Battle Frog Boston (Barre)

I have a decent selfie game, Thanks Nicole

So ever since last year, In NJ, at one of the first Battle frog races, I heard, read, and saw awesome things about this race company. Hard as hell, with really cool, and unseen before obstacles. And they kept that reputation going strong from last year, now I know nobody wants to say they have an easy race. Especially when you have the image of the navy seals you are portraying. But when you have awesome obstacles, that people struggled with, and athletes on facebook telling you how great and hard everything was. I really expected more from them, a LOT MORE, but that is because they flooded the market with their name, and the image of a harder race. So I am okay at these races, faster than some, slower than others. But This race really did not live up to the hype in my opinion, There were a bunch of excuses that I heard third hand, so I can not repeat them. The RD is pretty cool, and after talking to him, I am even more bummed that I can not make his other races, because he seems to know how to have fun at a race. But there were some things I just can not look past. For instance, the rope climb, really early in the race, between 2 trees, only one set, and at most it felt like a foot apart from each other, Now when you have so many ropes close to each other and have so many racers, you wind up hitting each other, several times each rope. They really should have spaced them out and put another set up between another set of trees, or put them somewhere that they could build a standing structure. The issues I had with the obstacles continue, For example the wreck bag carry was 50lbs only, nothing lighter for the girls, and I saw several women out there that clearly barley weighted 100! and what about the kids that are running the adult course! The last obstacle, the tip, which consisted of A frame walls, connected with 2x6's to walk across, and you had to traverse by hanging ropes, then finger grip at the top of the walls. So I like the obstacle, and it was an example that they can give you a challenge, but they need to work on it. So I weigh about 180, Tall, and when I was the only person on the wall, the middle support 4x4 on the ground lifted up, I knew I was fine, but the amount it moved for a little person like me, it would have been scarier for people that weighed over 200, and I heard that it was scary for people bigger than me, proving that they need to work on proper building, the quality NEEDS to be better. The penalty they give out for failing an obstacle are 10, 8 count body builders (see video below) which I like, I had to stop myself from jumping, but I like that they do not tax you as much as say 30 burpees.

2014 (thanks Nicole) vs 2015 (Thanks fellow spahten)

This is cool, From the battlefrog FB page

They also did not have a whole mess of obstacles that they had at previous ones, warped wall, traverse ropes, monkey bars, traverse walls. They did however have tire flips that I like, but seldom see at races. They have 3 sets of incline or decline walls, fun, and different from just solid walls, I like the idea to do something different, They had a decline "wall" that was climbing up several metal poles across, which was different and fun. Barbless barbwire crawl, which is great because it was less than a foot off the ground, except for the ditches they dig, but it was nice to not have sharp steel to avoid.

Pro's:

•  Fun course (even if it was not as challenging as advertised
• Huge swag for biggest teams (buff, extra beer, free parking for1/4 of us, bracelet, and shirt and sleeves to be mailed at a later date)
• BFX bracelet got you to the front of the line at all obstacles, the volunteers knew this and told you to go to the front and nobody said anything about it, nice touch
•  barb wire crawl had NO BARBS, pretty low, but nothing sharp! It is nice to not get scraped in the race
• No full submerge in mud, I truly feel like it is not needed in an ocr, and is a nice change of pace
• The course was seriously well marked, it was obvious where the trail went ,they had plenty of arrows, and way more of those tiny flags, seriously, you really would have had to tried to get lost

Con's:

• Portapotties, wile clean, and nice, were placed uneven, and in almost the same location as Spartan race put them in the super the month before at the same venue. to the point that i almost fell off often wile sitting down
•  BFX was not explained well at all: nobody knew where we were putting our drop boxes, no one looked over them, the fact that we were able to skip obstacles was explained at the last min, The wrist bands were not given out until the meeting before the race
• signing up for BFX means signing up for elite, then making several phone calls, and paying more fees, so it was an absolute pain in the but to reg for it. there were issues with people being reg'ed for it, ect
• very different from last years races, they are dulled way down, and there was a bunch of contradicting reasons from staff of all levels (much easier, except that the rig was "the longest in the world" dulled down slide, and generally easier obstacles, with various different reasons as to why. The company Is changing direction, but not advertising it, so they are still saying they are a hard race, when in reality they are a starter race, with a few of the harder obstacles
• The "tsunami" Obstacle from last year was much cooler, and harder, It was a warped wall to a warped slide down, Which looked really cool, and just an example of the shift in the company
• the rope climb had too many ropes too close to each other, to the point that everybody kicked, kneed, or somehow hit the people on either side, and got hit as well with nothing a racer could do about it
• barely any shower space at all, luckily there were not that many people there that day, but for the BFX people they had run out of water, major bummer
• Start line Announcer left a WHOLE lot to be desired! Elite started early no countdown, no anything, just odd, and very unhyped, and left a whole bunch to be desired. However, Coach pain Dewayne, announced for BFX, He did great, but he seemed to switch rolls shortly afterwards, He should have been the one to announce all day, the other guys was bad, and I heard they had several start line announcers at the start through the day.
• Bag check was not marked, and so few people that I was waiting for like 10 min with nobody next to me right in front of my bag, missed several times by the volunteer and the employee working bag check. They zip tied the bags together, and onto a metal fence wall inside of the tent, which was odd, but it worked, to cluster the bags by bibs, and no bib numbers on the outside of the tent
•  The womens changing tent was next to drop box area for BFX, and they did not fully close off the tent, I hope nobody else noticed!
• 16k course, 15k medals, they still have the old medals for the new course, not a huge grip, but still, kind of disapointing considering the fact that they are trying to be a big name in OCR, trying to be with the big boys (Spartan, Tough Mudder, Warrior Dash). They have a differnt medal for just the 8k, and a pretty badass one for BFX
• No mile markers anywhere 
• The buses were really far apart, I heard several friends complain about the long wait, I do not know if that is just the venue, or what, but it seemed longer than most races I have done

Now I am being kind of hard on them, but they kind of asked for it. They have been hitting social media really hard ever since their inception, to the point of high annoyance, way beyond just getting their name out there. And they pushed for the whole really hard race, and did not live up to expectations. On race day it was explained that they are changing the direction of the company, and I had heard about a whole mess of layoffs, that being said, they never pushed their re branding anywhere. So going into it, I, Like may other people expected a lot, and felt as if they over promised, and under delivered, by a lot. To be fair, BFX was fun, even if getting registered was a pain, and disorganized (much like a bunch of festival, and pre race morning) and I am sore in the shoulders and upper back from running  3 laps, but they still left me wanting more from them. When they changed the race from 15k and 5k races on the same day and went with 8k or 16k, It really changed the dynamic of the race, and being told to run twice if you kept your original 15k, at least there was a route around the festival area so you did not have to deal with the start line. You did have to deal with people being on your course, because it was minimally marked, and 2 of the three times I had to go into deep grass, and not know where my footing was, because people were waiting for friends to leave the showers, and nobody explained to them, and I was too busy focusing on getting around them to say something, but they were most likely spectators that had no idea what was going on.

So They also just opened up reg for next year, and sent an email to participants with a 50% off code, wile offering 40% off from before memorial day to just before this race. This is just another thing that makes me weary about this company. Super hero scramble did the same thing at amesbury last year, wile the race was great, it was their last one, I do not think Battle frog is as bad, but they do not inspire confidence, I may do another race again, but I will have to volunteer, as I am concerned about paying in advance for one of these races. If they are around next year, and have a better venue, I may do it again, but I am on the fence.

Until Next time
Stay active
Stephen

Tri Obstaclon Review

So, This event, is very unique, and awesome. It is basically a triathlon, and a challenging one at that. So you start with a 7 mile bike ride, part of it was on the farm, fairy narrow track, and very challenging due to the soft ground, and the inclines, there were a few places that most people had to walk their bike or fell off of it. Then around the roads for a while, some if it was paved, most of it was not, a whole bunch of dirt/rocky roads. A whole mess of hills on the course, and man, those hills were hard! The hills are so bad on the roads, that I was beyond pleased that I was able to stay on my bike the whole way through, It got really rough on my quads. Now to be honest, I work on my quads, but it has been a wile since I rode my bike constantly, and it was generally agreed that the bike riding portion was ridiculously hard (so glad it was not just me!). Then the last bit of the bike ride was through a back yard, very technical, and oh so challenging to do. It rained a bunch the night before, and the woods just before the water was super muddy in places (the ocr course was super dry, except for the places that are always muddy). Also some of those down hills in the woods were pretty scary for decline, all rocks, and what not, so several places I walked my bike. But I realized it too late, I fell off my bike twice going to the lake, and once more coming back up the wooded area. Luckily I was not really hurt, but absolutely covered in mud (when I get those pictures I will post them on my instagram, and update to this blog)

So as you can imagine, after taking that spill, I was completely covered from the mud pit that I could not ride through, as was my bike, which made shifting my gears all the harder after those 2 spills. But then you were at the spot where you drop your bikes, check in, and go a little farther with your bikes, and that was a very STEEP decline, and pretty slippery as well. So like I said, my biked was covered in mud, the shifters would not easily shift, so, only one thing to do, take it to the lake! And everybody told me I did not need to bring my bike, EVERYBODY, but when they looked at my bike, and realize it was a good idea. So when i entered the water, I just threw my bike in and shook off the worst of the mud, It helped me immensely, but walking my bike back up to the drop area was pretty hard. The good thing about the swim though, was that you could wade through it, which I did, I really can not swim well, I am barely in the water. So If you are thinking of doing this race, but can not swim 300 meters, don't worry, it was waist deep for a 6'1 guy, so for most people, no higher than chest deep, on the deeper end. But still deep enough that you can swim, I tried, but could only get a few strokes, like I said, I need to work on it. Also it was cool that a bunch of other people were wading through the water, the guy standing at the entrance to the water was commenting on the fact that it was a swim, and a bunch of people were wading through the water. Then it was back up the hill after checking in with the volunteer, and there was a bunch of walking your bike until you. There were a few points that you could ride your bike, but then it was up to walking your bike again. Next it was the 7 miles back the way you came, back to the farm. It is important to note, the roads were open, but it is a quite are of Vermont, and I think I saw about 6 cars, and the roads were marked with race in progress, and volunteers at every turn, and a few more at the straights, and cross roads, they were great! They told you were to go, and gave you the all clear when you got near, as well as directions. Things to keep in mind, It will most likely be muddy when this race is done again next year, and your bike will kick up mud, you may get it in your eyes, which makes going about 20ish mph down a rocky road pretty scary with one eye open, So maybe a cheap pair of shades to keep you eyes clear would help in that area. The trails were mostly clear, I did not run into many issues there, but there were several small branches that hit me wile trying to avoid pot holes on the trail, minor grip, but need to be mentioned. They didn't really hurt, they were small, but it would have been nice to but be whipped by them, again small grip, and was the only negative I noticed.

GPS of bike/swim Curtsey of Paul Jones

GPS of obstacle course Curtsey of Paul Jones

Then you go back to the farm, where the start line is, and you drop off your bike on the rack, a quick change of shoes, quick snack, and electrolytes, it was off to start one of the hardest ocr courses out there. This is a great course, I loved the polar bear challenge, and the link will give more detailed info on the course/ But basically, harder than almost any other ocr, and this course does not have to many hills, I would love to see what they could do with more hills. There are definitely some super steep parts, but they are short compared to a mountain.

Things to note. Shale hill has several levels for this event. They offer Journeyman division, so when you fail an obstacle, and trust me you will, this course is really hard, and has 70 obstacles, You only had to do 10 jumping jacks. Also you had the option of doing the 5k course, It cuts out some of the harder obstacles, but you still get some challenging ones, I think it is still like 50 obstacles (hard to tell, I have not done it, and they are always adding obstacles. Then you could do Power class, Which was one lap around the 10k course (ish, I think It was 6.6 or so, I think that RDs from VT do not know how to tell distance, or any other RDs for that matter, ocrs are never what you think) and has about 70ish obstacles. Elite was 2 laps around the obstacle course, and instead of a 300 meter swim, it was 600, 2 laps around the swim portion. For power and elite division, you had to do 25 spiderman pushups for each failed obstacle, but the tarzan swing you had to do 50, and 25 for each section of the great wall.

New obstacles, The coffin was just put in, right after the great wall. It is a box, long and narrow, uphill, with a slick back. You get finger holes that only allow about 2 fingers (unless you are tiny) to pull yourself up through the box. I ripped my palm there, nothing too bad, but just be warned, It is tough. Also it has become an area for spiders (daddy long legs it looked like) were taking home there.
Another new one, currently unnamed, It is after the firemans pole, where their used to be tires to run through. It is a traverse, you can choose baseballs, hanging tires, or a taught chain. The tires are easier, but, It is a robsatacle, and it is not as easy as other races. The baseballs are just like ninja warrior stlye hanging, and really hard to do. The chains are super really hard to do, and not recommended, as the chains can easily rip up your hands, so be careful and forewarned. The tires are doable, and then the last few are more challenging with the distance between them.

Side notes, I finally got the great wall, that thing is hard, Like the new spartan z wall, but it was standing long before spartan angled their traverse walls. Also it is 5 walls connected by boards, either by one you walk on, or one that is overhead, and you have to move backwards (I find it easier) by shuffling your hands up 1 by 6 boards (I think, not fully sure on the dimensions) So yeah it is hard. I failed the lincoln logs, (exactly what you think, a hanging giant lincoln log you have to climb, and touch the top of the support structure) my quads would not let me grip the log. The fireman's tower, I also could not grip the pole to climb up. The new obstacle, I made it to the 2nd to last obstacle. Monkey bars, they are also longer than spartan, or other ocrs, I was like 3 away from the end, and then I was not making the uphill ones. The uphill ines are farther apart, and UPHILL, so yeah, I failed those. Then the one thing I am hoping to get, but really need stronger biceps, are his tarzan ropes (not sure if that is the real name) A whole bunch of ropes to swing across (think longer than anything else you have seen easily more than 20 ropes, and finally a wall to climb before you can touch the ground.

Awards ceremony, I got 3rd, in 18 to 35! Photo credit Paul Jones

Prize pack for 3rd, plus a few credits

So on a more personal note for this blog, this race was epic, and for me personally, I am more than pleased at a few things that happened that day. First, I podiumed!, first time ever!!, I placed 3rd in my age group Power 18-35. I also qualified for ocr world championships (I think for a second time, but never got confirmation about another race, but was assured I did). But almost more important, I spent the race focusing on how I felt, destroyed, my quads were destroyed on the ocr course, I cramped several times, and my leg completely ceased solid once. So I did not have confidence in my abilities that day, But I did well, and sometimes you need to take a step back, ignore what is in your head, and just go for it. I was told I was doing good for a bunch of the course. Complimented on my bike ride, and placement on course, I thought nothing of it, I felt bad, could not run much, yada, yada, yada. Eventually somebody told me that I was in the top 10 (which at the time included elite division, I was in Power, but both were competitive, so I guess it counts. It is just hard to think I was doing well, as there were just under 40 people (as my friend says, "don't screw up a good story by giving away too many details"...... oops) But apparently It was a good day for me, and my 5hr 11min ish time was good enough to place me, I got 4th overall in Power, A complete surprise when I was told.

Until Next time
Stay active
Stephen

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Rodericks

Stephen

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Isn't mud fun!

What happens when you race too much?

It is easy to forget it is possible, or maybe it is just me that you can over race, just like you can over train. I have done 2 months straight of racing more than once. And when you are somebody like me you can easily get caught up in all the fun, and not realizing how many back to back race weekends you have planned. For example, I signed up to do an ultra at least 6 months in advance, long before other races popped up on my radar. Then I signed up for other race local events, and not wanting to fall far behind in mileage, or points, or swag (but I ill be honest, I do not expect to stay high on the point scale). and I raced for 6 weeks or so after the ultra marathon (Infinitus, great experience, I truly think many things can be learned running ultras, but that is another story). Now you are probably thinking, why would you race the week after an ultra? well you shouldn't, PERIOD, but I also already bought another ticket, not realizing how close they were (the next week) and it kept happening. So please learn from my mistakes, and do not be afraid to take time off from racing, running, or just working out. Do not forget that REST is an equally important part of training. Without rest, your body can not build itself back up stronger than before. After tearing and regrowing muscles, trashing legs with running. You also need rehab days for your body, with things like yoga, recovery runs, or recovery tools for running, now matter what kind (I wrote something about how to re-purpose tools for recovery, that work as well as the more expensive stuff, you just need to know what you are doing). You can always cross train, but, you still need to work in rest. I just hopped back into the water after over a decade out of it, and not having a strong swimming backround. And man, it was hard! Proving the point that even if you think it is okay to keep going, as long as you switch up what part of your body you work on. You may feel fine for a wile, but eventually it will catch up to you. I have pretty good endurance, and can handle myself, and know my body. So when I tell you that for those 2 month spans of races all I did was my monday night training, and the race each week, you know that I had plenty of "rest" but my workouts suffered. My strength stagnated, at best, and my legs were beaten down, so for all my post ultra races, I had slowed way down, like half speed down. I had a knot in my left leg, on the line between my hamstring, and it band. Whenever i tried to push, I was forced to slow down. So like I said, sooner or later, it will catch up to you (I am at 20 races this year already, that is the number I did last year! and I have way more planned!!). It is easy to get caught up in all the memes that say rest is for the weak, but truthfully, you will be weak if you do not rest! It is also easy to have your mind be full of doubt because you have not worked out in a few days. Even if you do not have D.O.M.S. It is just a fact of life. So be sure to get plenty of sleep, rest and plan out your races so you have down time, and still get excited for races, after all the is the main point of these types of events.

Until next time

Stay active

Stephen

Exercize can help!

So I have been fairly active for a wile now, about 5 years, and making a focus for ocrs and being serious about my running in the past 2 years. And amongst all the good it has done (improved body, mind, and so many new happy and positive friends). This post is more for (and about) me. I do my best to stay positive, I truly believe that focusing on the positive can drown out the negative, regardless of the circumstance. Now, naturally it won't solve all of your problems, but it helps. It helps to lessen what ever negative things that are sent your way. Not to mention that with all the friends you make, and teams you join (for me life would not be the same without the New England Spahtens, so many new friends made there, they really help make each weekend wonderful, and every week of training as well! Also, Team RWB is great, they are also full of wonderful people that give back to veterans every chance they get, and is a wonderful charity!

From time to time, you need more than positive vibes from within. That is where exercise can really kick it up a notch. I was in a low place on friday, I had just put my cat to sleep, after 20 years, and it feels weird walking into a home without a pet now, it has been all I have know for most of my life. But I was able to make it to a race (finish at the 50) that night, saw dozens of friends, and laughed, it made the day easier.

So combining running and friends, I had a good night. Even if I did not prepare for the run at all, good thing it was only a 5k, but also meant I missed out on running a 10k after as well. And also did not have nearly as good of a performance as I am used to, but that was not the reason for the run. So keep in mind the importance athletics can play on your mind, in a bad mood? Try going for a run, or pumping some iron (or body weight workouts) all that adrenaline, and endorphins make a world of difference. Also it is one of the cheapest forms of therapy, it is very cathartic, a good trail run on your own (or hike) has done the trick for me on more than one occasion. 

I can also say that the whole group workouts are also a wonderful thing (I also wrote about that earlier here). Much to my surprise, I got a sympathy card from my friends, totally unexpected, but an awesome touch. Just another sign that getting out, and off that couch can do wonders for you. And adding life to your years, is a wonderful thing. 

Until next time 

Stay active

Stephen

Finish at the 50

So, on July 3rd there was a 5k/10k road race at Gillette stadium. This is a yearly event, average price for a road race, free parking, real close to reg, and the start line. This thing has a huge turnout! I ran the 5k, and planned to do the 10k after, but to say I was under prepared is an understatement. I pulled a trick out of a friends book, due to scheduling, I was unsure that I could make it, so I did not buy my ticket before the event. And I made up my mind to run in the race about 2 hours before it started, and did not hydrate, or fuel properly at all (I still managed a 25 min 5k, but it felt horrible I ran it all wrong). So I got to the venue about 45 min before it started, and reg'd about 30 min before the start, but I made it! The course went around part of the parking lot, around the stadium, then through the stadium, back out the other side, and around back in. My gps said it was about 2.75 miles, but they had you run up the ramps, from go around level to the top, and that could have easily messed with my entry level gps watch. It was really cool, running up the ramps to the top level, it really separated the people that were use to running, and you could tell the people that did not gauge right with the ramps, those things were hard! The big mistake that I made was misjudging the finish line. About a half mile from there finish line you see people crossing the line on the field. Now I am not familiar with the stadium enough to realize that i was not close enough to an entrance to the field. So what i thought was about 20 yards from the finish, was actually about a half mile from the finish. So I really gassed myself far from the finish. I did not hydrate enough, again, poor planning on my part, but the important thing? This is a really cool race, for a decent price, and you get to run through Gillette stadium! The shirts are pretty cool as well, not just a cotton T shirt, It is a dual blend, soft shirt. The Sponsors were great, there were plenty of good drink options, ocean spray was great, I am sorry, I forget the actual name, but it was tasty, and I think probably a sports drink, they had like 4 flavors, and they were all awesome. They had bags of chips that were also good, and several kinds of KIND bars, also pretty tasty. All this on top of the regular post race water and bananas, so the post race was great, and you were on the turf of the stadium, such a cool environment. As you get onto the field, you run through the Patriots helmet, and onto the field were you are on the big screen, always a plus! The spectators were watching from the stands which was also pretty cool. They had medics all over the place, watching, and cheering everybody on, and they had several wheel chairs with medics on course just in case. One of the few negatives that i can say is that as a racer who finished the 5k, I wanted to cheer on my friends running the 10k. The problem? after leaving the field I could not go back. That may not seem like a big deal, but when i wanted to  join my friends as they cross the finish line, I was unable to, so i had to wait for them to leave the field. So for me, and my friend, we both wanted to take pictures closer to the finish, we both had run, still had our bibs on and everything, but there was no re-admittance, that was kind of annoying.

Photo Courtesy of Henry Marte

One of the other cool things that happened was that Foxborough had their fireworks that night, so me and the rest of Team RWB (from the Boston, RI, and a CT chapter) enjoyed some tailgating, and several other groups did the same in the parking lot. If you did not want to do something like that, they had a food truck, and all the restaurants, and bars that are in the plaza, so you had options!

Photo Courtesy of Henry Marte

One thing to beware of though, it is Gillette stadium, and the parking can be tricky, getting in was not too bad, but leaving is a NIGHTMARE!!! It was after 9pm, and people were just parked in their cars waiting to leave the parking lot, CRAZY!! But also normal for Foxborough, when their is a game. Keep in mind that the 5k started at 6pm, and the 10k started at 7pm. You could do both, I know several people that did, but for anybody doing that, or the 10k, good luck getting home, unless you were fast, and left immediately. But none of this takes away from the race.

Also note, that the 10k did not run through the stadium that much, they took you out route 1, and it was rolling hills from what I was told.

So the things to take away from this race? Fun times in Gillette stadium, the 5k was hard with the ramps, they were real long. It is best to make a night of it, as the parking lot can be difficult to leave, good thing they have plenty of things to pass the time there with all the shops and restaurants. Go with friends, I loved seeing two of my running groups, Both very awesome, New England Spahtens, and Team RWB with several chapters present. All at about $30 for early pricing, up to $45 for race day price. Oh yeah, and make sure to plan your day right, a night run can be more challenging than a morning race where it is easier to fuel, and hydrate first thing in the morning, rather than trying to keep it in mind all day, where you have more time to make mistakes, so stay vigilant with your fuel.

I hope that everybody had a wonderful holiday weekend

Until Next time
Keep active
Stephen

Busy, crazy, sleepless week with all the fun!

So June 19/20 was an interesting weekend for me, I had a goal of a hurricane heat (recap here), 2 laps around the super (recap here) on Saturday, and then 2 more laps around the super on Sunday. Now you might say, why would a sane person think to do so much stuff in one weekend? Well (have we met, sanity is questionable, but that is what makes life fun, right?) I want to do the Killington ultra beast, so I need to start pushing myself, more so than i have, I would rather approach this head on, with a good chance, luckily, I have a good friend that is going to do it with me, and we plan to push each other along. So I strongly feel that it would have been doable, but alas, I failed my attempt. Now I did not do this smart, but I also did not have much choice in the matter. Due to insomnia (and packing for a long weekend), I had 4 hours of sleep or less from Tuesday night through Saturday night. So that is 4 nights in a row, of no real sleep. I also spent Thursday, and Friday building the super course, and the hurricane heat let me leave my shift early, just enough time to change (at my trunk, I love that race weekends it is normal to chat with people in your boxers, or even meeting new people) and get my gear ready for the hh. Also, in the beginning when we did the ridiculous number of push ups, because of the speed, and not being in shape enough, by 20ish I felt my triceps tighten instantly, so I knew I was so not in the right shape, I have been slacking too much. So I am writing this because I like to note my experiences, and also learn from my mistakes, and maybe somebody else can learn from my mistakes. I had also been fighting something since Monday. Also, my sleep post record length hurricane heat, was about 3, in my car, my bed plans fell through (stuff happens, at least my car was warm). But ya know what was cool? Wile running the fire wood to it's home by the finish line, a nice little pick me up, a surprise, one of the people watching us, around 1030pm, is a good friend. His few words "I am proud of you buddy" was a nice addition to my night, and put a smile on my face. My main bummer though, my shoes prevented me from doing my second lap wile I had the energy to do it on Saturday, after my first lap, (they were giving me blisters on my arches). Skipping the lap was annoying because I figured it would help me guarantee that I could do the 2 laps on Sunday. Saturday night I got  sleep in my bed and a nap in my car before heading home, a nap at the team tent, and most of the day on my couch half asleep. Then Sunday, after feeling mostly rested, at 5am my body ached so much telling me that I had no business getting up and doing anything. I was looking forward to running with team Ilene that day, for the first time, but I will have to wait for another day. Some days you need to forget about everything else, and just rest, do nothing, or eventually your body will do it for you. Sunday was one of those days that my body one, and was completely exhausted. So If I can blog about my successes, why not blog about my failures as well? Also this is a warning to make sure that you take time for recovery, as well as rest, Rest is when your body makes your gains, as it builds itself up stronger than before, no rest = no gain.

Boston Spartan Super

Oh the fun of a barb wire crawl

So the "boston" (barre) super finally came around, and it was an interesting course. Plenty of people cramping up, hot day, very technical course, but also very flat, made for a fun day. The course is on a farm, and it seems that the Carter and Stevens farm may be the new IT place for ocrs in mass, now that Amesbury is no longer in the ocr worked after last year. They got into trouble that the venue got into from the last spartan race, but there was too much here say for me to go into detail. But this farm is pretty cool, and will host battle frog when they come around, and the spartan sprint is also booked here as well. As for the course, they have plenty of ticks, uneven terrain, way to much single track on the course for my taste (but could easily be changed with a machete), You know it is bad when almost the whole elite field is walking in the first 1/4 mile of the course. There was also a whole bunch of cow poop, random holes, pricker bushes that could easily take people down, rather than the bush being ripped out of the ground. And the mud on course was minimal on Saturday (however from what I heard, and saw via Facebook, it was a monsoon on Sunday)

 Parking was about 2 miles from course, pretty easy to get to, it looked like the far end of the farm. The course was barley a super, it was about 7.5 miles, from what  understand, they were struggling for more room on the venue from what I heard. Spartan has also brought back the snacks on course again this year, from their sponsors, the cliff shot blocks on course are nice if you messed up your fueling, not feeling it that day, or for what ever reason are not in shape enough to do the distance, regardless of the race (so far I have seen them at the beast and super that I have done this year).

New wall, this thing is awesome

So the course, as I said, was very flat, hardly any inclines on the day, the obstacles were typical, walls, carries, bucket brigade, inverted walls, sled pulls, rope climbs, monkey bars, Traverse ropes (I LOVE the Traverse rope!!!) Multi bar rig (still need to get that one), Hurc hoist, spear throw, cargo nets, even a memory challenge (unless you ran elite, they did not have enough volunteers, so the rd told us to skip it, and I did not even notice it until I ran past the board, it was facing the opposite way from where you were running). But this was still a spartan, so the last half mile, it was rope climb, short run to the traverse rope, shorter run to the multi bar (pipe traverse to hanging knotted ropes about 2 ft long, then another pipe and a bell) then a few tenths of a mile later (and the only real bit of mud, which was shin deep and unavoidable) and then the hurc hoist, a a frame cargo wall, then short slippery run through woods, with plenty of holes, and slippery rocks, and fire jump.  One thing I forgot to add, it was the first i had seen, and i like it a bunch, because it is a little different. It was like an a frame wall, about 14 ft high and 6/7 ft tall solid, then the rest was slatted, it was pretty cool, and my dimensions are probably off (see Pic). So the cool wall pictured above, was in a cow pie field (fancy word for cow poop!) As usual, they had obstacles stacked to burn out body parts, the bucket brigade was about 50 yards from the cool fancy wall. At the end it was a rope climb, then 50 yards, then the Tyrolean traverse ropes, finally the cliff multi bar about another 30 yards away.

Cliff Multi Bar Rig

All that just before the end, but before the end, you hit the trails for a few. Those trails had about a 1/10 mile of ankle/shin deep mud that lead to the Hurc hoist, cargo a frame, shorter trail run (with a whole bunch of slippery rocks, slippery trails, and mud pools) then the fire jump and you are finished.

A couple of grips about this race I have to share. Whoever the announcer was I was almost late or the elite heat because they did not announce it, I know it is m own job to know the time, but I forgot my gps watch, my bag was checked and it had my cell, and it is not like they put up clocks at these events. Add that t the fact that the start line was WWAAYYYYY out of the festival area, It was annoying to not hear anything about the start times in festival area, that is the first time I have had that happen at any event, and I have been doing a whole mess of them lately. Also, Again, Last year I got the impression that elite meant harder races, not just the first to go out. Hell it was earlier, the memory challenge was not manned until later in the day, so we were told to run right by it. Apparently they did not have enough volunteer, understandable, but come on, they could have easily moved 2 people, I do not know, I was not working this event. Another issue I had was that the hurc hoist (I missed this one) was yet again, not the correct weight. This may not be a big deal, but when they are trying to standardize the whole race, and the hurc hoist is never the same weight, it gets annoying, yet another mixed message they are sending out! It may not have been nearly as annoying if the bags were not marked 25lbs each, the men had to lift 75lbs, trust me I would not have struggled if that were the case, but i struggled to get that bag up 3/4 of the way before I gave up.

Another issue that I noticed was the referees, now I know it was not an nbc event, so they probably did not care as much. But still, if you are going to have refs for the elites, they should be there for more than just the top few, it is better than not having them, and they did disqualify some people, which is nice. But they only had a few refs, that moved through the course, they did have cameras, but only a few, and the ref took them when they moved. But honestly Panasonic is a sponsor, get more cameras, to keep there for the whole elite wave, for all the obstacles that you know people will fail. It was nice to see, but when I was doing my burpees at the multi bar, I saw a bunch of people that failed walk right past me as I did my burpees, shortly after the ref left. I must say that they had wonderful volunteers at that obstacle though. There was a woman yelling you got this, right at people giving so much encouragement as you went. Even as people failed (like me) she looked me in the eyes and said"you are going to rock those burpees!". Than was awesome! I love to see volunteers that care like that, and actually do their job, I know you can not screen for people like that, but I feel the need to praise those people doing it well. I was not in peak form, so my 2 hour finish (wile not horrible) was no where near where I would normally be, especially for a super (pun intended) flat course. So that means she was giving all that encouragement for a wile, which you do not often see, even less so when it is an elite wave. So bravo, random woman, and thank you!


So Until Next Time
Keep training
Stephen