Rains, Pains and Stains

The Gales before and after Tough Mudder Half.

Family can be messy.
Family can be painful.
Family can test your limits.
Family can force you to go outside what you are comfortable with.
Family can leave you exhausted.
Family can be full of obstacles to overcome.
Family is full of unique challenges.
Family can be sticky.

Family can also be the most fun and rewarding thing you ever get involved with!

All these things also describe an event called Tough Mudder!

Add Tough Mudder to a family and you've either got a recipe for disaster or you've got something...AWESOME!

Back in January I had a bright idea.  I don't have many, but this one seemed like a winner.

I asked Rose, my wife, "Why don't we do something REALLY challenging?"

"Why don't we do a 5K run?"

I was asking this because I have been on a "journey" to lose excess weight and be healthy.

Since May of 2016 I have lost about 60lbs and I feel great!

The thing about achieving a goal like that is, you need to keep challenging yourself, or else you don't have a reason to stay in shape and be active.

This is where the running idea came in.

Rose and I signed up for the Oasis Zoo Run.  It's at the Toronto Zoo and it's an EASY 5K.  (lol)

I say easy, cause no one is going to scold you for walking if you get really tired.

On top of that, we bought our own finishing medals, so we win either way.

If you know the Toronto Zoo at all, you know it's a challenge just to walk through on a good day.

So that was a done deal.  We signed up, paid the fee, and we are gonna do it.

Then the idea hit me.  Why not do a crazy one.  Something that will be REAL HARD!

Tough Mudder!  Rose got real excited about this one!  She loves a good challenge!

OK, cool...then how about we do it as a family?  Let's get the kids on board!

Check!  All of them ended up registered and we awaited the day!

I was nervous.

The excitement of committing to do the thing was cool, but now, you have to DO IT!

If you have ever seen pictures of this particular event, you know it looks difficult!

The cool thing about Tough Mudder is, they put up YouTube videos to help you train!

We signed up for the Half.  It's pretty self explanatory.  I did not want to go too crazy right away!

Rose and I did the workouts in the videos, plus biking and walking.

Then August arrives.  The event is soon.  Were we ready?  Were the kids ready?

We hoped we would not fail!

The Friday before the event, all the kids arrived.  The weather forecast said...rain!

What?  Now the crazy has gone up a level!

We got to Mount St. Louis Moonstone and , yes it rained.  Not a lot, but enough.

We started the course and right away I knew the biggest obstacle on this course would not be a wooden wall or a mud pit...it was the hills!

Mount St. Louis is a ski resort!  Most of the challenges were on top of the mountains!

Not all of us found it easy to trek up those slopes, but we stuck together and did all the challenges as a team!  We helped each other over walls, under nets, through water and up the hills.

We did it!  I am so proud of everyone!  Rose, Alex, Vicki and Jasmine, you guys ROCK!

Family should stick together, even if it takes mud to do it!

Now...bring on the Zoo!