Spartan Race Boston Sprint

 So this race is back at Carter & Stevens farm in barre ma. Going into this race I had mixed feelings due to how they handled the super. The super left things to be desired, review here, and then battle frog came in and did a little better, but still have things to learn. So needless to say I was unsure how the day was going to go, but I can happily say I had all of the fun. Spartan stepped their game up for this race. I love hills in a race, they shake things up, push you and you have a sense of accomplishment when you make it to the top, and this venue does not really have any. But there is a small one and we went up it about 5 times, and three of them with weight, sandbags and bucket brigade. The course was wider in more places, the start line was closer to the festival area, Dustin was back at the start line doing great as he always does! The course did not feel as though it was rushed with the design, was done with careful planning. The obstacles were strategically placed, all enjoyable and challenging.

The obstacles in order were: Hay bales, Over Under Through walls, Inverted wall, Monkey bars, Atlas Carry, Rope Climb (1/2 knotted, half no knots, THANK YOU SPARTAN RACE!!! I love a no knotted rope climb) rolling mud pits with dunk wall, Barbwire Crawl, Log Hop, Plate Drag, Sandbag Carry, Stairway to Sparta, Bucket Brigade, 3 Walls (from taller to shorter probably close to 10 ft, 8ft, and 7ft) Hurc Hoist, Spear Throw, Bridge (with cargo net top instead of slatted boards). The Cliff Multi Rig (traverse pipe to 3 short ropes, to 4? rings and bell), A Frame Cargo Net, Farmers Carry ( 2 logs with chain handles), Slip Wall, Verticle Cargo Net, and finally Cargo Net.

The trail running sections were so well done, still plenty technical, and plenty of downed trees and all sorts of things to get in your way and make it hard to run, which was awesome. No walking tight away because of a single track right after the start. Basically any complaint I could have thought of that I encountered at the super they fixed for the sprint. And the course was about 5.2 miles according to my gps, and oh so much fun packed into those miles.
        

And it was not just me, many of the people that complained about the venue were pleasantly surprised by the race. The race was well received by everybody there. I would still like to see a venue with more hills, but if they keep course design with this caliber then I will be happy to come back and race. 

The only problems that I can think of where that the volunteers cutting timing chips off your wrist were in front of the line to get your post race pic taken so if you went back to the venue nobody stopped you. And I forgot because I was in a rush to get to the start line. I went out on a second lap in support of my friend, it was her first race and just wanted somebody to help out if she needed it. It was a blast, after doing these races for 2 years (this sprint in august was my first race in 2013) and I think everybody should do that, it really makes the race more fun! 

Photo Credit Vince Rhee

So my results were unavailable due to the chip reading it twice, Luckily a staff member got it squared away for me, and pretty quickly too, so thanks for that

Also the buses are still have problems, they get to the venue just fine, but take the long way back to the parking lot, and often get lost, it has been the case for each race there it seems, and after speaking with other racers and hearing the drivers on the radio it about getting lost and asking for directions wile driving the bus to the parking lot. I have heard others have had no problem, just to be fair, I may be in the minority, but I had to put my 2 cents in.

Almost forgot, This year Spartan has put a string around the spear so the no longer have to collect them. I have mixed feelings about that. It is nice to not have to wait for all the spears to be picked up. One thing to keep in mind with this is that you need to make sure you put the string in front of the fence otherwise you will probably step on it. I have seen this happen countless times. My beef with this move is that the string is often too short! Luckily when I stepped up to the fence a staff member moved the string to give it more room, and I was about the 1/2 way mark for the elite male wave, I wonder how many may have missed due to short ropes.Keep that in mind folks, WATCH THAT ROPE!!!

Until next time

Stay active

Stephen

The looong lost and crazy run

So just in case you do not live in Massachusetts when you read this, it has been hot, and humid. The temps have been in the 80's and humidity anywhere from mid 70% to 90% and my body has not been coping with the heat all that well. This summer has been this way for weeks, and the past three of them I have been trying to get in a half marathon run in. The one morning it was in the 60 I had no sleep and no time to do a long run, and annoyed me for a few days, running problems! Then this past Wednesday it was perfect out, after getting home from work and errands at 9pm, I got changed and prepped for a ling runand went out in pretty perfect summer running conditions. Only problem is I decided to turn my current long run route into a longer one, it was a longer oval of my 10 mile route. As I went farther, I went into the next town, and I swear there were no sidewalks at all in my neighboring town. And that is scary as hell when it is 12ish and you are at mile 11 something and you are going up an awesome hill (I really hope I can find it again, it went on forever!) and a dwindling battery on my phone, legs getting slower and a spartan volunteer shift in the am. So what was I to do, now around midnight, I called my brother, who was luckily for me, working an overnight shift. I was completely lost, with only a small idea of where i was. I found a few signs directing me back to a route I knew would get me back to my house, but my progress was bad, so I really needed an out. My brother, and managers in the background rightfully laughed and called me crazy. (I still love the being called that as a runner, it makes me feel like I am doing the right thing). I finish the phone call, a few min go by, talk to my brother again on the phone, and then immediately after I hang up my phone dies, about 2.5 miles away from where we were meeting, and a mostly good idea how to get there. Good thing the route was simple, basically just down the road. So by the time I get to the location, a local 24 hour gym, I was ecstatic to see somebody standing out front. The universe was really smiling on me on this run! (For example every street crossing I had the right of way, all the drivers let me go in front, and only one light that was not green in my direction.)  only thing was his cell was dead, but he had a cable to charge it, and as soon as we got let into the gym by his friend he charged it, and after a few min he looked up the number for work and called it for me, so nice, and such a life saver. When I ran up, it was obvious, and he commented long run hunh? So the long run with a goal of a half marathon minimum turned into 15 miles, and a bunch of walking for the last 1.5 miles. So I got picked up about 12:45. Only problem? I had a volunteer shift for 7:30am over an hour away. But that seems to be my luck for sleep the week of a spartan race with build days. Oh well, good thing I have been able to handle it. After the super in barre, this was no where near as bad.

So moral of the story is plan things better, and realize that even if you do not get the performance you want you still have it in you. Summer is horrible for my runs, I still need to get used to that idea, but I still have my speed and endurance, just not in humidity. 

So have faith in your own training, adjust when needed, get out of your head and your own way, the more you believe in your abilities the better you will be, doubt is KILLER to almost all things. 

Until next time

Stay active

Stephen

OCR 102

This is a follow up post. Basically I wrote OCR 101, and went wait I have more to add. That article was also based solely on leading up to the race, here I would like to cover race day stuff, things that might not seem obvious, or race day hacks to make things smoother.

Flip flops: keep these in your bag, you will want something that is not a race shoe to change into post race. And this lets your feet breathe, also depending on distance and your feet, swelling may make a normal fitting shoe uncomfortable. 

Trash bags: or even the plastic bags you get at the grocery store. Just something big enough to hold your gross clothes, and shoes. You can go the fancy giant zip lock bag, but I use the grocery bags because they are free, and still do the trick. I usually have plenty in my bag in case I forget to add them between races.

Towel: pretty much every ocr I have been to has garden hoses to can rinse off with. Nothing fancy, and definitely cold, but it is better than nothing. You do not need to go the extra mile and bring soap and shampoo, you won;t get everything off, and lines are always long. Plus it is just one more thing to carry in a bag that I have more useful tools in. Also everybody expects that you will be gross, and nobody cares. And you will want a real shower when you get home/hotel or where ever. 

Snacks/drinks for recovery: almost every venue will have food and whatnot they are selling, and some venues may not allow outside food or drink, but they do not search you. And they may not have what you would be used to, it is usually just sponsor giveaways, which is not bad. But things like gatoraide have so much sugar and what not, so I go for pedialyte, it does not have nearly as much of the junk you find in sports drink. But it has the electrolytes you need to replenish. Some people prefer coconut water, as it has good stuff in it, it is all preference, and what works for your body. Some sort of recovery snack would also be good, again, most races have sponsored bars and what not, and bananas, but if you are weary of ingredients bring your own, just something to tide you over until you are at a restaurant, or home again. 

Sunscreen: so most races will have you under tree line for a bunch of the trail running, depending on venue, so you might forgo it. But it does not take long for a sunburn to take effect. 30 minuets can pass by quick when talking with friends, or checking out times, snacks, and whatever else is around. I always have a package if sunscreen in my bag. 

Bug spray: depending on time of year, and venue, it may not be needed, but I would rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. And hell if you are in mutated bug country it may not even help. But bring it, because at least then you will have done all you can. Otherwise you could be eaten alive. Also if you wind up inplaces like carter and stevens farm (hosting both spartan races, and battle frog) they have ticks, so keep an eye out. They certainly are not the only place, but just a heads up, many races you will go through tall grass at some point, and most courses also have poison ivy, it just happens people, so long socks, or calf sleeves what ever you got, otherwise learn how to deal with or treat poison ivy and bug bites.

In the days leading up to the race, you should be hydrating as much as possible, starting at least on wednesday, you should drink all the water, and pee all the time! make sure though that you are also keeping up you electrolytes up the day or two before the race as well, as too much water can dilute them in your system and you may cramp earlier than expected.

As far as food goes, this is a 2 part question.

First, the night before, add some more carbs, but do not do anything new, you will want more fuel for the next day, but you need to know your system. For me I could eat pasta all day everyday, I love the stuff. But if you find that too much carbs can bog you down, that is just as bad as too little energy, so as with everything, test it out! 

Second the morning of, every morning for several years I do a bowl of oatmeal with a banana and some cinnamon, a protein shake, tea, and water. This works for me, my body loves it, and it fuels me for almost anything. You will again want the carbs in the am, but make sure you have the time you need to digest your food before running. again, only way to know is to test it out. I can eat and run about15 min later, if it is the right food, but then I have other foods that can take longer to digest, it varies from person to person, based on body and training.

The second part is race day nutrients. So I can do guu, or the like, or the mashed food pouches, like baby food, but starting to gain popularity in the big companies, Cliff has them, and I love them (you can even get one pouch that is pizza flavored, and yes it tastes like a margarita pizza). You need to figure out what your body likes when running, I use different ones depending on how long I am running. for ultras I prefer the pouches, but shorter runs I can use the guu, it all depends on the day. They also make the block type energy gel things, that are basically just sugar, and when you need a quick fix it will help. Keep an eye out for the electrolyte ones, they come in handy as you will be sweating a bunch in a hot sun, or even if there is no sun, you louse more than water when you sweat!

So now a few neat hacks that will come in handy if you so choose:

Those orange home depot buckets, like the ones you carry on race day, are about 5 bucks. They are a good investment for post race clothes if you have a few friends and get real muddy. you put some laundry soap in, and fill the bucket half way, then post race you put your clothes in and the get to soak and with the turns you make driving your car you wash them a little. For me personally if it is one change of clothes it is not that big of a deal, and I have made my race clothes wait until monday. However, they could stain or retain the smell, I think I have a shirt on the way out due to smell starting to form, and discolored on the inside. I personally like the idea if it is at least 2 changes of clothes, weather it is friends or if it is a multi day event, or multi lap and you feel the need to change clothes, it has to be a long event for me to want to use that. This orange bucket trick came in handy with the 24 hours of shale hell such a fun event, and I changed my clothes almost every lap.

Another post race tip that will come in handy is for when you rip your hands. Those wonderfully built up calluses can rip off on oh so many things, but fret not my friend for vit e oil will do wonders for your hands. It is an old gymnastic trick I learned years back and needed reminding of last year. so at night before you go to sleep, put the purest vit e oil on your hands and then out on gloves, I use cotton, like 3 dollars at target or anywhere, or plastic gloves will work. Hell in a pinch you can use a sandwich bag, just cover your hands to keep the oil there and not everywhere else, It can easily shave days off of healing if you do it daily. You can do it during the day as well if the rip is bad or you have another race the next weekend, and I speak from experience saying it will make your hands usable by then, not fully healed, but to the point you can climb a rope, traverse a wall without fear of your hands opening mid race.

I hope this helps, and keep in mind that the barre, ma races are flat, fast, and filled with pot holes, ticks, pricker bushes, and cow poop, it is a working farm after all!

Another thing to keep in mind, recently there have been incidents popping up about people getting sick or hurt at races. Some of this can be avoided, for instance, when you go into a mud pit, or water pit, or dunk wall, close your eyes and mouth. Same goes for when you do a barb wire crawl, just use common sense, try to not let mud get in your eyes or mouth. I have been doing these for 2 years and not gotten sick (knocks on wood) but seriously it will minimize your risk of getting sick. Also if something pops up talk to somebody. Lets say you get a rope burn on your skin, use disinfectant, mud has bacteria and germs, as does the rope itself, if you do not clean it, bad things will happen when you let it go without taking care of it. Calf sleeves are great to help with rope burns, or high socks, or tights, Just cover your legs where you will be climbing a rope, problem solves. 

Also, DO NOT FORGET TO STRETCH!! I often forget this, but it makes a world of difference bothe before and after the race.

As always I hope this helps!

until next time

Stay active

Stephen

One pot curry tuna recipe

So a wile back when I first started this blog I said I would put in recipes and general ideas for healthy living through cooking because I am not that great at writing recipes. I posted my stuffed pepper recipe, a wile ago. It received some notation on twitter, now for my next one. This recipe is something I created a few years ago when I wanted a lazy meal, One pot, about 30 min, and easy cooking.

I start this off with boiling the rice first ( I used a cup of rice with 2 cups of water) after about10 min when the rice is mostly cooked I add yellow curry sauce (you can use a different sauce if you prefer soy sauce, or anything else that goes with whatever main protein source.) I chose to use tuna, (but to make this vegan you could use chick peas, or other legumes.) You could also use other fish, chicken, or turkey, just chop it up and throw it in, as long as it is already cooked (remember this is a quick meal) For this I use 2 cans of tuna, 5 oz sizes. And each meal is not complete without a vegetable, so for this one I usually use spinach, as I always have it in my freezer. So, after the sauce has been in the pot for about a min, I add the spinach.towards the end, by then most of the water s gone and it is only another min or two. Now bear in mind that the pictures that I posted here are backwards, but it still works. The difference I have noticed is that you need less of the sauce when put it in with the rice, if you put it in later the extra sauce to coat everything is negligible, but if the sauce is near the end, or you want to make the sauce last, or just do not have enough left in the jar.


So some other things to note, I used white rice due to time, that way I can make this is a pinch wile making breakfast before work and have lunch. This has happened more times than I can remember. If you want to take it up a notch you can use brown rice. Also, if you like you can add black beans (this forms a complete protein, another way of saying all the proteins that your body does not produce on it's own) even if you want to add meat to it, it helps make it more filling, and more nutrients. The way I make this, and with my appetite it makes for 2 servings, one meal for two or lunch for 2 days.




So I hope this helps point you in the right direction and keeping up a healthy life style, and realize that healthy meals can be quick, easy and inexpensive.

Until next time
Stay active
Stephen

24 Hours of Shale Hell Review

So for those of you who do not know, Shale hill is a top nitch upper body destroying ocr course in vt, well worth the trip. Not just for the obstacles, but the owners are awesome as well, they get to you, and your name very quickly, which is amazing! This course is also the reason that when somebody tells me be careful that race is hard, upper body heavy obstacles, I usually chuckle, I have yet to be on a harder course, but it is also a world of fun. Don;t let the difficulty scare you away, you don;t need to be elite to go there, however, if you want to complete every obstacle, then yes, you need to be elite. But they have journeyman division so you do not have to feel bad about not having penalties, it is there so you try your best, and sometimes you just can not get across the great wall (think traverse wall on steroids, 5 panels, longer than spartan, strung together with balance boards and overhead grip boards. It will tear open your hands, trust me, it happened on both my hands at this race), the difficulty is the point though! For example, almost every race, you get the discussions about what obstacle you were able to complete but could not before, It feels great seeing nt only your own growth but that of everybody else's as well.

 

So this particular event is just as it sounds, as many times as you can make it around the course from 9am saturday morning to 9am sunday morning. They very kindly let us camp out fr free the night before, right next to the start line, which is great if you wanted a nap inbetween laps, or did not want to walk to far to do so. Parking as always is a short walk from the start/finish line, and you could bring your car up to drop off gear, then park at the parking lot. They had a giant bonfire at night, which was great, because even in the summer with 90 plus temps it was pretty cool at night when you stopped running. The penalties were different for each lap: first 2 were 30 spiderman push ups (50 at the tarzan ropes), third was half so 15 (25 at tarzan), 4th was 7 (14 at tarzan), 5th was penalty free, but still had to try everything as much as possible. They had different penalties for 6 and up, but I only got to lap 4, and did not expect more than 6 anyway. There was also an 8 hour version, which was the same thing, run as much as you can in 8 hrs, if you were not back by the cut off, or only a few minuets over then the lap did not count, that went for both times. They also had a relay team, only one person per lap counted, the team could run with but their time would not count (and the Canadian team really kicked butt out there, so jealous). You could also have a crew with you, but for each person crewing they had to fork over some money, I usually go alone on these kinds of things, plus knew enough people I could ask for help if needed. The support crew could not help you on any obstacles, they could carry gear, give advise, and run next to you at night when it is dark, and that was cool, also with those fresh legs they helped pace people to move a little faster, and it was nice to see everybody helping each other. Racers were allowed to help each other on obstacles, and man did that come in handy as the laps racked up. There were no timers, just a race clock, and a white board that you recorded your own times.

start of fireman's tower

Second half of fireman's tower

(see picture to the left) I only got 4, I really wanted to make it an ultra and get 5 or 6, I like several of my friends could have done it (I may beat myself up for a bit, reguardless of knowing I made the right call with a long drive back to ma from vt) but considering how my calves felt, I knew it would be better for the healing process to stop at 4, even though I just missed the penalty free lap, so bummed. Speaking of which, as I write this my : forearms, triceps, biceps, calves, and core are beaten down, been a wile since my whole body has been beaten like this, and it just proves that I had all the fun, with so many friends. Friends who were awesome to run with, and chat with before, during, and after the race. Doing a night lap with one of my friends, realizing that as I ran with another that the balance beam around the herb garden was not getting done easily alone that lap, and another lap that I would not have made nearly as far on the great will without being pushed. That is not normally how I run, but it can be just as fun, and it was needed on a course like that. The only real things that could have made it better was reflective trail markers for the night time laps, for the bucket carry (bucket brigade for you spartan folks) was hard to stay on course, we did a bit of wavering on and off course, but it was mostly on course. Also there were a few places were tree branches were blocking the course, ad one of those walls on the anaconda with the 2 metal bars moves a lot, but those are all I really noticed for things that need improvement. They really take care of everything up there, and it shows when you run the course, and I could not be any happier, I mean unless  actually got that 5th lap that is. But the whole running with the best ocr team, New england spahtens makes things like that more palatable.

zig zag of awesomeness

zig zag of awesomeness

The two that run this place are always checking in, going around course, seeing how you are doing, I know Rob has given me pointers wile on course more than once. And they know their course, and what it does to its racers. At one point I got to the fireman tower, about 2/3 of the way through the course. There was a volunteer hanging out, and said hey, and asked what lap I was on, I said hello, and blanked on the lap question, then like 30sec later, realized he asked a question, apologized for ignoring his question. His answer you may ask? "That's ok, Rib said people would be delirious around lap 3 and 4" so good job on them both!

This is also a great idea if you are training for worlds toughest mudder, as they also do the 24hr event for that as well, but if you are not, it also helps with endurance and just a real fun weekend! think in 2 to 3 hours for each one, just amazing!

Tips for the future:

• gallon sized zip lock bags are great to store each change of clothes in for each lap, and when doing something like this, you will want to change a few times, you will be covered in mud!
• you will want a second pair of shoes (or more if you have them) you can quickly hose off and dry them wile you are running, it makes a world of difference
• changing socks at least evey other lap is highly recommended, if not every lap, take care of your feet or you will regret it!
• Trail toes, or some kind of foot care lube is a great idea, it really helps when you are putting down milage in this kind of terrain
• when you rip your hands on an obstacle (lets say the great wall, because of my 3 new rips on my hands) vitamin e oil, as pure ass you can get in liquid form helps shave a day or so off healing time, and helps speed up the initial barrier to prevent the raw skin feeling. and use glove to keep it on, at night it is perfect, and helps if you can get away with gloves during the day as well
• Work on your spiderman push ups, you'll need to know em!

Bottom Line, like I have posted about shale hill in the past on my blog, it is really hard, and really fun. Definetly a must for ocr enthusiests of all abilities. Unlike the big names you get way more of a challenge, more fun obstacles, they greet you by name with a smile, and are always thinking of new things to do. If you have not been here stop slacking, you don;t even need to wait for a specific race, they do training as well! which I will probably take advantage of before the ultra beast, because I need to work on some things!

Also for information there cite is here, check them out, it is worth the trip

Until next time
Stay active
Stephen