Or: How many times in 3 1/2 hours can you say, “Holy $#!T”
There are a couple of previous posts which refer to the Tough Mudder challenge so I won’t rehash all of that. Let’s just go with the general description of 12 miles and 25+ obstacles designed by British special forces. After having mentioned signing up for this event a few months ago I’ve often been asked to describe it and then had the follow up question of, “Why would you want to do that?”
I say that it sounds like fun but I’m not sure that is really true. I mean, it’s not that none of it sounded fun, or that I wasn’t really looking forward to it, just that I’m not certain that ‘fun’ was my real intention.
Take a nice dip in our pool!
I’m not against entering a 5k fun run or even a 10k for that matter. Let’s be honest, on the face of it, crawling through gooey mud, carrying a log for half a mile, and dunking yourself into ice water doesn’t sound fun. However, the idea of something really challenging was appealing. To examine the course and ask a legitimate question, “Can I finish this or not?” Perhaps I could, but I wanted to know if I could not only finish but actually perform well doing it.
Now I will readily confess that I most definitely fell for their marketing ploy, “Are you tough enough!?” I watched the videos, official and otherwise, and measured myself against them. Am I in as good of shape as that guy? I wonder how old he is? Etc etc. I’m not sure that’s a completely sane way to approach an event but at least I wasn’t underestimating it. I had been entranced by the whole idea of combining physical challenges with endurance. Scouring blogs and youtube videos for tips on training, what to wear, how to eat, etc.
Keeep Calm and Carry Wood
Over the past couple of years my own fitness journey has settled not on being a superman, but on what is it that excites me to workout? Hiking, Kettlebells, distance running, and now I’ve added challenge course events. Staying fit for these activities has meant working from the ground up just like we do with all of you. I work through my system of stretches(including the foam roller), keep up with exercises that challenge my equilibrium and fire up the core, strength work for strong stable joints and an increase in power when I need it.
Believe me, I asked myself why people do this event too. Somewhere, buried in that mud, I found my answer. I feel like that’s what we all need to do. To find the things that push and challenge us to stay fit, healthy, and strong. So that, even if you don’t have the snappy headband, you can call yourself a Tough Mudder too.
The gal asked me to look excited and this was all I could muster.
Me and my iPhone –
Mudder workouts at the park and then a week or two of moaning a groaning afterwards HA! I’ll get back on the stick here forthwith. As we head into darkness and snow the kettlebells won’t care about any of that.
Chain gang of 1974 – Sleepwalking, thanks Grand Theft Auto V!
I Blame coco – Selfmachine
retro 80’s synth pop all day baby!