WTM Dreams

I don't think it's any big secret that we've not really been keeping up with the blog recently (ok, if we're honest, for a year or so), but life gets busy, moves on, and laughs at people who think that it's under their control.

The purpose of this post isn't to describe everything that's happened since the last time I posted, but rather to describe a dream that I had last night.  Recently, I've been having odd dreams about WTM.  Just as a quick recap, I ran WTM 13 (New Jersey), WTM 14 (Vegas) and WTM 16 (Vegas again).  I wasn't able to run the 2017 event due to various life circumstances, but I followed along on the website as Danny ran and Brian pitted.  I wasn't super happy about not being able to be in Vegas, but it couldn't really be helped, so I sucked it up and did my best.

Well, apparently, I must have some issues with missing out because I've been having dreams about various obstacles and races.  Last night's dream was about an obstacle that required the participant to download an app on their phone as they approached a field full of various household objects.  In the middle of the field was a wall.  The app would inform the participant the specifics of the task that needed to be done with the objects and the results would be judged by a volunteer observer.

The first time I approached the obstacle I was shocked to hear that I would need my phone given the fact that there was a lot of swimming in the event and I couldn't figure how I would keep the phone dry throughout the rest of the race.  As with most dreams that thought quickly fled as my phone appeared in my hand.  I dutifully downloaded the app and was told that I needed to do something called "Power Outage", which came down to finding something that would normally move under its own power and then carrying it across the field.  I found a weed-eater and decided that it had moving parts, which was good enough for me.  I picked it up, climbed over the wall with it and dropped it on the other side.  The volunteer observer nodded at me to indicate that was an approved item and I ran on.

The second time I approached the field, I looked at the app and was told I would have to do something called "Simple Machining" which was described as finding objects to build a simple machine.  I found a Nerf football and a board, carried them over the wall, and put them together to create an Inclined Plane.  I showed this to the observer and he shook his head.  I was flummoxed.  An Inclined Plane is pretty much the dictionary definition of a simple machine, and I told him so.  He said that it wasn't a machine at all, and I would fail the obstacle.  I told him that was unacceptable given the fact that any Google search would show him the six simple machine forms that he should have learned in elementary school.  He got indignant and decided that he wasn't going to allow me to continue, so I decided to take a different tack.  Given the fact that I had my phone, and assuming that he simply misunderstood the distinction between simple and complex machines, I offered to Google it for him.  He accepted, but wanted conditions.  He said that if I was wrong, I would have to stop running the race two hours before the cutoff time.  Figuring this was a negotiation at this point, I told him I wouldn't do that, but I would take a 10 minute penalty.  I knew I was right, so I wouldn't have lost anything by accepting his initial condition, but I didn't want him to have even the small victory of me agreeing to his demands.  He agreed to my counter proposal, and with the conditions of the negotiation agreed upon I pulled out my phone to Google the answer, and then I woke up...

It was 3:15 in the morning.  My wife was asleep in the bed next to me.  My children were asleep in the living room (a long story in itself).  And I was laying in my bed seething.  I laid in my bed for nearly 45 minutes silently brooding on the idiocy of the made-up guy in my dream.  I got so wrapped up in this dream scenario that I started to question my own knowledge about simple machines.  After all, it was a long time ago.  Maybe an inclined plane isn't a simple machine after all.  I had to get up, since it became clear to me that I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep without finishing that damn Google search.  I'm happy to say that I wasn't wrong.  An inclined plane is a simple machine.  I wouldn't have had that 10 minute penalty. I did lose a night of sleep, though, so that could have worked out better for me.

I guess the lesson to learn from this is that you can get TOO invested in things like this.  It is tough to take the emotions out of the various straw-man arguments that we make for ourselves, but it's silly to lose sleep over these things. 

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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!!!

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I Can’t Hang

Virginia Tough Mudder 2014

First of all – let me take a quick moment to allay any fears I may have created with the title of this post. This is in no way a post about an impending retirement. There has been enough of that talk and I have chastised those needing chastisement.

Nor is it a post about my inability to keep up with the younger generation as I ease into the ripe old age of 41. Frankly, it is way too much fun to continue to celebrate my birthday in the cold November mud with my extended World’s Toughest Mudder family. This year in Vegas will be the second year I get to spend my birthday doing an activity I’ve grown to love. You think TMHQ would have an award for most birthdays celebrated.

This is simply a post about me and the beautiful things I continue to learn as I push on to the next race and beyond. Frankly, races and competing aside, why would I retire? I couldn’t be happier with the physical changes I see in the mirror each morning. In comparison to that guy who took on Tough Mudder Wintergreen back in 2011, I look and feel like a completely different person. 

This year, in my preparation for Vegas, I’ve lost 30 pounds. It took a little longer than one would expect, but I guess I finally got tired of carrying that 30 pound weight around each course. Some people carry extra-large stuffed animals and for others it may be a large section of a dead tree. For me it was not even something I could show off appropriately – just 30 pounds of fat. I now stand before the mirror each morning at a strapping 179 pounds with 175 in sight. Honestly I can’t remember the last time I looked this good or felt this good. The reassuring thing is that I have been assured that it will now be even easier to throw me over Berlin Walls as we head into the early morning hours of WTM. 

Virginia Tough Mudder 2014

Without OCR though, I never would have had any reason, of course other than wanting to be here to walk my daughters down the aisle one day, to take the weight off. And with each new race there is no doubt that eating better and pushing the workouts has improved my performance. This time at Wintergreen Super Spartan I was a wall climbing, barb wire crawling, log carrying monster. You can take that 75 pound bucket of gravel and shove it though. That is going on the shoulder!

The weight loss has led to some great improvements in my overall strength. For those constant readers out there, you may remember that I personally have had several internal debates about different types of workout strategies since we started the blog. There have posts rating different workout routines, all of them that will get you drippin’, and even discussions on how we planned to become stronger runners – that one is still a work in progress. One thing I have come to realize though is the fact that I really don’t like going to a gym. This is probably more so because I just can’t build it regularly into my schedule, but I would much rather work out around the house when I have the time to fit it in. One day it might be in the morning, and another day after my girls are in bed. But I have found it so much easier for me to walk out to the garage than it is for me to actually get out of the house. I know that may sound terribly lazy, but that’s just the way it is.

Of course, this has made it nearly impossible for me to engage in more regular workout programs such as a regular Crossfit routine, but it has allowed me to mix and match different ideas to create programs that work for me. So over the past year I have been focusing almost exclusively on body weight exercises. My program today consists of 200 regular push-ups (sets of 30 with each set followed by a door jamb pull up – this are quite brutal I might add but needed as I’ll discuss in a second), 100 wide arm push-ups, 100 pull-ups over the course of the work day, and tabata finger-tip planks (20 seconds with 90 second rest). Just doing the push-ups and pull-ups has produced great improvements. For the guy who maxed out at 5 pull-ups (with a leg kick on the last couple) to the guy who can get 15 pull-ups. Personally this is just an amazing accomplishment for me. I was always the kid who couldn’t do pull-ups and wouldn’t even attempt the rope climb.

What I have find most interesting though are the lessons I’ve learned about myself along the way. It actually has become quite funny that I continue to find things I can’t do. If I take a few days rest and jump up on a pull-up bar, I can easily crank out 12. I say crank out because I still hate the dang things. But even with this new strength, I’ve learned something about myself – I Can’t Freakin’ Hang!!

https://toughmudder.com/obstacles/hangin-tough

Our constant readers will have read about my Hangin’ Tough albatross. For those of you new to the world of Tough Mudder, you can read all you would like about this lovely obstacle on Tough Mudder's Web site.Probably the only Tough Mudder obstacle I have not completed. I am sure my Mudda Bruddas will correct me on that one if I’ve spoken in error. Yes – Twinkle Toes is behind me. My goal has been to improve my core, build up my arm strength, and I would finally put that obstacle behind me as well. But I had quite an enlightening experience last weekend.  

Virginia Spartan Spring 2014

My weekend is the time when I focus on my longer runs or some swimming. As I was heading out for a run, I happened to look up at the rings installed in my garage, installed for the single purpose of completing Hangin’ Tough, and thought about seeing how much I’d improved at simply swinging back and forth on them. You know that little rhythm you work to swing to the next ring. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that I would have improved – for goodness sake, I’m doing sets of 10 pull-ups.

As soon as I hopped up on them, a sense of wonder filled the air. I could do it. I have never been able to gather any momentum on these things, but now the tide had turned. I had arrived and ready to transfer my hands. And that is where the joy ended. While I can swing, I apparently still can’t hang like a monkey from one arm. I don’t have any idea whether it is strength in the arm, back, core, grip, or whatever – I just simply can’t hang.  It is hard to put into words just how frustrating that realization was. After all the work it seems I am no closer to swinging from these rings than I was 4 weeks ago. (Well that is not entirely true, but I don’t see myself completing this obstacle after 4 laps of the WTM this year either.)

What I found most interesting though, as a little time brings some perspective, is not the fact that I couldn’t do something, but the fact that I learned something new about my strength that I never would have known before. Understanding that I can’t hang could only be realized once I got the pull-up monkey off my back, and just when you climb over one peak, there is another one staring right back at you. But, in truth, this is a weakness I simply was unable to diagnose two years ago when simply crossing Funkey Monkey was the challenge. So in a way, with a few days to reflect that is, it has become this rather satisfying failure that has allowed me to gather some new focus on where I am physically and where I actually want to be when I do one day hang up my OCR gear and announce my retirement.

As is common in many of my posts, we all can decide what that special tough mudder is we want to chase in life. I must admit though that I am still working to love the baby steps and all the unforeseen hurdles that rear their ugly little head when you start to believe that you’ve gotten somewhere. Learning to appreciate the journey and lessons learned along the way become as important as actually getting off the couch and planning to conquer that tough mudder in the first place.

How much more relevant is it for those of us in leadership positions. And by “those of us” I mean all of us because leadership is not any particular position in an organization but a role that you as an individual can choose to take on if you are passionate enough. These little setbacks, or learnings as they eventually become, can either make us give up or they can inspire us to realize that we still haven’t crossed the finish line quite yet. We are simply on another leg of that Death March and there is just a bit more climbing to do. (Death March I curse thee!!!)

Can't want to see what's next!

http://homebrewedtheology.com/whats-next.php

 

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Death Race V. WTM

Ok, so let me start off this post by stating that I've never actually done a Spartan Death Race, so take what I'm about to say with a huge grain of salt: I think I would actually hate doing a Death Race.  The idea of a competitive race that has no clear start or stop time, where competitors don't have the slightest clue beforehand what it will entail (aside from long hours and manual labor), and where you can be DQ'd at any time for either missing a cut or more arbitrary reasons doesn't sound all that fun to me.  There's something to be said for jumping into the unknown and doing something that you know will test your limits and make you uncomfortable, but I kinda like to know what the parameters are for these kinds of things.

Now, having said that, it would be kinda cool to try it once, but I am absolutely positive that I wouldn't finish.  I find the idea of being messed with to be a bit tedious.  The idea of having to find pennies in the snow, or building an ax, or pushing porcupine quills through logs, or carrying a bucket of water up and down a hill without spilling any, or any of the other crazy things that they're asked to do all seem fun individually, but stacking them on top of each other with no clear sense of purpose or completion time sounds like a test that I don't necessarily need in my life.

I'll stick with WTM.  I know what to expect from that - at least in the broadest sense of the word.  True, I don't know details about the course, but I know that it's a question of surviving for 24 hours.  As with most things in life, understanding the parameters of the challenge makes it much more likely that you'll succeed.  Having an unclear understanding of what the process will entail, and constantly having to battle for every little victory, only to have that victory be unappreciated and followed by another random challenge...all of these things are a recipe for failure.  Unfortunately, it seems that often we have to deal with this type of structure when we deal with everyday life.  I don't think it's because we HAVE to (after all, there's nothing inherent in life that makes it chaotic and frustrating - perhaps that's debatable, but it's not what I believe).  I simply think that we sometimes don't know how to do things any other way.  We get so caught up in reacting to our situations...putting out fires as they start...and "dealing" with things that happen to us when what we should be doing is creating our own situations...starting our own fires...and making things happen for ourselves.  But doing that means that we have to have a vision for what we want to accomplish and have a strong understanding of the process involved to get there.  Now, which of the two events (Death Race versus WTM) sounds more like my ideal?  Which sounds more like your ideal?

Plus, we get to go to Vegas, baby!

PS.  Just to be clear, I completely respect the folks who are willing to undertake the Death Race.  There's a special kind of madness involved with it, and anyone who signs up to participate (forget about finishing...) deserves respect.

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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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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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T-Minus 1 Day: The Ultimate Question

1.       Will this be the race that we qualify for the World’s Toughest Mudder?

 

 

This journey is all about competing in the World’s Toughest Mudder.  Notice that the question is worded intentionally.  It doesn't just ask if we will qualify.  We will qualify at some point in this journey.  The only question that remains is, "Will it be at this race?"  In order to do this we have to finish in the top 5% of participants.  Miami is our first opportunity to qualify and the plan is to make a run at it on Saturday.   The Sunday race is more about enjoying the journey, getting some great footage, and challenging ourselves to run on back to back days.  You may even see the long awaited return of a mudder flip! 

Tomorrow is our travel day which means a 3:30 am wakeup for a 5:40 am flight to Miami.  We’ll have plenty of post-race recaps and are armed with three video cameras.  We’ll also be at the Miami Heat game Friday night hanging out with a possible fourth member of our team.  Isn't that right Lebron James? 

You never know...Anything is possible with confidence, determination, and a healthy does of mental grit.  That recipe holds true for our mudders, education, leadership, and just about anything else worth pursuing in life!

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T-Minus 6 Days: The Line Between Mental Grit and Insanity

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

DC has documented his challenges in training over the course of several posts.  Both knee and shoulder injuries have hampered his training for both the Miami Mudder and ultimately the World’s Toughest Mudder.  He has been able to push through these injuries with a healthy dose of “Mental Grit” and record consecutive 20 mile weeks through some rugged terrain.  There is a fine line between "Mental Grit" and just plain "Insanity".  Each of us struggle with that fine line in terms of training and competing. It will be interesting to see if and how these injuries impact our first Mudder of 2013.    

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How Much Planning Is Really Necessary

I'll start this post by saying that I wish I could be as organized as Brian and Danny in their approach to their workout regiments. Reading their posts reminds me that I had great plans to tailor a mix of Insanity, P90X and running, but just never seemed to get organized for that.  I ended up doing Insanity by default.  I'd gone through it before.  I enjoyed it before.  It definitely gave me the cardio to run a mudder, but, in some ways I feel like I just fell into it again because I didn't get organized to do anything more extensive or different.  I'm on day 46 of 63.  I'll finish one week before the Miami Mudder, and have only really modified it by including a 10.5 mile run on the "off" days and a 5.5 mile run on the "recovery" days.  During previous training routines, I've tried to build to running longer distances (I think my longest was 14 or 15 miles), but I thought I would stick with the same length runs and go for speed this time.

Of course, as the mythical "they" say, the best laid plans end up going haywire.  I've had to deal with various injuries over the months since South Carolina.  Some are of the "nagging" variety (for example, a case of turf toe from SC that just won't seem to go all the way away), but others are of the "hey...that's new...I wonder what caused that to happen" variety (for example, a new arch injury on my left foot that has kept me from running since last Tuesday). None of the injuries have caused me to take extensive time off, and they all seem to be improving without having to resort to "shut it down" kind of rest, but they do raise a question as to whether a more rigorous planning phase would have saved me some of these aches and pains. I guess I could have been more alert to the "off" and "recovery" day concepts in Insanity.  I would guess that there's a reason why people who design these kinds of training regiments actually build in slower days and days off, but I've always thought of the "off" or "slow" days as opportunities to do something else - not necessarily an opportunity to rest.

Of course, these are all hypotheticals, but I'm not sure that greater planning would have done much to improve my situation.  I've come to the conclusion that I naturally "fly by the seat of my pants" to a certain extent.  This has made me adaptable to changing situations and circumstances, but can also mean that I've been disorganized at times as well.  At nearly 41 years old, though, I'm not quite sure how much I'll be able to change to become more organized.

I used to think my life would be better if I was just a little bit more organized.  I always wanted to be a list-maker.  I always wanted to be the guy who had his calendar scheduled out months in advance.  I wanted to be the detail-oriented guy who knew every step of a process before I took the first.  And, I was always disappointed with myself when I didn't meet those self-imposed, and completely arbitrary, goals. Perhaps hitting my 40s has brought perspective that I didn't have as a younger man, but I've come to realize that I should be placing more value on the benefits that my strengths offer than focusing on the weaknesses.  I may not have my calendar arranged for the next six months (except for knowing which Mudders we'll be participating in, of course), but I have been able to build my life around the flexibility that I desire.  I've been able to recognize and seize opportunities that I may not have been able to accept if I'd been more rigid in my planning.  I've been pretty adaptable about my life, and if I have to give up my list-making dreams, then I think that's a more than fair trade-off.  I still envy list-makers. I still wish I could have that mindset. Detail-oriented people will always fascinate me, but I have come to realize that's not a skill set I'm likely to master anytime soon - and I'm okay with that.

What does this mean for education?  Well, for me, one of the themes that's emerging from this blog is the need to prepare for what confronts us.  Whether it be standardized testing, a new technological innovation, or the various obstacles found in a Tough Mudder, we have to go in with our eyes open and a sense of what we hope to accomplish.  But how do we make it work if we are naturally "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of folks?  Do we have to change?  Can we succeed without changing?  I'm not sure that I know the answer to these questions, though. I have actively disliked most of my jobs that required a rigid structure.  I would like to think that we can succeed through some level of self-modification merged with some level of environmental-modification, but sometimes that's a tall order to ask of otherwise busy people.  And, more importantly, it's naive to think that everyone can "make it work" regardless of their external situations. If we're lucky, we each work things out in our own ways and to whatever extent we can manage.

In my thinking, this is an important lesson for educators to learn.  We each have to learn how to work with our own strengths and weaknesses.  We shouldn't avoid trying to improve, but we don't have to become completely different people to succeed either.  I've found a system that has worked for me, and - perhaps most importantly - has kept me motivated to stay in shape. Of course, having said all this, I still plan to modify my workout regime after the Miami Mudder to include more P90X...

Postscript: I would like to say that I don't think my shoes are at fault for all of my foot-related injuries. It's not like I went to Walmart and bought the cheapest cross-trainers I could find.  I spent quite a while researching my last shoe purchase, and ended up buying a pair of Merrell Trail Gloves.  These have been very nice shoes - lightweight, comfortable, durable.  All of the things that you could ask from a running shoe when putting 16 miles of trail runs a week on them.  In my experience, though, a pair of shoes is really only good for two Mudders, and the Vibrams have been with me for the training up to South Carolina, two laps of that course, and two months of training since South Carolina.  All together, I've probably put about 200 miles on them since July of last year (assuming Runkeeper.com can be trusted to keep accurate records). I'll keep them around, but may end up donating them at the end of the Miami event. I recently went and bought a pair of Saucony Kinvara TRs that feel great so far, so I can't fully put the blame on my equipment.  Both pairs have worked well for me.  I think that it really just comes down to working on my form as I run.

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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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How in the World Did I Get Here?

The old saying that the journey of a thousand miles begins with one single step is certainly true.  For me my journey of a thousand miles began with a single step straight into a mud-filled obstacle challenge that showed me that my life needed to change.

Hold Your Wood - Carolina

I participated in my first Tough Mudder only as a dare from  Patrick whose backstory you can read here.  I did not train for the event at all.  I had actually let my weight balloon and fitness was the furthest thing from my mind.  I had become in my own words "Chunky but Funky".  I even spent the day before the race tailgating at a University of Virginia football game.  This was hardly  a recipe for success but it was an absolute recipe for disaster.  I am the last of the three to post my story to start this journey of "Our Year in the Mud".  This is fitting since Patrick and DC spent most of the first race waiting for me to reach each obstacle so that we can go on.  This exemplifies one of things that draws people to this type of challenge.  Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge that requires assistance from a team or even perfect strangers.  I'm pretty sure I almost died up in Wintergreen during the first race.  That may be a slight exaggeration which might be a theme that you see during some of these posts.  I do know that I never would have completed it without DC and Patrick.

The humbling experience at the first race inspired me to get in the best shape of my life.  We signed up for a second race and I began training.  This could be considered by many as a mid-life crisis which could be accurate (let the record show I am the youngest of the three) but it is more about three guys who are challenging ourselves to push the limits of what is possible.  During the training for the second race I was able to drop nearly 40 pounds which made running more of a possibility.  I was excited to see what we could do with some intense training.  The second race was in Pennsylvania and our team which expanded to four absolutely crushed the course.  You can see a comparison of me running the same fire walker obstacle at the two races.

Fire Walker - Virginia

Here's a hint:  I wasn't actually running in the first picture.  I was being overcome by smoke because I couldn't move another step.

Fire Walker - Pennsylvania

As guys typically do we decided to raise the bar again.  We set our sights on a third race in South Carolina which would mark the anniversary of our first race attempt.  This time we would run it twice which meant instead of 12 miles and 25 obstacles we would take on nearly 24 miles and 50 obstacles (no exaggeration on this one).  Could I actually go from barely completing the first race to running it twice within the period of one year?   This would motivate me to train even harder.  Working out tends to get boring by itself.  I need a challenge to motivate me and Tough Mudder, Patrick, and DC became that motivation.

This time we expanded the team from 3 to 5 with only 3 being crazy enough to take it on twice.  I'll save the whole South Carolina story for another post but we did manage to complete the course twice, inspire a lot of people in the process, and even save a life.  That's not bad for a day in the mud.  I did end up in the ER but isn't that how you should live your life????

October 2011 - Wintergreen, VA

We now have our sights set on competing in the World's Toughest Mudder.  To accomplish this latest challenge we will crisscross North America competing in Tough Mudders to prepare for the 24 hour race in October 2013.  Our next race is scheduled for Miami in March.  This time we will run on both Saturday and Sunday.  It definitely isn't the way most people would spend their time on a vacation to South Beach.  As you are beginning to find out...we aren't most people.  We'll keep you posted on the training, the races, and even some leadership/education lessons learned along the way!

October 2012, Florence, SC

                                     

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What This is About

This blog is meant to document our mission and path towards the World's Toughest Mudder competition, and the leadership and educational lessons that we've learned from the process.  We, as a group, will be posting about our own individual initiatives to get in shape, stay healthy, qualify for, and compete in the World's Toughest Mudder in 2013.

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