Water Work

So, I'm having trouble finding places to run while on the Greek island of Paros.  There aren't many trails for running around here, and there's absolutely no chance that I'm going to be doing any road running while the country's crazy drivers are on the road.  I had thought that I would be able to do some beach running, but the beaches on the island tend to be relatively short (less than 1/4 mile in most instances) and are usually packed.  These two things together make it difficult to run along the beach.  But, I think I've come up with a solution - actually, it's a solution that was given to me by a friend: Water Work.  In essence, what I do is try to start a run from knee deep water, and run directly away from the beach until the water is about chin level, I then turn around and run back towards the beach and stop when I get to knee level water again.  This usually is a relatively short distance (less than 50 feet), but each of these laps can be pretty intense.  I ran 50 laps this afternoon, and really felt it afterwards.  It's definitely not the same as running 10 or 11 miles on a trail, but if I can't find any other alternative, then it's better than nothing.  Plus, it has the added benefit of getting some sun and being in the water.

International Travel

I leave tomorrow for nearly two weeks on the Greek Islands (I know, you feel bad for me).  During that time, I'm guessing I won't be able to work out much - at least not with weights.  I'm planning on doing some long distance beach runs though, but that may depend on the quality of the beaches.  After a nine mile trail run yesterday, I'm thinking that a five or six mile beach run, with a little swimming mixed in, might be just in order.

I'm hoping to do at least one Tough Mudder internationally during the Mudder-A-Month project, so this may end up being a nice warm-up to see how doable something like that may be with all of the jet lag and issues of international travel.

Yard Work - A Great Workout

I haven't been to the gym in the last couple days, but rather, I spent some time outside doing yardwork.  It doesn't sound too strenuous to say that I fixed a fence and built a planter area, but if you factor in the 90+ temperatures, and the heavy heat index, it's easy to see how this kind of work could cause you to shed some weight.  The downside is that I caught a bit of poison ivy, which I'm prone to do when I work in one particular corner of my yard, but that will clear up soon enough.

Runkeeper

I've started trying to track my runs using an iPhone app called Runkeeper, but I'm getting a little frustrated with it.  The last three times I've used it, something has gone wrong with the GPS. Once it wasn't getting a GPS signal because of heavy rain (that's understandable), and two times it mysteriously added about a mile to my total distance after I was done running. This may seem like a relatively minor thing, but I'm trying to get a sense of how many miles I run each week and month, and these kinds of issues are really putting a cramp in my plans.  I think I'll have to try a few of these apps out.  Once I've settled on one, I'll post it here.

Non-Workout Days

It's interesting to be sitting in front of my computer on a Sunday, and thinking about the fact that I haven't worked out for the last two days.  It used to be that this would be the norm, and I wouldn't even give it a second thought to spend a day, a week, a month without ever going to the gym to work out.  Now, it makes me antsy to know that I haven't worked out in a couple days.  It's the new norm...and I guess I'm the poster boy of what life can be if you change your habits.

Just to be clear, I had plans to go running this morning, but my back is killin' me, so I had to put that on hold for today.  Hopefully, tomorrow I'll be able to get a run in.

16-Year Old Me

I was thinking as I shaved today about an earlier statement that I made on this blog.  Specifically, I mentioned that I see myself as a 16-year old boy.  Looking at myself in the mirror as I shaved brought that back to mind because I remember what it was like to start shaving around 16 and how foreign it always seemed.  It was the kind of thing that was expected, but wasn't really necessary.  I'm 40 years old right now, and I don't need to shave every day - imagine what my facial hair looked like when I was 16.  The Mudder-A-Month project isn't about trying to be 16 years old again, it's about trying to stay youthful.  The key thing about this project is that it's helping me to feel younger.  I know that the 16 year old me is lost, but that doesn't mean that I can't keep a bit of that feeling alive. 

Why Wounded Warrior?

The next natural question to ask is why I would feel so much motivation to raise money for the Wounded Warrior project?  After all, I'm not in the military myself and never have been.  Both my wife and I are "navy brats", and although neither of us joined the military ourselves, we're the products of military households.  That has given us both a very strong respect and admiration for the work that the people in the military do and the service that they offer.  It's almost cliche to say that they work hard to give us the freedoms that we all enjoy, but the reality is that this is true and the honor and dignity that they show in providing this service is admirable and worth supporting and honoring in return. 

The fact that their service has the potential for physical harm and injury makes their service even more worthy of respect.  I have come to the conclusion that anything that I can do to support them in their time of need - specifically if they've been injured - is the right thing to do. And that is why I feel that the Wounded Warrior project is the right organization to support.

What is the Mudder-A-Month Challenge?

The Mudder-A-Month project is my effort to challenge myself, stay fit, and raise donations for the Wounded Warrior project. 

In order to really understand my motivations for this project, you have to first understand what brought me to this point.  About 3 years ago I left a job that required me to live in one city from Monday to Friday and then fly home for the weekends.  During the week, I didn't eat well.  Mostly I lived off of delivery pizza and buffet lunches.  Like I said, this wasn't the healthiest way to live, and by the end of my two year contract I had ballooned from 195 to 235 lbs. 

It was the heaviest I'd ever weighed, but also was easily the worst I'd ever felt.  I'd lose my breath climbing a set of stairs.  I was having knee and back problems.  I was approaching middle-age, and could feel my carefree youth slipping away one soda at a time, so I decided to do something about it.  I didn't want to be the guy with the beer gut and jowls any more than I wanted to admit that I couldn't play 4 hours of pickup basketball anymore.  I joined a gym where I decided I was going to work out one hour a day (half hour on weights and half hour on the elliptical machines).  I decided I wasn't going to do anything too crazy or "fad-ish".  I didn't diet or track my exercise regime in a little book.  Aside from working out, I gave up fast food and I stopped taking second helpings of what I ate at home.  The weight came off.  I blew right past 195 and eventually hit 180 (although that was unsustainable and I've leveled off around 185).

All of that is nice, I know, but what does any of that have to do with the Mudder-A-Month project?  The answer to that question lies in my need to stay motivated, and an hour a day at the gym can get pretty repetitive.  I started to look for physical challenges that I could train for.  I'm not a huge fan of running for running's sake, so I couldn't see myself being a marathoner or a half-marathoner, so those kinds of things were out.  Then I read an ESPN article about the Tough Mudder, an approximately 12-mile obstacle course based on British Special Forces training.  The thing that was most appealing was that it wasn't a competitive race, rather, it focused on collaboration - helping others and being helped by others.  Additionally, the Tough Mudder organization is dedicated to raising money for the Wounded Warrior program.  All of these elements were very appealing to me, and as someone who will always see himself as a 16-year old boy at heart, the thought of running around in the mud all day sounded like great fun.

I decided I was going to run my first Tough Mudder at Wintergreen in October of 2011.  I talked a friend into doing it with me, and he talked another friend into doing it with us.  None of us really knew what to expect, but we were all willing to give it a shot.  We arrived at the course on a supremely cold morning, prepared for the worst.  Adjectives are difficult to find to describe what we went through that day.  The course was challenging.  The mud, water and ice was teeth-chatteringly frigid.  The hills were hellacious.  And I loved every muddy, cold, sweaty minute of it.  As soon as I finished, I knew that I was hooked.  I ran my second Tough Mudder in March of 2012 at Pocono PA, and my third will be in South Carolina in October of 2012.  In 2013, I will run between four and six Tough Mudders, and in 2014 I will be ready to tackle my "Mudder-A-Month" challenge.

What does the Mudder-A-Month Challenge entail?

During 2014, I will run in one Tough Mudder each month.  The entire thing will be blogged and podcasted, and will be undertaken to raise awareness of, and funds for, the Wounded Warrior project.  The blogging and podcasting elements will follow my training, travel, race-day, and recovery periods.  This will be undertaken as a solo affair, but as each Tough Mudder can be tackled as a team, I wish to invite anyone who would like to run a Tough Mudder with me to join the Mudder-A-Month team. 

Details about how you can participate and/or donate will be forthcoming.