A little story of how I crushed my most recent challenge and metamorphosed
I just recently completed the 2017 Tough Mudder!! I learned a lot about myself and found extremely valuable untapped reservoirs of motivation along the way. Here is my brief story.
Only having 3 months of mediocre training in lieu of my lack of cardio endurance surprisingly paid off. The sweat-ridden regimen started with running a few times a week for short increments of roughly 1.75 miles each time. After a couple weeks I started to notice my wind picking up and increased the distance to about 3 miles per run. Working toward a 10.2 mile challenge with 20 obstacles I was not feeling prepared.
Two words... Mud and inclines. Let me tell you, these two things DO NOT mix. It was 59 degrees Fahrenheit with rain and overcast on the ski resort where the event took place. The race began at the bottom of the mountain at a gate facing directly uphill behind Coach Kane - the hype-man who blew the starting whistle. With his handlebar mustache, very tight short-shorts and aviators, Coach Kane was truly the right guy to start off the course with energy and a positive attitude.
The average-joe mud edition of ninja warrior started at 9:30 AM. Dredging through mud-pits up to my knees, climbing uphill bars and wheels with solely my upper body, and running up warped walls I found myself across the finish line over 5 hours later; at 3:15 PM. Once I surpassed the Arctic Enema I knew nothing could stop me. Imagine having to completely submerge yourself in an ice-water pool at the bottom of an ice slide causing my little guys to crawl up into my stomach - that, my friends, is the Arctic Enema.
The day was filled with countless trials of perseverance, strength and dedication that taught me one important lesson about myself... I can push myself a lot farther than I thought.
Looking back at this experience I feel a huge sense of achievement and would like to continue testing myself both mentally and physically. This challenge has opened a new competitive drive that I would like to pursue through future marathons and similar events.
I stuck to a training regimen and tested my limits to discover that I can go a lot farther than I initially thought. This realization has given me an immense boost of motivation. You can do the same ~