Travel & Tough Mudder Training

Rain, hail or shine I will be competing in one the most grueling events on the planet. It is none other than one of the hardest races out there called Tough Mudder. Yes, I am stupid enough to challenge myself to compete in this event and it is nothing like I have ever done before. I have previously trained for triathalons but this would have to be the most unique event I will compete in.

What is Tough Mudder?

It is a 20 km-long obstacle courses designed by British Special Forces to test your all round strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie. With the most innovative courses and half a million inspiring participants, Tough Mudder is not for the faint hearted and by no means an easy course.

Why do this event?

After travelling for 2 year non-stop, my fitness was lagging and I needed to challenge myself again. I had gone for the odd run every now and again and done body weight exercises whilst on the road, but now I wanted to really extend myself and see how far I could push myself.

I stumbled across a video on facebook about Tough Mudder and after freaking myself out about possibly competing in the race, I sent an update to a number of friends to see if they would be crazy enough to do it with me. You only live once and I am up for experiencing everything life can throw at me. So why not? I go a number of responses of people wanting join our Tough Mudder Team, but as time went on people slowly dropped out and we were left with 6 loyal crazy people who were willing to be the Toughest Mudders.

Tough Mudder Training

The event isn’t so much a competition, but more of a team race where you need your team mates to help you overcome the obstacles, oh and did I mention it is a 20km run as well. The team unity is what attracted me to the race in the first place and I thought it would the ideal way to spend a weekend with my mates.

My Training

The training I have been doing to date has been some what sporadic. I have travelled quite a bit in the lead up to this event but I have tried to be consistent with my cardio training. This is what my regular week has looked like.

Tough Mudder Training

Monday
Weights, 7 km run

Tuesday
Spin Class or 10km run

Wednesday
Weights, 7 km interval training

Thursday
45 minute Zuu Class, 4 km run

Friday
Weights, 7 km interval training

I have only began to incorporate interval training into my regular training and I have found that I am getting better results with my cardio. I have done a combination of bodyweight exercises and regular weight training as well as core strength exercises.

I am by no means a gym junkie and I only spend 1-1.5  hours a day training, which I think is reasonable.

What I hope to accomplish

By competing in Touch Mudder I hope to prove to myself that anything is possible and as humans we are capable of amzing things. As long as you put your mind to a task, anything is possible. This will be a physical and mental challenge and I don’t think anything can prepare me for what lays ahead.

Tough Mudder Training

By competing in a team I hope we unite together and help carry the not so strong members of our group. We all have strengths and weaknesses and as a team I hope to see everyone helping each other out and victorious on the finish line.

My Team mates

I have put together a group of people from a number of different friendship groups and it will be interesting to see how we work together as a team. Each of us have been training individually and we won’t know how fit each of us are until race day. The team is made up of the following people: Myself, Adrian, Drew, Simon, Adam, Kirra, Dave (who will be taking photos and video). I looking forward to working together to get all our asses over the line come Sat 22nd September.

Simon doing Tough Mudder Training

Tough Mudder & Travel

You’re probably asking how Tough Mudder and travel, fit into the equation. When I was traveling around the world I was on the constant lookout to challenge myself in any way I could. Tough Mudder is the perfect way to set a goal and then incorporate travel with your goal. Tough Mudder events are happening all around the world and what better way to experience this monolithic event, by competing in a different state, or even different country. There are groups of people that are travelling the world and competing at these events and it is the perfect way to see the world and get fit whilst doing it.

Tough Mudder Info

To find out the most up-to-date information on all Tough Mudder news in Australia. Check out their website.
I will be competing in the Sydney Event on Saturday 22nd Sept.
If you would like to come along for a laugh you can purchase spectator tickets here.

What next

I will be training my little butt off for the next week up until the race and I will also be filming the event from a POV perspective to bring you all along for the ride. Stay tuned for post event articles of how we went and if we made it to the finish line!