I'm running obstacle races hard. I thank God for my health and the US Army for 22 years of physical training. After retiring 10 years ago, I'm still trying to stay in shape. Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training keeps me motivated.
Main Set: Run a 10k Along the way do the following three times: Run along curb for balance for 20 feet x 2 Leap over 3 foot fence x 4 6 pull ups with leg lifts 10 box jumps Monkey bars
Please keep the families of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in your thoughts and prayers.
Fun alternative to monkey bars
While you are enjoying your Memorial Day, here is a short workout to get you out of that food coma. Walk 1.2 miles Monkey bars x 2 7 pull ups Walk 1.2 miles Monkey bars x 3 7 pull ups 7 pull ups 8 pull ups
What can I say, it was a great race. This event took place
in Dallas, Georgia, a town of….well of not too much, just country and very
beautiful. Rolling hills, wooded property and peaceful views are first thoughts
that come to mind as I reflect on my drive to the venue.
I planned to drive in on Friday night, get a good night’s
sleep, and race the next day. I ended up staying in a Hilton Garden Inn in
nearby Cartersville, Georgia.
Why I chose the Pro Heat:
After two years of mud runs, I decided to sign up for the
pro or competitive heat. After all, I’ve done well in most venues and decided
that I did not want to wait in long lines for a chance at super obstacles as I had done in national level
events like Warrior Dash and the Spartan Sprints. If you don’t mind paying the
extra money, competitive heats are well worth it, as long as your fitness level is up to it.
The situation
After about a week of steady rain, Dallas Georgia was a
soaked playground. The mud was consistently thick and most of us ended up dirty
before getting to the entry gate; slippery was the word of the day.
Prior to
the entry each racer and spectator had to complete a waiver and present it at
the entry point with a photo ID. Once checked, the staff provided the race
packet and information about where to go next. I got there a little early and
spend some time warming up before my heat was called.
Savage Race started the party early. My heat started at 9 am
and by 8 am the DJ was cranking the music. What fun.
Finally, the pro heat was called and I headed toward the
corral.
The starting gate
The thing to understand about the pro heat is that everyone
gets a blue wrist band. Each competitor in the pro heat is required to
accomplish all obstacles and without help. The competitor can
reattempt any obstacle as many times as it takes, but if they fail to complete
an obstacle, they must turn in the blue wrist band.
I was kind of nervous about being in the pro section as I
didn’t want to hinder the faster runners. I am 50 years old and knew I would be
slower than the champs. I settled into the pack somewhere in the middle and
waited for the start. The energy was more intense for competition and less on
the fun side... and I liked it. I could stay in the zone without going through the
hype that I knew the other heats would go through. The MC tried to get us
excited with a pep talk and some activities, but we weren’t as willing to participate
as the regular heats. We were there to race.
The race
Finally, the start and I immediately regretted my decision to start in the
middle of the pack. I should have started in the front to prevent being behind some very intense, but slower runners who began
to walk less than a mile into the event, even before the first obstacle. Granted,
the course was tough and the hills and mud were an obstacle in itself.
The obstacles
The first obstacle was a bottle neck. It was a smaller obstacle that
would not allow more than three at a time to pass. By the time I got
there, a short line had formed, but it moved along quickly. The lesson
here is to sprint to the first obstacle and then taper off speed once
through. At that point, you’ll race unimpeded.
The rain, my gosh the rain. The trail was all uphill it
seemed and about .6 miles of the entire course was grassy sure footing. Most of
the race was muddy forest path. I had no such experience on slick mud and slipped and slid
helplessly and in the wrong direction.
I remember commenting out loud, “I really thought I had
trained for this.” After all, I run a lot of hills. Someone overheard me and
replied, “how could you train for this?”
I’m adding trail running to my training. When possible, I’m
adding monsoon trail running.
The obstacles were very challenging, well built, and worth
the visit. The ice water obstacle or Shriveled Richard was well timed. I was hot and needed to cool
down anyway. I felt refreshed, but at the same time helpless as my body would
not obey my commands. I climbed into the ice water and had to swim under a wall
and climb out on the other side. It was really hard to do.
Ok, Savage Race is evil. They put all the fun low wall
climbing, barbed wire crawling, and other easier obstacles that slowly wear you
out up front. Man, my abs were screaming from rolling over wall after wall. I
also carried logs as I ran part of the course. But the second half was just wrong. There was a really long
monkey bar challenge called Saw Tooth. This thing went up, then down, then up
and down again over a pool of deep water. In fact, it came with its own
lifeguard complete with a floatation device; seriously. I do a lot of pull ups
and monkey bars in my daily training. But after running 3 and a half miles of
other obstacles, I was exhausted. There’s even this other event where we did
the monkey bars hanging from a single horizontal bar. Tough baby!
If not exhausted enough, I climbed tall obstacles
with ropes. This included two humongous towers or walls. I climb a lot of ropes in training so I
did well. But again, I was running out of steam. Savage Race strategically placed these really tough, tall, strength sapping obstacles at the end. Did I mention
how evil they were?
Some runners were not able to complete Colossus,
one of the last obstacles. It is a giant warped wall with a rope dangling from
the top. Again, I climb a lot of ropes, so I was prepared for it. The problem
is once you make it to the top of the rope, you still have to climb unassisted
over or roll your body over ledge and go to the waterslide on the other side.
And then there’s the pull the weighted cinder block uphill
with a rope event. Did I mention exhausted? That was a real challenge, but
pretty much the end of the race and a fine way to end it; with a burst of
strength.
The DJ, MC, enthusiastic race started, staff and volunteers made this Savage Race a completely enjoyable event. I raced in honor of veterans with my Team Red White and Blue shirt and was happy that the kind folks recognized the group.
I was pleased to have won in my age group and qualified for the OCR World Championship. I've trained hard for it and documented the training in my blog. Thanks to Savage Race, Spartan Race, Warrior Dash, Moonshine Mud Run, St. Claire Scramble and all other events that prepared me for this accomplishment.
Here are the pros and cons of running the Pro heat: Pros:
Eligible for trophies in your age group
The obstacles are fresh
The water in the obstacles is still clean. I swam through,
slid into, ran through clean water. Later heats had dirty water.
There are no long lines
You get done faster
You’re virtually alone in all the photos; no crowds
Cons:
Less of a fun camaraderie atmosphere.
Fewer publicity photos are of the pro heat. The pro heat did
not make the event video either. The camera loves the teamwork type of photos.
No team work; must negotiate all obstacles with no help.
You run early and there are fewer spectators. Most of these events are sponsored by the military. Here's how the Army works out. Great obstacle race training exercises are inside:
Monkey bars are fun and a great way to stay in shape.
My block is 1.1 miles and offers intense hills and other obstacles. These include curbs to run on for balance, recycling bins to leap, and odd areas for burpees, so here goes.
Just check out the local playground. Should be empty at 5 am.
Run 1 lap 20 burpees Monkey bars x 2 Repeat 3 times.
Run 6.2 miles with 14 obstacles Obstacle 1: leap over 3 foot fence x 4 Obstacle 2: monkey bars Obstacle 3: 6 pull ups with leg lifts Obstacle 4: 6 box jumps Obstacle 5: leap over 3 foot fence x 4 Obstacle 6: monkey bars Obstacle 7: 6 pull ups with leg lifts Obstacle 8: 6 box jumps Obstacle 9: run on curb
MOdified rope climb. Use body weight to simulate pulling weight from overhead
Obstacle 10: leap over 2 foot object x 3 Obstacle 11: Walk with wood pole or log 50 yards, lift overhead x 15 Obstacle 12: Walk with wood pole or log 50 yards, lift overhead x 15 Obstacle 13: Leap over fire (simulated) Obstacle 14: Pull heavy object from rope on pulley or simulate modified rope climb (use arms to climb rope while using legs on wall or tree) x 2
Run 5.1 miles with obstacles. Obstacle 1 - leap over 3 foot fence four times Obstacle 2 - Monkey bars Obstacle 3 - 5 pull ups with leg lifts Obstacle 4 - 5 box jumps Obstacle 5 - run on curb for balance Obstacle 6 - run on curb for balance Obstacle 7 - 5 box jumps Obstacle 8 - 5 pull ups with leg lifts Obstacle 9 - leap over 3 foot fence four times Obstacle 10 - Monkey bars Obstacle 11 - leap 3 times over imaginary or real 2 foot obstacle Obstacle 12 - run along curb Obstacle 13 - Monkey bars x 3 (simulate Savage Race's "Sawtooth" obstacle)
Main Set: Run 3.2 miles Walk .33 mile 10 walking lunges each leg 10 side lunges each leg 10 walking lunges each leg Walk 50 yards on curb for balance 5 pull ups with leg lifts 5 pull ups with leg lifts 5 alternate grip left pull ups with leg lifts 5 alternate grip right pull ups with leg lifts
Pull up grips styles from Army Physical Readiness Manual
Run 4 miles at
moderate pace Monkey bars x 2 Rope climb with 10 alternate grip pull ups
10 pull ups with leg lifts 30 airsquats 20 push ups 10 pull ups with leg lifts 30 airsquats 20 push ups 10 pull ups with leg lifts 30 airsquats 20 push ups 10 pull ups 30 airsquats 20 push ups
Obstacle 1: 6 pull ups with leg lifts Obstacle 2: 5 pull ups
with leg lifts Obstacle 3: Climb over wall Obstacle 4: Monkey bars Obstacle 5:
Climb over wall
Run 1 mile Obstacle 6: 5 Spiderman burpees Obstacle 7: 5
Spiderman burpees Obstacle 8: Find a ditch and jump side to side six times
The obstacles were very challenging, well built, and worth
the visit. The ice water obstacle or Shriveled Richard was well timed. I was hot and needed to cool
down anyway. I felt refreshed, but at the same time helpless as my body would
not obey my commands. I climbed into the ice water and had to swim under a wall
and climb out on the other side. It was really hard to do. 
But the second half was just wrong. There was a really long
monkey bar challenge called Saw Tooth. This thing went up, then down, then up
and down again over a pool of deep water. In fact, it came with its own
lifeguard complete with a floatation device; seriously. I do a lot of pull ups
and monkey bars in my daily training. But after running 3 and a half miles of
other obstacles, I was exhausted. There’s even this other event where we did
the monkey bars hanging from a single horizontal bar. Tough baby!
If not exhausted enough, I climbed tall obstacles
with ropes. This included two humongous towers or walls. I climb a lot of ropes in training so I
did well. But again, I was running out of steam. Savage Race strategically placed these really tough, tall, strength sapping obstacles at the end. Did I mention
how evil they were?
I was pleased to have won in my age group and qualified for the OCR World Championship. I've trained hard for it and documented the training in my blog. Thanks to Savage Race, Spartan Race, Warrior Dash, Moonshine Mud Run, St. Claire Scramble and all other events that prepared me for this accomplishment. 
Run 1 lap and sprint the last 1/4
Rope climb with 10 chin ups at top 
