T-Minus 5 Days: Fear of the Unknown

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

We are five days away from our start in Miami and we still haven’t seen a course map.  We typically get a sneak peek at the course outline several weeks ahead of the start.  The maps are not always entirely accurate but you get a glimpse of what the course will bring.  This time will be completely different for us.  We have no idea what the course will look like other than the generic sample map that is included for every course.  I am excited to see the addition of some new obstacles in the events leading up to Miami.  One of the great things about running these courses is that you can test your progress against known obstacles (Funky Monkey, Everest, etc.) while seeing how you can adapt to newer obstacles.  I'd like to put a plug in for the reappearance of the "Twinkletoes" obstacle in Miami.  I need to see if our resident yoga master DC can do the "Warrior 3" across the obstacle. In 5 days we will be heading into Miami with signed death waivers and a very limited knowledge of the challenges that this course will present.  We'll be sure to post the actual course map post-mudder!

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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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