Tough Mudder Finisher

I can now say I am an official Tough Mudder finisher! I've been wearing the Tough Mudder shirts while training, but didn't feel like I'd really earned the right to wear them. Sometimes, people would ask me if I did the Tough Mudder when I was wearing one of the shirts, and I'd have to tell them I was training for it. Now, I can say I did it!

This was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life (right up there with jumping out of a plane when I went skydiving back in my 20's). But, while I have no desire to ever jump out of a plan again, I'd love to do a Tough Mudder again!

Don't get me wrong, I loved the experience I had when I went skydiving, but this was completely different. I had to study a book and take an 8 hour class before I was certified to jump out of a plane by myself. But, my preparation for Tough Mudder required hours of training, and the accomplishment of crossing that finish line was so much more rewarding.

When I first saw the videos of Tough Mudder playing in the fitness center at the Y, I thought: Wow, that looks so cool...I wish I could do that! After talking to my friend Lynn, who did a mud run last summer, I changed my thought process to: This is my goal...I just need some guidance on how to achieve it. But, I WILL achieve it! Thank you for inspiring me, Lynn!

I've never been much of an athlete. I didn't make the softball team in high school, and I was on the basketball team my freshman year, but really only played during the last minute of the game when the coach was certain that I couldn't mess up the lead, or when he was certain we had no chance to catch up to the other team. I spent most of my time at the games filling up water cups for the starting players and handing them out during time outs. I also could barely run a mile in gym class. I was so out of breath by the end, and I would always blame it on my asthma.

After my first Tough Mudder training class at the Y, I could barely lift my arms over my head to wash my hair in the shower or dry my hair, I had trouble walking down the stairs, because my legs were so sore, and I seriously felt like passing out for the rest of the day. I kept going to the classes though, and I also started working with the most awesome personal trainer in the world - Marsha Hughes.

Little by little, the classes started getting easier for me. I knew the classes were actually getting tougher, but I was getting stronger and wasn't in so much pain afterwards. I went from barely being able to do a push up the regular way (not on my knees) in Mike Sobczak's Saturday morning class back in January to doing 350 regular push ups on the Monday before Tough Mudder.

I started this journey not because I felt like I needed to lose weight, or get in shape. It was because I wanted to prove that I was tough, like those people in the Tough Mudder videos at the Y. I wanted to prove it to myself, and to the people who told me they didn't think I could do it when I started talking about it.

This Tough Mudder challenge made me realize one very important thing...Being an athlete is a choice, and not something that just comes naturally. Of course, there are people who have natural talent, but even the superstars have to make a choice to train for their sport and do what it takes to be successful.

You can't just show up for practice and games (or the mile at gym class) without doing anything else, and expect to be good at it. It takes more than that to be a true athlete. You need to do more than you think you can and push yourself harder than you've ever pushed before. Sometimes, it takes another person like a trainer, an instructor, or even a friend to keep you going. Sometimes, you can do it on your own and just keep pushing yourself, even when your body and your mind are telling you to stop.

I've always been a "glass is half full" kind of person, but this experience just solidified that mentality for me. I'm doing the Broad Street Run next weekend, and I just registered for my first half marathon in September. I am also quite certain that a marathon is in my future. If I can run through fire, jump into icy water and swim out when I can't even breathe, make it over a massive wall and get electrocuted at least 8 times, why can't I do that too?

There might be some things I won't do, but there is NOTHING I can't do. I believe there is a path that leads to the achievement of every goal...You just need to follow the path, stay focused and believe in yourself.

Thank you to the Central Bucks Family YMCA for helping me to realize this amazing goal!