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.
I just received my Under Armor compression pants and my Reebok All Terrain shoes. I've got about 5 weeks before my first race of the season, so I want to break them in slowly. I mainly wanted to test the shoes out and see how they performed. It is cold and rainy, so I used the product review opportunity to motivate me to get out in the rain. First of all, let's review the shoes. I bought the Reebok All Terrain Series shoes from a link on Facebook. They were a great deal at $40. I ordered them in my size and they fit snugly which I prefer. I wanted to test them on a 4 mile trail run. Since I don't have 4 miles of trails, I ran on the grass strip between the side walks and the streets. I used this route for about a mile until I found the woods. My first impression was that the grip on the ground, grass, mud, and trail was noticeably great. I had awesome traction compared to my street running shoes I have been using the past few years. I found new gear for my next race and I am looking for blowing BattleFrog away. Then onward to Spartan Sprint, Savage Race, Warrior Dash, and more. The only downside is the great grip in the trails is lost on concrete. I totally slipped and fell on my face transitioning from trail to a driveway. The driveway is slanted and wet from rain, so that's part of it. Not the shoes' fault, just a warning for the runner to be aware.
Great nobbies on these shoes. Wonderful traction
The Under Armor compression pants hugged comfortably and kept me warm. I don't know much about using compression gear, this is the first time. I did like the snug feel and how tough they are. Remember the fall I described earlier? I skinned my knee. However, the pants did not rip; how awesome is that? I am 5'9" and weigh 143 pounds. Here's a few pictures demonstrating how they fit:
I really like working out in the open air. My equipment is what ever is available. Sometimes it's a constructed obstacle course at a park or around a running track. At other times I use playground equipment and tree branches. However, I do have some favorite equipment in my back yard that I use regularly to stay in shape and prepare for the Warrior Dash, Tough Mudder, Spartan Sprint, Savage Race, and Battle Frog. Currently these courses are getting more and more technical and strength demanding. Aside from the regularly run, burpee, run workout, I perform other workouts to prepare for the strength and grip obstacles. I very rarely use weights. So, here's what I have... Carrying and obstacles appear in the Spartan Sprint, the Battle Frog and similar races. The bucket brigade was a new obstacle I encountered. We filled our buckets with gravel and carried it approximately 1.4 miles. The Atlas Stones were a similar obstacles requiring strength. Other carry obstacles include the 5 gallon water can, the wreck bag, Hercules Hoist and more. Here are some obstacles you can put together to prepare for next year's races, Bucket brigade: I bought a 5 gallon bucket at Lowe's. I also bought a bag of gravel. Total cost, around 8 bucks. Weight sled-Pulling weights across the land is very difficult. However, replicating the event is easy. I found some old cinder blocks and bought a 10 buck rope. This is a great core, leg, and arm strengthening exercise. I bought a skinny nylon rope to really work my grip strength as well.
Sandbag-I had an old gym bag with lots of handles and a small roller carry on. I bought a 50 pound bag of sand and put 25 pounds of sand in each bag. I also got the sand at Lowe's. Since I already owned the bags, the sand was around 5 bucks. Backpack carry-I bought a 50 gallon bag of sand from Lowe's for 5 bucks and added some weight from around the house. Make sure you have a decent bag with working shoulder, chest, and abdominal straps. Rigs and monkey bars appear in the the Savage Race, Spartan races, and Battle Frog. I use monkey bars, various grips, swing sets, ropes, i-beams, 4x4 planks and other surfaces to get prepared.
Rock climbing hand holds require good finger tip grip strength. They hurt like heck at first, but then practice will get you through it. try pull ups and traversing from one to the other.
Cannon Ball grips are awesome. They are round, slippery, and require a strong palm grip. Takes lots of practice to master these.
Triceps ropes like these provide a great opportunity to develop horizontal grip strength. Most pull up platforms are horizontal, getting you ready for monkey bars types of obstacles. However, these ropes are smooth, vertical and easy to slip off; until you get that strength you need. I feel off the rig many times, but now looking forward to kicking it. Swing from one rope to the other or do pull ups.
Gymnastic rings are good platforms for rig and monkey bar training. I love them.
Finally, nothing beats a good old fashioned pull up bar rig above your door.
The Warrior Dash World Championships is exactly one week away. Though I did not run hard this past week, I still plan to taper off this week. I want to run fresh and strong. Today I will run a tough course with lots of steep hills. I am running sprints along a 4.1 mile hilly course to prepare for what awaits at Milky Way Farms, Tennessee.
Rope Climb
Run 4.1 miles with interval sprints. The total time should equal or be close to race pace.
Today is a sprint workout. Attempt to run in an area with lots of hills and attack the hills vigorously. Implement some sprints to increase your race speed. I have a big event in 10 days and counting. The Warrior Dash World Championship 2015 is almost here. I have some big run runs planned this week before I taper. Walk 2 miles Run 3.1 miles at moderate pace. Sprint from one mailbox to the next at every other mailbox. So, this is my story and I'm documenting every step of the journey. What's your story? If you have a story, consider writing it.
This is the last hard run of the week. Next week, I'll pare down my training in prep for the Decatur, Al Urban Assault. 8k run with lots of urban style and military obstacles. I am running .75 and .25 miles as fast as I can with intervals of hard obstacles. The run is a total of 4.1 miles at just under race pace and with 20 obstacles. Mile 1 10 spider man burpees 18 foot rope climb balance beam on 1x6 board
5 pull ups with leg lifts
Alternate between swing set and Cannon Balls
Run .31 miles 6 spider man burpees 2 x monkey bars Run .75 miles Mile 2 10 spider man burpees 18 foot rope climb balance beam on 1x6 board 5 pull ups with leg lifts Run .75 miles 6 spider man burpees 2 x monkey bars Run .31 miles Mile 3 10 spider man burpees 25 foot spider man crawl 25 foot bear crawl Climb ladder up and back down x 2 balance beam on 1x6 board Pull cinder block sled
Get your own CFF Pro Series Monster Grip Cannon Balls (pair) Grip Strength' :
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The following workout includes alternate workout routines and ideas. There are multiple ways to do exercises and multiple platforms for doing them. For example, you can balance on a 1 x 6, a street curb, or playground equipment. Today's workout includes alternate workout resources to get you ready for the next Spartan Sprint, Warrior Dash, Tough Mudder, Savage Race, Battlefrog or other event.
Run 4.1 miles at a moderate pace (5 or 10k race pace). Be sure to incorporate hills and some grass work (run in grass or along trails).
Here are some good hills:
Hill
stairs and hill
Perform the following obstacles after the run. The obstacles are listed with pictures and some alternatives.
I'm working hard this week before resting a week. I have a race coming up on September 26 and going hard at it. Next week will be total rest, while this week will be lots of work at about 75% effort. I split today's workout into two parts. Lunch Run 3.65 miles Walk .6 miles After work, run a total of 2.26 miles with circuit training: 10 spiderman burpees 18 foot rope climb balance beam x 2 5 pull ups with leg lifts Run .75 miles 6 spiderman burpees Monkey bars x 2 Run .35 miles 10 spiderman burpees 18 foot rope climb balance beam x 2 5 pull ups with leg lifts Run .35 miles 6 spiderman burpees Monkey bars x 2 Run .75 miles 10 spiderman burpees 18 foot rope climb balance beam x 2 5 pull ups with leg lifts Cinder block sled pull
Just registered for the Spartan Sprint Nashville Elite
Heat. Seriously contemplating a follow on in November of the BattleFrog
Master's heat as well. Both require more miles and endurance than the Warrior
Dash and different preparation. I'm increasing miles and obstacles during my
training to meet the challenge and finish well. The following is from the Block
Party workout. A 1.1 mile loop with steep hills.
Run 4.1 miles with 20 obstacles
Run .75 miles
Obstacle 1: Monkey bars x 2
Obstacle 2: 10 Spiderman burpees
Run .25 miles
Obstacle 3: 5 burpees
Obstacle 4: 18 foot rope climb
Obstacle 5: 5 pull ups with leg lifts from 6 x 6 bar
Run .25 miles
Obstacle 6: Monkey bars x 2
Obstacle 7: 10 Spiderman burpees
Run .75 miles
Obstacle 8: 5 burpees
Obstacle 9: 18 foot rope climb
Obstacle 10: 5 pull ups with leg lifts from 6 x 6 bar
Run .75 miles
Obstacle 11: Monkey bars x 2
Obstacle 12: 10 Spiderman burpees
Run .25 miles
Obstacle 13: 5 burpees
Obstacle 14: Cinder block pull (three cinder blocks tied
to thin rope. Bring toward you with hand over hand for 25 feet) Obstacle 15:
Climb rope up 6 foot wall (keep body in l-shape position on the way up and down
the wall)
Run .25 miles
Obstacle 16: Monkey bars x 2
Obstacle 17: 10 Spiderman burpees
Run .25 miles
Obstacle 18: 5 burpees
Obstacle 19: Balance on curb for 25 feet x 2 Obstacle 20:
Spear throw practice using small target
Hot day out, so drink lots of water before and during the workout. Fortunately I have a wooded trail that I can run and it's really close to work. This week I am running in the evenings.
Morning work out:
Grab some dumbbells of moderate weight (I use 20 lbs). The following dumbbell workout should be accomplished as a cycle.
Begin downward squat movement. On the way up, bring arms up to perform a curl. While arms are in top curl position, move to shoulder press, then bring dumbbells down to complete press, complete curl, and back down into squat. Do this for 10 repetitions.
20 v ups
10 squats
10 curls
10 dumbbell presses
20 v ups
Then go into squat, curl, press routine.
20 bent knee v ups
6 pull ups with leg lifts
Evening workout:
Run 4.1 miles
6 pull ups with leg lifts Wall climb 6 Pull up/press up
Block Party! Oh yeah, we're back. It's been way too long since we celebrated fitness. The block party is intense, but fun and keeps you close to your home. The idea is to start at home, complete a circuit, then return for some water and repeat.
My block is 1.1 miles with a hill, a playground, and some equipment at my house. Here's a great workout:
Warm up: Stretch muscles and rotate joints for 6 minutes
Main set:
Repeat three times: Climb rope 5 pull ups with leg lifts 10 box jumps Monkey bars Balance beam (run along curb) Run 1.1 miles
Followed by:
Plank hold for 2 minutes (add spider man push ups during the time period) Side plank hold for 30 seconds on each side.
Cool down: Walk .2 miles
There are so many exercises to do. Many are covered in this great book from the US Army:
I've seen a lot of questions on Facebook obstacle race training pages about how best to train for a Spartan Sprint, Warrior Dash, Tough Mudder, Savage Race, and etc. So far the best answers come from those who responded with advice on improving the run. Someone stated that mud runs were running events with sporadic obstacles. I thought that was a great description.
Training doesn't have to be brutal either. The training goal is to finish a 3-5 mile race with up to 20 obstacles without walking. Run and reinforce with obstacle training workouts; that's my advice.
Warm up:
Stretch muscles and rotate joints for 6 minutes
5 burpees x 2
Main set:
Run 4.2 miles
every 1/4 mile, do 5 burpees or more.
You can do 80 at once, 20 every mile, or break it up into 5 burpees at every ¼ mile interval; your choice
Cool down: Walk .2 miles 10 walking lunges each leg 10 side lunges each leg 10 walking lunges each leg 6 pull ups with leg lifts 6 chin ups with leg lifts 6 pull ups with leg lifts
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
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:
