B2 Productions: From The Production Trenches

I just learned something new about myself. I learned that I like to crawl through mud under barbed wire. This comes as a surprise to me since at no point in my adult life have I yearned to sludge through the wet earth while avoiding a horizontal curtain of cold, sharp, wire.

Tracy Under the Wire

I started my Tough Mudder journey with nonchalance. My friend’s husband asked me if I wanted to do it and for some reason I answered “yes”. Maybe I agreed because it 9 months away, maybe I was trying to be neighborly, maybe I secretly wanted to prove at 40 something…I was badass.

At any rate, the months ticked by and eventually I had no choice but to train. I started with a sense of reluctance and what I call Muppet feet, where your brain and body don’t communicate and your legs feel like noodles weighed down by heavy, oversized shoes. Within a month I was sleeping better, eating better and my mind seemed clearer, more creative and a lot more calm. A week from the race I started to fret about the “after”, what would motivate me to get up in the dark to run? What would happen to my creative spark?

I realize now after a week of reflection and Epsom Salt baths that this is why Fortune 500 companies hire athletes. According to Forbes, that same drive to achieve goals, create balance and work collectively translates well from the road to the conference room. And this resonates with me. A chunk of my work as a producer is solitary and requires laser focus while the rest is collaborative, challenging but very rewarding. I am a better producer thanks to you Tough Mudder -thank you.

In the end, it comes down to believing in yourself, psyching yourself up for success and finding the motivation to “just do it” – in life, in work and in the mud.

P.S. The Arctic Enema obstacle was not as bad as it sounds.

P.P.S Leave me a comment and tell me how you push your limits. What makes you badass?