The Next Level

 

I don't think there's really anything to say about the inactivity on Year In The Mud for the past - ohhhh - year or more. Life happens and life sometimes gets in the way. Back when we started the blog, we were season pass holders for Tough Mudder. Driving all over the East Coast - yes all three of us have the best wives ever - and trying to complete as many laps as possible during a weekend event. Tough Mudder opportunities aren't what they were just a few years ago - at least not within a five hour drive of our homes. Spartans and Battlefrogs haven't been able to fill the void either. I am sure many readers will vehemently disagree with this - perfectly fine and really no need to fill up the comments section with your disapproval - I get it - you love Spartan -  but for the three of us, and I don't think I'm out of place in speaking for my two Mudda Bruddas, Tough Mudders were our introduction into obstacle racing and they have always just been more fun. Don't get me wrong - they're quite brutal as well. Nothing's easy when you're trying to get the elusive three laps in a Saturday race.

I hope no one takes this the wrong way. Carrying heavy shit up and down mountains or jumping over endless walls have tested us in more ways than we could've ever imagined, but the fun and excitement of seeing 1000s of people preparing for the start of a Tough Mudder is something that is definitely missed.

With the quickening approach of WTM 2016, though, I am finally starting to get a new level of excitement for what awaits us in Las Vegas. It gets more real with ever post I see about the clock ticking down. 4 months!!! That's just crazy. And honestly, I don't think a renewed excitement could have come at a better time. As the oppression of the summer heat has set in on the East Coast and with two moves in the past two years, I think I'm a bit exhausted. But here I am. Thinking of how to restart myself, and I couldn't think of a better way than reigniting our blog along with me.

Not sure if it’s simply me aging and approaching 45 or the general mid-life crisis I’m supposed to be going through now, but more often than not I find myself sitting around thinking, “What in the hell am I doing?” It certainly isn’t for want of having a list of cool things that I could be doing. It most certainly isn’t for a lack of things I actually need to be doing. It certainly isn’t from a lack of recommendations from family and friends for what I could be doing. And it most certainly isn’t because I’ve reached some rung on the ladder of mid-life malaise– I don't feel any more beat down than anyone else out there reading this post and thinking, “Yeah - What in the hell am I doing?”

One thing I do know – or at least have surmised through more human trials than I would care to think about – is this – sleep is pretty damn important. Getting insufficient sleep is the one thing I keep coming back to that seemingly impacts every other thing I plan for my day. Rocket science - I know!! I can’t tell any of our constant readers (again a phrase coined by Mr. Stephen King) how many times I've committed myself to getting up in the morning only to look at the oven clock the night before and think, “Damn! Does that say 11 o’clock already?” There goes the 5 AM wake up!! Then as the days catch up with me, the one thing I begin to think more and more about is how I can stave off taking a nap so I can make sure I get to sleep on-time that night. And I’ll be ready for sleep – around 9:30. I will get a good 7.5 hours in. Might even get up at 5 AM to get the morning run until I find myself again looking at the oven clock and thinking, “Damn! Does that say 11 o’clock already?”

I know, you're probably thinking, has this goof not seen any of the racing posts about people who have overcome true tests in life. I’m talking about stories where people were on the verge of death and obstacle racing (especially the camaraderie and challenge experienced on the course) gave them the motivation they needed to drop 200 pounds. Stories of people like TNT out there busting his ass each race. These people even now make me reflect and think, "Is my only test going to bed on time?"

"Do these stories make my ramblings a little pathetic?" (I mean of course they do but bear with me.) These people are giants. Giants who are able through their stories to motivate 500 others to get off the couch and stop bitching. So I little pathetic, maybe. But if I've learned anything from My Year(s) in the Mud, all I can really work on is myself and help others over the wall as I jog along. 

I would agree in most cases that it is pretty hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Understanding that adult behaviors are difficult to change, may be a reality we all have to face, but I generally balk at sentiments I am defined simply by the number of trips I've made around the sun. I am definitely no longer the 210 pound guy that started this adventure six years ago when my first Tough Mudder ran me right into a Wintergreen mountain and kept bashing my head up against it. That guy is dead. That same guy would never have been able to run 45 miles and 24 hours through the conditions we faced in WTM 2014. So I know it’s possible to change behaviors. Old dogs can learn too. I think we just become a little more picky about the treats we'll accept as rewards.

The question I face now is really the notion of what does it take to raise my game to the next level. And the next level…and so on and so forth. Is there a ceiling that you invariably bang up against - maybe genetics...age? Can we all be Ryan Atkins or Amelia Boone if we put the work in?

I'm pretty sure the answer there is No! I often find myself thinking, “If I would have found obstacle racing at 25…” But that is usually where the thought stops. I have trouble completing the rest of it. Would I have been a World Champion? I doubt it. For one thing, I’m not built for it. These little legs were genetically inherited, so physically I don’t think I have the goods to compete at that level. While there is the argument that anyone can be anything they want to if they just put in the time and the work, sports like swimming seem to highlight the importance of being born with the right physical attributes. The 5’8” swimmer who puts in all the hours at the pool possible is still going to be hard pressed to beat someone 6’4”. Just lacks the God given ability to reach for the wall.

The question then becomes how do you know you've reached your potential, and how can you reach your potential if it is so difficult to make the changes in your routine necessary to compete at a different level - to Bring It (to quote my ol’ friend and Yoga partner Tony Horton) and raise your game. So to me it isn’t that we aren’t able to change our behaviors as we age, I think the struggle really becomes that the process of making change moves much more slowly and you need a whole lot more commitment as you move up the performance ladder. So far, I have been able to meet all my goals by simply half-assing workouts, my diet, and certainly my sleep habits. Well I’m not sure half-assing is the right word, maybe it's simply assing and having 10 things to do each day rather than train. The problem is this pattern just isn't getting it done any longer especially not if I want in anyway to compete in my age group. So I sit here thinking, “What in the hell am I doing?”

This whole discussion strikes a chord when one thinks of leadership and what leadership really is. I find it so much easier to be a leader when it comes leading projects or leading others. Leading oneself is a huge pain in the butt. Changing behaviors when you've picked all the low hanging fruit in your life requires a degree of self-leadership that I haven’t been able to muster so far. Maybe I try and take on too many things on at once – my old addage - "Hey let’s change everything mentally starting Monday." Maybe it’s a matter of reading the Turtle and the Hare every night before bed to realize that life is not a sprint.

Whatever it is though, I continue to work on getting to the next level. My training for WTM 2016 is underway, stalled a bit yes, and I’m sure life is not going to allow me to do “two-a-days” that my mind tells me to get started. My long run is up to 10 miles which is so much better than where I was last year in July. I am not injured. These are certainly things to be excited about because in the end I’m not racing anyone but myself. And in my mind’s eye – 75 miles is still in the range of possibilities if I decide it is and start to train for it.

I'm committing to this though. I'm committing to walking to talk that I tell my girls each time they jump into the pool at a swim meet. "Leave it all in the pool. This is a race. Win or lose - give it your all." So I challenge each of you to think about what it will take for you to raise your game to the next level. Is it more sleep? Is it better nutrition? Because in the end the question always comes down to – “What tough mudder are you training for?” And look - Year in the Mud is back!!!