Suffer... with a smile. :)

With the weeks winding down to the Tough Mudder event in Tampa, Florida, Jessica and I are both making plans to facilitate both a memorable and stress-free event to come.  As I have written before, Jessica is not as excited about the event as I am but for good reason.  She’s just not into adventure/obstacle racing as I am.  But nevertheless, she’s yet to utter a single word about backing out.  Our plan is to just work together and finish as a team.  I myself will face the self-imposed up-scaled difficulty of finishing the race with my 40lb weighted vest.  Wearing the vest will add some discomfort but certainly doesn’t add any shade of possibility of failure.  In my past life, I was certainly exposed to carrying almost my own body weight in gear and weapons.  And even with all of the training that I received, nothing is more complex and difficult than operating in a real-life hostile environment.  Circumventing obstacles, both mental and physical, were simply a facet of the business.   In any physical event, the reality is that it is just mental.  Do you sit and think about the entire mission, overwhelm yourself with the sheer complexity of it all, or do you compartmentalize everything and address tasks as they appear?  The idea is to take the ladder; step by step, obstacle by obstacle, until the job is finished.   Jess and I will certainly be taking this approach. 

Click here for a course layout of TM Tampa!

We’re not looking to finish fast, just strong.  Each one of us has our concerns.  For Jessica, it’s probably the “Chernobyl Jacuzzi.”  It’s essentially an elongated dumpster with a 50/50 mix of ice and water – she hates the cold.  I remember doing this obstacle in Virginia when it was about 38 degrees outside; so it sucked, but it only lasted a few seconds so it was indeed temporary.  In Tampa, it’s the second obstacle out of twenty six.  In theory, it should really be downhill after that for her.  I am personally concerned with the fourteenth obstacle known as “Walk the Plank.”  The fifteen foot jump into a stream will be cake, it’s the fifty feet of water treading and swimming thereafter is what relatively elevates my level of concern.  Worst case scenario is that I pass out or drown.  I’m not trying to sound tough, I promise, but I am confident that I will fair just fine with the extra weight.  And in all reality, there’s a huge difference in finishing with a sigh of relief and finishing with a smirkish grin whilst thinking to yourself, “Next.”  I’d like Jessica to have a bit of both and I know that she can.  She has proven to me that she can not only compete but keep her avid sense of humor about her while getting after it.  I remember back to our Warrior Dash event earlier in the year and her and I had just passed the two mile mark.

Me:        Hey babe, how are you holding up?

Jess:      Well, I was thinking that I was going to puke my guts out about a half mile back… but I didn’t.  So I’m pretty psyched about that.

That comment was followed by a luster of laughs from the large group of folks that trailed us during the race event.  So I know she can gut it out and still maintain her cavalier demeanor.  And I recall looking for that very feature in the Marines that I trained when I was still active.  Those who did, I kept closest to me.  So when in doubt, smile!

As for an update on my journey, I am still hitting the weights and glad that I started to do so rather than focus purely on circuit training.  The strenuous leg work outs are already starting to have a dramatic effect on my run time.  In the realm of running, I have also begun to run with what are known as “minimus-type” running shoes.

They essentially are light running shoes but offer very little support for your feet and arches.  This, in turn, trains your body to let your feet do most of the work when running.  The pair I have selected are known as the Inov-8 Bare-Grip 200s.  They closely follow the idea of a bare-foot running shoe but their not as impractical, in my eyes.  This particular model offers a VERY aggressive tread pattern which is great for off-road and wet-trail running.  I was sold on the pair after watching a review by a guy who showed a pair with over 600 miles on them – they have very little wear on them.  So far I have only been able to run once with my new pair of shoes but did I fly!  These shoes just scream at me to run faster.  I’ll let you know how they turn out but so far I am very happy with my purchase.

I have officially signed up for the 2012 Raleigh – NC Goruck Challenge.  It goes down at the end of February so, once I am back from Tampa, all efforts will be made to ensure that I complete the challenge.  In my next blog entry, I’ll go more into what it’s all about.  Super excited.  Also, I have been chosen to be Jacksonville’s Spartan Race Street Team Ambassador.  This will essentially allow me to promote Spartan Races and offer discounts as well as a number of other sorted goodies.  More details to follow on that as well. 

Once again, thanks for reading guys.  Hope all is well with you and yours.  Take care.