And away we go!

Well - here we are.

About 100 days or so since I started this blog at the beginning of this journey and we are now at the end of it - Well, at least the end of this part of it....

Those 100 days went bloody quickly. Feels like we've hardly started training and it was time to taper - But, in hindsight, I think we've given it a pretty good shot. We've all made improvements, and despite occasional wailings and misgivings we're all pretty much in the best shape we could be with the time that we had.

I'm personally amazed by what the other team mates around me have done - Going from a wheezing 10km run and struggling with pushups, to 20kms without any real stress and performing all sorts of physical feats we would never have considered before.

This week will be the test of how all that preparation has gone, and to see how much we're capable of - physically and mentally. I'm looking forward to seeing how that goes.

This will be the last entry therefore - We're heading off in a few hours to get down there tonight before volunteering tomorrow and running on Sunday. It's been fun keeping a record of the progress to date, and I look forward to reporting back in a few days time (if I survive/return!!!)

Good luck to all you udder Mudders out there. Believe in yourself, look after your team (or at least your neighbour) and we'll come out smiling...

'Carbo-loading' - The one and a half most beautiful words in the world.

So with the glorious beauty of 'taper week' (ie. easing off on the training until stopping completely a few days out) comes the equally rapturous experience of 'carbo-loading')

It's just such an odd, bewilding experience to be basically given licence to eat - and in many instances eat things we would never have touched before. We've been roughly following this kind of approach, but still - being TOLD to drink soft drinks, sports drinks and cordial, all the while snacking on relatively refined carbohydrates is just an eery form of bliss :)

I'm sure the pain to come will be greater of course, but for now we're enjoying it immensely. Another hot-cross bun anyone???

Our first peek at the Phillip Island course....

Just up on the Tough Mudder Australia facebook page....

Eeks!!!  Suddenly makes it feel so much more 'real'

Why I'm doing Tough Mudder...

..as opposed to Tough Bloke, Warrior Dash, Spartan Race or something else with a dicky name here.

Do any google search for these 'mud runs' (as I've quite reasonably been doing a lot of in the last few months!) and you'll soon come across the usual pissing contests about which event is better, which is tougher, which is 'real', blah, blah... and so on.

It has made me look around and consider the other options, but in the end I keep coming back to Tough Mudder. Why? Well, I'm not for a second going to pretend that it's because it's 'probably the toughest event on the planet' - I think all of us who are doing it know that's a bit of creative licence with marketing as there are bundles of harder things out there (think ironman, multi-day marathons, etc). So what else is there in it for me....

1. First and foremost - I love the approach it takes in not being a race. I'm a deeply uncompetitive person myself - I can't be bothered fighting other people or pushing to get ahead of someone, especially in something as (relatively) pointless as a running race. It just doesn't matter that much to me. But what does appeal to me about TM is that focus on camaraderie and helping other people out. I think it's fantastic.  Now, I'm sure there'll be a few narcissistic, self-centred, ego-heads who will cause a bit of grief on the day, but that commitment to helping your neighbour which is basic philosophy of Tough Mudder is something I respect and feel a deep affinity for.
2. It doesn't take itself too seriously - A lot of the other events do seem to take themselves so very very seriously. In the end, it should be enjoyable, fun, a bit of a laugh. Tough Mudders slightly laid back, self-mocking and tongue-in-cheek approach is something which I respect. It's a very 'Australian' thing too so I think it'll sit well in this country. Yes, it should be about training hard and doing your best, but if you don't come out of it with a smile on your face then something's wrong...
3. The length and the challenge - I reckon, for me, it's just about the right size of an event. Not too small to do it without thinking, but not so long as to feel like I could never complete it. It's a great balance of distance and obstacles/challenges. Everyone knows that despite the having the tag line of 'probably the toughest event on the planet' that it isn't. I'm sure even the organisers know that (hence the 'probably' line!) but they're just having a bit of fun. Again, a good attitude to have... 
4. And of course - because I stumbled upon it before I saw the other ones - And everyone always has a soft spot for their first :)

Of course, I'm saying all of this before the event has even happened, so we'll see how I feel in a week's time! 

Final week - inventory check.

It's officially less than a week away. Eeks!  And our team is in the middle of final preparations - Our hard training is essentially behind us as we now taper off and our mind turns to the logistics or what we need and how we'll go about the day.

And by the look of the stats on this site, lots of other people are doing the same as there's been a completely explosion in people visiting this site searching for 'tough mudder gloves melbourne'... So, welcome!

My personal inventory is pretty simple:

• Clothes - all quick-dry and tight-ish fitting, with a double short-layer consisting of compression shorts and outer shorts with zip-pockets.
• Gloves - The previously mentioned Mad-Grip gloves.
• Head - Possibly wearing a Halo bandana to keep my hair out of my face, but then I'm aware I could most likely lose this in many of the water obstacles so am inclined to forget about it.
• Shoes - I know they say any shoes you wear will be ruined, but I bought my new Asics Gel Trabuco's for a reason, so I'll be wearing them and to hell with the consequences.
• Water - The Tough Mudder participant pack did suggest bringing a hydration pack, but we probably won't be bothering. The weather for sunday is looking mild (25c) so we can probably do without it. 
• Food - Went out and bought a pack of GU gels yesterday, so that's sorted. Strangely, the chocolate was $6 cheaper. Hmm... Maybe a bit harder to swallow?
• Medical - New ventolin purchased and ready to go (probably plan to carry 2 if I can manage it just in case I lose one).

The only thing I still want to sort out is whether there are any socks more appropriate for water and mud than the basic cotton ones I'm wearing, so I'll do that research this week.... Otherwise we're pretty much ready to go.

Tough Mudder Melbourne 2013 - The date is set!

On getting some info for the upcoming event next week I stumbled upon the fact that Tough Mudder has released the dates for Melbourne for 2013 - February 16 and 17!

Woohoo - We were preparing ourselves to have to travel to Adelaide for it next year, but it seems that they have scheduled another Melbourne one. Awesome :)  That's a perfect training distance away, so perfect if you haven't felt ready for 2012...

Meanwhile, I'll wait until I finish this one next week before I commit myself to 2013!


Update: As of June, these dates have been changed to the 19th and 20th of January.