Fun Times In the Land of the Mudder

After last week’s blog, I have been accused of being on the edge of a nervous breakdown, in need of an intervention and worst of all that I hate training. Having reread the last four blogs it does seem that I do not seem to be enjoying myself very much at all, and that my friends could not be further from the truth. I am loving the training, the blogging, the support and the feeling of doing something worthwhile for a change.

I wanted this week’s edition to reflect all the reasons I train and try to highlight all the positives it brings. I started throwing in stock phrases that the gym is like my church or it is my battleground. Cranking out four hundred words on how I love seeing what I can make this old body of mine can do. How I love the burn from cranking out that extra mile, bench that extra 20kg” yadda yadda yadda. After about 30mins of writing this ‘out of the packet Muscle and Fitness article’, I thought well that is all very nice but is it the truth?

In all honesty then why do I train? Why do I get up at 5.15am for a 6k run every other day? Why do I hit the gym and work out till my body burns?  Why do I head to the park every Saturday morning to let joggers stare at me as I swing like a deranged ape between the monkey bars? I looked in the mirror and asked, “so Big Man, why do you do it?” One word sprung to mind, one simple and clear word, “FUN”. I do this because it is my idea of fun. I love it pure and simple.

Fitness being fun? Have you lost your mind? Surly your blog has taught us anything it is all about pain, suffering, loathing and self-denial.

Let me tell you there is nothing better than hitting the street, park or gym to perform the feats of strength, stamina and stupidity (my three S patent pending). This my friends is how memories are made. For example, you may have heard last week was a bit rough. I say heard, more likely you had my indulgent whining inflicted on you via Facebook or Twitter. Suffice to say it was not great but hitting the park yesterday with two of my favourite people was amazing. We acted like fools, sweated (well I did), bleed (again well I did) and rolled in the mud. We played as we did when we were kids, and it was fantastic fun pure and simple. I nuked the stress and came away feeling all shinny and new.

It reminded me why I let the not so little brother sign me up for Tough Mudder in the first place. Not for some miss guided attempt to lose weight, not because I am some kind of fitness junky and love pain. Nope I started this journey to have fun and hang out with my family. To keep the Machine from getting lonely round the course and maybe keep up or even compete with him. To bring some amusements to the Genius and inspire his ambitions as a filmmaker. To give myself a goal and a bit of oomph for the first five months of the year. Finally and most importantly, to raise awareness of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and raise some cash to help in the  fight against it. Who knows, one day my kids might tell their friends that their Dad is one Tough Mudder just like their Grandad Kenny.

ADVISORY NOTICE: The above does not mean that Mrs W is pregnant or that we have started trying. Mum I promise I would tell you first before I put it in the blog (Maybe).

Training solo is almost as much fun. Where else can I spend two hours listening to my favourite tunes. Insulated away from the problems of the day I can burn up the stress by pushing myself to the limit, all the time drowning in a sea of endorphins and pump. I can walk (or limp) away chilled out and pumped and no one has to deal with my Hulk smash face. As the former Governor of California once said going to the gym is “it’s almost as good as Cumming”. Well ok not quite but it is still fun, and in my case a gym sesh lasts a whole lot longer. To tell the truth, even when I am training solo, it is not as if I am alone. For some reason it is the Machine and Genius voices I hear echoing in my head when I am cranking out that last set or pushing on for an extra mile. Now queue hours of piss take from the brothers regarding my level of sanity. But hey, this is my blog. My inner monolog that motivates and imitates their singsong mocking of “come on fatty” and “One more Big Man”. This gentle teasing sets a fire in me, pushing me to work harder, to go that extra mile. At the end of the day, what does any Big Brother want? I like every other older brother on the planet, just wants to impress the little gits and somehow make them proud of me. And it that means crawling through miles and miles of mud, fire and ice then so be it.

On to the stats

Stats 30 January 2012 (End of Month 1)

Weight 113.5kg yep no change sad face:(

Run time and distance none counted due to no running, all the cardio was done in the gym as they had hot showers.

Chin Ups 0. Yes a massive drop, but a shoulder injury during last Saturdays Park training left me with a sprained shoulder.

Days to Tough Mudder 104 days (GULP)

This week’s stats show that my weight loss and training in general have stalled a wee bit. Fear not I have a plan Mudders. In seven days, I depart for a three-week intensive fitness camp in Hong Kong. Yes, I am going to the birthplace of Bruce Lee, to seek enlightenment and inner strength. My goal is to drop a massive 7kg and come back meaner and leaner and a whole lot tougher before the next Wallace Brother challenge taping at the end of February. To help me in my quest I will be employing the legendary veteran of the ring Steve “the Hammer” Davis and the one and only MMA sensation Mr Inter-Nash as my personal trainers. So be prepared for some IP Man training vids and a couple of jet lagged induced mini blogs

Please remember this is all for a good cause so click the link and make a donation and together we can do our part in beating Cancer < http://myprojects.cancerresearchuk.org/fundraise/fundraising-pages/wallace-v-wallace-tough-mudder-challenge-2012>