Innovative Fitness Kitsilano manager Bret Hodge uses an old trick he learned from founder Matt Young: he grabs some notepaper from beside him at his desk, finds a pen, then draws a loose circle on the paper with a stick man inside.
“This,” he says, “is you in your comfort zone.” He then draws an arrow going from the inside of the circle to the outside, tapping the end of the pen at the open space the arrow points to. “This is where the magic happens.”
Personal growth only happens outside of our comfort zone. I joined the IF Kits team in January after being away from fitness training for several years, and I knew I was stepping into an environment where I would be regularly challenged to push my boundaries. It didn’t take long; one morning during a team huddle, coaches were asked to choose some upcoming events they would like to organize and participate in. I decided to jump outside my comfort zone, and picked the Tough Mudder.
I’d always wanted to do a Tough Mudder, but I was fairly sure I couldn’t physically do it. I definitely needed to train for it, but that wouldn’t be the biggest challenge—even when I was a kid, being submerged underwater was traumatic, a fear I could never control enough to learn to swim (I can dog paddle, but not nearly as well as a dog). I needed to step up, and I wanted the challenge, so I made the commitment: I was not only going to train myself to do it, I was going to learn how to organize a Mudder team and help train others to do it as well.
Big steps.
I had great input from my Kits teammates, many of whom had already done multiple Tough Mudders and had previously organized the IF Mudder team. Thanks to their help with things like event timelines, building a dedicated team and designing appropriate training programs, they helped keep me focused on the end goal. On top of that, I started learning the process of putting together an event of this type—a skill that will continue to prove valuable.
With a couple of IF coaches, a few diehard members, and a crew from Bret’s Business Networking International (BNI) chapter, the Big Tsunami, we had a team. For most of the BNI group, it was also their first time doing the Tough Mudder, so we had some training to do: a 3½-month training program that focused on endurance running and cross-training, with exercises that were as specific as possible to Tough Mudder’s unique obstacles. This meant we got to play outside, and preferably in the rain (sadly, we hardly got any).
Much of the 3½-month training program would be self-guided and involve running, and many on the team were not strong runners, myself included. Keeping the team accountable and motivated would be key. Weekly training updates kept everyone conversing, sharing workout stories, supporting and motivating each other. And then the outdoor circuits brought it all together.
Most of the self-guided work for the Mudder team involved running, because when it came to race day we all had to be ready to cover 18km. In addition to the kms, we dedicated two days per week to bodyweight conditioning. Every other weekend was outdoor circuits—an obvious way to train for an outdoor event, and also a great way to strengthen the team, physically and mentally. Most of the team members were already good friends through IF or BNI, but nothing solidifies a team bond like sweating together for a common goal. The circuits also gave me a good idea of how physically prepared the team was as we worked our way towards June 18th, allowing for adjustment of the overall program as needed.
Vancouver’s China Creek Park was the main battleground for these sessions, a perfect location for training with its great running track, built-in exercise stations, and a large, steep hill. Other sessions also took place around the excellent running trails at UBC and at Locarno Beach. There were also plenty of hill sprints, army crawls, dips, pullups, monkey bars, and more hill sprints for the diehard circuit group, and they kicked ass every circuit. There were some injuries and setbacks, but there was far more progress and accomplishment, pride and excitement. A team that wasn’t entirely sure of itself in the beginning was getting more confident with every workout.
It was the last month of the training program, and we could feel the intensity ramping up. We were into our longest runs of the program, some of us nursing injuries, and we not only increased the intensity of the outdoor circuits, we doubled the amount of circuits from before. It was here at the hardest point of the training program that I realized nobody on the team was going to quit. We weren’t going to break any records at Tough Mudder, we weren’t really even concerned what our time would be—but
everybody was going to make sure that everybody else crossed the finish line. The magic was happening.
With just over a week to go before the event, it was time to cover all the little details: travel and accommodations, proper clothing and footwear, pre- and post-event food and hydration, physical and mental preparation. Our last outdoor circuit was a tough series of trail runs, stair sprints, obstacle climbs, and the dreaded monkey bars. The team was physically ready to take on Tough Mudder, and after almost 4 months of training for it, we were stoked to get’r done.
A few of us went up to Whistler early and stayed the night before the event. My better half and I were celebrating 10 years together, and planned to make a weekend of it. As we chilled out on our patio, had dinner and enjoyed the sunset, I was already getting amped for the next morning.
We met up for coffee and a snack at Starbucks then carpooled to Whistler Olympic Park and there was some nervous energy on the drive up. I expected the event to be big, but was blown away by how big, how organized, and how energized it was. The site grounds were buzzing with people and music – we could feel the crowd’s energy going into the first race zone where they had a DJ and fitness professionals to lead the warm-up. Then the second pre-race pump-up took it to the next level with a heart wrenching speech about overcoming adversity from a professional hype man that had us amped and ready to rock!
We were ready to go, the crowd headed out of the starting gate fully energized, and with a purpose. The team settled into a comfortable running pace, making sure to keep pushing forward but not leave
anyone behind. It was a while before we hit our first few mud obstacles, but then suddenly those of us who’d never experienced Tough Mudder before realized – nothing tips the scale from, “I’m having fun,” to, “I’m all in, bring it on,” like jumping with a crowd of people into a huge ditch of waist-high watery mud. And so it really began.
We had focused our training heavily on running, knowing that Tough Mudder’s unique obstacles are hard to fully prepare for, and also knowing that the obstacles would be even harder if the running took too much out of us. So when we arrived at an obstacle, we’d catch a breath and be ready to hit it. Some of the tougher obstacles needed a plan, and when we put it all together, helping each other up, over, around and through Tough Mudder’s notorious tests of will, it was amazing. A few obstacles were tougher to face for some of the team; there were mental challenges and fears we had to stare down. These became some of the best memories of the event, getting the confidence and support from the team to just push the fear aside and jump in with everything you’ve got. Yes, the magic was happening.
And it was bigger than just our team. We ended up helping people on other teams and they helped us—people you’ve never met before grabbing a stranger’s hand to help them clear an obstacle or pulling them up from the mud. We were all one big team, with a shared goal.
Tough Mudder is a physical test early on, and a mental test later. Most of the team started really feeling it about three-quarters of the way in. Pain and soreness was impossible to ignore. Most of us were bruised, bleeding and blistered. The weather that had been in our favor started to turn, the cold and wet taking its toll.
This is when the body starts to switch off everything but the pain, and the brain says it’s time to stop. This is where a team depends on each other the most, when everyone is beat down and struggling to finish. But there was no quit in this team; everyone kept moving and focused on pushing each other to every last obstacle. Our mantra had been nobody gets left behind. Three-plus months of hard work and preparation, and after a steady but challenging 4 hours, every one of us crossed that finish line. No beer tastes as good as victory beer.
We all learned a few things about ourselves and our teammates at Tough Mudder, especially those of us who had never taken on a challenge like this. Setting a goal that puts you so far outside your comfort zone, working hard to meet that challenge, and not quitting until you’ve succeeded is an accomplishment to be proud of. Take that feeling and multiply it by a whole team, one that can lift each other up and support each other to the end, and you’ve got the makings of Team Innovative Fitness/Big Tsunami.
I’m so proud of everyone who stepped up to the challenge. Looking forward to Tough Mudder 2017, I’ll be honoured to share victory beers again with my team!
Chris Walker
Professional Training Coach
Innovative Fitness Kitsilano
www.InnovativeFitness.com
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