One Year Reflection...

Tomorrow marks one year since I began working out with the bodyco team. I don't remember a ton of things that happened last year, but one of the few I do is how much getting back into working out got me through the last 12 months and made me a significantly better person than I was a year and a half ago. In January of last year, having recently moved away from a place I spent the first 30 years of my life, dad getting his terminal diagnosis, I having to leave my job that I loved, and having no friends or support system around me I spun out of control. Not only did I eat terribly, was not active in any way, I was a mental and emotional mess.

I am pretty introverted and am not one to express my feelings with others. I never opened up to many about this, but feel it sets the tone for the past year and the better place I have been able to move to. I happened to have a routine physical in early June of last year and my doc whom I generally adore told me I was not only overweight, but moving toward obesity. I was a complete mess & completely offended. This was the day before I found bodyco. Reading back on blogs over the last year, it was obvious that my doctor was exactly right.  I was a hot mess. As you have read previously, I joined, hated it, but something kept me coming back. Looking back now I didn't hate it, I hated me. I was scared. Scared to fail, scared to look like a fool, scared to succeed even.

I can't thank them, specifically Jody, enough for not giving up on me, for dealing with my bitching, crying, failures, and eventually getting me to where I am now. She cheered for me when I couldn't cheer for myself. The little things like random check ins and positive feedback, to big things like pushing me to do more and register for races with the bodyco team added up to me being the strongest I ever have in my life. Being able to sweat all over their gym (and that's one thing i'm good at) I was able to prove to myself that I could keep up with most of the other members. I give myself a lot of grief about not losing much weight, but I have grown leaps and bounds both physically and mentally by putting in the work at bodyco. Never would I have ever imagined completing five half marathons (and being registered for two more!), two Spartan races (and being registered for three more!) and most especially a Tough Mudder in the last twelve months. The pic below shows exactly that. The ones on the left were taken the week I joined bodyco, and the right were from two weeks ago. I can not only see a physical change in my body, but a genuine smile, something I was missing for a while.

I can't say enough about how awesome and supportive bodyco is. From staff to fellow members, it's an incredibly welcoming environment. I look forward to seeing what the next year brings. I hope to one day be able to give back and help others as they have helped me. Until then, AROO!, HOORAH!, and THANK YOU!

I'm A Mudder!

This weekend was quite crazy. I laughed, I cried, but most importantly I muddered and finished.

It started Friday afternoon where because of a few issues I had to rent a Hertz car to head up to Mt Snow. They were very kind and I got to take an Accord up for very cheap since it was a body damage & they couldn't rent it. Even with the delay I still got to the inn at about 4. Got a really great chicken pasta meal for dinner & hit the hay early in prep for the race Saturday. We ended up getting a noon start time, which for me is not ideal because it allows time for my mind to wander and second guess everything. Had I known what time we were starting before I booked the place, I would've never stood Friday. The drive up would have killed time and kept my mind off the race, and when I got there it would be go time. Instead I ate breakfast at 7:30 and laid around the room until I finally couldn't deal anymore and headed to the mountain at about 10. I met the rest of the team, and as my nerves would have it I lost my bib within 5 minutes. I was able to locate it a few minutes later, but not off to a great start. We got to the warm up area and got the "Tough Mudder Speech" before heading up the mountain. Eighteen obstacles were before us- and if I could do it all over or have advice for others, it's focus on leg work and train on hills! They were more brutal than any obstacle that was before us. The very last hill was pretty much vertical and almost took me out. I am so grateful for the leg work we were given to do at bodyco, and though I definitely could have used more, would never have completed the race otherwise.

At the start of the race we all agreed we would run our own race, but do the obstacles together for the most part.

A little breakdown of the obstacles...

1) Kiss of Mud- Basically a barbed wire crawl through the mud. Not difficult, just dirty. Tip- learn to stay low and army crawl. Hands and knees won't do it for most.

2) Quagmire- More mud. This time you had to go down a slope into mud about thigh high and sticky. Not terribly difficult, but definitely something that you can wipe out on if you loose footing...like me. I face planted the mud and nailed my knee on a rock that was in the mud. My blue knee looks worse than it actually felt. I jumped back up and was fine, aside for the sand in my contacts. Tip- go slow through it.

3) Liberator- Basically moving pegs up a 12-15 foot wall as you climb. This got the best of me at first, but some nice dude gave me lift and I used one of my hand pegs for my foot and pulled myself over. Tip- Focus on upper body strength for this one!

4) Bale Bonds- Huge hay bails you had to climb/ jump over. This one was pretty fun. You don't need a lot of prep for it. Just go at it and climb.

5) Beached Whale- A 15ish foot blow up tube that you have to climb up and over. This was the first obstacle that I really had to rely on my team for. There is no way you can really run and jump up. The two guys on our team got up there first, then reached their hands and pulled the rest of us up. I got a running start and though missed the first time, got a little more speed and nailed their hand on the second. Tip- practice run and jumps. Maybe box jumps could be helpful here as well. Also trust your team. Going into my first run I had "he will never be able to lift my ass" in my head and didn't go at it with full power. If I wanted to get over it I had to trust my team and go all in. It was a great set up to our next obstacle...

6) Everest- Basically a half pipe sort of thing with a rounded top. Again, get a running start and do your best to reach for those above you. This time all three guys headed up. There was a rope that they could drop down some, which was really helpful because if you couldn't run straight up, you could grab the rope and pull up enough for someone to grab any possible part of your body and you both pull up together. Again, definitely not something you can conquer alone.

7) Birth Canal- A small enclosed wood frame with a tarp above you and water pushing you down. Tip- stay as far to the side as you can and bear crawl through. Again, hands and knees are going to make it harder.

8) Funky Monkey- Just as it sounds. Monkey bars above the water that then transition to a straight moving bar. It's all upper body strength so if you're lacking in that department like me, just be ready to swim. It took me a second because I wanted to get a few bars in so I wouldn't smack my head on the ledge, finally just dove forward and in.

9) Prairie Dog- A long black tube that you push yourself through ending up in more mud. I kind of liked this one. If you're scared of small spaces I can see how it might freak someone out, but it was pretty fun.

10) Skid Marked- An inverted wall about 8 feet high. Tip- utilize the people above the wall and below with you. A nice guy gave me a lift and I pulled myself around the side, but Jesse was at the top ready to help pull me over if needed.

11) Devil's Beard- A huge heavy cargo net (maybe 50 feet) that you have to get through. We rolled the entire way, which was ok until I had to stand up at the end and thought I was going to fall over. Had to sit and collect my head again before continuing. A group behind us when I got up were all walking under it together in line, which seemed to work well.

12) Warrior Carry- Carry your partner half of a distance (maybe 100 yards) then switch. Andy carried me half, then we walked the last half. I was going to give it a go and carry him but he wouldn't let me.

13) Balls Out- You have to get yourself across an inverted wall using a series of ropes to swing from one to the other. This was one of two obstacles that I failed. I got two across and couldn't grab on to the third. Got back up and fell back off on the 4th. Tip- people seemed to have a good rhythm and moved fast through it. I think if you hold on and stay in one place too long (as I did) you will wear down your hands quick. Grip strength is very important on this one.

14) Arctic Enema- Slide into a dumpster of ice, jump over a wall halfway into the dumpster then back in the water and out the other side. I was told by many that this was the worst obstacle. I am always cold, so my friends were sure this would kill me more than anything else on the course. I actually found it to not be that bad. I had just failed the previous obstacle, so I think I was in redemption mode, but I would certainly do this one again before a few others. Tip- move fast. That's about it.

15) Walk the Plank- Jumped off a 15 foot plank into 12 feet of water, then swim out the other side. This was one of two obstacles I didn't do. I was feeling a little below average and didn't trust my ability to swim up from 12ft deep water.

16) Cry Baby- Crawl through a chamber filled with some sort of vapor rub tear gas. This was the second obstacle I didn't do. I would have certainly done it, had I got gashed my elbow at some point a little bit before and had to go to the medical station to get patched up. They took forever to wash and bandage it and when I was done, my team was already waiting for me on the other side.

17) Berlin Walls- Climb up and over a 12 foot wall. This was the second obstacle I failed. There is no groove in the wall to get a lift on and I couldn't get good footing on the side support to get myself high enough to reach Jesse. I gave it a few tries, but at that point we were so close to being done that I didn't want to hold anyone up.

18) Electroshock Therapy- Run about 50 feet through live wires. The rest of the team got to bypass this obstacle since they are legionaries (have done a mudder before)  and complete something else, so I was flying solo on this one. Again, this was the other one people told me I was crazy for doing and I didn't think it was half bad. I got hit once on the top of my head, but it hit my headband so I barely felt it. I did see a few people get knocked down though.

For the above reason, I ended up going through the finish line by myself. I was so jacked up about finishing that I was ready to jump into the arms of anyone, whether stranger or teammate. I however did neither, and instead squatted on the side of the finish line, reflected and shed a tear while I waited for my team. I was a little aggravated that the wall got the best of me, but was over it in about a minute considering all the positives that came out of the day. I never expected to do as well as I did, especially by myself on many things.

We spent Saturday night celebrating with some good dinner, a little dancing, and hot tub action, which included my leg giving out on me as I was getting in and I landing on top of Rick. #awkward

I rode back early Sunday solo, but with some new found confidence in myself. I've already been asked if I would ever do another one & the answer is, with the right people (including those I teamed up with this weekend), yes! It was a difficult course, but definitely something I encourage everyone to try once. Go at your own pace, and get out there and put in the work. In the end, there is no time on your orange headband, so earn it however you choose!

One more day!

After reluctantly registering for the Tough Mudder 10 weeks ago, we are at 18 hours 'til go time! As I mentioned before, this was a race that I said I would never take on. I've always said I was going to keep my feet on the ground. My dad instilled in me to avoid danger. He was super protective and nervous of anything that involved danger and kept me steer clear of it. He was the type of guy that would freak out about anything and everything, and called to check in with both Gina and I multiple times a day, for things as little as car rides because "it's always the other person that will hurt you." With this, fears drilled into my head constantly and I've grown to do exactly that- fear the unknown.

On several occasions I have registered for races, promised friends I'd do something with them or go on a new ride at an amusement park, then at the last minute chicken out and cancel. I had the opportunity to be part of the Biggest Loser team for the SC Spartan in October and went out on a limb and did it. It would be a watered down version, I could test the waters without penalty, and there would be volunteers with us to assist when needed. It was one of the best decisions I had made for myself in a while, and though some obstacles went better than others, I followed through.

In March, when the bodyco team was created for the Tough Mudder, I was invited to join them and without hesitation gave them a big old no. I had my limits and in my mind Tough Mudder was where the line was drawn in the sand. They persisted. I am not very good at peer pressure. I found a coupon and before my mind could catch up to what I was doing, I registered. They didn't know this (well now they do) but my plan was to silence the peer pressure, then find some way to back out.

A few weeks later I got invited to a friends wedding, which was taking place the same day as the race. Done! I was out! Now I just had to decide when a good time to tell them was. I dragged my feet for multiple weeks and continued to train, some of which went so well that I was torn whether to back out.  Three weeks ago I decided I would tell Jody that day. I went into the training session unfocused and not in work mode. I was a complete jerk the entire time. Thinking back on it, I would've sent me home if I was on the other side of the fence. I was wasting my time and hers. However she didn't let up. Every time I bitched, she made me do it anyway. After the session, when I was supposed to head out for a 4 mile trail run and it started to rain, she gave me another circuit to do, so I wouldn't do nothing. She wouldn't let me off the hook. Her care for her clients are nothing that I've had experience with before and I again, chickened out....this time it being to my advantage. I headed to work and thought hard about everything- my past, the work that I have put in at bodyco in the almost year that I've been there, the time, dedication and great work Jody has put in with me, and the fact that I am constantly running from every fear I have. I booked my hotel for VT the next day.

I have spent the last few weeks looking to tomorow and though as i lay in my hotel room I am nervous as hell, I am even more excited. I have been watching Tough Mudder videos all weekend, and cannot wait to earn my orange head band. It will definitely be a tough course, but something i'm ready to take on full throttle. I have always had people relying on me, and am not good with relying on others, but Saturday I am ready to let my guard down and make things happen.

Hopefully the next time I write I will be in one piece and have some good stories to tell. In the meantime...let's do this Team bodyco!