First post eh?
This blog will detail a journey. As the saying goes: “Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end.” This sums up exactly how I came to know about the Tough Mudder.
Early November marked the end of a very intense, albeit short, relationship. Some of the fallout of that end included two tickets to Rammstein. I told my former partner that I would purchase them, and once doing so, invited my good friend Rod to the concert, which was to be held December 10th, 2010.
Rod arranged tickets for us on the Megabus, and before we knew it, we were on the road. It would be an intense 24 hours. We had no intention of staying in Montreal beyond the one night, and seeing as he and I both enjoy doing it the hard way, didn't get a hotel room or make sleeping arrangements. We were would stay awake all night. Once the concert was over, we'd hit Foufou Eletrique, and once that closed, find a 24 hour diner, or coffee shop, wait out the dawn and then catch a bus back to Toronto, sleeping out the journey home.
All went according to plan, and it was a grand trip. We enjoyed Rammstein immensely, hit up Foufou, and found a McDonalds to wait for the sun. Finally, we hopped back on the bus, Rod fell asleep, and I decimated Tetris for a full seven hours.
Rod had been exploiting the on board wifi on the trip in, and happened to stumble across the Tough Mudder website. However at that moment I wasn't quite in the right frame of mind to get all excited about it. Break ups do that to me.
Fortunately Rod didn't forget, and a few weeks later I had him over to my apartment for a a few beers. He mentioned it again, and this time I did become quite excited about it. It seemed like the perfect goal, one that would give me something tangible to reach for in my workouts, and something that I could actually achieve. And if there's one thing I need more of in my life, it's achievement, and not the Xbox kind.
So, what is the Tough Mudder?
The Tough Mudder is a 7 to 12 mile run, with upwards of 20 obstacles in the way. It's generally not on flat land, unless that's the only thing available. Obstacles range anywhere from running up muddy hills, monkey bars lined with grease over water, running through live electrical wire, 12 foot walls, climbing high hills with heavy logs on your shoulder, and on and on. Much of the obstacles are designed in part by the British SAS and there is a high focus on camraderie, teamwork, and personal achievment over competition, times and finishing. You don't win the Tough Mudder, you complete it.
If you wanna see more, I suggest checking out the main site:
Also, do some searches on youtube, there are some great videos of people training, and people in the middle of the course. Here's a few links:
Age and Treachery, a Tough Mudder husband and wife team :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x29a5-u0cu8
The Tri-State Tough Mudder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31CblNtLbkg&feature=related
From what I've read, the Toronto course will closely resemble this event.
So, I'll be updating this blog at least once a week. I'll detail current training regimes, leave links to interesting videos, methods of training, and the like, keep an updated list of our current team, what were working on and where we're doing it, and of course my thoughts will be an ever present part of this blog.
I hope you enjoy reading it, and that it inspires you to persue your own goals, or jump into the mud yourself. :)
-Christopher Hall
Team name: N/A
Members: Christopher Hall
Rod Murray
You?
Current Team Training Location and Time: High Park, Saturdays, Early morning.
