This year in the mud has been quite successful during the first few months. We ran our first back to back Mudder and qualified for the World's Toughest Mudder on our first race. Our injuries were minor and training seemed to be going well. DC had even posted on two consecutive days. In our estimation everything was going about as well as it could until....The Mid-Atlantic Mudder.
In the video you hear the target time of 2 hours or 2 hours and 15 minutes. We ran Miami in 2 1/2 hours on the second day. We knew we could run faster in West Virginia. We couldn't have been more wrong as we came in around 3 hours on day 1.
Mid-Atlantic was humbling for a number of reasons. The first had to do with the terrain of the course. It was our first real up and down course since Wintergreen. I had numerous flashbacks on the course and ended up walking some of the uphill terrain. This was the first time since Wintergreen that I had to walk at all. I am in the best shape of my life and the course reduced me to walking within the first couple of miles.
- Had I gotten complacent and overconfident?
- Had I not trained hard enough?
- Had I reached the peak of what I could accomplish?
These questions and more kept racing through my head on day 1 as I meandered through the course. I also had multiple failures at the Everest obstacle and even fell almost immediately after attempting Funky Monkey. What in the world was going on? I scaled Everest on the first attempt both times in Miami without assistance. We all dominated Funky Monkey both days in Miami. That's what keeps this journey fresh for me. Each course is different and even obstacles that you perform easily on one course become a nightmare on another course. Everest in West Virginia was placed in such a way that you were running uphill. Funky Monkey was placed after Everest for the first time ever so fatigue was an issue. In addition to fatigue, every single rung on the monkey bars would spin instead of being fixed. While things were the same they were also very different.
This is also the case with leadership. You cannot approach every situation or every person you encounter with the same approach. Effective leaders possess a high degree of situational awareness. They see the changes in the environment around them and adjust accordingly. This type of awareness is what separates good leaders from great ones. It is also likely separates weekend mudders from the world's toughest. That and an extremely high tolerance for pain and cold are also beneficial.
We completed the course on both days which was a big accomplishment considering the difficulty of the terrain. The wounds are still fresh and the ego is certainly bruised. The work hard/be humble approach is taking root and the training program is being launched. We will be back on the course in Virginia Beach where the plan is to do two laps on Saturday and one on Sunday. This is another level of insanity ....even for us. I believe the humbling experience in West Virginia will propel us towards success in Virginia Beach and beyond.
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