My First Post! (I know, lamest title ever!)

About Me

I started this blog as a way for me to track the events I've participated in and maybe along the way, inspire some others that have interest in doing adventure or mud runs to join in the fun.

I grew up as a competitive athlete in junior high and then high school, participating in football & track. Although in track, my events I participated in were shotput, discus, and the pole vault. I would, on occasion, participate in what we called the "Fat Man" relay, which was usually a 400 m with the field event guys. However, "Fat Man" wasn't a title I really held, as I was maybe 190 lbs at my heaviest in high school and for the most part, I detested running events. 

As a matter of fact, running was the last thing I really enjoyed while growing up. For some time, my motto was the cliche, "I only run when chased."

In college, I was a member of the Judo Team and stayed active athletically, although most of my cardio came from either grappling or the stair master.

After college, I continued to participate in Judo and Jiu Jitsu, although it was a bit sporadic, as attending practice and events is tough with two small children.  Not to mention, the injuries were gnarly.  Broken bones, sprained everything, torn ligaments--it's tough to walk onto a client site for a meeting when you look like you've just came off the set of Fight Club. 

What are Adventure/Mud Runs?

The events often vary, as do the themes, as each franchise has their own take on events. However, most of the events out there involve obstacles of various shapes and sizes and most of the time, tons of mud!  There are events sprouting out of the woodwork every day, it seems. Some of these will be familiar, like Warrior Dash, Tough Mudder, and Spartan Race Series.  New events are cropping up every week, it seems, although these are the big 3 that you'll see and almost everyone knows someone that's ran in the Warrior Dash--I'd actually consider that run as a bit of a "gateway" for starting in other events, but more on that later.

 


Why Do I Do It?

Do you remember when I said I don't like to run? Well, I started running in events with my son (now 9), a few years back in a local Kid's Race series. Being a parent of a 5-6 year old, I was hesitant to send him out alone on a One Mile Run with 300 other people and expect him to make it back in one piece.  (I know, call it for what it is, parents today are a bit more paranoid than in the past).

 During some of these runs, I found out my son was getting faster than me, as I was sadly out of cardio shape. When your 7 year old son finishes a race sub 8 minutes and you're behind him, that's painful.  So, I started participating in some other runs, including some 5K's and found most of the road races were challenging, but a bit on the boring side. After doing some searching, I eventually ran across my first mud race, the Warrior Dash.

I found with any race I signed up for, I was more likely to develop a goal for the race and stick to the training regiment.  This has led me from starting at a 5K and working my way up to the Tough Mudder (12 miles and 26 obstacles) earlier this year.  


How Do I Plan to Add Value?


I plan on updating the blog regularly, providing a glimpse into my life and training programs.  I'll also work on reviews of the races I'm running and my thoughts on the events. While I really started doing these runs last year, I've been in enough now to provide insight into these races and hopefully some inspiration to those that have thought about signing up, but just aren't ready to click that registration button because of fears they are scared of the unknown.

But that's not the point of a mud run.  I find these runs a a fun way to break up the monotony of running in the concrete jungle and an opportunity to mix in some favorite elements of the playgrounds of our youth into an event that is not only socially acceptable, but a ton of fun!