Ann is the second winner of the Tough Mudder Maddness giveway and has also agreed to share her story here on the blog and it’s eerily similar to mine.
Hi, my name is Ann! I’m 31 years old and have been married to my wonderful husband, Derrick, for 4 ½ years. I work as a Pharmacy Technician but I’m in school to become an Ultrasound Technician. My husband is from Missouri and we lived there for a while before and after getting married but we currently live in Cincinnati, OH where my parents and brother are. We currently live with my mom while I’m going to school.
I’ve struggled with my weight since I was a teenager. I was never popular in school and I linked that to my appearance, though looking back I was not actually overweight at that time. I just was not as skinny as the girls who were getting all the attention. As I explained in my entry in to the Tough Mudder Madness contest, I have yo-yo dieted my entire adult life. Each time I gain the weight back, it comes with a little more than the time before. Derrick has also struggled with his weight his whole life. This past summer we both decided that we really needed and wanted to do something about it, once and for all. We had so many things we wanted to do together – kayaking, rock climbing, day hiking, etc – and we just couldn’t do those things at our weights and fitness levels. We were missing out on so much!
We found a doctor supervised weight management program in our area and went to an information session in late summer. We finally joined the program on September 3rd, 2012 and have never looked back. It has taken a lot of work but we have had a great support system including a behaviorist lead support group, nutritionists and an exercise specialist to help us along the way. Oh, and we’ve had each other too! Sometimes I ask myself “What’s different this time? Why is this time the end of the yo-yo dieting?” The short answer is that everything is different. I have a support system. I finally understand what a healthy relationship with food is, and I’m working every day to make and keep that relationship healthy. I found exercise (and a gym) that I really love! The list could go on and on. In the past 6 months I have lost 75 lbs and Derrick has lost 120 lbs. I’m still working on losing a bit more though I’m not exactly sure how much because my focus has really shifted from the scale to working on my fitness level at this point. This is even more true now that I have this amazing opportunity to run a Tough Mudder with Roni in October! I’m so excited to be training for such an amazing event and under such cool circumstances! That said, I am nervous and even somewhat terrified of what the actual event will hold so I have put together some questions for Roni since she has three Tough Mudders under her belt!
What did you do to train for your first Tough Mudder? Did you use the training guides provided on their website at all? (Some of that stuff looks pretty intimidating.)
I looked at them a little but mostly did my own thing. For the first Mudder, my training consisted of BodyPump 2 days/week, 2-3 runs a week and 1 day training with a friend where we did a few things from the training. You can see some of that in my training videos on YouTube by clicking here.
After you ran your first Mudder, did you change how you prepared for the second and third ones?
I did but it wasn’t because of any particular reason besides a change in my schedule. It was around that time I was transitioning from my traditional gym to CrossFit and working out with my friend became impossible because of our schedules. So instead of training specifically for the second 2 mudders I decided to just consistently workout any way I could with no particular “Mudder training.” I felt as prepared if not more so for those as well.
Going in to your first Mudder, was there a certain obstacle that you were most nervous about? Did that one turn out to be the hardest/most scary after you actually did it?
Ohh, that’s a good question. I remember looking at the obstacle list and thinking there was no way I’d be able to do a few of them. So I guess it was more a fear of failure than anything else. And some of them I did fail — I’ve yet to cross the monkey bars without falling in the water or get up the half pipe without a few tries and A LOT of help, but after you do one you’ll realize it’s your attempt at the obstacle that defines your success. You do the best you can and keep trying!
I feel like I should mention that I don’t even look at the obstacle list anymore. I’d rather be surprised while the running the course. It leaves less time for me to stew and worry about them.
Is there an obstacle that you still fear after having completed three events?
Any of them with an electric shock. Hands down. And even though I say I‘m not afraid of heights, the darn jump into the water gets me EVERY TIME!
I have to ask, how bad is the electric shock? It sounds horrible (but exhilarating)!
lol See above. It sucks but it’s more mental than anything because you KNOW it’s gonna suck and you do it anyway. Unlike other obstacles I think those get harder to do not easier.
What things do you wish someone had told you before you ran your first Mudder?
The only thing that comes to mind is logistics. I was so worried about how to get there, where to park, where to put my stuff, etc. I wish someone told me to CHILL and sign up for the first wave the first day. It’s less crowded, easy to park, no traffic and no lines. My preferred start time will always be Saturday morning at 8AM.
