official Course Map from Toughmudder.com

1. Arctic Enema:  I talked about this in an earlier post, but in short, this is an industrial-sized dumpster full of icy water.  You jump in one side and get out on the other end.  In the middle there's a wood board that forces you to duck under water to get across.  This is a pretty horrible experience if you don't like the cold.  My approach has always been to jump towards the board and use the momentum of the jump to go under it.  Once under water, I take one big swim stroke to hopefully reach the other end.  Once there, get out as quickly as possible and start running to warm up.
2. Kiss of Mud #1: The TM crew are usually pretty good about putting another obstacle within a very short distance of Arctic Enema in order to give you something else to focus on (other than being horrendously cold, that is).  In SC that was Kiss of Mud.  This obstacle asks you to get down in the mud and crawl under barbed-wire for about 50 feet.  It's not a horrible obstacle if you have upper-body strength.  If the area is relatively clear, I've seen more experienced mudders roll, but that only really works if there isn't a backlog of people trying to get through.  If you are forced to line up, there's really nothing to do except use your arms to pull yourself along.  The big issue with this is that over the course of the day (and especially into Sunday), the mud will get carried away as people go through.  This usually leaves pretty rocky grooves where people have crawled.  This is absolute murder on forearms and knees, so try to get there when and where there is actual mud - it's messy, but it's much better than tearing up your arms and legs on rocks.
3. Spiders Web: This obstacle is a climbing net that's about 20 feet tall.  You climb up one side, flip a leg over and then climb down the other side.  This is much easier if the net is taut, which will usually be accomplished by people laying down and holding the net tight once they have gotten over the top and down the other side.  This really helps quite a bit, so make sure that you take your turn holding the net.  You usually don't have to do this for long, but let a couple people come over and someone will tap your shoulder to take your place. 
4. Berlin Walls #1: This obstacle is made up of two "sets" of walls that you have to climb over in quick succession.  The first ones are the shorter of the Berlin Walls.  I don't know exactly how tall they are, but I want to say that they're about 8 feet.  If you have the upper body strength, you can usually just jump and do a pullup, flip a leg over to straddle the top and then drop down on the other side.  If you don't have the upper body strength, then you'll probably need help from a couple people to lift you up using whatever method works best (I've seen some people literally climb up people's backs, but it's usually just a quick hand lift).  In my case, I usually just do the jump and pullup, but that depends entirely on where these are on the course. If they're later on, then upper-body strength may be an issue.
5. Hold Your Wood: This is usually a relatively short loop (somewhere between 1/8 to 1/2 mile, I would estimate).  You pick up a log at the beginning, carry it around the loop and drop it again at the end.  There will be longer logs if you want to carry them as a team, and shorter logs if you want to go solo.  I've done both, and the biggest piece of advice I would give is that you make sure the log is long enough if you are going to do the team option.  Three of us did this with a log that was too short, and it was even more awkward than it had to be because it was impossible to really get our steps in sync.  There are logs of all shapes and sizes, so don't worry about being picky.  I will probably try to do this solo from now on just because it's easier to manage a log without having to worry about syncing your steps, but there are plenty of people who prefer the group effort.  I've heard that the group effort is easier if each person holds the log directly above their head, but I usually just sling it on my shoulder and switch sides whenever I need to.
6. Dirty Ballerina: This is a series of ditches filled with mud that you have to jump over.  I think the ditches were maybe three or four feet across, so the jumping wasn't too hard.  As long as you can do a standing jump of that length, you shouldn't have any trouble with these.  My approach was to go to the farthest edge of the ditches and jump along that edge.  I did this because I was assuming that most people would go the shortest route possible, and if I went the longer route then the landing spots would be less worn out.  This really made a pretty big difference on the second lap in SC since most of the grass in the landing areas had been worn away by then, but if you take a few extra steps along you can find better footing.
7. Electric Eel: This is a huge pain in the butt.  This is another crawling event, but instead of through mud, you crawl through water, and instead of under barbed wire, you crawl under electrified wires.  There is no way to avoid this...you WILL get hit by electrical jolt(s).  The key is to go fast.  The quicker you get through, the sooner you'll be done.  You'll still get hit, but you'll be moving past them rather than sitting under them.  One of the most difficult things about this challenge is that people invariably try to go slow to avoid the wires.  This backs everything up, and ends up not helping them very much.  My advice: find an empty lane and go fast.
8. Trench Warfare: Here's another event that gets harder the later in the weekend you go.  In this challenge, you crawl through a trench that's been covered over with plywood so it's like you're crawling through a tunnel.  There are usually at least one bend along the length of the tunnel, so you are in pitch black for a while.  If you have claustrophobia, this is a very tough obstacle.  The reason that it gets worse over the course of the weekend is that the loose dirt gets carried away by participants and you end up with rocks jutting out that are murder on your forearms and knees.  There's really no trick to this though.  If you have the upper body strength to keep your forearms and knees off the ground, then you'll benefit, but it would be tough.
9. Walk the Plank: I touched on this obstacle on a previous post as well.  You climb up an incline to a platform about 20 or so feet above a pater pit.  Your job is to jump into the water.  This used to be a "free for all" kind of thing where people would just kind of mill about on the platform until they got the nerve - which lead to Brian's awesome backflip - but in SC they seemed to want it to move more methodically.  So they had a guy up there with us who would orchestrate everything with a countdown and all that.  I'm not sure it's a huge improvement, but it did seem to move a bit more smoothly.  The key for me is to jump as quickly after getting onto the platform as I can.  Obviously, don't push your way to the front, but if you're at all afraid of heights you want to spend as little time thinking about this as possible.  It's not a bad obstacle, unless it's really crowded.  The platform isn't all that worrisome, but you definitely want to make sure you're safe with the spot in the water you choose.  The last thing you want to do is jump on someone else.  So the lesson about not dawdling applies to those people in the water as well...get swimming towards the exit as soon as you come up.  Don't try to tread water unless you absolutely have to - you'll definitely be unhappy if someone else jumps on you.
10. Cliffhanger: This obstacle was a little different in SC from the pictures that I had seen at other events.  Normally, it's presented as a steep, muddy incline that you have to work your way up.  It was that, but it also had a cargo net laid out to help you climb.  This was definitely one of the muddier events, but it wasn't all that hard to climb.  Without the cargo net, though, I'm not sure many people would have made it up the incline.  If there's a net, use it.  If there's not, teamwork is the key...you have to fight for hand- and footholds, and take it one step at a time. Try to find a pace that works for you, but definitely keep moving.
11. Berlin Walls #2: This is the same as the earlier Berlin Walls, only taller.  I think these are 10 feet tall, which makes it more difficult to do a standing jump to grab on to the top.  There is usually a very small toehold that you can use, but it won't help you too much if you think you'll just stand on it.  In the past, we used the teamwork method to get over these two walls (that is, two guys lifting a third up).  As we got stronger, though, we found we could take a running start at the wall, use the toehold, and jump up, grab hold, do a pullup and throw a leg over.  That was usually enough to get us over.  Just be careful, these are usually pretty brutal since you've gone a good distance and you're spent by the time you get to them.  In SC they actually put them at the top of a slight incline.  It wasn't too much the first time, but the second time around we were too spent to run up the incline to the wall (this was, in fact, the only obstacle we skipped on our second lap - we did help a couple dudes over, but then we went around because we were absolutely exhausted).

Anyway, I'm in danger of making this post too long to actually be readable, so I'm going to break it up.  I realize that there's not much here in terms of lessons that are directly applicable to education or leadership, but if you haven't done a mudder yet, it's definitely worth thinking about how you would approach the obstacles involved.  I guess that's a lesson that would apply to almost any endeavor, though.

I'll do these 11 obstacles in a future post:

1. Log Jammin':
2. Mud Mile:
3. Dong Dangler:
4. Underwater Tunnels:
5. Kiss of Mud #2:
6. King of the Mountain:
7. Hangin' Tough:
8. Funky Monkey:
9. Boa Constrictor:
10. Everest:
11. Electroshock Therapy:

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The Secret Formula to Excellence

"Researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: 
10,000 hours."

- Malcolm Gladwell

I was rereading the book Outliers recently and came across the quote above.  There really is no easy road to expertise and excellence.  There will also be no easy path to the World's Toughest Mudder.  The truth is that many people give up before they can realistically see improvement.   The other scenario is that people get just good enough and settle.  Good is often the enemy of great for most people.  This is true with piano lessons, diets, and in the workplace.  As a group we have gotten pretty good at completing the courses that are thrown at us by Mother Mudder.  We have completed the course four times in three different states.  We could settle with being pretty good at doing that or we can look at the challenges that still exist.  There are obstacles that still present a challenge or we as a group have not completed together.  

For example:

• Twinkletoes (2/3 have successfully completed)
• Hangin' Tough (2/3 have successfully completed) 
• Funky Monkey (2/3 have successfully completed

Author's Note:  I intentionally chose three obstacles where I was in the numerator.  

We are also looking forward to climbing Everest without assistance and completing Dong Dangler/Ball Shrinker (0/3 have successfully completed).  There are obstacles that we have not encountered yet but are eagerly looking forward to conquering.  I could never climb the rope in gym so I am ready for revenge if the rope climb comes my way again.  We have become adept at taking on new challenges such as running two laps in Carolina or running on both Saturday and Sunday in Miami.  The point of these challenges is to keep us from falling into either of the two scenarios.  We will not settle for good or give up if we fail to complete a challenge.  We will run farther and train harder.  We will even take to extreme measures like building homemade rings to hang in the garage or spending far too much time on playgrounds traversing the monkey bars.  

Release Forms Will Be Standard on This Mission

People are often looking for the secret to greatness.  The secret all starts with your personal passion.  This year in the mud has ignited a passion in the three of us.  This passion spans fitness, education, and leadership.  Once you understand the first ingredient...the rest of the formula falls into place.  Understanding the formula is not difficult.  Putting the formula into practice is what ultimately separates good from great.  We may end up outliers or just completely crazy.  Either way this will be a memorable 10,000 hours.

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Icarus as Example?

I must say, I am so happy to see Brian's inclusion of Seth Godin quotes in his posts.  I'm a huge fan myself, and I was thinking of writing a post about something by Godin that I had found recently, but when I saw Brian's most recent post I really got motivated to write something.

Mourning for Icarus by Herbert James Draper

I've not read his book, The Icarus Deception, yet, but I have seen some stuff about it on the Internet.  Most of us know the story of Icarus, even if we can't recall it straight-away.  Icarus was the guy who made wings so that he could fly, but flew so close to the sun that his wings melted.  As a result he fell to his death.  Often, the story of Icarus is told as an object lesson to demonstrate the importance of knowing our limitations, or "fitting in", or conforming to some pre-understood norm.  The concept of Godin's book is that we shouldn't use Icarus as an example of proper behavior.  Rather, we should stand out from the crowd.  (At least, this is the sense I've gotten through the materials I've found online about the book).

When I started thinking about this, I think he's absolutely right.  The story of Icarus does a very nice job of telling us that it's important to know our limitations, but the lesson that we should learn from that knowledge is how to test and exceed them.  I know how scary it can be to push yourself beyond your expectations.  Sometimes it's foolish.  Sometimes it's dangerous (particularly if you push yourself too far too fast).  But, too often we become prisoners of our own perceived limitations, and never get past those perceptions.  And, just to be clear, I'm not trying to be "preachy" here...I see this same weakness in myself.  I've definitely been constrained by my own expectations (and, even worse, the expectations that I think other people have for me).  This has held me back more often than I'm comfortable with, and it's something that I struggle with.  But, in my thinking, the fact that I know this about myself also makes it easier for me to recognize when it's happening, and as long as I recognize it's happening then I can try to overcome it.  I'm not always successful with that, but I'm trying.

© Copyright Chris Downer (licensed for reuse under CCL) 

Of course, if we're realistic, we have to understand that we do have limitations (I was never going to play Center for the Lakers, after all). So the real question is "How do I know if my limitations are real or self-imposed?"  I would say that it's through trying to know more about ourselves that we can answer that question.  The $10 education word for this concept is "metacognition" (or: "awareness or analysis of one's own learning or thinking processes"). This gives us a fancy term to use but doesn't really provide a tool for actually learning how to do it.  The more practical educational concept that would apply is the "Zone of Proximal Development" or ZPD (or: "the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can do with help").  We can use the concept of the ZPD to set goals for ourselves.  If we need help accomplishing those goals, then we can get help, and eventually we don't need help anymore.  Once we don't need help anymore, then we should set more lofty goals.  In my thinking, it is through this process of setting, achieving and resetting goals that we can go beyond Icarus.  The process doesn't guarantee success (no process does), but I think it definitely provides a framework for how we can succeed.  I've found myself using it to try to improve my running times, and Brian's described how he's using something similar to try and improve over time.  Hopefully, it will lead us to success at WTM.

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Stop Waiting For A Map

"Please stop waiting for a map. 
We reward those who draw maps, 

not those who follow them."

- Seth Godin

This is one of my favorite quotes from the book Poke the Box (a definite must read for leaders, educators, mudders, and more).  

Leaders have a responsibility to initiate the drawing of maps that will move their organizations forward.  You have a responsibility as an individual to draw your own map towards whatever goal you are working towards.  Unfortunately, these maps that we tend to follow often appear in the form of lengthy, comprehensive improvement plans.  These plans are largely ineffective and people rarely get passed the first page.  

I believe leaders/mudders should create a very different type of map.  Think about creating a map that is similar to one that you would use in a GPS device.  The end goal for "Our Year in the Mud" is competing in the World's Toughest Mudder in November.  That will be the physical destination at the end of our year.  We have also  drawn a map that we believe will lead us to our destination.  We have programmed this into our internal GPS devices.  

The beautiful thing about a GPS device is that the maps provide structure for reaching your destination but still offer you choice and flexibility.  Each one of us has a goal or destination that we are working towards.  The problem comes when the route is so inflexible that you abandon the goal the moment you move off course.  This is definitely the case with many resolutions that people make in the new year.  

A GPS device is also relentless in getting you to your destination no matter how many times you fail.  The device will reroute you no matter how many times you get lost in the journey. We recently began 2013 and we are already doing some of our own rerouting for "Our Year in the Mud".  DC wrote about his regrouping plan and I proposed a schedule for January.    These plans will continue to change as we move forwards.  Sometimes we will be ahead of schedule while other times we will likely be behind.  We also haven't charted all of our races which will give us some flexibility during the journey.  

Another idea to consider is the length and complexity of your plan.  Keep in mind that all the information you need from your GPS device typically fits on one page/screen. Leaders must take a GPS approach to moving organizations and themselves forward and exceeding goals. Put away the volumes of improvement plans that have done little to move you or your organization forwards.  Instead begin creating your own map that provides structure, remains flexible, and fits on one page.

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Injuries and Overcoming Obstacles

One of the most important rules that you learn when at the starting pit at a Tough Mudder is how to deal with an injured mudder.  If someone gets hurt so badly that they can't go on, the way to get the attention of medical personnel is to raise your arms in an X over your head.  It's a signal that someone is in distress and needs attention.  I don't think I've ever seen anyone actually raise their arms in this way, but I've seen my share of people in distress.  The most memorable instance was at South Carolina.  There was a guy who was hurt badly enough that he needed to be loaded into the back of a golf cart/truck hybrid - along with a bunch of rebar and flags and other miscellaneous equipment.  It wasn't clear exactly how he was hurt, but it must have been pretty bad if he needed to be carted out.  But that was just the beginning of his difficulties.  Apparently the guys had forgotten to lock the bed of the vehicle in place, because as they started to drive off, the bed tilted up and dumped him on the ground.  All of the rebar, flags and other equipment falling on or around him. That's a bad way to end your Tough Mudder...I'm pretty sure he didn't even get a headband and beer.

That's me in the background...pre-injury

We've each dealt with our own injuries during (and between) Mudders, but I don't think anyone has really been in trouble enough to warrant the raised X (with the possible exception of Brian during the second lap of SC).  That's not to say that we don't talk about it, but personally, I think I would tackle anyone who tried to raise the X for me.  The closest I came to needing to leave a course was in South Carolina, when I hit my head on a block of ice in Arctic Enema.  A little bit of context, the plan all along was to try to run two laps that day.  So we planned on starting with the 8:00 am group, which would give us enough time to finish a lap and make the last start at noon.  We didn't actually start at 8:00, but instead left with the 8:20 group.  The first obstacle of the day, Arctic Enema, was maybe 10 minutes into the course.  For those unfamiliar with this obstacle, it's an industrial sized dumpster filled with ice-water (not "cold" water...water with big chunks of ice in it).  Halfway across, there is a wooden board that you have to duck under.  This forces you to get entirely submerged.  The mistake that some people make is that they jump in, wade to the bar, and then duck under.  In my mind, the idea of ducking under the bar once you're already in is insane.  Rather, the way I approach it is to jump towards the bar, go under it with one big stroke and then come up near the other end. 

Immediately post-injury

The difficulty that I encountered was caused by the fact that I hold my hands up to make sure that I don't hit my head on the wood board as I jump towards it, which leaves my face exposed as I go into the water. Normally this wouldn't be a problem since it's just water, but in this case I was tremendously unlucky and hit what felt like a large chunk of submerged ice (I now know how the Titanic felt).  The submerged ice that I hit gashed the bridge of my nose and right eyebrow pretty badly.  As soon as I got out of the water, I knew something was wrong because I could see the blood. I wiped it away as best I could and kept running (because I was super cold, as you could imagine).  I got through the next obstacle, Kiss of Mud (crawling through mud underneath barbed wire), and regrouped with everyone else in team Bad News!  It was at this point that I was stopped by a couple guys on one of the aforementioned golf cart/truck hybrids.  While they were washing out the injury, they "advised" me to leave the course and go to an emergency room for some stitches.  I asked them if the on-sight personnel would be able to stitch me up (there was at least one ambulance on site), and they said that  wouldn't be possible.  If I wanted stitches, I would have to go to the emergency room.  Of course, that wasn't going to happen since we were only 20 minutes into what was supposed to be a two-lap mudder day. I asked them to patch me up as best as they could, and then we continued on the run.

Now, I don't want to pass myself off as one of those "tougher than tough" dudes with an incredible pain tolerance.  I don't see myself that way, and I like to think that I'd make the right long-term health choice if something were really wrong, but in my mind, I didn't think that it was worth leaving at that point for a cut that had already stopped bleeding.  I do know, however, that Danny was aching to raise the X on me. The end result was that we ran the two laps, stopped at a drug store on the way back to the hotel, bought some butterfly bandages, and I slapped a couple of those on.  I have a pretty nice scar on my eyebrow now, but, more importantly, I have the knowledge that I overcame that obstacle.  By which, I don't mean that I simply overcame Arctic Enema, but rather that I overcame an "easy out".  I don't think anyone on team Bad News! would have thought poorly of me for going to the hospital to get stitches, but I would have known that wasn't really necessary.  That would have gnawed at me. 

Which leads to the true lesson that I learned from that experience: I'm accountable to myself, and as long as I'm comfortable with the effort I put forward, then I can succeed (or fail) with honor and grace.  To a certain extent, I am pressured by Brian and Danny to perform, and I feel a certain level of responsibility to the other members of team Bad News! since the events themselves are collaborative and cooperative, but in reality, the only measuring stick I have for my performance is my own expectations.  If I took that "easy out" then I would have failed myself.  Just to be clear, as Brian and Danny have said, failing isn't bad unless we let it define us, but I feel like that type of choice would have defined me. And that would have been unacceptable. 

I don't want to blow this anecdote into something it's not, but in education and leadership, we are responsible for our own choices.  We may be responsible for and/or to others, but we make the choices ourselves.  We have to defend those choices.  Even if we aren't asked to defend them to the other people to whom we may be responsible, we still have to live our own lives with those choices.  We can make mistakes and we can fail, but as long as we learn from those events and continue to move forward, then everything else is just detail.

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Confidence and Guts

There is absolutely nothing comfortable about the year ahead.  That is one of the things that excites me the most.  Different courses, various challenges (both the obstacles and the side challenges Daniel, Patrick and I have), several states, and a crazy culminating event all lie ahead.  I think we often stay in our comfort zone without even realizing we are there.  I was reminded of this as I began reading Seth Godin's new book "The Icarus Deception".  I'm a big fan of his work and was even fortunate enough to spend the day with him at his office in New York.  One of my favorite quotations so far in the book is about confidence and guts.  

“It takes confidence and guts to intentionally create tension.” – Seth Godin

This year is all about ratcheting up the tension.  Keep in mind that our reward in the end is a 24 hour race across grueling obstacles in the freezing cold.  Seth may want to add a touch of craziness to go with the confidence and guts.  Tension is often seen as a negative thing when it is typically the thing that moves you forward.  One of the best places to see the positive effects of tension is related to working out.  I recently started a new strategy to create more tension in my own routine.

I began writing down the weight I use, the reps I complete, and the time it takes me to complete my runs as I started my January training plan.  I know what you are thinking.  There are many times that you want absolutely no record of the workout whatsoever.  This is the first week that I am cycling through the same workouts that I did the week before.  I now have a reference point for where I was the previous week.  I write down my personal best (PB) beside each exercise.  My PB used to be a perceived best because I never wrote it down. My new goal is to match or exceed the PB in terms of weight and/or reps.  This fits perfectly with the highly competitive nature that Daniel, Patrick, and I share.  This is the same competitive nature that has forced one of us to regroup, one to have a really cool scar and the other to own multiple sets of crutches.

The Winner of the Cool Scar Award

Today was a test to see if this strategy would pay dividends.  Could it push me out of my comfort zone and establish new goals?  I immediately noticed was that my whole approach to the workout was different.  Using data from my previous workout brought a new focus to my training.  Instead of going through the motions and staying within my comfort zone I was trying to break previous records.  At the end of the workout I had completed 43 more reps than the week prior.

Did I get exponentially stronger from the week before?  

I would like to think so but I would venture to say that isn't the case.  I believe it had more to do with having a goal and a strategy to meet the goal.  This year the three of us have lofty goals.  We also have strategies to achieve these goals.  This blog will undoubtedly serve as one of those strategies.

Can I continue to add 40 more reps to my routine each week?  

Probably not but I will keep you posted.  The streak may not last but I do know that I will continue to push past the comfort zone that we tend to stay in.  Find your comfort zone and then leave it!

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The Power of Under-Thinking

I've heard that each of us builds the largest barriers to our own successes.  In essence, we don't usually have to wait for other people to stand in our way, because we're too busy making our own lives harder than they have to be.  I would guess that sometimes this is simply the result of leading busy lives and not necessarily making time or space for those things we should value more than we do.  But, more insidious, is the times when we put up our own walls to protect us from things we perceive may make us look silly, may hurt us, may embarrass us, or may simply be hard to accomplish. 

An example to illustrate this from the second lap of our South Carolina Mudder.  We managed to make the final start time, and were actually able to keep up with the group (give or take).  The amazing thing, though, was that the starter pointed us out as making a go at a second lap, which seemed to give us a certain reputation within that group.  Whether they thought we were insane or truly bad-ass is debatable, but it definitely made it easier for us to chat with the folks around us.  We ended up talking with a young married couple who were doing their first mudder together (short aside - my wife would NEVER run a mudder with me).  The guy was a pretty big dude who was a gunner in the military, and his wife was a petite, but fit housewife/mother.  It was clear that they were having a good time, but that it wasn't exactly a walk in the park.  We would pass them on occasion, and they would pass us at other times.  One of the places where we crossed paths was at Walk The Plank.  To give an idea of what Walk The Plank is, take a look at this video (watch for Brian doing a backflip):

 

We climbed up to get to the platform and found the young couple at the top.  The wife was in obvious distress, and wanted nothing to do with jumping from the platform. We told her it would be okay, and that it really was just a quick step off into the pool waiting below.  The water would be cold, we knew, but it was plenty deep enough to ensure she wouldn't hit bottom.  And, if she had problems with swimming, there were folks down there that could help her.  None of these things were the problem, though...rather, she was afraid of the height.  Every effort to provide rational reasons why she would be okay were rebuffed because she wasn't acting rationally at the time (fear causes this, I know).  The husband was gently trying to cajole her into jumping, but wasn't having much luck.  Understanding that this wasn't our fight, the three of us did what we could - we jumped off to, hopefully, show her that she'd be okay.  We swam to the other side, got out, gave a quick look, and ran off without giving it much more thought.  She was either going to jump, be pushed, or skip the obstacle, and we'd no doubt hear about whatever happened when they passed us again, which, eventually they did.  We asked how it had gone, and she told us that her husband ended up having to push her in - and she was NOT happy about that.  We asked if it was as bad as she thought it would be, fully expecting her to say "not really", but she actually said that it was every bit as bad as she expected.

As I reflected on this, I realized that one of Brian's, Danny's and my own strengths is that we don't seem to overthink the obstacles that come our way.  It's easy to stand on the lip of Arctic Enema, knowing how cold it will be, and freeze up at the prospect of even trying it.  It's very easy to stand on a platform 20 feet above the water and think about how scary it is to fall, and that realization makes you stand and stare at the water below.  In every case, the more time you spend thinking about the possible consequences, the more likely you are to give into the fear that holds you back.  After all, if we're honest, it's not like we're standing on the platform thinking about the positive outcomes...we spend way to much of our time thinking of all of the scary things that could happen.

I had a similar experience when I was younger.  My friends and I had gone to an overhang at the oceanfront near where we lived.  It was about the same height, but required a jump into the water below.  I successfully jumped a few times, but, the final time I was standing on the cusp I started thinking about how stupid it was to jump into the ocean from that distance and how I might hit the rocks on the way down.  I froze for what seemed like minutes, but eventually jumped.  It was the most liberating fall, because I realized that those things weren't really what was holding me back.  I was holding myself back by overthinking the situation.  So now, whenever I'm approaching Arctic Enema, I consciously decide to jump in as quickly as I can.  Ironically, it's the easiest way to not freeze when confronted with a dumpster full of ice-water.

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Regrouping Made Easy

With the great work that Brian has done on the blog over the Christmas holiday, the countdown to Miami looks to be more official than ever. Nothing like a clock to make one feel truly unprepared. Thanks Brian - you are always there for me!!

It is a amazing though how a backwards ticking clock can help develop a renewed sense of urgency. Again another thanks to all the doomsday, world's going to explode, fiscal cliff - OK maybe not fiscal cliff - movies out there that have worked to meld a backwards ticking clock and a human sense of get off your a** and get busy. Time is running out.....AWWWWWWWWWW! OK the hysteria has passed. Time to get back to work.

The past few weeks have not been easy times on the training calendar. It seems like I have spent more time reading different blogs from true endurance racers searching for posts with one word in it - injury. I have had to come to the slow realization that things just don't feel right. So a little "tragic backstory" for everyone - of course told in my best Heinz Doofenshmirtz voice.

Flat out - I'm an idiot. I know Brian and Patrick will find this hard to believe. I am sure they have dropped their Internet blogging devices at this point in complete disbelief, but alas it is true. I set very few goals for the recent Tough Mudder(s) we completed in Society Hill. The first - be prepared for the upper body obstacles. I have never been one of those people with the innate ability to do 30 pull ups. I envy them, but am definitely not one of them. I was the kid who was lucky to squeak out the required 5 for the Presidential Physical Fitness Award. And I do reiterate the word kid, as I have aged the muscles required for pull ups have atrophied it appears.  Many weeks of P90X and I was there as displayed in my incredible Funky Monkey performance...what the hell - let's watch it one more time.

The second - not to get left behind between obstacles. One of my dear Mudda Bruddas has a bit of a sprinter complex, but alas it is true - I have never had much love of running. Maybe that's because most of my childhood was spent running from things but that is a completely different blog entry. Its not that I don't like to run, well OK maybe it is, but he bigger problem I have is that I have not been able to develop a culture for running. Dam* you culture chance. Why must you me so difficult. Why!!!!!! This of course led to my true desire this round as detailed in an earlier post to finally  achieve what others have described as the runner's high.

Which brings me back to the fact that I am a complete idiot. Given that Brian and I both live on the Peninsula - the good side of the Bay as we like to call it - we do a fairly decent job of balancing work, family, and still finding some time to hit the trails together. For our Society Hill Mudder we set the goal of 10 trail miles. That is two full laps of Noland Trail. Seemed like a logical leap for a training program given that we were doing one 5 mile loop with some relative ease. (I don't think I need to put the word relative in italics do I.)

Enter terrible training plan implementation. I mean the plan was sound. We were going to incrementally increase our mileage each week with shorter runs during the week to keep our legs moving and our muscles pumping - Hans and Franz moment enjoy!!! Like most things though it is the implementation that is the make or break part of the deal. How our plan was implemented turned into long runs on Sunday. That's right - long runs on Sunday and nothing in the middle. Where I broke was on the 8 mile trek. I'm convinced in was that blasted root I tripped over right at the end and all the effort it took for me not to end up on my face in the mud. That was the first time I thought....something doesn't feel right.

And here is the truly brilliant part. Let's take this injury, a minor injury let's hope, to date I still have not been to the doctor, and let's heap 2 back-to-back Tough Mudders on it. Brilliant!!! Great idea!!!

Now comes our prep for Miami, a renewed interest in finally implementing a decent running routine, and now a nagging knee injury. I guess nagging is not the right word. It was nagging. Then I tried Insanity - that was just a plain stupid idea. Then I focused on running - I am a glutton for punishment  if not anything. Let's just pile on the problems. General thinking - if I do more high impact training - that nagging injury will generally recede as my muscles and tendons strengthen. (Although that now seems a better preventative then it is a restorative measure.

That nag became more of a pain and that pain made me rethink what I was doing. I want to reiterate the word rethink here and not abandon. And no I don't need go to the doctor, I'm not hurt - not yet at least. (Can't wait to see what I am saying about this in 6 months.) Maybe I can add my own top ten reasons how training for the World's Toughest Mudder ruined my life (or knees at least).

So I have had to rethink some things and try my best to regroup with the knowledge that it is probably just going to take some time and rest to let this injury play itself out. I think knowing "when to say when" is an important lesson that, obviously, we all learn at our our own speeds but something that we need to keep in mind in all aspects of our lives - especially education. In many instances in modern education we get entrapped by the latest fads - iPads, 21st Century skills, Communities of Learners - and as soon as we hit a couple of hurdles we quickly retreat to what we know and what is familiar. I think some would argue that the problem was in the execution or the implementation and I would completely agree with that. But treating either of these large process words as a single thing doesn't do them any justice at all. I haven't found anything wrong with my general plan - my new plan of course not that insane plan I had last time. The problem now is that I have been thrown a curve ball, and to keep with the sporting analogy for one second, I have to become better at hitting the curves to the opposite field. Hitting them somewhere is the operative word. If you can't hit the curve, life is going to be a challenge.

That is why I am in the process of rethinking and regrouping. Two processes that I don't feel we give a lot of time to. Why - BECAUSE THEY ARE HORRIBLY BORING!!!. This is not where I want to be. I want to be on my training plan for the Week of December 30th. As you can see from Brian's calendar, there is no place for this type of detour. So what do you do?? Well if my goal is to do my best in Miami, I have to take care of knee now. If I don't then, more could be at stake including any attempt at WTM this year.

My regrouping strategy is two-fold. And I would like to thank all the other blogs that I have been reading to give me a feel for how to handle injuries. Bottom line - find a way to keep training. Swimming - maybe? Will help my cardio training which is a must but won't do anything to prep my legs to run 10 miles. Incline treadmill - from what I've read this seems to be my best bet at the moment. Good cardio, low impact, plus a motion similar to a run. Biking? Not sure I can fathom long bike rides at the moment.

What I am pulling together now is my regrouping plan. I like to refer to it as the part of my implementation plan that I left out originally. Not a new plan - just a refinement of what I didn't discuss earlier in detail. That's it - now I just have to get my brain to believe it.

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How are You Preparing?

Since this is the first day of a new year I thought I'd answer a question that I often get related to participating in Tough Mudder events.  

How are you training for the events?

Okay I'll be honest...Nobody's actually asked me anything about training ever but I thought I'd be prepared just in case someone ever does ask!  The Miami Mudder will be my fourth event and I've used a different method of training for each.  I'll run them down quickly with some advantages and disadvantages listed. 

Tough Mudder	Training	Advantages	Disadvantages
Wintergreen	Tailgating and Putting on 30 Pounds	Enjoyable Training Regimen of Overindulging	Unprepared and Almost Died on the Mountain
Pennsylvania	P90X2 and Trail Running	Heavy Emphasis on Strength Work	This routine prepared me for 1 solid lap but would not be enough for multiple laps.  More cardio would be needed which led me to Insanity.
South Carolina	Insanity and Trail Running	Heavy Emphasis on Cardiovascular Strength	Minimal upper body work as compared to P90x2 which hampered me on several obstacles

In preparation for “Our Year in theMud” and the WTM I am embarking on a different training regimen.  I’m taking everything I have learned in preparing for the three previous races and developing a hybrid program that uses the best of each.  Unfortunately, tailgating will not make it this time.  It is equal parts P90X2, Insanity, and Half Marathon training.  DC gave me the idea of putting it on a calendar which you can see below.

We are running on back to back days in Miami so you can see that I will be running on Saturdays and Sundays in preparation for the event.  I tend to get bored running so I will try to mix it up.  On Saturdays I run a predetermined distance as fast as I possibly can.  I began recording my times about two weeks ago and have noticed that I am getting progressively better.  The plan is to record progress or lack thereof so that I can fine tune the process as we go.  On Sundays I have set a minimum distance that I will run at a comfortable pace.  I’ll also mix in hill running, trails, etc. just to keep it interesting.    

I am now prepared in the event that anybody ever asks me about my training.  What do you think?  January looks brutal when you put it on the calendar but I have some big goals for this year in the mud.  They won’t happen unless I am willing to do things I've never done.  I’m taking Patrick’s advice and saying Yes to a new way of training.  I’ll keep you posted on my progress.  

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