TMHQ Jet Setters

Oh hey, didn't see you there. Probably because I'm on an airplane!!! Technology, am I right???

The first group of Tough Mudder HQ is currently flying out to California to get things started at Bear Valley. We're flying into San Francisco and purchasing a whole bunch of supplies before we begin our week-and-a-half long Mountain Experience.

I definitely want to take runs on the mountain, and I'm excited about being able to run outside without being on cement. Hopefully there will be time for that. Ashley and I have also brought the DVD Jillian Michaels: 30 Day Shred and one of Ashley's yoga videos, so hopefully if I do get to run I won't have gotten too out of shape during our time on the mountain. Plus, I just saw this Workout Of The Day for people who are traveling: 3 rounds of 30 push ups, 30 sit ups, 30 squats, and 30 burpees. Good Lord, I loathe burpees almost as much as I hate box jumps and shellfish.

That being said, Things are still a little up in the air as to whether or not I'll be able to run in the actual event. It depends a lot on how busy things are--I may have to "work," since this is my "job."

Results are unclear.

The Bigger Mudder

Hey friends. I am sick. Ashley, also of TMHQ, and I took a little vacation to The Vegas, and it wore me out to say the least. Senior Event Planner? More like Senior Queen of the Strip, am I right? So big shout out to Alec, who is training for Tough Mudder, but refuses to friend me back on facebook, and thanks to him for filling in for me. I didn't really read this, because I'm trying to go back to sleep, but I'm sure it's cool.

Alec: The Bigger Mudder

Hi everybody. My name is Alec. I am a guy. I was asked to contribute to this blog. So let me give you a little introduction to give you a better idea of who I am, why I am writing for this blog, why I'm training for Tough Mudder, and why you should too.

First things first: why am I writing for this blog?

Through various applications to Tough Mudder events, Sophie came across this picture of me:

Now, I know Sophie will deny this to the bitter end, and I'd be surprised if she even posted this, but when she saw that picture of me, she basically fell head over heals in love me. I mean she had just got off the phone with the wedding planner when she emailed me back, "loved your stash, would you be interested in writing for The Littlest Mudder blog?" I knew what she was actually thinking, "loved your stash… loved your hair, your facial hair, YOUR CHEST HAIR! OMG MARRY ME I LOVE YOU," but she played it cool. Bravo.

So if I am going to be writing for The Littlest Mudder, giving you tips and ideas on workouts, you are probably looking for some credentials. You are probably thinking, "who is this guy and why should I read his fitness advice?" Well, somebody much wiser than myself once said, "a picture is worth a thousand words," and if the picture you have already seen doesn't prove any worth, try out my new tag-line, "a bicep is worth a thousand words:"

BOOM. Check out that bicep. Credentials. Done.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I was once a collegiate oarsman, and if you are still looking some hint of athleticism beyond an abundance of body hair and bicep vascularity, I won a bunch of New England Rowing Championships, a couple of ECAC National Championships, and I was in the crew that set the Head of the Charles Collegiate Eight course record in 2007. Not bragging, just saying.

Serious moment:
For my team, rowing was a sport where we would train for over 500 hours, for less than 60 minutes of racing - and that is just for the Spring racing season. It was brutally intense, exhaustingly painful, back-breaking work, and I miss it every day. I relished the opportunity to compete and I wouldn't trade a single one of those 500 hours for anything. This kind of commitment to competition and sport confused so many of my college classmates: Why would I want to put myself through all that hard work when there were frat parties, and freshmen girls, and pot? I'll tell them why: because while those kids may have been to one extra frat party (that they don't even remember), I will always remember the feeling of crossing that finish line first.

It was early on a Saturday morning, long before the rest of school even woke up with their hangovers. My lungs were burning, my heart was racing, my legs so full of lactic acid I thought they would burst into flames, and I leaned forward to shake the hand of the man in front of me, my teammate who I sat next to and Winter and Spring, all 500 hours of training. His hands were wet from splashing the water in celebration and even though we were too tired to speak, we were both able to shout to the rest of the boat, "hell yeah."

That is sport. That is competition. And now I have since graduated, and my uniform remains folded at the bottom of my dresser, and I have a job where I sit at my desk for 9 hours a day, and I eat A LOT of goldfish and pretzels (the only thing our office kitchen ever seems to have in stock), and I don't work out for 2-4 hours a day anymore, and I have started to put on weight, and my biceps are shrinking. All this because I didn't have a reason to train, no more sense of purpose, no competition, my life was quickly becoming nothing more than work, beer, and ugly girls at the bar - that is, of course, until I found Sophie… I mean Tough Mudder.

This event has given me something to work for, and this blog this blog has given us a place to work for it together. So, thank you Tough Mudder, thanks for reading, stay tuned, I love you Sophie, and here is one more look at my bicep:

A really good idea

These guys have the right idea...I'm pretty sure they're singing Drip Drop Drippidy Drop

After watching this awesome youtube video from NorCal participants Cathy and Mark, I just some Marine cadences. There are about eighty jillion different albums of them on itunes, and all of you people training should download them IMMEDIATELY.

They are the BEST for running, and the reasons are threefold: 1. They make you feel pumped and motivated 2. They keep you in a constant rhythm (for me it was exactly 6mph) and 3. They teach you about literature, because who knew Tim O'Brien's book If I Die In A Combat Zone was a reference to a Marine cadence?

Those songs get you SO PUMPED AND MOTIVATED AND IN THE ZONE TO CRUSH WORKOUTS!!!! COACH SEAN JUST EMAILED ME AND HE USES SO MUCH CAPSLOCK AND EXCLAMATION POINTS AND IT GETS ME REALLY PUMPED FOR LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!