A short time ago, we introduced you to the Tough Mudder team we are sponsoring who will be competing in the World’s Toughest Mudder competition later this year.  It’s roughly a 10 mile obstacle course they’ll be running as a team in November.  Sounds doable right?  Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you…they aren’t just running this course once, but as many times as they can in 24 hours.

Kevin, Jeremiah, and Jonathon after the race. Jeremiah was there providing support.

So, how do you train for an event like that?  I imagine there is no exact right way to go about preparing your mind/body for 24 hours of pain and endurance.  I will be keeping you posted on how our team is getting on in their training.  Recently, two of the four Mudders participated in the Sunburst Marathon in South Bend (the other two were nursing injuries they acquired through their training).  Now, I myself do some running.  The longest I’ve ever run without stopping is about 9.5 miles.  My legs felt like jello by the end of it.  You can see why this would be a good event to participate in when training for a 24 hour race; Continue Reading »

The third member of Team CCWC that will be competing in the World’s Toughest Mudder is Jeremiah Olson, a.k.a. “Dirty Grits”.  Jeremiah and I go back to our college days as floor mates.  At the time, we had similar hair cuts, and people would often get us confused.  That doesn’t happen any more, because as you can see in the photo above, he has hair and I (Aaron Waggoner) do not.  Now, let’s get to know Jeremiah a little better!

“My name is Jeremiah Olson. I’m 35 years old, a husband and a father of 4 kids age 2 through 9. I’m the worship pastor at Grace Community Church in Goshen, IN.

I grew up in a Christian home, and with the best understanding I had at the time, trusted Jesus as my Savior when I was 4 years old.  My faith grew as my understanding did for the next 11 years.  At age 15 I began a short-lived season of rebellion.  It ended abruptly one night in an unexpected moment of clarity, and I chose to follow God with my whole heart and abandon everything else that would lead me away from Him.  That choice was a springboard into a whole new level of adventure with God; one that has led me down the path of finding my calling, my bride, and my purpose as a husband, father, and leader in a local church.

Physical fitness had not been a big part of my life either as a kid or as a young adult.  When I was approaching my 30^th birthday, I decided I wanted to live the next 30 years more “on-purpose” than I had lived the first 30. I made that statement by running my first half-marathon on my 30^th birthday.  Since then, physical fitness has been a constant priority for both me and my wife, keeping us out of the doctor’s office, in the gym and on the road, and down on the floor being active with our kids.

Two years ago, when I was first invited to do a Tough Mudder race (by my Pastor as a staff team-building experience), I took a look at some YouTube videos to see what it was like.  After looking at a few obstacles, I thought to myself, “I’m not sure I could actually do this”.  When I realized that I wasn’t strong Continue Reading »

It was about six years ago that I began running.  I had reached my heaviest weight up to that point, and decided that it was time to do something about it.  So, I started running.  I could barely run a single mile, and even at that short of a distance I hated every second of it.  However, I was determined to push through the pain and make exercise more than a brief lapse of wasted effort at getting in shape.  I realized that if I was ever going to get to the point where I didn’t loath running, I’d have to just suck it up and keep doing it until I was in good enough shape that it would seem easy to go out and run 5 miles (research shows that it takes roughly 66 days on average to form a new habit).  It took me six months of running before I somewhat enjoyed going out for a run.

I received some help during that time from my brother-in-law.  He was a cross country and track runner in high school, and is currently coaching both sports at his alma mater; West Noble HS.  He oozes runner.  Anytime someone calls me a runner, I quickly remind them that just because I run, it doesn’t make me a runner.  He’s always trying to get me to sign up for 5k’s or half marathons.  I’ll admit, I have considered it, but only briefly.  I simply have a hard time justifying spending money to do something that I can do for free anytime I want.  $20 to run 3.1 miles?  No thanks.  I’ll pass.  However, over the last several years, there has been a new type of event gaining popularity.  Have you ever heard of the Tough Mudder, The Spartan Run, The Warrior Dash, GoRuck Race (the list goes on.  I told you it was getting popular didn’t I)?  Imagine an off road race, but with varying obstacles thrown in to challenge your strength, endurance, and toughness.  That is what all of these events are about.  They include everything from wall climbs, to ice baths, to mud slides, to electrocution (yep, you read that correctly).  Now that’s what I’m talking about!  I CAN’T do that anytime I want for free.  That’s something I’d pay money to do.  Jump off a Continue Reading »