Throwback Thursday: Tri-State Tough Mudder 2013

As we make final preparations for another Mudder at the historic Raceway Park in New Jersey, I grew nostalgic and found some epic shots from our time there last year. This race was one for the Year in the Mud Record books. It was the first ever completed Black Jack run (2 laps on Saturday and 1 on Sunday) plus the first ever quadruple completion of Funky Monkey. When I say Funky Monkey I mean the old, real Funky Monkey where the wood bar handles rotated as you grabbed them. 

For this year's race, team Year in the Mud will again be without one of its founding members. He will be missed and we will have to look for ways of celebrating his name during the run. 

Hope to see you all on the course. If you see one of us on the course, give us a shout out. 

First Ever Quadruple - Brian

Second Ever Quadruple - Danny

 

No Caption Necessary

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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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The Beauty of Absurdly Surprising Accomplishments

RIP trusty 'mudder' shorts...I've worn them in every event since
Wintergreen 2011, but they had to be retired after Wintergreen 2014

Ok, just to make this clear from the very beginning, this isn't going to be one of those posts about the importance of setting goals.  That topic is as worn out as my trusty 'mudder' shorts, and we most definitely need to move on.  Rather, this post is about the absurd things that we can accomplish without even realizing it.  If we simply put our mind to something, and work hard, sometimes we can
surprise ourselves with our accomplishments.

A short anecdote will illustrate what I mean.  In order to survive the 24 hours of WTM, I've been trying to build up my running regiment.  For the first part of this year, I was running twice a week, about 5 miles each time.  I wasn't putting a lot of mileage in, but I was trying to get into a routine.  While I was in Australia in July and August, I started doing a little longer runs (anywhere from 10 to 15 miles at a time).  I wasn't necessarily running super fast, but I was just trying to keep going and build up my endurance.  For each of these runs, I was using the Runkeeper app on my phone to track my distances, time, and course.  If you're looking for a nice running app, you can definitely count on Runkeeper (which even works when you're not connected to the internet through 3G, LTE or Wifi - which came in really handy in Australia).  Anyway, I kept up the running regiment after I came back from Australia, and have modified it to include a third day of running each week.  The plan is to do a 5-mile run, a 10-mile run, and a 15-mile run each week.

The surprise came to me when I got an email from Runkeeper after my 5-mile run on the 31st of August.  The email said that I had just finished my "most successful month" since I'd started using the app.  I had documented 8 runs and totaled more than 65 miles during the month of August.  I hadn't been thinking in those terms, but I was pretty happy with those numbers.  Even more surprising was when I realized that these numbers didn't include the miles I had run in the Sunshine Coast Tough Mudder or the Wintergreen Spartan.  If I add those numbers in, then I ran more than 96 miles in August.  A number that truly surprised me.  If you had asked me in 2010 if I would run nearly 100 miles in a month, I would have laughed at you.  If you had asked me in July of 2014 if I would ever run nearly 100 miles in a month, I would have been dubious.  Not because I didn't think I could do it, but rather, because it wasn't on my radar at all.  I didn't set that as a goal, it simply happened as an outgrowth of what I was doing to make sure I was as prepared as possible for WTM.

If I'm honest, a more representative picture of Wintergreen '14
would be of me sliding down a hill on my ass

And, quite honestly, that's the best thing about this process for me.  Of course, I'm happy to reach the goals that I set for myself.  Whether it's running in various events, finishing various workout routines or whatever other goals that might be set (e.g. finishing the elusive Triple, which is still out there waiting for one of us to do it).  Each of those accomplishments are motivating and challenging and rewarding, all at the same time.  But realizing that you've accomplished something absurd and unexpected is truly beautiful.  The surprise of the realization is where the beauty lies, I think.  It makes me realize that we are capable of such amazing things, and some of those things we plan and work for, but some of those amazing things are simply the byproduct of hard work towards other goals.  All we have to do is keep an eye out for those things and learn to recognize them when they happen.

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I'm Retiring...

from ever running a race at Wintergreen again.

We have just returned from the Super Spartan at the infamous Wintergreen Ski Resort.  It is hard for me to imagine that people go there to vacation because my only three visits have been to run races which have been the three toughest to date.  The trip to Wintergreen marked our return to where this journey started and it could be described exactly in the way that A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens begins.

             It was the best of times,          It was the worst of times

                             

The course was just as grueling as I remember it.  My course time has improved each time I have ventured back to the course.  This time the group of three finished in the top 8% of nearly 6,500 racers on Saturday.  That's not bad for a group that typically would reside on a couch just a few short years ago.  This is possibly the most important leadership lesson there is.  Anything is possible if you just have the courage to start.  What began as a dare has turned into a life-changing experience that continues to unfold before us.  We are already plotting and planning for 2015 and we still have many races left this year.  

There were times that I conquered the course such as nailing my spear throw for the first time ever!  There were times that the course conquered me like the monkey bars and the traverse walls.  Even in failure I got further on the traverse wall than ever before.  Unfortunately I have been cursed with big feet which make fitting on the little blocks quite difficult.

That's the beautiful thing about these events.  You can appear down and out or stronger than ever within moments of each other.  If you need further proof of what I'm talking about then look at the two photos below taken moments after each other.  In the photo on the left look at the bottom right corner to see me resting on my long.

                                       

Wintergreen continues to challenge me in ways that other courses never do but I have come to the conclusion that I am retiring from this course.  I'm taking my talents to places and courses that I've yet to run along with some favorite course along the way.  We may even follow Pat's lead and take this entire adventure global in 2015.

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Wintergreen Wonderings

We are two short days from our return to Wintergreen.  For those long time readers (both of you) this is where the whole journey started.  We were different people then.  For further proof just look at Exhibit A below:

Exhibit A

This return to the venue that started it all has brought back a number of flashbacks from the first visit.  This course still stands as the most brutal course we have ever taken on.  We are not alone in this feeling.  Anyone who took on the Wintergreen mudder talks about it in the same respect.  Many questions or Wintergreen Wonderings come to mind as the race nears.

• Will this race hold up to the original race?
• Will I be able to take more than ten steps at a time?
• Will the race come to a grinding halt as we run right into a hill?
• Will the Super Spartan contain as much fun and excitement as the Tough Mudder did?
• Will DC and I be able to hit the spear target in less than 20 tries?
• Will Pat T sprint even faster now that he has a timing chip on his leg?
• Will I spend the entire event telling people that I'm retiring from Wintergreen racing?
• Will the camelback sloshing become too much and cause an international incident on the course?

Pat and DC can certainly add additional wonderings.  I'm just excited to test myself on the course that started it all with the two people that got me mixed up in this life-changing experience in the first place.  Hopefully, we will capture some good footage and get an updated Wintergreen group shot for comparisons.  T minus 2 days!

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Done and Dusted

I don't care what you think about selfies...
if you get a chance to pet a Koala, you're taking a picture.

Greetings from Brisbane. As one of my last tasks in Australia, I wanted to put up a post about my "Down Under Mudder." Two laps at the Sunshine Coast Tough Mudder are in the books, and I must say, it was glorious and ludicrous at the same time.  I went out with the 8:00 wave, and finished the first lap in just under 2 hours.  I wasn't able to get into the 10:00 am start wave and had to wait to go out with the 10:15 group.  If everything had broken my way, I might have been able to get back around for the 12:15 (and final) start time, but it very quickly became apparent that wasn't in the cards.

Obviously, the course was much more crowded during the second lap, but the biggest impediment was the weather.  For one day, and one day only, the Sunshine Coast was grossly misnamed.  It rained steadily throughout the day, and what would have been a pretty standard course under better conditions because an 18 kilometer-long mud pit.

 I took video, but the sound quality is pretty bad because I didn't want to take my camera out of its waterproof casing.  For the vast majority of the time (I would say maybe 95% of the time) we were running in ankle-deep mud.  It was like running through wet cement the entire time.  Slippery mud, hidden holes, lots of folks, and steady rain made it pretty difficult to make good time on the second lap. 

Having said all that, I must say, I enjoyed most everything about it.  Yes, the weather was crappy, and, yes, I would have liked to have done the elusive Triple, but those things pale in comparison to the joy of sloshing around in the muddiest Mudder I've ever done.  I only had to fly halfway around the world to do it, but there's something about having to run through a lake right before Everest or climb up and over muddy mounds of dirt in Camel Humps to make a 42-year old dude feel like a 16-year old kid again.  I'd do it again in a heartbeat. 

Now, on to Wintergreen next weekend.  

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Upside-Down Mudder

I'm in Australia for some work, and was able to arrange my schedule so that I'll be able to run the Sunshine Coast TM event this coming weekend.  It should be a blast, although I'm not quite sure how many people to expect.  There seem to be a whole bunch of folks who did it last year, but I have yet to talk with anyone who is doing it this year (although, I will say that I overheard a girl on the train talking about preparing for it, so there's always that).  The earliest start time is 8:00, unless you want to pay extra for the exclusive opportunity to run starting at dawn, and the last wave leaves at 12:15.  That doesn't seem like too many starting waves, but I have been told that this is the largest TM in the world, so perhaps I'm reading too much into it.

I have an "official" start time, but my goal is to go out with the first way at 8, do a second lap and then see if I'm back in time to do a third lap with the final starting wave at 12:15.  It will definitely be tight, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it.  Much will depend on the course, and having to essentially run 2 2-hour laps back to back might be too much to accomplish.  Either way, I'll get a second lap in, which will give me my 18th and 19th orange headbands, which I will politely ask them to put on upside down since I'm running "Down Under".  A third lap would give me my 20th headband, which I might just wear home on the plane on Monday if I get it.

According to the course map, I'll have a couple new obstacles that we haven't encountered on a regular Tough Mudder course before.  I'll have Sewage Outlet (I'm not sure what to expect from this in reality), Leap of Faith (which is different from the WTM Leap of Faith - thankfully), and Fire in Your Hole (which should be a blast, but doesn't even have a page of its own on the TM website yet).  I'll also have another shot at Hanging Tough, which - hopefully - won't include a rope midway across like it did on the Legionnaire Loop in Virginia.

I'll give an update once I'm done - but either way, whether I get to do three or have to "settle" for two laps - it should be a lot easier to do Everest upside down - after all, isn't it just a slide then?  Or, maybe I'm misunderstanding how gravity works on the bottom of the planet. 

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