Tough Mudder - The Recap... in microscopic detail!!

This is a long one...
And in depth...
Full of raw emotion and plenty of over-hyped melodrama!! :)

And warning... there is occasional high level coarse language... it was an emotional day...

If you want a succinct recap of TM, check out this article.
It's direct, to the point and sums up the day well.

But beloved reader, if you want the experience of "being there" with me for the ride... read on...

The day I had been waiting for had arrived!
Nine long months after registering, it was here... the 23rd of September 2012... Tough Mudder Day!

I thought I'd face the day with a team of my brethren, but obviously the registration process alone sorted the Mudders from the boys. Our team, !!!TAKE IT!!!, comprised of an army of two. Myself and SB.
I knew SB was fit. He had said in the past that he ran and rode regularly.
I only found out the night before, that he has done marathons and a 50km bush run!!
It was a little daunting as it meant that I was going to be the "the slow one", but at least I wouldn't be having to carry him!! ;)

Let's cut to the day shall we...?

To sum up the entire event:
It was tough...
It was a challenge...
It pushed me...

...but it was doable.

And there were plenty of people out there that were fatter, less fit and older than myself.
(...this hit home the most at around the 15km mark when we passed two girls who probably weighed as much as I do but were a foot shorter and perhaps a foot wider than me. The fact of the matter is that they were out there and giving it a go. Much respect girls!!)

Sure you can skip obstacles if you choose... if you wanna be a Princess Muffin instead of a Tough Mudder... (however on the serious side, if you can't swim or have a heart condition, then it is highly advisable to skip some obstacles!)

But most importantly of all... IT WAS A HELLUVA LOT OF FUN!!!
I spent most of the day with a smile on my dial... :-D

Ready for the blow by blow??

To get you started, here is a PDF map of the course...

The first thing to remember...
It is about a 20km course through bush land. There was plenty of flat surfaces (regularly covered in mud!) but also hills and valleys. The longest run I've ever done in a single go is 14km (75 min). But whilst TM may basically be a half-marathon (with 21 obstacles along the way), one must remember the first part of the Tough Mudder pledge:

I understand that Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge.

Course time does not matter... There is no funky little tracking device attached to your bib or shoe to monitor how long it takes you to complete the course. So you can run, jog, walk or crawl that 20km... it's up to you... The aim is to finish it and have fun along the way...

The initial obstacle is getting into the holding pen before the start of the race.
There is perhaps a two metre high wall with a small step on it that you need to jump over to get into the holding pen.Was easy enough... biggest risk was copping a kick to the face from someone climbing over next to you.
A guy in our starting time (10am) must have slipped and smacked the back of his head on the ground. When I looked over, he was looking pretty dazed and a paramedic was asking him a bunch of questions. He was part of a big team, but the rest seemed oblivious to his trauma... Luckily he was deemed OK and joined his mates.

The MC got us fired up with a few wise cracks and we all got down on bended knee to solemnly swear the Tough Mudder pledge. One of the official photographers came right up to me and took a snap as I was saying the pledge, but damned if I can find it on the website... too many photos!
I was buzzing!! I was like a firecracker ready to explode!!
So psyched and hyped!
SB, who had earlier suffered some nervous jitters, was now in the zone too.
We were smiling from ear to ear...
We couldn't wait for the start...

Finally the countdown began... and we were off!!

Started at a light canter and let a lot of the heroes run by...
Crossed a small creek... our first taste of muddy water... not even an entree compared to what was to follow... more like a crumb...

Kiss of Mud #1
Easy enough. Mud flat with barbed wire over the top. Keep your head and butt down, crawl and slither along to the other side. Good way to get everyone dirty early.

Arctic Enema
When the first TMs set off at 8am, the water in the Arctic Enema was bright green. By the time we got to it, heck probably by 830, it was mud brown. The Enema is a massive ice bath with a partition across the middle so you have to go underwater to get to the other side. There are dudes standing next to it, constantly pouring in bag after bag of ice, maintaining a super frigid temperature.
While watching the first few groups go through it, one could notice a pattern emerging.
TM jumps in. TM ducks under water and comes up on other side. As TM is climbing out, TM shouts something which usually involves the words: "fuck" and "cold".
I said to SB earlier "When I come out, I'm gonna make a comment about how warm it is".
But when you're clambering out of there, sopping wet and freezing, it's almost like you can't say anything except "fuck" and "cold"!
Jumping in was fine. You can feel it's cold, but it doesn't seem too bad.
But ducking under... it takes your breath away... frost bitten drowning...
You get under that partition, come up for breath and all you can think is... "fuck"... "cold"...

So I get out and make my smart arse comment eventually... but there's no heart behind it... there's just "fuck" and "cold"...
And then it hits you... Your muscles start cramping up... Not too badly... Not proper cramps... But you have just gone from jogging along nicely to sub-zero frosty in a split second and your muscles are screaming "Oi!! Warm me up again!!"
Just had to keep moving... but we hit a rather wide span of river, which didn't help much but we warmed up again eventually.

Quite a decent long jog after a couple of small river crossings brought us to...

Berlin Walls #1
This was a bit of a surprise...
The wooden wall we faced, was a little higher than the holding pen wall... and it still had a little step up... I'm thinking to myself "where's the Tough in Tough Mudder?"...
Scaled and managed not to roll our ankles on the jump down...

Long enough jog to make you start thinking "where are the obstacles?" and then we came across a watering station... Rinsed my mouth and had a small drink then kept moving to...

King of the Mountain
A massive stack of hay bails!
Pretty easy as an obstacle but good fun too! :)
Clambered up and then slid down the other side.

Now on the map it says Twinkle Toes is next, which is meant to be wooden balance beams across a body of water... It wasn't there... Or I was so traumatized that I've wiped it clean from my memory!!
So instead it was a good looooong jog and where we started having to climb up hill.
...it was also where I start to hit a wall!
The vast majority of my running has been done in the early hours of the morning, from about March onwards, around my suburb, which is flat as a witch's tit... So not only has it been in fairly cool conditions, but my legs aren't accustomed to the rigours of ups and downs... yeah yeah I know... Toughen up princess!! :)
We passed plenty of people as we were keeping a good steady jogging pace... but eventually I had to walk for a bit... I have well controlled asthma and I could hear myself wheezing earlier on (often happens after a couple of kms on my normal runs but clears after another km)... but there is a difference between wheezing you can hear coming from your mouth and wheezing that is filling your whole head and making it hard to hear!

So I walked for a bit... SB never left my side... was happy to meet him at the next obstacle, but we were a team and he was sticking by me the whole way. :-D
Didn't take long for my second wind to kick in and we were off again!

Kiss of Mud #2
Felt drier than the first and it was almost a case of just crawl along the furrows that other TMs had left behind them...

Another rest station which also provided some energy gels...
SB wasn't having any water or gels, but I wanted just half a gel as I was worried about cramps and energy reserves. Having never done anything this strenuous, I didn't know what to expect of my body...
Managed to only have about a third of the gel cos I ripped the packet awkwardly and poured most of it down my chin!! You gotta understand, even with a water station, by this stage there is mud everywhere... Face... hands... body... no escaping... so trying to consume a gel in some kind of semi-hygienic manner takes skill... and that was a skill I was lacking! ;)

Funky Monkey
Ahhh... monkey bars over a water pit...
Loved monkey bars as a kid... most of us do... but the older and heavier you get, the harder (or just downright impossible!) it gets... Yes, I've lost 10kgs this year, but I didn't do a lot of upper body training that I should have done...
SB and I had both bought gloves at one of the stands prior to starting. They were great. Stretchy cotton dipped in rubber with grip lines on them... better than the gardening gloves at Bunnings!
SB had bought them quite specifically for this obstacle. Better grip, better chance of getting across without a drenching!
So he jumps up and grabs onto the first rung... moves to grab the next and WHOOPS! he's off and into the water!! And as it turns out, it wasn't just a metre of water... it was maybe 2 or 3 cos SB went right under!!
I managed to get about half way before my hands and arms couldn't cope any more... so it was swim time for me!
Was really happy that I'd made it that far though... thought I was only going to go for three rungs max...

On the other side, SB had ripped off his gloves and thrown them to the ground in disgust... they had failed him when he'd needed them most and it was time to part ways...

Trench Warfare
This was a psychological obstacle more than a physical one...
Narrow trenches dug into the ground and covered over with boards and dirt...
Maybe only about 10 - 15m long... but it's the thought of crawling through them and getting stuck... or collapsing on top of you... or someone freaking out ahead of you and behind you so you're stuck in the middle...
But there were enough trenches and numbers of TMs had spread thin by this stage so we didn't need to worry about the last one...
SB seemed unfazed and went ahead first... I took a cup of concrete and soon followed...

It was amazingly ...for want of a better word... LIBERATING!
It was weird... I'm crawling through a muddy tunnel on my belly... I can't really see as there are slight  twists (or the people in front) in the tunnel blocking out the light... but it is cool and some what comforting... my thoughts turned to Gaia, the Earth Mother... it felt as if she were holding me close and protecting me... my initial fear had completed dissolved and I felt quite happy! :)

Last line of the Tough Mudder pledge:

I overcome all fears.

Dirty Ballerina
Probably one of my favourite obstacles of the day!
If no one was there to disturb things, just imagine a wide flat lake of mud...
Doesn't look too bad...
But then you watch the person in front of you as he starts striding through the shallow water... and after a few steps !BOOM! he is falling head first into a deep muddy trench cunningly concealed by the water!
Check this video... jump to about 3:40 for a classic slip, slide, splash!! 
The video was taken on the Saturday... But on Sunday they had added more water, so you couldn't easily see where the trenches were...
It was fun!!
I would wade through the water, clamber up and slide on my butt until my feet would slip into the next trench then repeat... a little light hearted entertainment to raise the spirits before the soul crusher arrived...

In the final water pit, I found one of the energy gels floating in the muddy goodness. I grabbed it and put it in my pocket (hoping that it wouldn't fall out in some other waist deep water trap to follow) to save for later in the event when I thought I'd be needing it.

Quite a jog and we began to realise that we had done a loop and come back to somewhere near the starting area... and the areas that were designated as "Spectator Viewing Areas"... so we knew that something was afoot...

Boa Constrictor
Similar to Trench Warfare, except the tunnels are corrugated metal that is sloped downwards into water... so you slide on down and crawl through the muddy water (barbed wire above to prevent any standing!) and then crawl up a similar tunnel on the other side... was worried about climbing up and sliding all the way down again, but made it and SB held out a helping hand to pull me out of the other side.

Electric Eel
Oh yes... the electric stuff that everyone hears about...
Plain and simple... this sucked!
:)
During the pre-race hype up, we were told that the voltage had been cranked to 11 000 volts cos supposedly 10 000 volts at the Melbourne TM wasn't enough...
The Electric Eel was composed of plastic sheeting on the ground... nicely saturated with water (and not forgetting mud from previous TMs)... and then lots and lots of little wires hanging down... hanging down and waiting to caress and shock you!
There were signs saying "If you have a heart condition or epilepsy, do not do this"... We have a strong family history of epilepsy and it was once thought when I was in primary school that I did have it (later shown to be OK though)... So those signs kicked up the fear factor again... but I went for it!

I start crawling under the wires... there are plenty that are brushing against me but no shocks yet... they appear come randomly... and then they arrived!
It was like getting punched... big heavy thumps... my thigh... my back... my butt... thump thump thump... it was not pleasant... not at all... it didn't tingle... it freaking thumped and it thumped HARD!
I was gritting my teeth... worried I would bite the tip of my tongue off if I opened my mouth... every shock I would grunt... I could hear others around me grunting too...
And then, I got what felt like an EXTRA BIG shock!! It made my jaw clamp harder and it felt like my teeth were gonna crack... I'm not 100% sure, but the only explanation I can come up with is that I took a shock directly to the head and so those muscles were affected directly...? Whatever it was, it sucked even harder than before!
I'm not sure what the distance was... maybe 10m maybe 15m...
But it sucked the whole way... :)

When I got out the other side, I was hurting and angry...
So what does one do usually in such a situation?
Turn around and hurl abuse at the inanimate object that has just tortured you!!
"Fuck you! You motherfucking bastard!!"

It was... therapeutic... :)

The physical pain is only very brief, but the memory of it sticks with you...
And it takes it out of you a bit too...
You may have been riding on a high previously, but it is almost as if you have taken a hit to your confidence...

Berlin Walls #2
...be careful what you wish for!
Remember back at the first lot of Berlin Walls...? I was complaining about it being too easy?
Not this time...!
Even with the step up, I couldn't get anywhere near the top...
Needed the help of a couple of people to provide a boost to get my fingers over the top and pull myself over.
Then there was a second set of walls that were even higher!!
Again, boosted up and lowered myself down on the other side... nightmarish visions of twisting an ankle...
But this was a good obstacle as it started to really bring out the TM spirit... One recalls the second and fourth line of the Tough Mudder pledge:

I put team work and camaraderie before my course time.

I help my fellow Mudders complete the course.

Fire Walker
This is more of a visual effect obstacle... Good for advertising...
Burning hay bales on either side of a mud run... for about twenty metres...
The biggest thing I was worried about, was having an asthma attack from smoke inhalation!!

Soon after Fire Walker, as we were jogging along, we passed a guy on the ground who was obviously suffering from some serious cramps as his partner stretched his legs back. Now you may remember that back at the Dirty Ballerina, I picked up an energy gel. Luckily, I still had it in my pocket, so I jogged back to the guy and gave it to him. I was feeling fine and he needed it more than I did. He was most grateful. Again...

I help my fellow Mudders complete the course.

A lot of the open track was just dirt and gravel. Easy to jog on.
However, there were some sections of the course that were mud runs... It is Tough Mudder after all... About ten to twenty centimetres deep perhaps... not too difficult to keep a good pace through often... There were regular hidden pits though, that would suddenly have you knee deep in squelchy goodness!! They were random and always unexpected!!

Along the course were signs... Some motivational... Some with things like "Remember you signed a death waiver"... One of my faves was "Not being able to finish Tough Mudder isn't embarrassing. Signing up for a 5km fun run is embarrassing." :)

Spider's Web
Big chunky netting that you had to climb up and over and then down again.
There was a bit of a hold up with this one though...
We had to wait about thirty minutes as a girl had fallen and they were keeping her immobilized until the paramedics arrived.
About two thirds of the netting was accessible but it was just slow going...
Another girl had reached near the top but had been struck by fear and wasn't moving... She was clinging on for dear life and frozen there...
It started with her team mates... words of encouragement and others climbing up to help her... then it spread amongst the waiting Mudders... we were all soon shouting encouraging words and cheering her on... the TM spirit was alive and thriving! :)
When she got over the top, there were cheers and claps all around...
The paramedics checked the grounded chick, gave her a pethidine whilste to suck on and got her on her feet. More cheering and encouragement came from the crowd! But she was happy and in La-La Land with her whistle. ;)
Things finally started moving and we scaled the net.
Wasn't too difficult, but at the top, the metal cables holding the netting up were slick with mud and quite slippery. Suddenly had an understanding about how the girl perhaps had fallen! It was a bit worrying but what was more worrying were the people next to me climbing over and swinging their feet out, almost taking my head off! Nothing like a swift roundhouse kick to knock you off the top!
Got safely down the other side then spent a couple of minutes bracing the bottom of the netting, making it easier for fellow mudders to climb up and over.
Quite a run thru some forest area brought us along to...

Hold Your Wood
The aim here was to pick up a short log of wood - around 15kg perhaps - and carry it along a section of course that was a few hundred metres in length. Not too bad except for the fact that the logs weren't particularly comfy or easy to carry and you had to watch your footing in the mud. Thankfully they hadn't dug any trenches or surprise pits. You just had to try your best not to slip over.

It was from around this section onwards, that the track was often mud trails... Some squishier than others... Some still solid enough to jog a decent pace on but others were walking only due to squelching sucking mud...

Wood Chopped
Relatively simple obstacle.
"Barriers" of logs that you had to climb over but were high enough to just crouch or crawl under if you wanted. But climbing was much more entertaining and in the spirit of an obstacle, so that's how we tackled it.
SB and I created a system. One would give the other a boost up, they would clamber over, then crawl back under and give the remaining guy a boost. Fun and simple team work.
On the very last one, I held on to the log for too long as I was climbing over it which resulted in me landing flat on my back and knocking the wind out of me. Nothing major and soon got back on my feet.

Log Jammin
Quite similar to Wood Chopped, but these were all densely packed together. But it was easy to slip and slide under and over the varying heights of the logs. The logs were smooth and we were well lubricated with mud. It was another fun moment along the way! :)
But the fun was about to end...
Quite a distance to traverse stretched before us... and the majority of it was mud of varying degrees... Tracks of the 10-20cm deep stuff that you could squelch thru easily enough but not get much speed up... Then, what looked like a vast continuous mud river stretching on for a long long way... This bit was tricky... the water was shallow enough a lot of the time that you could slog through it, but there were hidden pits scattered under the surface VERY regularly, so it seemed that every 10 metres a leg would suddenly be thigh deep or you would just tumble over!
I worked out that if you lay flat on your belly, the water was just deep enough that you could semi-swim and pull yourself along with your hands. It was better than stumbling into pit traps and seemed almost relaxing. Little did I know, I was fatiguing my arms and they were going to be necessary very soon...
SB said something about this being the Mud Mile... and whilst I hadn't seen a sign telling us so, I had to agree... There was nothing but mud and it seemed to be stretching on for a mile or more...

But then it happened...
The sign came into view...
And I had no idea of the nightmare we were about to experience...

Mud Mile
Many people have asked me in the month since I've done TM: "What was the hardest obstacle?"
Plain and simple, the Mud Mile...
Imagine this: a pit of waist deep mud, the consistency of quicksand, that is the width of the course and around 2 metres long. On the other side is a bank out of the pit with a small mud hill. And on the other side of that hill is another mud pit. Hill. Pit. Hill. Pit. Hell pit. Hell pit. Hell pit...
I lost count of how many there were... around eight or so I reckon...
The first couple didn't seem too bad. Get in the mud, wade slowly across to the bank and clamber up.
But then mud was so think that moving through it just sapped your energy.
Also remembering that this was at about the 19km mark. We'd been through a lot but we were really being tested now.
Fatigue was setting in. I would get thru a pit to the other side, but I didn't have the arm strength left to haul myself up. I managed to call on some deep down rage a couple of times to give me the strength. :)
I would start yelling and growling and I could work up enough animal energy to pull myself up and out...
But then I'd used everything up... I vividly remember getting to one bank and trying to pull myself up... couldn't... tried to bring the rage... nope... energy stores depleted... tried pulling a knee up and out to get it up on the embankment... calf muscle started cramping savagely... where was that energy gel now!?!?!? ;)
I lay my head down on my hands on the mud and started laughing to myself... the laughter was a combo though... there was happiness there cos I was having so much fun but it was mixed in with a kind of mad laughter as I thought to myself, if there weren't others around me, I'd be doomed... the mud would embrace me and take me down down down into the dark...
But remember...

I help my fellow Mudders complete the course...

And this is where that line of the pledge shone its brightest.
Without each other, many wouldn't have been able to make it through. There were some energetic bunnies that still had enough in the reserves that they could almost jump across the pits. But most slumped their way down into the mud, struggled across and then had to be hauled out by one or two fellow mudders on the other side.
I managed to scurry like a Jesus Christ Lizard across one pit using my forearms and shins. I kid you not, the mud was that thick!
In another pit, I got to the other side and there was a girl in maybe her mid-twenties that probably weighed about 20-30kgs less than me. But she was the only one around, so she tried to pull me out. She had to sit on the bank while trying to pull me up. So I ended having to clamber up between her muddy, leotard-clad legs. She looked a bit embarassed and I was almost gonna make a wise crack about usually asking for a name or number first, but no. We were Brother and Sister of the Order of the Mud. We were bound by the mud.

I feel like my description doesn't do the Mud Mile justice... It wasn't just a physical challenge, it was psychological too... The mud pits drained your energy and it felt like they would never end... I kept looking at the edges of the pits where the mud appeared shallower, or on the other side of the ropes where some of the Princess Muffins were slouching along... But no! I was determined to go straight down the middle of this bastard and finish it!

A little side story... A few days after TM, I went to a sports store to buy a pair of swimming goggles... The attendant asked me why I was swimming and I said that I'd been doing a lot of running and now wanted to broaden my training. We got to talking about Tough Mudder and it turned out that he had done it over the weekend as well! I said something like "Man, the Mud Mile was a killer, wasn't it? Went straight through the middle and struggled but it was good to see the end of it." He just gave me a nervous smile, didn't say anything and finished putting through the transaction for the goggles... I started thinking to myself... He skipped it! ...or maybe he stuck to the edge bits and took the easy road... I almost wanted to scream at him for being a soft option! Gimme your TM head band punk! You don't deserve it!!
...you see? These are the invisible scars I am now burdened with thanks to the Mud Mile.

It felt like forever, but we made it through...
And every single person was covered in thick mud. I'm sure it added another 5-10kg... It was everywhere...
So we stumbled along and eventually reached our big bath, ready to wash the mud away...

Walk The Plank
Climbed up a diagonal wooden wall. Thank god there were small steps jutting out to make it a bit easier.
Found myself standing on a wide platform and looking down five metres below into a massive pool of water. I think this is in every Tough Mudder event and I've seen it on plenty of YouTube videos. I had been looking forward to it, even more so to get the mud off, but once you're standing up there and looking down, the natural fear instincts kick in. Hey, gimme a break... At this stage, I wasn't a Tough Mudder yet... I was still mortal! :)
But then I remembered the fifth line of the pledge...

I overcome all fears...

Take a deep breath, wait for the person in front of you to clear outta the way... and JUMP!!
Prior to jumping I had forgotten that I was wearing full clothing and running shoes. But once I had come up for air and started trying to paddle for shore, it hit me pretty quickly that it was a bit more difficult to swim like this! Wasn't too far to get to a shallow enough area to stand though and then it was off and running again...

We had to cross a wide and deep section of the river which helped wash off any extra mud that we missed. We were feeling pumped... We knew we were nearing the end...
And then we saw it... The towering monstrosity known as...

Everest
Well it's not that monstrous really... It's just a 3 or so metre high quarter pipe that you have to run up and try and climb over.
When we first got there, I watched a guy just bolt towards it, run up the face, grab hold of the edge and haul himself over. Made it look too easy. Then I watched EVERYONE ELSE who were having to rely on the Mudder spirit to get them over.
There were loads of people at the top reaching down and waiting to catch and drag people up. The Brotherhood of Mud was reigning supreme again!

I made eye contact with one guy at the top and charged towards the slope. I'd realised earlier on in the day that Nike running shoes, designed specifically for running, don't exactly provide optimal traction on smooth surfaces. So I was dreading slipping over on the quarter pipe before getting anywhere near the top. Thankfully, the laws of physics appeared to win the day and enough forward momentum carried me up up up... I leapt with arms outstretched... I tried to grab the guy's hands... He tried to grab my hands... We touched... We fumbled... Gravity dragged me kicking and screaming back dooooooooown the slope... :(  (which was kinda fun... think of it as a large slippery dip!)
No matter! Try again!
Walked back to the line up area... waited for a couple of others and then the same guy was still up there offering his hands so I ran for him again... run run run... up up up... jump...! fly...! GRAB!!! My fingers wrapped tightly around his forearms and his did the same to me!!!
It was a magical moment!
Yes! I'm going up baby!!
...errr not yet sunshine!

You see, I'd come to a bit of a stalemate... I was hanging on for dear life to this guy but I couldn't get my feet underneath me to help climb up and over the ledge... I tried a few times and even tried twisting my body to step sideways (can't think of a better way to describe it!) but it just wasn't happening.
But I was determined to not let go of my saviour. I didn't want to have to try running up and doing the leap of faith again. Thankfully another Mudder soon came over and he grabbed my arms as well. They hauled me up enough so my hands could hang on to the ledge. But that's all I could do... just hang there... It was the end of the course... My arms were already kaput before I ascended Everest and my footing situation wasn't helping...

Mudder #2 then asked: "Are you gonna climb up or do you want us to pull you up?"
"Pull up please"
And that's what they did. Well half way... They pulled me up enough that my tummy was directly resting on the edge of the ledge... Lay there for a bit... Realized that I still couldn't find purchase with my feet... And then the nausea kicked in!! The pressure from the edge driving into my guts wasn't making me comfy...
"Um guys... do you mind pulling me up some more? Otherwise I'm gonna puke!"
And with that impetus, they pulled me up enough that I was able to finally clamber onto the sweet sweet ledge and lay on my back for a bit... I had reached the summit!!
Mudder #1 says to me: "You are one determined motherfucker."
"Sorry mate, but I wasn't letting go!" :-D

I then assisted him in getting his mate up and thought I'd stick around for at least one more before heading onwards. That "one more" proved to be a workout! A Mudder who was probably as tall as me but solidly packed with muscle came charging up the slope and grabbed Mudder #1's arms. I reached down straight away to help out, but he was a big boy! I was half trying to pull him up and half trying to make sure I didn't tip over the edge and back down the slide again... Another Mudder had started helping from the otherside as well and I reached down and got my hand behind his knee to start pulling him up. As he came up over the edge, there was a bit of hand slippage and there may have been some contact with the family jewels, but what's a little groping amongst Mudders, right??  ;-)

Scaled down the other side of Everest with a spring in my step. SB and I began our final short jog... The end was in sight... We were already imagining that free beer as we crossed the finish line... However, there was one thing standing in our way... And that was...

Electroshock Therapy
The final obstacle on every Tough Mudder event is this bad boy.
Probably the most publicized obstacle... And the most feared...
Approximately a 10-15 metre run through densely dangling electric "vines"...
One mate asked me: "How do you train for electric shocks?"
Besides whizzing on an electric fence, I have no idea.

If this was the one and only electrically charged obstacle on the course, maybe it wouldn't be too bad. Yeah you know it's gonna be unpleasant, judging by the videos you have seen online, but it should be doable, right?
But it wasn't... It was the second charged obstacle, and it was for that very reason, that SB had a moment of weakness. We both knew of the pain that was coming... It's not like the pain lasts... But it is very uncomfy and like I said before... it just sucks!

SB tells me that he is going to skip Electroshock Therapy... He's done... The Electric Eel was enough and he doesn't want that again... I was, for want of a better word, shocked..! SB is a unit... a machine... He had been unstoppable all day. And here he was, ready to skip the final obstacle. I have to confess, when he said those words, I was tempted... I had my moment of doubt... But no way... I'd been waiting and training for nine months for Tough Mudder and I was going to conquer *every* *single* *obstacle*...
SB had helped me out along the course multiple times and now it was my turn to repay the favour.
I can't remember what I said now, but it was along the lines of coming this far and not backing down. I told him I was doing it no matter what and that I wanted him to do it too...
Do it for team !!!TAKE IT!!!...
He agreed. :)

So this was it... the final hurdle...
Ahead of us, was a team of five guys all wearing identical black T-shirts with some sort of logo on it. They were lined up and waiting for the signal to go... And they were off!! All five made it to about half way before all five crashed to the ground! I'm not sure if they slipped on the muddy ground or the shocks drove them to their knees or one at the front went down and tripped the rest. But it didn't matter. Now they just had to crawl as fast as they could while still getting zapped!

So that wasn't the most reassuring sight to behold prior to our dash through the terrible trendils, but there was no backing down now...
We steeled ourselves and waited for the ref's signal to go...
GO!!!
Arms up and crossed in front of my face, I charged through the wires. It felt as if I made it about half way before my first jolt. It wasn't too bad... I kept running... THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! Three more jolts but then I was clear of the forest of wires and still on my feet!!
I raised my hands in the air and let loose a mighty "Fuck yeah!!!"
I looked over to SB who had also made it through the whole way on his feet. We were both grinning like idiots and then he says to me: "One of those shocks made it feel as if my balls went back up into my pelvic cavity!"
YOWSERS!

The Finish Line
We walked over the finish line...
(my original idea of doing the Gangnam Style horsey dance over the line was long forgotten!)
Someone put the official finishers Tough Mudder orange sweat band on my head...
A cold VB was pressed into my hand...
A flock of snow white doves were released around me...
Rose petals were strewn ahead of my feet so that I no longer stepped upon mud...
Screaming teens shoved notepads in my face wanting autographs...
Virgins threw themselves at my feet... begging for me to take them...

I was no longer mortal...

I was a Tough Mudder...

Countdown to TM: Day 1...

Flew to Sydney.
Ate awesome Thai for dinner and had a beer and a wine... purely for sedative purposes! ;)
Didn't think I'd be drinking the night before, but my team mate insisted... :)

Meditated on the mud...
Took a long time to get to sleep!

Countdown to TM: Day 3...

Jeekers! Only Thursday... Friday... Saturday... MUDDERDAY!!!

Still weighing myself on mostly a daily basis... part out of habit, part out of interest...
For about the last month, I've been quite stable at around 80.8 - 81.5kg.
I haven't been concerned about my weight since I reached this level.
But is was very nice and quite surprising to wake up to a reading of 80.0kg on the scales this morn!

When I began training for TM at the start of the year, weight loss wasn't a goal.
I was training to be able to be fit enough to actually do TM in September.

In the past, I've tried to lose weight for various reasons (health, look better etc) but I wouldn't lose that much or I couldn't stick to whatever I was doing.
I've tried RPM classes, weight loss shakes, diets and various other exercise regimes with the goal of weight loss.
When I started training for TM, I was 91kg and in my weight tracking app on my iPhone.
I set my goal as 85kg and the target date as the 23rd of September.
85kg would mean I would be in the healthy BMI range, plus it was just a magical number I had often aimed for in the past.

But I'll say it again, I wasn't running to lose weight, I was running to get fit...
And guess what..?
I lost weight as a result of the running!  (big surprise???)   :)

Once I started getting better at running and feeling healthier, I modified my eating habits too.
Portion size has always been a weakness of mine, so it was just a matter of will power to cut back on the amount I would eat. Using smaller plates and bowls is always a great idea to help with this.
Fewer crappy snacks and keeping up good amounts of protein to help feel fuller longer.

And the weight kept coming off..!
It was sometime around mid-June that I hit 85kg.
I was over the moon at the time. :)
I'd finally hit that magic number...
And while it isn't a very accurate calculation, my BMI was finally under 25!
I was now considered to no longer be "overweight" by scientific standards.

And as the year continued... the runs continued... the distances grew longer... the pace increased...
By mid-August, I had dropped to 81kg!

It was the lightest I've been in... I have no idea!
I vaguely remember when I moved to Japan in February 2000, that I had often told a story of being 87kg upon arrival, but within two weeks I had dropped to 84kg. Change in diet and water resulted in about a week of diarrhoea.

So the furthest "weight" memory I have is 12 years ago and I am lighter than that now!
Not too bad for an old dog... ;)

Since January, I have taken four lots of progress photos of my front, side and back.
The results are quite remarkable...
Waist line has reduced...
Tummy isn't bulging out as much (there is still a stubborn layer over my rock hard abs though) :(
I'm not quite as bootylicious as before...
Legs have slimmed down a lot as well...

So post TM... what is going to happen?
Will I stop running? ...doubt it!
It's become a pseudo-addiction...
It all depends on what the next challenge is...
Maybe a half marathon..? Maybe a triathlon..?

Finished the day with another massage from Ceds from Core for Life.
Not as painful as the week before, but still plenty of tightness that needed loosening.

Countdown to TM: Day 2...

Can you feel it...?
That buzz in the air...?
It's so close!!

Started carb loading...
Pasta for lunch. Rice for dinner.
Is that carb loading? Still learning this stuff! :)

God this week has been mostly a rest week by the feel of it!

Countdown to TM: Day 4...

Started the day with a leg loosener...

1km walk / 3km run / 1km walk

Routine has been a bit disrupted with a sick child but felt good to get out for an easy run.
Not much else to report for the day!

Countdown to TM: Day 5...

Crappy night with chucking child...
Felt worn out...
Stretches and foam roller as calves and hammys were tight.

Let's just put this one down as a recovery day shall we. ;)

Countdown to TM: Day 6...

A little tender post city to bay, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Tummy still not feeling 100% so took it easy.

That evening, my little one started chucking about half an hour after going to sleep.
Twas a long and restless night.
Maybe 4 or 5 hours of sleep max and stress from thinking of having to admit him into hospital.

Countdown to TM: Day 7...

CITY TO BAY morning!!!

Didn't exactly wake feeling well rested, but didn't feel too bad.
Drugs kept the runs at bay thankfully.

First group of elite runners started at 8am... I didn't start until 8:40am, by which time, most of them had already crossed the finish line!! :)
Started off fast and set and generally good pace.
Felt good and was overtaking plenty of people...
But then my body started going downhill...
The gastro had weakened me and by the seventh kilometre, I had to walk for a bit as I thought I was going to throw up... My mate, who I'd left behind at the 2km mark, caught up to me and gave me some encouragement... Got running again and found my pace... Kept consistent... Was annoyed as I knew my hopes of doing a sub-60 run were dashed, but now just getting over the finish line ASAP was the goal.

Managed to finish the race in 1:05:35.
Very happy with that!
Especially when you compare it to my 2010 race time of 1:26:37!
It's amazing what a loss of 10kg and some proper training can do! :)
2013 will be sub 60... I'll make it happen for sure!

...and only one week to Tough Mudder!!
City to Bay was always a "warm up" for TM... so hopefully I've now ironed out the kinks and I'm ready to rock!! 

Countdown to TM: Day 8...

Awoke to some rather sensitive calves and quads.
But they felt a whole lot better than being tight.
Only managed five hours sleep cos I was up baking and had to prepare for my son's birthday BBQ.

Was a good day... Wasn't the food I really wanted to be eating before the City to Bay, however it did hit me later on that I was taking things a little too seriously perhaps...
It's just a 12km run... I've done plenty of them before...
I think the main thing was that I really wanted to run the 12km in under an hour, so I wanted to be at my best.

Unfortunately... I was to be thwarted by some pathogens!! :(
Oh yes... I got gastro that evening... Many trips made to the toilet...

Wanted to hit the sack early as I'd had only a short sleep the night before and was tired from a busy day, but had to get up a few times during the night due to over hydrating from fear of fluid loss from the diarrhoea.

Countdown to TM: Day 9...

Still bloody tight when I woke up in the morn... :(
Calves and hammys especially...
Lots of stretching and some foam roller massage... But just doesn't feel like it is doing anything...
35 inverted push ups.

Couldn't take it during the day.
Knew I needed help, so booked in a massage with Core for Life trainer Ceds.
It was about an hour and a half of pain and relief..!
And it was soooooooo good.
It was exactly what I needed.
My legs had just felt continuously tight until the massage.

It was freaking heavenly afterwards!



Such a difference and it really hit home that massage needs to be an integral part of my training regime if I want to continue thrashing myself. :)

Countdown to TM: Day 10...

Had a good solid nights sleep and thank the Mudder Goddess my back ache had disappeared! :)
Started the day in a much better mood than what I had going to sleep.

Was wary that I had a long drive down south for work, so stretched very very thoroughly before my shower.

Today was also R U OK? Day.

A day to reach out to friends and family and check up on them. To talk about feelings and issues...
Look out for those close to you that may be anxious, depressed or stressed. Sit down for a cuppa and a chat...
Having had a family member commit suicide years ago, this day has a particularly powerful meaning for myself.
Unfortunately it can be hard to spot the potential signs of trouble in those close to us until it is too late.

I can't remember how old I was, maybe in high school, when swore a solemn vow never to commit suicide. I put in the disclaimer that if sacrificing myself meant saving many others, then perhaps it would be acceptable. (imaginative teenager thinking Hollywood style... Holding the bomb while everyone else escapes... Someone has to be the hero!) :)

That vow may have been made by a naive and idealistic teenager, but it still holds true today.
Suicide is never the answer...
Snuffing out the flame is not worth it...
Times may get tough and shit may happen but there should always be someone to reach out to...

Even if I don't know you.. you're some random person who has stumbled across my blog and things aren't going well for you... I'm willing to listen... Willing to talk things over... Feel free to contact me...
No one should have to carry the burden of their problems alone...

Finished the day with 35 inverted push ups in the evening and I'll be stretching again before bed.
And I've booked myself a massage for next week!! :)

Countdown to TM: Day 11...

5 km run with 5kg vest in 25min this morn...

Had to really fight myself to do last kilometre. Legs and breathing took a lot of effort.
Again, went to bed late. Bloody Internet! Too addictive!! ;)
Gotta be smarter on this side of things... Especially with the two events just around the corner.
More sleep to help my body heal and rejuvenate...

Legs were still really tight so loads of stretching and used the foam roller too.
Want a massage...
Neeeeed a massage!!

37 inverted push ups to finish up.

My back has really started to ache this evening... It is often due to tight leg muscles and sitting down for long periods...
Have done a lot of stretches this evenings but haven't had much relief. Popped some pills but they usually only take a slight edge off the pain. Hopefully a good sleep and I'll wake in a better state.

Countdown to TM: Day 12...

Had planned to run this morn but went to bed too late and just felt lethargic.

Stretches - calves feeling really tight.
33 inverted push ups.

Countdown to TM: Day 13...

A quiet day.
Stretches after yesterday's run and 35 inverted push ups in the morning.

Less than two weeks to go until Tough Mudder.
Yesterday's run gave me a lot of confidence for my fitness level for the City to Bay and TM.
I was thinking that doing the C2B (12km) in under an hour was going to have to wait until next year... But if I can do 10km in 55min while wearing a vest, maybe... maaaaybe... it might happen...

Countdown to TM: Day 14...

Weighed in at 81.5kg.
Seem to have stabilized around there.
Happy enough with that weight! :)

Met a mate at 10am for a run around the Torrens River. He hasn't had as much opportunity to train as I have recently, so I wore the 5kg vest to help slow me down.
I was a bit hesitant as we were aiming for 10km and I wasn't sure how I'd do with the vest over that distance, but he said he'd be happy to walk if I needed to. ;)

Did 10km in 55min!!
And that even included a couple of double backs to let my mate catch up and a bit of walking when I bumped into another mate!!
Was over the moon with the time. I wasn't expecting running 10km in under an hour with the vest on.
But I think running with someone combined with a later start time helped a lot. Half the time when I run in the morn at 6am, my body feels heavy and lethargic... I think the later time just lets ones body normalize before putting it through hell.

Very proud of my mate too. Running 10km in under an hour after minimal training was a great effort.

Lots of stretching afterwards and in the evening as a long run will often leave me tight for the next few days.

Countdown to TM: Day 15...

Started the day with a 5km run in 25min wearing a 5kg vest. Very happy to stick within the 5min/km range with the vest on.

While still wearing the vest, I did a couple of pull ups followed by some dead drops.
Short sprints at the park and a couple on the way home too.

Finished off with 30 inverted push ups at home.

Crashed out early that night for plenty of recovery and prep for tomorrow morn.

Countdown to TM: Day 16...

Today's post is taking on a bit of a different angle...

And I'll make it easy on you... I'll write the short version for those that cannot be bothered with my verbose style and the long version for those that want a bit of the background and motivation to this post (and maybe a little bed time reading to help them sleep!).

SHORT VERSION:
Over the next two weeks before I take part in Tough Mudder, I want to raise a minimum of $140 (just think, only fourteen people need to donate $10... easy right!?) for Legacy as part of my acknowledgement for the way that TM has changed my life and to pay tribute to those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice during active service for our country.
Please click here if you wish to donate.
(FYI - Leave the "State" blank and put your state in the "Province" section)


LONG VERSION:
This morning, a friend asked what the charity group Legacy represented.
I explained to the best of my knowledge that they provided support to the families of Aussie soldiers who had died during active service (since checking out the Legacy website I've learned that they are "providing services to Australian families suffering financially and socially after the incapacitation or death of a spouse or parent, during or after their defence force service").

It got me thinking...
It has been "Legacy Week" this week and you may have seen the tin rattlers out and about... I'll be man enough to admit that I avoided eye contact with them last week when I was at Bunnings... When it comes to charities, I tend to donate to only to a couple, like the Red Cross or the Cancer Council, as they are close to my heart... Legacy isn't high on my list, as it has very little personal impact on me...

Unfortunately it was "good" timing last week for all Australians to be reminded what Legacy is there for, when we lost five of our diggers in a single day...
Three were murdered in a cowardly "green on blue" attack and two died in a helicopter accident.
There are now five more families out there, that will not have a father or a son or a brother or a husband or an uncle to ever see again...

Tough Mudder supports Legacy in Australia, Wounded Warrior Project in the USA and Help for Heroes in the UK. To date, over $3 million has been raised for Wounded Warrior Project alone. Here's a video with a little background if you are interested.

When you first register for a Tough Mudder event, you are sent a link to help raise money for Legacy. The added bonus is that if I raise $140, I get a $25 discount of my entry fee.
I registered in January for this event (yes a whole nine months before!) but purposefully ignored the charity side of it... The main reason why? Because I wanted Tough Mudder to be about me... Purely and selfishly that's it... I didn't want my motivation to be stemming from raising money for a charity... I wanted to be training for this event so that once I've crossed that finish line, I can proudly say "I did it!"...

But you know what...?

I have already won...

Tough Mudder has changed my life in so many ways for the better...
I am probably stronger, lighter, faster and healthier than I have ever been in my adult life at the moment... I have shaved centimetres off my sides... I have lost excess kilograms from all over my body... and I have added years to my life...
And it is really all thanks to TM... It has inspired and motivated me where other methods have failed in the past...
The goals I set originally have been surpassed... smashed even...

So now it is time for me to give thanks...
And this is the best way I can think of doing so...

I want to raise a minimum of $140 over the next two weeks... Hell not even $140 cos I've just donated $25 as proof that it is not about the discount... And if I do hit $140, then I will drop another $25 as further thanks to everyone for their support!

So may I beg of ye, for a mere $10 perhaps?
Too much? ...just a fiver would be great thanks! :)
Help make a difference to the families of those that made the ultimate sacrifice and were lost whilst defending our country...
Help cheer me on for September 23rd... be there with me in spirit if you cannot be there in person...

Please click here to go to the donation page.

And if that link doesn't work for some reason, please copy and paste this:
http://www.raceit.com/fundraising/donate.aspx?event=6814&fundraiser=r2594499

Luv ya!

Countdown to TM: Day 17...

Bio age testing day!
Stretches in morn to get the body awake and limber.
Ten slow push ups to stretch out arms nicely.
Some core activation exercises.

Couldn't stop thinking about 4pm and the test.
The PT sessions we've been participating in have been great. Complimented my running nicely. Shown me areas I need to improve.

Core. Core. Core.
That's for sure!! :)

Picked up my blood test results from my GP. Cholesterol and blood glucose looking great! :)

Bio Age Testing went really well.
Improvement in all areas!
Have dropped a few kilos over the last three months.
Waist went from 90cm to 82.5cm!!!
(really really happy to see that result!!!)
Blood pressure down (but both the initial reading and today's reading were much higher than what I get when measured at the Red Cross before my blood donations. White Coat Hypertension perhaps??).
Ran an extra level in the beep test.
Was much more flexible than last time in the stretch test.

In the first test, I did 27 push ups.
28 was the next tier in my age category, so I was determined to do 28 minimum this time and push for the next tier which was 40.
Did 42 push ups today!! :D
Felt fabulous after that.

Finished up with plank hold.
Held it for 2:25 minutes.
First time around I only did 1:06, so again I was over the moon.

Since the beginning of this year, I've lost a lot of weight from running and better eating. These PT sessions have been such an awesome added benefit to my fitness regime and shown me that there's a lot more I need to be doing than just running... Especially on the lead up to an event like Tough Mudder.
If it was just a half marathon, yeah no probs, run run run... But it's much much more than that... It's a half marathon with 28 military style obstacles (I like to think of them as rest stops!) along the way...
I get the feeling that it's gonna push me to my limits and test me physically and psychologically...
But who knows..? Maybe I'm more ready than I think I am...

Fear is the mind killer... and on September 23rd, I vow that Fear will not be hitching a ride with me...

Countdown to TM: Day 18...

Stretches in the morn.
Feeling tight from long country drives, too much sitting down at a desk doing computer work and cramped up in small aeroplanes.
37 push ups as well.

Did a 2.5km walk up and down a hill in the arvo as I was feeling really tight in my hip flexors and calves and just wanted to move. Felt liberating! :)

Reviewed the Sydney TM course a little in the evening... Psyching myself up for it!!

Finished off the night with more stretches before bed.
Managed to touch my toes... Can't remember the last time I did that!!
Bio age testing tomorrow... How will it go...?

Countdown to TM: Day 19...

Nothing much today.
Woke naturally at 530am after a very solid sleep. Went and watched the sunrise over Mt Gambier from the Blue Lake. Was beautiful and a peaceful way to start the day. Next time I'd like to watch it from the Centenary Tower, which judging from what I can see may be the highest point around town.
Was very tempted to go for a run, but duty called.

After getting home from Mt Gambier, did some stretches and 39 push ups.

Countdown to TM: Day 20...

Flew to Mt Gambier for work early in the morn.
Flight was delayed and we almost had to turn back because of fog, but got there eventually.

I was pumped... Couldn't wait for the end of the day...
Why...? Because I had a mountain to conquer!!

Two years ago, a mate and I were in Mt Gambier for work and we decided to run around the Blue Lake. This was well before my running days and I was probably doing very little regular exercise at the time.
I felt like I was almost going to die that evening...
I have asthma but it rarely bothers me and I haven't had a full blown attack since I was a child.
But the higher altitude, thinner oxygen (well it's not that high, but I'm sure the air is thinner than flat old Adelaide!) and cool damp air was the perfect recipe for disaster for me.
After about 400-500 metres, I had to stop... I could barely breathe... And this time there's no exaggeration... I was having trouble actually drawing air into my lungs...
My poor fitness in combination with the conditions was destroying me...
From memory after recovering I walked the rest of the way.

So this was it... Back in the Mount in a much fitter form... Memories were haunting me but I'd had my asthma meds and stretched well...
And you know what...?
I smashed it!!
:D

I did three laps of the lake course (11km) in 59 minutes. Breathing was fine. Felt like I was flying on the downhill sections. The uphills were a challenge on the second and third laps but still managed to keep jogging the whole way.

This was my post on FB after the run:

Blue Lake, two years ago you humiliated me. I tried to run around you and you just sat there and laughed. My legs could barely carry me up your hills. My asthmatic lungs choked on your thin, damp wintery air.
But not this time...
This time I came prepared.
This time I made you my bitch.
This time your were just a perfect little training exercise on the lead up to my two upcoming events.
This time I thank you for being here to challenge me again.

I'm looking forward to next time...

Was one of the best feeling runs I've had in a while...
Felt smooth... Controlled...
Recovered quickly and stretched afterwards.
Maybe the change of scenery did some good...? The fresh country air?
Whatever it was, I hope I can hold onto that feeling when it's time for TM...

Countdown to TM: Day 21...

Father's Day!
Woke up for a 5km run.
Only a short one this morn as we had plans for the day.

I wanted it crank the speed for the 5km and try pushing for 4:45min kays the whole way if possible but my nose was still full of crap from a cold.
Breathing wasn't the easiest either.
Still managed to do the 5km in 25 min so happy with 5 minute kays.
Stretched afterwards thoroughly. Still wary of back. Plus knees were a little achy.

Managed to do 40 push ups in a row in prep for the bio age test. Last time I missed out on the next tier of push ups by one, so will definitely be in that tier this time and aiming for the next if possible.

A few more hours in the garden.
Hope to have a veggie garden planted soon. Seeds have gone into planter pots and garden bed being prepared.

Countdown to TM: Day 22...

It's finally September!
The month I've been waiting all year for... The Month of Mud!!
The first day of Spring as well and Gaia put on a spectacular day for it.

Wasn't too seedy after previous night.
Only did some light stretches.
And gardening for a few hours.

Countdown to TM: Day 23...

No pain this morn!!
A little stiffness maybe, but no pain!! :)

Did plenty of stretches for recovery from yesterday plus strengthening core exercises to avoid more issues.
Really need to work on core on a regular basis.

Fasted overnight for a blood test (cholesterol and glucose) for bio age testing next week. The week before we started the PT sessions, we had our bio ages tested.
I was four years under my chronological age! :)
I wish I'd been tested at the beginning of the year when I was 10kgs heavier. Would've been interesting to see the difference.

Had a mate visiting from overseas do there was a big dinner and plenty of drinking. Stuck mostly to red wine... Purely for the anti-oxidants of course! ;)

Countdown to TM: Day 24...

Looking forward to final work PT session happening this arvo. It's a cardio class, so no running in the morn.

Did 35 push ups then planks and cobras for a couple of mins each.
A bit of stretching... I can now actually touch my toes if I curl them back! Been a while since I've been able to do that.

And then... The nightmare began...
Was reaching into the car to grab my suit jacket before going into my first appointment. I didn't realize the edge of the gutter that I was about to step on was broken. Put my foot down and slipped off the side.
Slight pain in my ankle, but the bigger concern was my back... I had twisted and jarred my body suddenly and I could already feel pain in my lower back. :(

GP recommended some anti-inflammatories and light stretches. Popped the pills but couldn't do the stretches I wanted to do in a suit. Did what I could standing up though.

I was really bummed out.
This was what I'd been dreading for the last few weeks... Within sight of doing Tough Mudder and then injuring myself... Eight months of training and then not being able to take part...
Heart breaking...

What really had me worried though was the feeling in my back... It reminded me too much of last year...

At the end of 2010, I was a passenger in a car accident. It was only quite minor, but we were hit from behind at fairly high speed and I had minor whiplash in my lower back from it.
I recovered within a couple of weeks thanks to a couple of physio sessions.
But around mid-2011, I had a flare up that was much worse than the original pain from the event.
It turned out that my muscles in my back and legs were so tight that they were spasming and pulling my body out of kilter.
About two solid months of massage, dry needling, stretches, physio and Pilates got me back to normal thankfully. My core strength had been crap and was providing minimal stability. The Pilates was great for building up my core, while the stretches, massage and dry needling loosened my muscles.

The clinic I attended was top notch.
Smart Health (just off Richmond Rd) has a range of skilled professionals under the one roof.
I highly recommend Anh Vo as a physio. Thorough and healing hands. :)

I was still planning on attending my PT session, but had accepted that I'd probably just be stretching and goading my colleagues on from the sidelines. This was the tenth and final session. I was the only member in the group who had managed to attend every single one. And here I was, about to miss the last class.

However...!
All was not lost...
As it was just a cardio session and my ankle was fine, the PT still got me to participate. There was no twisting involved and he got me to just avoid the rowing machine.
We did five min rotations on treadmill, bike and elliptical trainer. Two lots on each.
I kept upping the resistance on all the machines cos what was recommended wasn't feelin like enough of a challenge. Sweated up a storm!! :)

Did two lots of thorough stretches in evening and massage with foam roller.
Was trying to beat the back pain before it beat me!!

Countdown to TM: Day 25...

Started the day with a 10km run.
Did it in 56min which whilst isn't fantastic for my City to Bay goal of 12km in an hour, I'm still happy with the distance.
Was a really damp morning and although I had taken a couple of puffs of my asthma meds prior to running, at around the 4km mark, my breathing felt really wheezy... Was close to stopping but pushed on and thankfully thru it.
The four km mark was along a stretch of pathway that I'd had troubles before as well... Maybe there is some bad juju along that path! :)

One of the best parts of the run itself was when jogging passed the local racecourse. As I was getting closer, I could see what I thought was fog around the area but there was no fog to be seen anywhere else, so I assumed it was steam from using hot water to wash things or something similar.
The closer I got, the thicker the fog got. It turned out that it was fog coming from the wetlands that are in the centre of the racecourse.
I wished I'd stopped to take some photos... But i was so set on trying to record a fast time that I didn't want to stop.
To my imagination, it looked like an entrance to Tír na N'og (the Celtic Otherworld). An area where the barriers between reality and the Fairy Kingdom blur allowing mortals the opportunity to cross over at their peril.

Will definitely take some pics if I see it again.

Plenty of stretches at home as well in the arvo. Did some planks and cobras to round out the day as well.

Countdown to TM: Day 26...

Now I'm paying the price more for yesterday's stupidity.
Glutes, calves, quads... All tight... And often when I have tight glutes and quads, I will experience back pain (related to an injury in a car accident a couple of years ago).

Stretches galore before breaky and some more just after my shower too. A massage would be awesome, but no time for that today unfortunately.

To finish off, yes it was basically another rest day. But an important one. More stretches done in the evening and a bit of reading on the net.
A couple of good reads:

Importance of massage.
http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=4077&PageNum=1
(found thru BodyFirst Massage on FB)

Why exercising makes us feel good.
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2012/08/what-happens-to-our-brains-during-exercise-and-why-it-makes-us-happier/

Countdown to TM: Day 27...

An educational, rest day would be the best description for day 27...

First thing in the morn, do some of the burpees on my tally... Now what happens if you try doing an exercise that you don't do regularly without stretching??
You hurt yourself!
Luckily, I don't think I went that far, but you would think I would know better by now. >:(
So the important thing, learn from my mistakes and move on.
Was a low key day all in all. Ate much healthier than the previous day and felt better internally.

By the end of the day, glutes were starting to ache a bit, so did some light stretches before bed.

Countdown to TM: Day 28...

A bit of a rest day for targeted exercise.
Felt well rested after a solid sleep.

Some light stretches in the morn and around 33 push ups.
Did about 3.5 hours of gardening, which was the main extent of my training for the day. Had a beautiful day for it, which was refreshing after all the recent rain.

Since early March this year, when my training really started to kick up a notch, I haven't been drinking alcohol much. There has been the odd night out or a rare wine at dinner time. Used to maybe have a glass of wine every couple of evenings, sometimes the odd beer or a whisky. Being winter is perhaps part of the reason for less drinking but part of me has also not wanted to, in order to avoid the extra calories.
Often if there was beer in the fridge, I'd be more likely to drink it, just because it was there. However, there is a six pack in the fridge that's been sitting there for probably about two months and was only opened when we had guests around!

So this arvo the Adelaide Crows were playing the Melbourne Demons at the MCG. The footy season is definitely at the pointy end and the Crows are sitting at third on the ladder. :)
Caught up with a couple of mates at a pub to watch the game, but on the way there, I had resolved to do one burpee for every point the Crows scored to make up for the beer and snacks I was going to consume.
Two hours later... Two beers... Too much deep fried food... And the Crows destroyed the Demons by 69 points! Adelaide scored a whopping 150 points!!!
Oh yes... I'm looking down the barrel of 150 burpees that I plan to do before the day is through...

I start dividing them up as I'm driving home... It's 7pm... so 30 burpees per hour... Seems easy enough... I get a call... The family is starving and can I grab something quick along the way... Uh oh...
I settle on KFC... Not a great dinner option but conveniently located on the home stretch and quick enough...
As soon as I'm eating it though, I start regretting it... I've already had chips and wedges at the pub... This is more deep fried nonsense... Haven't had KFC in ages so would usually look forward to it, but today is not the day I should be eating it. :(

Didn't end up finishing it. Just felt off. Hadn't done any burpees but still felt I had plenty of time. Then daddy duties kicked in. Bathed and put my son to sleep. I fell asleep on his bedroom floor for a bit... Long, fairly active day plus a couple of beers will take it out of a lad. ;)

Look at the clock... 1030pm... Still determined to do burpees... 50 per half hour still sounds do able... I have done large amounts of burpees before... Probably the most in I've done in a single session has been when I've done some Tabata Training (http://tabatatraining.org/) but I've never counted how many I've done in the four minutes... Usually cos I'm wrecked! ;)
So I start doing lots of ten... A bit of a rest and then another ten... And again the same... I've done a total of thirty and I come to realize two things...
1. I feel like I'm going to throw up, not because of physical effort, but because I've got a belly full of oily crap.
2. I'm hyping my body up way too close to bed time and if I continue, I'm not going to be sleeping well tonight.

I'm a bit disappointed but I face the fact that the burpees aren't going to happen tonight.
But they will be done tomorrow... Come hell or high water... :)

(PS - the pics come from random Pinterest pages but unsure where from originally so can't credit where it is due)

Countdown to TM: Day 29...

Saturday... But no rest for the wicked! ;)

Snoozed the alarm for a bit (hell I'm only human...sometimes!) but got outside by 7am. Grey clouds but no wind so chance of rain was low...but was packing my zip lock bag just in case. :)

Didn't feel as energized as the day before unfortunately. Didn't sleep very well. Too much going thru my head to be able to settle properly. Legs felt heavy and lethargic but kept at it. Was determined to do at least 10km.
Pace was fast even though I didn't feel on the ball. Was maintaining sub 5min kays.

However, got to the 6km mark and just felt like I couldn't go on. For the last kilometre, legs were feeling crap and brain was telling me to give up. Tried fighting both but succumbed at 6km. Did some stretches to try and revitalize muscles. Felt nauseous and almost purged. Things weren't going too well. :(

Runkeeper's auto-pause/resume function was being a bit sensitive while I was stretching so my pace time was ruined. No matter... Once I felt semi-human again I hit the trail. Was still determined to go at least 10km so kept pushing on.

As I clocked up the kms I decided to head to the only small hill in the area and do some loops. But with a twist!
Jogged up hill, did ten push ups, jogged across then down hill. Then across, back up to the top and did nine push ups then repeated until I counted down to zero.

It was great. There was a goal to aim for, so that kept me more focused than just striding on for another kilometre.
It was also punishing. That hill is small but I've done bugger all in the way of hill training due to local terrain.
But it put me in that sweet place where you're in pain/uncomfy so all you can focus on is putting one foot in front of the other... Just one more push up... Push thru the pain... Focus on the music coming thru your headphones...
For those who know me well, they know I tend to be a little on the hyper or manic side (or hypermanic or manically hyper or maniacally hyper)... You should hear what goes on in my head at times!! (or perhaps it's better you don't) ;)
Just running comfortably means I can have a continual monologue going thru my head like a freight train... But hit that pain zone and there is silence... Peaceful painful bliss... It's not the nicest place to be, but it has its perks...

So I hit zero push ups for my last loop and headed towards home. Jogged until I hit 12km and then walked the rest of the way as a warm down. It was interesting watching the sweat drip off the peak of my cap as I walked... Felt like I had accomplished something. :)

Was shattered when I got home. Chilled for about 20 min and then stretched over breaky. Plenty of protein and about two litres of water.

Probably not much else on the cards for today. Maybe a little stretching and planning for what Day 28 is going to be... Perhaps some weights...?

Countdown to TM: Day 30...

Weighed in at 81.2kg

Blue skies when I left the house for a run but dark clouds to the south. Thought I was safe... But I was wrong!

Only soreness from core exercises the day before was a little aching around the sides. Water, nuts and dried fruit then off!

Felt really comfy running. Good pace, bang on 5min/km. Wanted to go for 10km if not 12km. Wind was bloody strong. And turned out it was blowing in a north easterly direction... Blowing the clouds right towards me! :(

At around the 4.5km mark, light drizzle turned into fairly heavy rain. :(
Main concern was iPhone getting wet. Need to get a more weather proof case for running or bring a zip lock bag and sacrifice listening to music.

10-15min later rain was lighter but still coming down. Had to get home though. Total of 6km for the run maintaining 5min pace.
Will take zip lock with me next time. ;)

Plenty of stretches at home and 33 push ups. Trying to increase total for bio-age testing which is happening in a couple of weeks.

Hoping for better weather tmrw and a long run.

Countdown to TM: 31 days...

Originally planned to get up for a run at 545. Woke at 515 to rain, hail, thunder, and lightning... The princess in me killed the alarm and slept until 7am. ;)

Luckily had work PT session this arvo. Core strengthening was today's theme. It was savage as per usual. And I loved every second of it. :)
Thought during the session that I'd be feeling it tmrw...but already feeling it now!
The wood chopper twists using a resistance band were particularly punishing. That's what I'm feeling now I think.
Mountain climbers were taxing.
Side planks... Often collapsed a couple of times on one side but then would be stable and stronger on the other. Was weird.
Cobras were easy. Nice and strong with those now. Even did the last 45 seconds holding a ball between our feet for extra challenge.

PT called me his "sweaty little gnome" today. Well I think it was gnome...was mid exercise and mildly distracted. He said due to the amount I sweat, I'm a good indicator if the group is working hard enough. That's gotta be the first time someone has complimented me for sweating so much. :D

Everyday of the countdown won't be this active, but it's a bloody good start!
Now time to sleep and recover.