Being on Time - A Lesson Not Soon Forgotten

"There is an immeasurable distance between late and too late."

Og Mandino

So I know my posts don’t flow from the tips of my fingers as my other Mudda Bruddas, but I’d like to think, as you can imagine, that what I lack in volume I make up for in quality. Like I said – at least I’d like to think that. Brian and I did our regularly scheduled Wednesday run – a good solid under 10 minute per mile pace for our 7 miles – and I was talking about all the great posts that never were. And then came the idea – why not do a post regarding all the good ideas for posts that I have had over the past 6 months or so but never got off my butt too put down on paper. That is a pretty funny idea. Not sure Brian or Pat would agree with my unrecorded genius but some of that was pretty good. So good that I can’t even really remember what today’s good idea was. Now that is good.

But it did get me thinking and reflecting on an earlier post that I had written – the one where I posed the question of what Mudder are you training for in life.  If you are anything like me, there was very little that was going to get me off the couch to set a new goal. I was fairly happy with my sedate life style. I was fat, ignorant, and happy. Nothing like a challenge to get you up off the couch but a challenge from people you respect – you both can guess who I am referring too here (Enter Name Here: _____________________)

I learned something important in Miami that I have been reflecting on since Miami. It is a small thing but I think important especially in regards to leadership. Be Freakin’ On Time!!! There is nothing that can completely get your day off to a wrong start, lose a little credibility in the eyes of those who look up to you as a leader, or simply cause more problems than not being on time.

Now I know that with different cultures we have all types of different definitions of time. My wife and I spent a year in The Gambia, West Africa and there time has a whole new meaning. We used to get quite upset when others were not as punctual as we were too meetings. If there is anything that we Americans can do is schedule a dang-on (I used the word dang-on) meeting. We took it personally when others were late. No sense of urgency! Lack of commitment! Blah, blah, blah…The thing we didn’t know is that we were using the wrong clocks. In West Africa there is a whole different sense of time. In The Gambia they do this thing that we have lost a little – yeah they stop and talk to one another. We quickly learned that it was no sense of disrespect that individuals were late. They simply met family and/or friends along the way and stopped to great them. In the general culture of The Gambia to not stop and greet someone is far, far worse for relationships than being late for a meeting. So it didn’t turn out that we were on time. We were simply rude in getting to the meeting. Now that is a learning curve for you.

Let me tell you what you don’t want to do. After our Saturday run in Miami, we felt great. General sourness; a few pains here and there; but all in all everything was good. Knee was good. Shoulder was good. Pat had no gaping wounds. Brian’s body wasn’t eating itself (but then again maybe it was he is looking a bit wraithish lately). We had the grand plans of taking our time to get to the course on Sunday for our Sunday run. Go at our own pace. Have a good time.

In retrospect, we were idiots. When we got there, we made more than one comment about how there wasn’t many people walking into the course. In fact, it seemed like we were the only three. We were consumed with the fact that it just wasn’t freezing like it was the day before. We saunter up. One last restroom break. As we emerge from the wonderfulness that is a Nascar speedway restroom, we are greeted with the passing comment, “Are you guys running today? I think you need to hurry they are starting to close things up?” Ahhhhhh say what. Now the sprint is on and they are in fact starting to pack up the lines where you get your numbers and such. We are the last three other than individuals milling around the food area. Now of course I race over to the Cur…line. No one’s there. Luckily another lady comes over to me for help. Looks at me like I’m and idiot, fishes my number out, and suggests that I hurry. I still faired a little better than Brian or Pat who met open resistance to getting their numbers. We sprint over to the bag drop, tying our shoes as we hop along, to just be met with other glances saying to us, “A little late are ya?”.

Through the start gate – which by the way was horribly planned in Miami. For those of you who run these Mudders you may have seen a course where you have to climb a miniature Berlin wall to get in to the starting area. What they did here was start you out about 30 yards from the wall, make you turn a corner and then climb the mini-me of Berlin walls. That would have been find of course but there were others, those who had never run a race, who mistakenly thought the race had begun. Luckily Brian walked ahead and Pat and I followed but it was like a bad stampede at a concert. People were just getting pressed into the wall as others came behind in their mad dash to the start.

There was no such greeting for us at the start way. Other than some odd stares and a little Rage Against the Machine blaring, there was no motivational talk. No Tough Mudder pledge. It was simply the three of use running through the start trying to bin on our bib numbers. Which made it a little difficult as we didn’t have enough pins in our packet to do that. Thank goodness there are so many abandoned bibs along the way.

The nice thing for us is that we caught a good bit of the field that day so we didn’t finish last. Started last but that was simply due to poor planning on our part.

So be on time. I think this is an under-rated aspect of leadership that can set the entire tone for the Mudder you are training for. When I was a teacher being late was not an option. Or not an option that I wanted to investigate at least. As a leader in education I have to remind myself that being on time is important if for no other reason than to set a good example. But on the bright side, you do get Arctic Enema all to yourself.

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Staying Motivated in the Face of Adversity

So, I have a little secret: I'm at a conference in New Orleans.  Ok, so it's not really an earth-shattering secret, I know, and I'm sure that everyone feels really bad for me.

The problem, however, is that the travel really puts the brakes on my capability to work out and my motivation to stay active (alright...that may have more to do with Bourbon Street, I'll admit).  My proximity to Bourbon Street might be impacting my motivation, but it's not really the cause of why I'm less able to workout.  That can be chalked up almost directly to my own desire to not bother other people.  I wouldn't necessarily call it "shyness", but I have realized that I want to cause other people as few hassles as I possibly can.  This tends to manifest itself in a very specific way when I travel: I don't want to jump around (something that Insanity and Asylum require) in a hotel room unless I know that no one is below me.  I know how disturbing it can be when someone above me in a hotel is loud, and I don't want to be that guy.  Oddly enough, this same reticence doesn't hold concerning people who may be next door or across the hallway, but it is very strong if I think that someone may be disturbed by me jumping around on top of them.

Which brings me to New Orleans.  I had requested a room on the lowest floor (in this case, the 4th), but due to circumstances beyond my control I was provided a room on the 6th.  It's a very nice room...spacious, with plenty of room to jump around...but I just can't get comfortable with the idea of bothering the people below me.  The crazy thing is, there may not actually be any people in the room below me, the construction may be solid enough that they wouldn't hear me even if there were people there, and I wouldn't know them anyway.  All of these are reasons why I shouldn't be bothered about it, but it doesn't make it easier to get over the issue.

Which, in turn, brings me to education.  What I've come to realize is that each person in an educational setting (teachers and administrators, included) have these kinds of things holding them back from trying the things that would benefit them. Fear of failure, desire to not disturb other people, lack of confidence, miscalculation of potential, ignorance of alternatives, etc., etc., etc...  The list goes on and on, and the same psychology that keeps me from being a burden to people I've never met, never will meet, and may not be disturbing in the first place, holds us back from really pushing ourselves educationally as well.

I guess the result is that I have to go back and jump around my room a little bit.  After all, the best way to overcome this kind of thing is to face it...the worst thing that can happen is that they complain to the hotel, but I'll still have gotten my workout in.

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Conquering Everest

Everest is an obstacle that you will encounter at every Tough Mudder event.  This obstacle has spawned multiple posts from us including 3 Leadership Lessons from Everest.  It is also an event that we have seen varying degrees of success with.  That's part of what makes this experience so much fun.  Each event, each obstacle brings with it a new challenge.  I've posted my Everest failure clip on a previous blog post.  There is no need to relive that tragedy yet again.  I thought I'd post my Everest success clip instead.

It's still amazing to look back to the first event at Wintergreen and see multiple failed attempts with a great deal of assistance.  It ended up taking an army of people to hoist me over the ramp.  Now it is entirely possible to scale the obstacle without any help at all.  It just goes to prove that Impossible is Nothing.  The countdown clock is moving fast and Mid-Atlantic will be here in a few short weeks.  New course, new obstacles, and new challenges await!

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Surviving a Leadership Undercurrent

My mother always scared me with stories of rip tides or undercurrents taking people out to sea.  I believe her purpose was to keep me safe but it was also to show me the power of something that you cannot see.  Undercurrents exist both in the ocean and in organizations of all sizes.  People who are not cognizant of the undercurrent can be taken further away from the shore without even realizing it.  Leaders who lack situational awareness can also be taken further away from the mission/vision of the organization by not understanding the signs around them.  This type of situational awareness is an essential leadership skill.

It is not surprising that the concept of situational awareness has been linked to both organization effectiveness and even student achievement. The researchers at McREL identified 21 key leadership responsibilities that are significantly correlated with higher student achievement.  The leadership responsibility with the highest correlation to student achievement was situational awareness.    

Leaders must understand their staff and community members’ dispositions to the changes they are leading.  This does not mean that you have to wait until everyone is happy and on board with the change.  In truth, that moment will never occur because people naturally resist change.  The key for leaders is to tailor their practices in stakeholder accordance with disposition and changes that are occurring. 

Not every tool should be a hammer and not every problem is a nail.   Some changes are easier for people to implement while others may be in direct opposition to prevailing attitudes. Effective leaders understand how the changes they are leading will be received and understood by all stakeholders.   The most effective leaders take the understanding a step further and tailor their leadership styles to create a movement for these changes.

The following advice on undercurrents comes from Trails.com:

Undercurrents are real and you cannot always see them but you can sense and feel when they begin to take hold.  As a swimmer if you do get caught in an undercurrent, don't exhaust yourself trying to swim against it. The best method for combating undercurrent is to attempt to swim perpendicular to the direction of the undercurrent. These rip tides typically exist in patches, and if you can swim out of the patch you will be able to return to shore.

Now read the previous paragraph again and replace swimmer with leader and swim with lead.  

Does it still make sense?  This advice holds true for both leaders and swimmers.  Leaders will exhaust themselves by going directly against the undercurrent.  Think about the undercurrent during your next initiative.  Your situational awareness will be key to not only surviving but also effectively implementing a new initiative to move your organization forward.   

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Asylum Versus Insanity

I'm ten days into the Asylum workout, and I thought I would put together a quick post about my perceptions so far.

1.  There's much less aerobic workout in Asylum, and much more strength training.  This means that I may have to kick up my running a notch to keep my wind during Mid-Atlantic.
2.  There's nowhere near as much structure to the workouts.  With Insanity, it was very structured.  The warmup was pretty much always the same.  The stretch was pretty much always the same.  Then you went into 3 sets of 4 different exercises, with each exercise lasting 45 seconds and a 30 second break between sets.  Once you were done with that 10 minutes of work, you went on to another round of 4 different exercises.  The only real difference between Phase One and Phase Two was that another round of exercises was added in.  Once that was done, you went into a cool-down stretch and you were done.  Asylum doesn't have anywhere near that structure.  Predominantly it's a series of minute-long exercises that aren't repeated again.  The only workout (so far) that has been structured is the strength one.
3.  There's also much less explanation of the different workout positions in Asylum.  In the Insanity workouts, Shawn T would spend a little while demonstrating proper form and technique before starting a new exercise, which, quite honest got a little old after watching the video for the 6th or 7th time.  In Asylum, he doesn't do much of that.  He may demonstrate it once, but that's not done for every exercise.
4.  There's nowhere near as many breaks in Asylum.  The workouts start, and you'd better be ready.  You may get two or three 30-second break during an entire 45 minutes.
5.  One of the things I like best about Insanity is that it doesn't depend on any equipment.  As long as you have a space to jump around, you don't really need anything else.  In fact, I did most of my Insanity workouts in a space about 6 feet X 6 feet, and never really felt all that cramped.  Asylum, on the other hand requires several pieces of equipment.  A jump-rope (which is useless indoors unless you have 10 foot ceilings) and an exercise ladder come with it, but you also need hand-weights (or exercise bands) and a chin-up bar to really get the full effect.  I use pretty much everything except for the jump rope, but find the equipment cluttering up my house most other times.  I really need to find a place to keep all this stuff out of the way.

So what's the conclusion so far?  I've been impressed with Asylum, but I'm still a fan of Insanity.  There's something about my personality that works best with the structure of Insanity.  Also, I've had to do the Overtime workout in Asylum about 1/3 of the time to feel like I've really worked out, but I've definitely pushed myself in the workouts.  I feel stronger even though it's only been 10 days, and I may regret not having the cardio work that Insanity offers, but, in general, I like what I've seen so far.  After Mid-Atlantic, I may do one of the Insanity/Asylum Hybrid workout schedules that's available online.

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The Benefits of Peer Pressure

I have a confession to make:  If it weren't for Brian and Danny, I probably wouldn't have done any Tough Mudders after the Wintergreen event (and, yes, it pains me to say this).  As Brian says in his most recent post, Impossible is Nothing, they have made me work harder than I ever expected or imagined I could. Knowing that they were working to improve motivates me to work harder as well.

Image Source:

sillygwailo via Flickr

In this way, one of the most amazing aspects of the journey that we're taking is that I'm starting to realize the benefits of peer pressure.  Of course, we all remember the scare stories about peer pressure leading us into lives of crime and drug use, and I'm sure that we've all be asked at one time or another the question "If all your friends were jumping off a bridge, would you?" These kinds of scare tactics are well suited to warn us of the dangers of uncritically following our peers, but the experiences I've had with Danny and Brian have illustrated that there's a flipside to this - our peers can pressure us into being better than we were before.  Brian spoke about this in his most recent post, and I'd agree whole-heartedly.

Often, in education, we think of the negative effects of peer-pressure and try to minimize their impacts (think in terms of anti-drug and alcohol campaigns).  In fact, that mindset becomes so ingrained that we become averse to using peer-pressure to our advantage.  In reality, this is a very powerful tool that we can use to help us teach or lead people.  To illustrate, let me explain an educational initiative that I've used with several of my classes: the student-authored textbook.  A few years ago I was talking with a mentor and friend about the fact that the textbook he was using in his introduction to education class was in something like its 11th edition even though it hadn't really changed all that much over time.  Add into this the fact that the students didn't really seem interested in reading a VERY expensive textbook that was assigned to them, and I proposed ditching it entirely and having the students write their own textbook for the class.  We created an outline for the new text that had around 70 individual topics to be written.  The class enrolled about triple that number, so we figured we would allow three students to write on each topic and then the class would vote for the best one to be included in the "official textbook."  Students were told to write about 1000 words on their topic, and were given three weeks at the beginning of the semester to write.  The process worked wonderfully, and ended up with a book of about 200,000 words that covered each of the topics and was written in less than month.  As you could imagine, the quality of writing was spotty, but the students bought into the project with gusto, and our research indicates that they learned the content as well as those who read traditional textbooks. 

 

However, when asked about the textbook in focus groups at the end of the semester, students consistently stated that they felt it was important to take it seriously BECAUSE other students would be reading the materials.  In essence, they didn't mind slacking off on a 1000 word assignment when the only audience was the professor (or a teaching assistant), but when confronted with the idea that their peers would read their work they felt pressure to perform at their best. This is the very nature of peer-pressure when used for a positive effect. The same process has been used in various settings, and the findings are almost always they same: students raise their own expectations just by the fact of having other students involved with their work.

Of course, we all know this in an abstract way, but as with most things it doesn't really hit home until it touches us personally. I knew that staying in shape was a net positive for my life.  I knew that being physically active would benefit me in the short-, medium- and long-run.  I knew that I was capable of being active.  But these were all theoretical until I had peers who were pushing me to actually achieve those things. That's why the collaborative nature of Tough Mudders is great...it makes us work together.  Our human nature makes us push ourselves based on peer pressure.  That's a truly important lesson to learn when trying to get motivated for WTM, but it's an even more important lesson for us to learn in education - as long as we're leveraging that pressure for positive growth.

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Impossible is Nothing

After reading Patrick's refocusing post I began to do some reflection of my own.  You hear people throw around the word impossible often.  The problem is that very little, if anything, is impossible when you are willing to dedicate yourself to it.  That's one of the many things that I have learned about myself so far on this journey.  With the right support network and a clear goal you will exceed your wildest expectations and continually raise the bar. Muhammad Ali said it best with the following words:

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing." 

- Muhammad Ali

I believe as leaders, educators, and mudders that we should ban the word "Impossible" from our vocabulary.  There are things that might be improbable but under the right circumstances anything is truly possible.  There are many examples that I could use but I thought I'd use something that both DC and I fail to enjoy which is running.  The role that trail running plays in our training illustrates the impossible quote perfectly. 

When we first began this journey I struggled to run on a treadmill for any length of time.  The goal was always to run 2 miles and the treadmill would eventually hit the 2 mile mark.  The problem was that I spent a great deal of time resting on the side while the mileage racked up.  This seemed like an impossible task for me.  I've never been a runner and truly don't enjoy running.  

Fast forward to our preparation for the Pennsylvania mudder one year ago.  The goal was to complete a five mile loop on a local trail.  This would be the indication of preparedness.  Once again this task seemed impossible.  I kept scheduling time with DC to run the trail and we would eventually hit the goal of five consecutive trail miles.  It was no surprise that this training paid huge dividends in Pennsylvania.  In a short time span I had gone from a two mile struggle to completing five miles on a trail.  There were three options after completing this goal:

1. Rest on my laurels and let the hard work go to waste
2. Continue running the five mile loop and be satisfied with the results
3. Push myself and see how far I can actually go.

Many choose the first two options and I am really good at choosing the first one.  It's easy to rest and not keep pushing.  It's also easy to settle for what you are currently doing.  Pushing further always increasing the likelihood of failure.  This happened to me many times just getting to the elusive five mile mark.  Failure is just a temporary state of mind unless someone captures the moment and posts it on Facebook.  Even then, that failure serves as fuel for you to breakthrough the plateau.  If you need further proof check out Patrick removing the monkey from his back in Miami!

The training for Miami took me to another level.  We began extending the 5 mile run to 6, 7, 8, 9, and ultimately 10 miles.

Full Disclosure:  The 10 mile run was the result of DC and I getting lost on a mountain bike trail.  Nonetheless it goes down as a 10 mile run.  

Suddenly, we began talking about adding a short run to the schedule to go with the 10 mile run.  Can you guess what the length of our short run is now? The short run is typically the five mile loop that was once the impossible goal for a long run.  We now push ourselves to run it as fast as possible.  There is no question of completing it.  The question becomes, "How fast can you run the loop?"  It's comical to think that the ultimate goal of 5 miles less than a year ago has now become the new short run in the process of our training.  

It has moved from...

It is time to set new, audacious goals especially since something that used to be extraordinary becomes ordinary.  The training for the Mid-Atlantic Mudder has officially started.  The countdown clock waits for no one.  Although I still do not enjoy running it has become substantially easier.  Ten miles is the new starting point.  Who knows where we will end up?  

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Refocusing

On the beach, post race...

It's been a week since the Miami mudder, and I've been taking it a little easy.  I have to say, aside from the general soreness, I came out of the event without any lasting injuries.  No stitches, no sprains, no breaks, no tears.  The soreness faded pretty much by Tuesday, and I've felt really good so far this week.  In fact, the most painful thing about the whole event was the sunburn that I got on my face. 

At this point after the South Carolina mudder, I was dealing with turf toe and a sore wrist.  I had read enough about turf toe that said it was best treated with rest, so I decided I was going to take as much time off of working out as was necessary to fully heal.  Of course, this ended up being unworkable because I found myself a month later starting to feel sluggish and not really fully mended.  Add in the fact that I was coming up fast on my deadline to start Insanity, and it became a no brainer to try and work through the pain.  Taping the toe up helped, and I was able to do everything I needed to do. 

This time, I had decided to take a week off after the event to fully recover (even if I didn't feel like I needed it), and then start again regardless of what aches and pains were still there.  Luckily, the pains didn't materialize, and I ended up with a week of feeling really good.  But, now it's time to REFOCUS. 

I can say from my experience with the SC mudder, that taking time off after an event is a MAMMOTH hurdle, and one that must be overcome.  I not only started to feel sluggish, but I also started to feel like it was okay to take time off.  I had earned it, hadn't I?  I could afford to wait one more day to start?  Insanity wasn't going anywhere, and I had plenty of time until the next mudder... Excuse after excuse came out of my mouth, and I found it easier and easier to justify not putting the effort in.  When I did start back, it was tough, and the hill was harder to climb than it needed to be.

I guess I could be trite and say something cliche about procrastination, but I think that most of those messages have already been said in every other self-help book that's ever been published.  I would rather focus on the fact that I was able to jump back in after a long delay and I'll be able to jump back into the flow after a shorter delay.  I control that part of my life, and I can either do it or not.  I can take the time off, or I can jump back in.  I can justify procrastinating, or I can suck it up and work my way ahead.  I'm the person who gets to make that decision, and - aside from Danny and Brian - there's nobody who would think too poorly of me for not working out as hard as I possibly can.  Except me, that is...

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10 Questions Answered in Miami (Sort Of)

We began a 10 day series that posed a different question that we intended to answer at the Miami Mudder.  Some of these questions involved the team while others were directed at particular team members.  We were able to answer most of the questions in Miami.  A few will follow us to the Mid-Atlantic Mudder.  There is certainly a longer story or post behind each question but the short answers are below.

10.  Will running on both Saturday and Sunday in Miami be as challenging as doing two laps at the Carolina Mudder?

I'm sure DC and Patrick will be weighing in on this one as well.  It was definitely a challenge to run both days even though we actually ran faster the second day.  It could be the fact that we missed all of the official starts and had to make up time on Sunday.  

9.  Can we as a team avoid a major setback on the course?

Yes we can.  There were no major setbacks on either day.  We didn't lose anybody or need the assistance of the medics along the course.

8.  Will Brian overcome his fear of the newest obstacle “Dark Lightning”?

The answer to this question is still up in the air as the obstacle did not make an appearance in Miami.  While that obstacle did not appear we all developed a healthy aversion to the shocking obstacles.  The voltage seemed to be turned up this time on South Beach.  Check out the Amped Up videos here if you need additional proof!

7.  Will Patrick finally remove the monkey from his back by successfully completing the Funky Monkey obstacle?

This question was answered with a resounding "Yes" on both days.  As promised we captured video of this accomplishment which you can find here.

6.  Will DC’s regrouping made easy and regrouping sucks strategies pay off in Miami?

All of the regrouping that was noted through DC's posts paid off in a big way.  The shoulder and knee both held up remarkably across 24 miles and 44 obstacles.

5.  How will not knowing the obstacles and order of events impact our approach on the course?

Honestly, this really did not have a measurable impact.  I enjoyed not knowing what to expect as we went through the course.  

4.  Can we scale Everest without any help from teammates and fellow mudders?

We had a varied degree of success on this one.  Patrick scaled the ramp without assistance while DC's shoulder/knee would prevent his unassisted triumph.  This obstacle is also where it went all downhill for me on Saturday.  I was determined to use the spiderman technique and scale the wall by myself.  I was able to scale the wall by myself but I felt a pop in my calf as I reached the top.  I knew this feeling well because I have torn my calf a couple of times.  This would not spell bad news for "Team Bad News" as we went on to successfully finish Saturday's race and run even faster on Sunday!  

3.  How will the heat impact running the course in Miami?

The heat did not impact the course at all in Miami.  The heat actually did not really make an appearance until late in day 2.  DC and I agree that the first day could have been the coldest mudder ever.  Patrick disagrees since we ran Wintergreen when it was 39 degrees.  The weather ended up being a perfect balance for the obstacles that were placed on the course.

2.  What type of crazy mohawk will DC and I attempt to pull off in Miami?
Miami marked the first ever appearance of the sidehawk for DC.  Patrick had the locks flowing and I went with the standard hawk.  Patrick took pictures and documented it which you can find here.

1.  Will this be the race that we qualify for the World’s Toughest Mudder?
Time will tell with this question.  We put up good times on both days.  We are also developing some strategies for Mid-Atlantic to cut additional time from our run.  Once we qualify you will be the first to know!

We are 45 days away from the next Mudder.  We learned a lot of lessons about ourselves and our team that we will share in the weeks leading up to Mid-Atlantic.

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Amped Up

Well...Miami's in the books.  Two laps - 1 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday.  Sunday's time was actually better than Saturday (2 hours 45 to 2 hours 40 on Sunday).  We had intended to use Sunday to have fun and do a lot of recording, but that idea kind of got blown out of the water by us getting there a little late and just making it onto the course.  We'll save that story for another post, though.

Not the best picture, but here's Brian's shoe

One of the big takeaways from this weekend was the fact that the electrical events were much more charged up than they have been in the past.  Both Electric Eel and Electroshock Therapy shocked us much worse than they had in the past.  In fact, on Saturday Electroshock Therapy actually drove all three of us to our knees (twice for me) and Brian got zapped right out of his shoe.  Unfortunately, there's no video of that as we all went through together, but we did get video of Electric Eel on Sunday, which tagged each of us pretty badly. 

Here's Brian:

Here's Danny:

Here's Patrick:

In each of these cases, you'll be able to hear the zaps, and some choice words (for which I apologize).  The lesson we learned is that the electrical events are not to be taken lightly anymore. 

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Beasting It in Miami

I know everyone is on the edge of their seat waiting to hear if we survived Miami. Well Saturday is behind us and we tore up the course. Finished well under 3 hours - so a successful finish for our first mudder of the year. Some general soreness but all in all we are getting pumped up for our race today.

The insanity of today is looming and there are a couple of obstacles that we would rather skip. Hopefully they will dial down the electroshock amps. I have never been dropped to my knees before but that rocked me. One of those pains that start in the neck and go all the way down to the opposite thigh.

Wanted to share a couple of quick videos. These two answer one of the fundamental questions of the trip - would Patrick get the "Monkey" off his back. Enjoy the call!!

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Answer to the Hair Question

So, we're here in Miami enjoying a beer, and I thought I would update the hair situation. Here's Danny with the side-hawk, Brian with the mohawk, and Patrick with the shaggy:

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