Sunday Story...Tough Mudder

Last Sunday I completed a challenge called the Tough Mudder. It isn’t a race, it is a challenge. We (me and about 10,000 of my closest friends) ran up a mountain about 6 miles and back down about 6 miles. Starting elevation was about 6,500 feet and at the top we were around 9,000 feet. So just that part of it was pretty big in itself. Remember, I have not run any significant distance since 2008 after my last 50 mile race. So that was the first real challenge. I have run 2 or 3 miles at a stretch but nothing significant as this. Mentally I had to get my head around running for distance again.

The Tough Mudder was designed by British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, mental toughness, and camaraderie. Over 500,000 people have participated across the world and almost 4 million dollars have been raised for the Wounded Warrior Project (http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/ ). The idea of this challenge is to discover, within you, reservoirs of strength and mental grit you did not were there. Along the way you will discover how working as a team gets everyone home and home with an amazing sense of accomplishment.

To get to the starting line you have to climb over an 8 foot wooden wall. It is the first of many. After the National Anthem the crowd begins to move up the hill. The day is chilly; it is September in the Sierras after all. The first obstacle has us crawling in the dirt under a barbed wire barrier. Raising your head or your butt would be hazardous to your skin but no big deal. When we hit the next wall and have to climb about 15 feet and jump into a pond of murky looking cold water it is obvious this is not going to be a nice hike in the mountains. The day before I heard over 20,000 people ran the course. This water looks nasty and it is cold.

Luckily for me we rarely have to run more than 2 miles at a stretch and on the uphill portion some of it is so steep you have to walk anyway. I remember at mile 4 thinking…”this is bad. I would have put this at 6 or 7 miles.” This is not your boring marathon…there are rocks and dust and shale and crowds to avoid. At one of the worst obstacles for me I finally start getting it. This is really about looking at your fear of ____ and going ahead anyway. I am looking down at a vat filled with green water and ice…enough ice that you have to push it out of the way before you duck under the barrier and come up on the other side to push your way through to finally get out of the vat. It is cold, super cold and when I get out I have a couple body parts I am afraid have suffered permanent damage. The mental part is worse than the physical part but at least the mental is over quickly. Now I am cold and wet and the temperature outside is not helping.

That being said it is obvious that this is fun…hard, yes but fun and not to be taken too seriously. Yes, you signed a death waiver. Yes getting shocked by 10,000 volts of electricity may be outside the normal definition of fun. But people have brought their children and parents and friends and they are wearing costumes, working together and completing things that if you asked them 6 months ago were probably viewed as impossible. That is, if you even considered doing them…I know I have never really considered crawling under barbed wire through mud and water while the risk of getting an electrical shock is imminent. And, by the way, when you put your hand in just to check you get, yep you guessed it, shocked.

I did not do this alone. I had a partner, Ellie McKenzie, with me. She was doing this in celebration of her 43rd birthday. She had been training all year along with me and 4 other people in my gym (Rebecca Woosley, Linda & Brian Pike, Natasha Pierre). We worked together, we helped other people, other people helped us and everyone found out something about themselves. Maybe they found an inner reservoir of physical strength and ability that they weren’t aware of before. Maybe they discovered a fear of heights or of tight places that had to be faced and overcome. Maybe they found the mental fortitude to finish something that looked impossible yesterday.

At the end after you have run the 12 miles, faced 20 or so military style obstacles you are looking at the finish line and the last barrier is the electro-shock treatment…about 20 or 30 feet of mud puddles, hanging electrical wires and the finish line. And as in life there are lots of ways to get to the end.

But most of all, as in life, the only way through is the way through. When you reach your finish line you want to be sliding in, muddied, bloodied, smiling, laughing and proud of your life.

You are living your tough mudder…are you facing your obstacles and going through or are you shirking them, turning around, letting those scary things defeat you? Don’t…you are bigger than that. You are better than that. You can do this…whether it is a vat of ice cubes, a electrical shock, a divorce, a loss of a loved one or anything else life puts up for you. You can do this.

So face your fear and go ahead anyway. Get muddy, have fun, be scared for a minute or two, and then smile at how much you can do, how amazing you really are.
You are going to love it!

And if you want to see some pictures of me go here… http://www2.brightroom.com/email/98198/43768/146239043

Namaste
John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”
www.martialartsnevada.com

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