Lessons in the Mud

October 22, 2012

Warriors Are Mudders Too!

This past Saturday I, along with my brother Dave and my brother-from-another-mother, Jason, ran the ultimate Adventure Race, the Tough Mudder! If you are not familiar with the Tough Mudder, let me explain. It is a 12 mile race with 25 military style obstacles between mile 1 and mile 12. Oh yeah, and lots and lots of mud!

His Father was a Mudder, His Mother was a Mudder

One of the obstacles was an entire “Mud Mile”! It began with 8 (or more, I lost track!) mud pits filled with waist high muddy water that you had to slide down into and climb out the other side. People were slipping, sliding, and falling on their faces in mud all over the place! Luckily it was a group effort and total strangers were there to pick you up, pull you up, and be picked up and helped in return. Truly a TEAM effort! This was followed by winding, steep mud hills of various sizes that degrees. We went through dumpsters filled with freezing cold water and then ran through fire. Rope climbs, wall climbs, cargo nets, monkey bars over water, balancing on movable planks of wood over pits of muddy water, and miles and miles of more mud!

The entire course took us about 3.5 hours from start to finish. Yet it was the lessons learned during that time that I think were the most important part of the entire experience.

Lessons Learned from the Tough Mudder

1. There truly is no “I” in TEAM. I would not have made it through the entire 12 mile course without the support of my teammates. They always had my back whether it was helping me up and over a wall or encouraging me when my will power was fading. I hope I was able to contribute in a small way to helping them make it through as well!

2. Breathing is FUNDAMENTAL. Breathing for recovery, breathing for endurance, using the breath to “pull” pain out of cramping and tired muscles and push for just one more mile. Breathing to restore yourself and increase energy output. Learn how to Evolve Your Breathing HERE!

3. Warriors MUST run! There are many new “adventure racing” workout programs springing up all over the place these days, some of which tout that distance running is not a necessary component of the training. Let me be clear here – they are wrong! Get out there and run. Push yourself – running long distance is as much mental as physical.

4. Mental Toughness. While this challenge was extremely physical, it was even more mental. There were times when I wanted to quit. To flag down the nearest race official and say – get me the hell out of here! Mental toughness is a primary requirement for a warrior no matter what the challenge or obstacle you face. The ability to dig deep within yourself and find the will, energy, and motivation to keep going when your body is screaming at you to quit is the hallmark of a true warrior.

5. Pulling Strength is a must. The sheer amount of pulling required on the course is awesome. Whether it’s climbing up a rope, pulling yourself atop a wall, pulling a teammate up a hill, crossing rings or greased monkey bars, or pulling yourself out of the mud, you must train pull-ups, one arm hangs, and rope climbs all with bodyweight and added weight.

6. Keep Going! Once you have made the commitment to do something, finish it!

Jon

Jon Haas, "The Warrior Coach" has been training in Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu for more than 25 years and is currently ranked as a Kudan (9th degree black belt) under Jack Hoban Shihan. He has also trained in Okinawan Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Russian Systema, BJJ, Krav Maga, as well as Internal Martial Arts of Yiquan and Aiki.He is a certified Underground Strength Coach-Level 2, a certified Personal Trainer as well as founder of Warrior Fitness Training Systems. In 2008, Jon wrote the book, Warrior Fitness: Conditioning for Martial Arts, and since then has created numerous other online training and coaching programs helping people around the world become the strongest, most capable versions of themselves!