Killington Ultra Beast 2015

So it is that time of year again, time for the Killington beast. Last year it was the spartan world championships, and I did the beast, and it was brutal. This year, I was talked into doing the ultra beast (2 laps around the beast course) and this year had already basically been working up to it with all my races and training, and it isn't hard to get me to sign up for a race, really, it is kind of a problem. Anyway, so as with everything Killington, word championships or not, the rumor mill was flying. From all the different facebook groups, to all the word of mouth rumors going around about course, obstacles, time hacks and what not, some of which I am sure Norm himself spread (Norm is the race director for Killington if you did not know) it was easy to get nervous. Let me tell you hearing all the crap I did, wile tapering, deloading, and general prep for the race and going crazy not being able to do what I want, rumors of the race were the last thing I needed to mess with my head. Luckily, it didn't last, and my mind went from energy and excitement, to oh crap what did I get myself into, but in the few days before, I realized that it was doable for me, and happy and excited again I was!

Pre race photo Credit Sara

Pre race photo credit Sara

So I signed up elite, because, frankly, I wanted to ensure as much time on course as I could, In the super long distance stuff my goal is completion of the race. The morning was great seeing my friends that were racing, and my friends that were there wishing well and giving out hugs it was a great way to start the day! And in the morning announcement, as is custom in the elite waves, the rd says a few words, and Norm said that he did not want people to finish, which made me chuckle, and say that I was going to pad the positive comps when I finish this race. So the first thing we do after the start line is start the ascent up the mountain, and hit log hurdles, then inverted wall, and then about 1.5 miles up. This race was a founders race (still not 100% on what that means though). But basically the race was filled with many heavy carries (pancake, demo sandbag, 2 log carries, bucket brigade, a log farmers carry, atlas carry) and sooooo many walls. there were 2 rope climbs, a hurc hoist, the rig set up they had was 3 ropes to rings. Tarzan was not under the bridge this year, it was between 2 walls with hay in case you fell. The only water was were the traverse rope was last year and it was a wade through chest deep water depending on how far in the water you went. There were also 2 cargo net climbs, and hay bale jumps, and of course spear throw(s), 3 barb wire crawls, memory test just for the ultra people, and only on the first lap, and the always present fire jump.

Photo credit Aaron Farb, still happy on lap 1

A few gripes that need to be shared about the race. First of Saturday was pretty darn hot, about 80 and Spartan ran out of water, it was a s*** show, and people disagree about that, but the point here is this, Joe De Sena apologized on facebook, and flew up after hearing about it, and saw to it that those problems were solved for Sunday. Saturday they did not let people refill their water packs, but said you could at the next stop and never let them fill it, I heard about very long times waiting in line, enough time for two people to trade places at a heavy carry, and still not be close to getting water. As you can imagine it got kinda ugly, and racers and staff and volunteers were both acting poorly because of this, not everybody, but enough that many people had several stories of their own. Also some other complaints about this race were that several of the obstacles were falling apart on sat, and not properly fixed for sun. The wall at the halfway mark was being held together by volunteers on sat, as it was not secure for people to go over, and on sun, everybody I saw went to the only part that was properly secured on the left. even with the board that was put there it was not stable. The bucket brigade was falling apart, the back wall that holds the rocks in had a big break and a bunch of rocks were spilling out of it, and we were told to dump on the side that was not broken ( also they ran out of buckets on Sunday and rocks as well I was told). As somebody that ran ub I was annoyed that the loop was made longer on my second lap just for us running the ub, it seemed weird and annoying nut whatever. The bucket brigade, and the demo bag sandbag carry loops were shortened on Saturday due to not enough to go around. I was watching runners on Saturday at 10am, and there was a line of about 40 or 50 people waiting for a sandbag, way to early to back up like that.The rope climbs were oddly short for a spartan race, but they was nothing wrong with them. One of the sections of the z wall had a decent sized hole in the board just below the foot blocks. the over under through section of about a dozen walls that was on pavement after the tarzan swing had a board that was not secured to the end, and the through walls were not even so some of them were too tiny to get through unless you were a child size. Basically I saw a lot of stuff I would never expect to see at a spartan race, a lot of the finishing touches, polishing up of obstacles, and quality were not there. I expect more from them, and especially for killington, as it is supposed to be their baby, it is where the first beast started years back.

Also something I need to add, with Joe's video apologizing for the problems, he gave out his email and asked for feedback! so I sent an email, and his response was nice. I sent him pretty much the entire paragraph above and this was his answer.

For whatever reason this build crew thought when I said- back to basics and raw- that meant sloppy!

I agree on your assessment and we are working around the clock to get it right.

I appreciate your comments.

TY.

Joseph Desena
to me

All the negative being said, the terrain was awesome as it usually is, it was still hard, and fun. I must say, when I realized that the sprint course was the same for the first 4 or 5 miles, I was concerned about bottle necks and time hacks. However when I started my first lap all those fears disappeared immediately, the volunteers knew what the green arm bands meant, and as soon as they saw them they made room at the obstacles for us. I saw one guy stand in front of the inverted wall and wave several of us over to avoid a line, and the log hurdle as well, the volunteer politely asked a runner to wait one second and she happily let me go, it was truly wonderful. But it did not stop there on course, during one of the downs every time I came close to a group of people, and they looked behind, they yelled "ultras coming through" and let me pass, to say I was surprised was an understatement! and the ones that didn't part, when I got near let me pass when I asked to, everybody was nice, it was a great day.

Also, I have heard a bunch that this race was easy, and all that. Now I know what last year was, I did it, it sucked, and I came back for 2 laps. But the whining about it being so easy really needs to stop! there were still many people that DNF'D the race, it is still Kilington and the terrain is still horrible. But also equally important is that you are diminishing those that are happy that they finished, the ego really needs to come out of a lot of the minds of some of the runners. I can understand disappointment, but you need to handle your verbiage better, because people worked hard to make the race, and people worked hard training for the race, so get off your high horse people. Also, the amount of trash I saw on course was ridiculous, I do not know why so many people can not carry a wrapper, hell it is light than when you opened it up!

Photo Credit Josh Chase. Next night, with Kevin who did beast/ub

One of the best feelings was the finish, it was great. I knew I was coming up on the spear throw and did not push too hard in case I missed again (first lap it went in then bounced out, so depressing!) I wanted to save energy for burpees. But I nailed it and SCREAMED "F*** YEAH" sprinted for what I swear was a 5 minuet mile pace for the like 20 yards to over the fire and to the finish passing a few people all due to the extreme happiness that I got the spear and finished the Killington ultra beast! (in 12:12 and before sunset)


Some things to keep in mind for an event like this would be, never stop moving, just keep going forward, even if it just walking, do not stop it makes a world of difference (this applies to the Killington beast as well)! Long uphill and you are slowing down? perfect time for a snack. You should be eating and drinking around the hour mark for things like this, you can do 40 min if you like it is all about preference and your body. Training for the distance and proper hydrating and nutrients help keep energy up ad cramps at bay. Also look for the humor in the day, keep smiling, it seriously helps make the miles go by faster and better. joke with people around you boost morale, introduce yourself to runners that are near your pace and make new friends during the race I did, and it was nice chatting with people, cheering each other on and having fun, after all that is why you paid to do stuff like this right? Worried about having to poop on course? take Imodium AD and no worries, it made a difference for me. In your drop bin spend as little time as you can to ensure you make the time hacks, if you sit too long you may bring on cramps and the desire to not get back up. Have a second bladder there, it is easier than refilling. change of shoes is a good idea as well as socks. when I stopped I changed socks and shoes, also my foot care was gold bond to dry them off and trail toes to help with blister prevention. also refilled the trail snacks and was good to start running again. All said it was about10/15 min switching out. And listen to your friends that have done it endurance events before, absolutely everything in this paragraph came from friends helping me out along the way, and with their advice race day went pretty smooth! I also carried pickle juice in a separate container in case I cramped up, and took some swigs when I felt them coming on, luckily they were minor and it helps me

And the medal GLOWS IN THE DARK!!!

Delta 730 2007

Until next time

Stay active

Stephen

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

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