Grit N' Wit Review

Swag Bag given out at finish

So this was the second event that this team put on, and i just love this concept for a race. The concept is mind challenges, as well as physical ones. For instance, they had colored squares that you would have to memorize then run up a hill and make the design in front of a volunteer, and could not pass until you got it. some of the other mental challenges were a Sudoku style number game with cylinder blocks painted like dominoes, recreating shapes with various shaped blocks (like the letter h, and about6/8 pieces to make the shape, they also had a spearhead like shape) There was a riddle, and one of my favorites was the field sobriety test (basically you stand on a balance beam, and maneuver golf balls through a giant 2 person maze, wile balancing like 2 ft in the air) I seriously love that one, it is great! It is the only challenge i have seen like it, and it is a great change from just physical obstacles, although they have plenty of those as well. Last year at their first race, they did not have enough volunteers, and needed to make some small tweaks to improve the experience, and they mostly did. There were still back logs, but when you have mental challenges that are take more tie then going over a wall, it will happen. But they had several more options at each mental challenge compared to last year, some small tweaks and it would not be all that noticeable. But it is a challenge, no timing chips, so no worry if you lap takes a little longer, it is all about fun! And they brought a ton! last year their 10 ft wall was a problem, this year they added a kicker to make it easier to get over. and added more walls and such, all of the obstacles are well built. The festival area was pretty cool, several beer vendors, a local radio station (it was a park in Hartford, ct, and the radio station was playing good music) a local gym was set up, i saw foam rollers and a massage chair, oohrah drinks, a food truck. The environment was great, very nice, and i do not know how they got so many awesome volunteers, they all had an upbeat attitude, super nice and friendly, it really help with the event. Parking was free, and across the street from the venue, bag check was free.Curse marking was better than last year, I didn't get lost at any point, which happens from time to time, even at spartan races. If you want to find out more about their event check the link here. They are getting better than last time, smoother event, and I look foreword to their next event, and watching it grow. also for swag the finishers t is a tech t, better than last year, (and i like last years comfy poly blend as well) a oohrah drink and shirt, pen, and promo materials. Instead of medals they do shades, which is a nice alternative because you do not use the medals past the race (although i do like me some medals). So overall, it was a fun day  spent outside, running around, and putting my brain to use, that i really enjoyed.

Some of my team mates The New England Spahtens

Until next time
Stephen

New Balance 610 V2 Shoe Review

So these shoes are pretty good, but it depends where you are running. I like them, they are light, and very much minimalist style. The toe box is slightly smaller than the usual larger toe box, but still comfortable, and not narrow, more of a middle ground for the width.

I have run through several trails with these shoes, they are comfortable, and flexible, but it comes at a price. With the minimalist style, it does not leave much room for padding, something i need to get used to. i have mixed feeling on the styleI like that they weigh nothing, and that there isn't anything "slowing" you down, i feel fast in them, but i feel like my calfs get more easily sore, or maybe I need to stretch out my clafs better post run. I have run in them at blue hills, and fels reservation, both trails did fine. I do not know how well they would do for a longer  unless you are used to minimalist style and prefer that. I noticed good grip going down hill, confident steps, regardless of the speed.
      

I wore these at FIT challenge, and no issues with grip on walls or on the ropes ( I use the J hook technique)The drain ok, no fancy drainage system, but if you keep moving you will be fine (and if you are trying to save some money, these are a good alternative to the Reebok Thunder but they do not have the fancy drainage system)

I picked them these shoes up at the new balance factory outlet, I like shopping there the people are nice, and know more about shoes than I do (which is not all that hard btw) So these shoes are good solid shoes, and will do fine on the trails, but will probably hold onto the mud in an ocr, (or muddy trail) and I think I payed around $60 so these shoes are well worth the price, and will be tearing up blue hills and local parks through this year



Until next time
Keep training
Stephen

Update, after my last race (bouldr dash) these shoes did this 

New Jersey Spartan Beast Overview

So This past weekend marks the begining of the road to my double trifecta with spartan race. So this race had some ups and downs (I will get into them, but i must say overall it was still fun) First off, Yes this race had some snow, and that was pretty cool, but the week leading up to the race nj was above 60, so all the snow that was in the promo photos was mostly gone, but still plenty on course. But all the hype about Norm being there, and it being the hardest beast ever, yup you guessed it, pure hype. It may be unfair because  have only done the killington beast last year, and it is not fair to compare the two. This one was no cake walk, but I was expecting much worse. I ran elite, and it was cool to get the course with out any back ups. But nothing was made harder, no extra weight for us, or anything like that, I like a challenge, bring it on. The venue is hard but doable, my knees are still hurting from the mountain. Guess they don't like running down steep mountains for as long as it was. The snow added an interesting element, before each hunk of snow had a bunch of ice before it. The morning on my way to the venue it was 50's so the snow that was there was hard, and made for a slippery run, it was great, and made me chuckle on the way up the mountain. There were no water obstacles, so the traverse rope was over the ground, which was weird to me but since they were concerned about the water temps makes sense. they had a traverse pipe, with tarzan ropes in between, and that was cool, even if I dropped right after the first pipe. Luckily that was the only obstacle I failed, it felt great when I got the hurc hoist, I think that the way they put the hurc hoist on the wire, and the spear I am getting decent at! The course weirded me out because the mile markers were pretty accurate, my gps got 12.53 and the poster said 12.5. I almost forgot, one of the coolest things was this

Yes that is an uphill barbwire crawl through snow!

an up hill barbwire crawl through snow! it made it very interesting, with numb hands and knees, and then right into rocky, muddy. Also this year on course snacks are back, this time it was cliff shot blocks, and they did the trick, it was the only thing I ate, and if they were not out at all the water stops, I may not have eaten anything, strictly because I would have forgotten, I had so many in my bag. Just in case you forget that you are in the middle of nowhere, at the atlas carry, just after completing the carry, I saw a deer run across the course, and I heard it spent a good chunk of the day in the area, pretty cool! (in case you are wondering I wore my new shoes, take a look at what and how I feel here

top is a drawstring bag I brought, bottom is what was used for bag check

Now for the other hand, the new BAG CHECK  (insert photo here) I understand that spartan is trying to fix a problem they have with too many big bags, but this seems like a step too far in the other direction. They are also still figuring it out. I got a bag (just bigger than a draw string bag) when I parked, and it is SMALL, pretty tight fit to put a towel, change of clothes, wallet, cell, keys, recovery drink, ect. Doable, but what about wanting sun screen, and other extra things. So needless to say I prefer to have the ability to check my GR1, instead, it reall is just a medium sized backpack. Also I heard that the venue employees did not know how to handle it, and were told one bag per car, and when you carpool, and only get one bag, that is disappointing. and then some of the volunteers were told that you could not get more bags, even though they had them, a bunch of miscommunication on that end. Later on in the day it seemed to be worked out that you could buy another one for an extra 5 per bag. But bag check is 5 bucks, and if you have a season pass it is free,or when you get biggest team all members get free: Bag check, tent, patches, and shout outs on social media and the like on race day. Another issue I had was that they moved team tent outside of the venue, past the spartan race tape, But hey it was closer than biggest loser (which I don't understand). Although they did leave us a several cases of; water, gatoraide, cliff builders bars, cliff shot blocks. So not the worst thing, just a little odd to me, and i hope that these things get straitened out in the near future.


Also, I can now say I saw the awesomeness that is Amelia Boone! at about mile 4 after the monkey bars, and mostly up a mountain, and a 15 min lead, she passes me, and so many other of the men's heat. We were walking up the mountain, and she just shuffles up the mountain, like she wasn't even winded, and I was in awe!

So until next time, keep training, race season is here
Stephen

Reebok All Terrain Thunder 2.0 Product Review

 So I was able to run these shoes through a few workouts, and the savage games (review link here). Savage was nice because I got to use them climbing up a rope, which do better than some of the other shoes I have run in.I got a feel for what it would be like running over random materials. One note is that we had to do somersaults, and the laces came undone, I was pushing hard off my feet at an awkward angle, but I still had to stop and tighten the quick laces.

Next I went on my first trail run of the season at a local state park. They hold up good, and I ran through snow, ice, water, and toe deep mud. I say toe deep, because my toes were fully submerged, and these shoes are pretty good with an easy 5k, and I bet they will handle longer runs with ease as well, and through all kinds of terrain. now they have plenty of fancy ways to shed off the excess water, the only place i still had water was on top of my toes, and to be fair, it was the last 1/4 of my run, but the bottom of my feet were not holding water. What do you know those fancy drainage holes on the bottom work (insert drainage hole pic) They also have drainage through the upper part of the toe box which is why i think it is not fair to comment on the little water they did hold. Along with water drainage the coating on the shoe keeps mud from getting too bad, which means all those sharp colors (which i have been complimented on a bunch) stay in sight, not completely covered with mud. The bulkiness of the shoes does not seem to be a big deal when you are moving, I have only really noticed them when walking. But I think it also kind of nice, they allow you to wear big wool socks and not feel really tight. but you may notice it more if you wear thin socks.That being said, I should have gone down a half size for me, but i am right on the line for size 11.

This past weekend I ran the New Jersey Beast in them, and they held up well. Good grip going up the mountain, and good grip going down, handling the snow on course just as easily as the mud. Now I am not the biggest fan of speed laces, because I believe that you can do more with conventional laces to make your shoes fit better, and there are a million and one ways to do it, (a quick google search will net you more than you could have asked for). The velcro at the top, holds the laces so you do not trip on them, but that piece of velcro came undone about 4 times through the course, and I still had to readjust the shoe laces, not the worst thing, but it shows that the new lacing system needs to be tweaked a little more. Clean up has to be the easiest I have ever done!, you could barely tell that they had been put through about 13 miles of trail, and mud, and water when i had crossed the finish line. So what ever coating they have, it really works. The drainage was pretty good, there were some heavier water areas that took longer to get rid of, but they did drain very well, and fairly quickly. which is nice because they have pretty good color and design on them. When I finished i did still have mud in my shoes, and some smaller rocks they did not get stopped by the fancy lace coverage, but they probably kept out many others, just not all, and in a 13 mile race, I guess it happens. It has plenty of cushioning for jumping off walls and things. Speaking of walls, when i tried to run up the 10ft wall, as soon as my foot hit the wall it slid down, no grip to be had on wood, but good on the trails, these shoes are not the most aggressive, but they will do the trick. The shoes are pretty rugged, and when you try to bend they do not bend as much, so unlike the other all terrain series, these shoes sre not minimalist, but trust me you can still run fast in them. You can find them here the only question left is are they worth the 125, well if you have the money, and want a shoe that drains water well, and has decent traction, that feels pretty strong, and do not like the minimalist movement, then these are worth it to look into, i will put these to the test this year, and run most of my races in these guys.

#DoEpicFit Challenge Recap

So this past Saturday I ran the course in Cumberland Rhode Island, at diamond hill park. Great Park, awesome trails, I honestly wish I lived closer to this park, it is pretty cool. This was FIT Challenge's 4th challenge, I ran all but the first, and can honestly say I do not ever want to miss one of these events. They really do take the feed back and try to get better, and he has made improvements from race to race. This is the second time this race has been at this venue, and it was better and harder than the October race. The day was awesome, and as in typical fashion, I did not really notice the vendors much, hell I missed saying hello to a bunch of my friends that day, but I set a goal for myself, FIT Challenge posted that they were giving put placards fro finishing 5 laps, and I told the RD in October that my goal was 5. I only did 2, I did not prepare for the laps like I should have, I did not figure out payment beforehand, and the rain prevented me from doing too many laps. So by the time I had payment figured out, I had cooled down it had been an hour and before I knew it, my body said no, too cold to warm up. So this time around I was determined to get those laps! It was longer and harder than before, and I got my 5 and my placard!

This course proved something, It proved that OCR united can work, I saw OCR world championships there, they gave out their shirts, FIT Challenge is a qualifying event. I saw ABF Mud Run, they put up a rig in the short course area. The rig was: a rope climb, to monkey bars, to traverse rings, to rope ladder, monkey bars, to traverse pipe. Right after that there was over under walls, and double up bars. followed up by the crossfit section, which was great! it started out with burpee broad jumps, then to an atlas carry, and overhead press push with a 35lb bar. 50 reps for elite, 30 for open, and let me tell you I was ecstatic that the number dropped after elite, it was a long hard day. those were all in the last mile! the course was set up so that the spectators got to see everything, the only thing that they could not see was trail runs, It was a nice set up. There was a backup at the rig because it was 2 at a time, amidst the other obstacles in the short course area, that was a hard section, so it is understandable, just hope that it could be expanded in the future. Also the wreck bag carry up the hill, they ran out of 25lb bags during mid day, also after the mile trail run at the start there was a back up, it was a giant wall. All minor grips, and did not effect my pleasure with the day.

Registration was great, it was next to start/finish, which made it easy to get to and the two women i talked with between each lap were wonderful! It was painless getting new bibs and matching them to the waiver was easy, the had me fill them out before I started my first lap, smart!I did have an issue with matching my bibs to my times, my names was spelled a few different ways

This is how I felt mid way through the last lap

So as to how I felt running that day, well it was great! the elite wave I pushed, and did decent 55ish min (out in data if i can find it), then with 3 laps just over an hour, and my last around 1:30 to complete. I felt strong going into elite, and good going into the other laps (except the last) The first lap i ran on my own, for the next 2 I ran with my buddy, Then the fourth i ran mostly on my own. I saw a few friends going for the 5 laps as well, through the day. The last lap was hard, another friend I saw I had bring a drink and 2 snacks, to the reg table, i gabbed them just in time to make the cut for the last lap to start! That is when I started to question weather i could finish the last lap, I had on several starts cramps in my legs (quads, and hamstrings). But on the last lap, the cramps were as big as a baseball! luckily they faded away after the first 1/4 mile. And to make matters better, the same guys that were going on for the 5th lap saw me struggling, waited for me and gave me some mustard. It all helped, and was great! so my last lap was pretty slow for me, but with great company, and I achieved my goal!

Now for: Rest, Rehab, Training, and Prep for the New Jersey BEAST!

So until next time
Dont give up, and keep training
Stephen

Savage Games April.......

Seflie station

Planking station was fun

So, This competition is the same as last month (insert link here) with a little less, for a bunch more. They marketing it to the ocr crowd, which is fine we get to play on obstacles for 2 hours, which was a full 2 hours of competition this time. which was an improvement. Within the last  week they posted that the  new time for the event was changed to 730am instead of the previous 8am start, so we got a walk through for about 30 min, then we did some warm up stuff (burpees, squat jumps, mountain climbers, etc) but the problem is that they took away some of the obstacle, no more traverse rope, no more cargo net climb, and changed almost everything again, so almost nothing has been the same for each event. which is not a bad thing, but in this case it kind of is. and it is because it is what they replaced them with. they kept the selfie station, which is kind of unique, not bad, just odd mid workout, but it fits with the environment. I found it weird that they had a station that was for haiku, and a squat jump station, a somersault station, and a few other things like that. it works to get you moving and a good workout, but if you are trying to make it an ocr style event, do not take a way obstacles and put in a haiku please. Or even worse, a needle threading station, yes you read that correct, a needle threading station, you had to thread 4 tiny needles to earn a point. Not exactly the obstacles i had in mind when the price went up! Also this month was 10 dollars more than last, which was a 5 dollar increase over the first one, it feels like a bad trend for a new thing like this. Plus the day of reg price is 45 to make matters even worse. I was informed of the email that was sent out that addressed the price increase, and it just does not add up in my book.

Thank you VERY much for emailing me about your concerns over the Savage Games price. I definitely understand your concern and happy to explain why the price has been slowly increasing.
Since the games started, it has grown a TON. We went from about 20 people to now 100 each month. One of the main reasons we have needed to increase price is for the staff. Now that we have been bringing in 100 people (possibly more going forward) we have needed to bring in more staff to keep the event running smoothly and make sure we have a good participant/instructor ratio. Another reason for the price increase is because we have been needing to repair and/or replace some of the equipment we use for the games.

As the games continue to grow we also have plans to make them even bigger and better. Starting next month we are looking to host a Savage Games After Party with food, drinks, local vendors, etc!
If it helps, we don't foresee the games getting too bigger so needing more staff wont be needed. We also got together and agreed that $35 for the games seemed very fair considering everything that goes into making it successful.
I hope the increase in price does not discourage you from attending the games. I also want to bring to your attention that we are now offering 2 rates, pre-registration for $35 and day of registration for $45. If you and your teammates still plan on going (and I hope you do!), I want to make sure you guys save some money by register before the day of the Games.
Again, thank you VERY much for the email and please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns!
NOTE: SAME DAY REGISTRATION $45 $35 beforehand.

They said it will not go up any more, but with three increases in as many months, i do not have faith. But lets say for arguments sake it does, they say it is cheaper than a race. But here is the thing, they are not the only gym to do things like this. Unleashed does competitions as well, they did it the same day for  25 (30 day of) and you get a shirt, they have less obstacles, and it is in Rhode Island, but it also benefited leukemia and lymphoma society check the link here. So my point with unleashed is this, there are other gym type competitions, that do not cost nearly that much, that can be just as fun, and just as competitive. FIT challenge does gym workouts as well, and they know how to run a work out, i have been to several, and they never disappoint (side note, i love the race, and am looking forward to the next one this Saturday) and they never charge that much! Also they said that they needed to pay for more staff. Well that again is bogus, last month the stations were mostly run by volunteers, this month, a few more were run by staff, but, every other obstacle was empty, and every otherish obstacle was manned. several were still not (note selfie station does not need to be staffed, nor did the haiku. But the stairs with bear crawls, and the squat jump, were not manned, and i think i forgot one of them). The frayed cargo net rope, and drooping traverse rope were taken down. Also one of the "obstacles" they used was crawling through their bench with minimal room, yet another disappointment when the email said the money was going to improvements, it just makes me wonder how that these additions were called improvements.

And did i miss something about the ego needed to be a ninja warrior? because the two people that manned those stations had such a demeanor of self importance, and spent their time discussing the private fb page for ninja warrior competitors, and not paying much attention to the event like all the other people running the obstacles. when they did tell us that something did not count, it was told with a negative demeanor, and an attitude that sapped some of the fun (good thing I was with friends and we were able to laugh anyway). At least the parkour people were really nice, as usual!

Kevin can hold a handstand for over 2 min fyi

They still had the 30ish obstacles, so at least they did not cut them down. They no longer had a photographer this month. They spoke about free bananas, and that they had coffee and food and vendors and such. The problem with that is when i got there, no bananas were left, and I know several others did not get any, I did not see people with more than one, not that it did not happen, but still. The coffee looked like a new partnership, they had a full blown coffee stand inside the gym. and some people selling pastries, one place that sampled treats but i could not tell because it was so much to cram into one small room. And here is another beef with that, it is customary to pay to be a vendor at an event, so why use that as an excuse to raise your price? So bottom line, it is a fun event, and if you have a membership and it is free, go to it, but do not miss a race for it! The main problem is that they are pricing it to basically compete with an ocr, and it is cheaper but a whole different animal, and unfair to compare the two. I must say that i still had a blast, it is still good with friends. But to recap, the things they needed to replace, they dropped, took extra money, and offered us the opportunity to spend more on coffee, and pastries, so kind of a let down.

Until Next Time, Keep training (it is race season after all, and FIT Challenge is right around the corner)
Stephen

P.S. 

I forgot to thank my friends that i went with, they truly knew how to embarass me for my birthday, which was the dah before! They made the team name happy birthday stephen, screamed it a bunch through the workout, and told the woman leading the event so at the end i got a big happy birthday song, nice touch all around!

Ramped up week

So I had a long and crazy week and want to share, so that one day I can look back and remember, be inspired, and maybe to inspire you who are reading my little blog. This week has been one that i started to shake off the cob webs that grew in winter. And to remember that even if you do not get to do the intensity, or frequency that you want to for some time, all is not lost, just hop back on that routine, and start over. Try and compete with the person you were yesterday, which is way easier said than done. Now there is also something to be said when competing with friends, and pushing each other to do better, just remember, do not beat yourself up over others being better, trust me their will always be somebody better. 

So after carry the fallen last week (insert link here) I worked the next day, an 8 hour shift on my feet. Luckily I was not bad (or so u thought) monday I returned to my normal group training night. Tuesday a rest/rehab day. Wednesday was the day of our awesome, that i want to repeat all the time. I woke up on hardly any sleep, and ran at 530 and 630 group runs at harvard stadium with November project. That was another eye opener, my body reminded me that i had not run those stairs in a few months. It felt way harder than it used to, and felt way slower than i have and could do. The best part was how heavy my entire lower body got on lap 2, 3/4 of the way into it, my quads, glutes and it band got so heavy, filled with all the lactic acid, so i fast walked the last bit, and ran on the last up of the stairs. Promptly feeling drained at the top, and also happy of what I achieved, and of course grinning from ear to ear. 

I got a pr that day 26 min even, which considering i have only been two times before is not that hard, and also easier because of the snow we only ran 3/4 of the stairs up and down. The bottom 1/4 was covered in snow still, and a bunch of black ice in some points.

If you have never heard of them november project is an awesome group of runners that meet every monday, Wednesday, and friday. Monday is a workout that changes each week and the location is given out a few days before. Wednesday is stairs at harvard stadium. And Friday is hill repeats in brookline.

Then work for a few hours, weights and 2 miles at the gym on a bike. Finished up with a great run at the boston marathon sports team rwb run, I dis about 5.5 miles. Hey I am doing ragnar in under 2 months. And I need to get that hurc hoist at spartan races this year, they are supposed to be heavier. I only have a few weeks before the nj beast after all! 

I finished it up with a spartan workout tour at reebok hq, man do i envey everybody that gets to work there. That campus is absolutely amazing. All the gear they get to test, and the gyms, outside they have spartan obstacles (when not covered in snow look awesome) basketball courts, weight room, crossfit, showers, running tracks, and so much more (including a great cafeteria) man I think I started in the wrong company! So on saturday, Andi Hardy really knows her stuff! That was an intense workout! If was my third workout tour i think they started them last year. They are promos for the races, you get a shirt, great 2 hour workout, cool bracelets, and discount codes for races. And they also help people realize that anybody can do an ocr, ANYBODY!!!  

She ran us through warm ups, explaining her 5 basic exercises that will get you prepped for a race: squats, push ups, pull ups, lunges, and burpees (of course).   We did animal movements : bear, crab, alligator, and ape. A whole bunch of running in place to keep up heart rate, and jacks. Planks when "breaking" and finishing up with hit (kinda of like amrap rounds). 4 min rounds with partners, each doing a workout for 4 sets. We would do something like one person does push ups the other does jumping jacks. Another was lunges and mountain climbers. I forget the other set, and naturally finished up with 4 min of burpees. I was happy because i got 74 in 4 min!! Last year when i started getting serious in training for ocrs, and joined the new england spahtens, i did 68 in 5 min, and that was at the start of the workout. It was also wen spartan started the 30 days workout, and we were doing burpees, so i was doing good at them. But now, so happy i did that, and trust me when i say my quads were shaking from early on when we were doing squats, i did good, but burned out and could barley hold my planks, or lunges. The doms i get will be interesting, especially when you consider i have another hard workout on monday. 

The mantra i have been adopting in the spring is this: the weather is getting better and so will I. 

I hope if you have read this all the way through, that it helps inspire you that you too can shake off the cob webs from winter, and get rid of this winter blues. Get outside, get active, ignore this snow we have had the last few days, it wont stick anyway! The weather is good enough to be active outside and absorb some sun!

Until next time

Keep training

Stephen