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writers Tim Bonnes
MudRunFun California Team Leader
Matthew O’Leary MudRunFun Magazine Professional Slacker
Muddy Mommy
OCR Athlete / Blogger www.muddymommy.com
Roger Smith, PhD.
OCR Athlete / Prolific Author www.newbluefit.com
Whats inside this issue? “The Mud Run Sandwich” Roger Smith, PhD.........................pg 1 “Atlas Race Review” Tim Bonnes.................................. pg 3
Eye Candy - Deviant Race Spreads Matthew O’Leary.........................pg 7 “Extreme Nation Review” Muddy Mommy.............................pg 13
The Mud Run Sandwich by Roger Smith, PhD
Yum! A mud run sandwich. A mud run this
twist, which calls for yoga and pilates. So wake up
Saturday and next Saturday with training packed
with a short 10 minute yoga routine. Then later in
into the middle of the sandwich. It is more fun than
the day spend a full hour doing yoga, pilates, or a
anything … except maybe a mud run triple-decker.
combination of the two. Currently, I am enjoying the
So how do you train when you just have a week between a pair of mud runs? You want to maintain the fitness level you have and hopefully push one trait forward just a little before the next race. As the
yoga and pilates routines in Tony Horton’s P90X3 workouts. I do them both back-to-back for a full hour. Monday. Start the morning with 30 burpees and a
mud run season started I found myself with a pair of
quick 1-2 mile run. This will take 15-25 minutes for
short runs sandwiched together – Extreme Nation
most people. Then later in the day it is time to build
and Spartan Sprint. So I created a week of training
a little muscle with an upper body lifting session.
specifically designed to carry me from one race to
Focus on chest, back and shoulders today. Be sure
the next. The program was based on the fact that
to include push-ups and pull-ups because you can’t
both were short distances and heavy on strength
beat those classic body weight exercises.
obstacles. It includes a short physical wake-up in the morning and a longer workout in the afternoon. Sunday. A really good obstacle or mud run is a great workout in itself. You get a big dose of cardio and muscle work in a short
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Tuesday. It is time for an abs/core morning. Just 10 minutes of alternating abs exercises. There are many great abs DVD’s to choose from. I like these much better than the boring sit-ups and leg lifts we all learned in gym class. Then in the afternoon I have been
20 to 60 minute window. So the
attending the Les Mills BodyFlow class at my gym for
day after is not a good time
the stretch, twist, and flex workout. I follow that with
to lift weights or run. But it
their high intensity BodyAttack class, but a good set of
is a great time to stretch and
running sprints or cycling will do just as well.
AM PM mud run
Saturday Sunday
10 Min Yoha
Yoga or Pilates
Monday
30 Burpees + 2 Mile Run
Lift Upper Body
Tuesday
10 Min Abs + Run Sprints
Pilates + Cardio
30 Burpees
Left Lower Body + Arms
Run Long
Pilates + Stairs
Rest
Foam Roller
Wednesday Thursday Friday
Wednesday. By this morning you should wake-up a bit fatigued. So the morning routine is just 30 quick burpees. You can do these in 3 sets of 10; or make them into Tabata sets of 4 burpees with 10 seconds rest between, repeated for 8 sets. In the afternoon it is time to strengthen the lower body. Include leg exercises that build your glutes, like lunges, rather than the leg extension and leg curl machines. I also work my arms with my legs because I can switch back and forth without having to stop and rest. The legs rest while I work arms and vice versa. Thursday. This is a good cardio day. Try a longer run in the morning. Then in the afternoon you can run stairs and work on your core again. I return to BodyFlow class just because it is scheduled at a perfect time. Friday. I said you were going to like Friday - just rest. Let your body rebuild and refuel your muscles. Today you can use the foam roller to breakup adhesions in your muscles. But give your body a chance to prepare for tomorrow’s event. Saturday. I’ll see you at the race. This was a great program between two short races. If they had been longer events I would have spent less time on building strength and more on running. But, in either case I would have included at least 2 days of yoga or pilates. I believe these are essential for protecting your body from injury. This sure is a lot of work to invest in a weekend hobby. But for Mud Run Maniacs there isn’t anything more exciting.
Dr. Roger Smith is a researcher at Florida Hospital, author, and avid mud runner. He competes with the old guys in every mud run around Central Florida. This column was drawn from his book The New Blueprint for Fitness: Mud Run Edition, which is available at Amazon.com. http://www.NewBlueFit.com/
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Atlas Race – Extreme Obstacle Racing Series
country, both male and female. As I said I am not
Let me start by saying that I am not an Elite
an elite racer but I figured I’ve done some pretty
racer. I do OCR’s for a good time and to test
tough events over the past few years so I decided to
myself to see how far I can push myself. When I
give this a try.
moved to Southern California after being spoiled in Florida for the past 3 years of the OCR boom I was disappointed at the lack of quantity of races coming to the area. I am constantly searching for a new race to try out and see what it has to offer. I heard about Atlas Race after their debut in the North West last year. There was a lot of hype surrounding this new racing series and they are offering huge prize money for the Elite and Team categories. This
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race drew most of the big name racers from across the
Atlas Race held its Los Angeles Event on 22/23 Feb 2014 at the infamous Vail Lake Resort in Temecula, CA. This venue has hosted some big players in the OCR industry such as Spartan Race and Tough Mudder. Let me start by saying the terrain at this place is wicked. There are miles and miles of trails available for use along with a huge freshwater lake and some very, very large hills that can be used. Atlas Race took advantage of all of this. The Race started with a quick run through some mud and immediately went into a climb up one of
the smaller hills. This smaller hill is about 1/4 of a mile with close to 500ft in elevation gain. It is quite awesome to get on top of it and look at the beautiful terrain. On top of the hill was a 12 foot wall with ropes that needed to be scaled to move on. Once moving back down the hill were some of the standard tire flips and mud bogs with an inverted wall which were a pretty good time. The course looped back around to a cargo net climb that was 20+ ft tall with no supports at the bottom. Very different than any other cargo net wall climb I have seen because of how the net moved, the height of it and how the cargo net put you under the supports at the top
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requiring some upper body strength to get over and back down. There were a few more cargo net A-frames to go over but nothing compared to that cargo wall. After some more trail running came what I saw as the race equalizer. This massive hill that was close to 70% incline at some points with awesome sugar sand and a 50 pound sandbag that needed carried to the top. This was close to 1000 ft in elevation gain covering about a 1/2 of a mile. By the time I got up this hill I was spent, and still had about 2 miles to go. The rest of the race consisted of some 8 ft walls, another sand bag carry some shallow but Florida thick sole sucking mud, 2 lake crossings, some over and under walls and a few barbed wire crawls. All in all this was a very good event. The Boss course that I ran covered 5 miles and had 20 obstacles to negotiate. The race was well organized; there were no back logs at any of the obstacles. Packet pick up was a breeze and there were no wave Nazi’s. I would recommend this event to anyone that is into OCR events.
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Review by MuddyMommy
http://www.muddymommy.com/ When I arrived at the site of the inaugural Ex
try the full obstacle, then try climbing the middle
about two specific obstacles; the unique set of
rope to swing to the descent, and if both attempts
monkey bars, which consisted of an ascending then
were failed, 20 penalty burpees would release the
descending series of bars, with a rope in the middle
female participant to continue on. Women were
intended for racers to grab the rope once they had
also only required to carry one 50lb sandbag instead
climbed one side of the bars, swing across to grab
of two, and although men were required to hold
the opposite bars, and then descend the other side.
their sandbags at their sides, women were allowed
The bars were spaced far apart, and slick due to the
to carry theirs in any way we saw fit. Outside of
light rain, making the incline even more daunting
that, all other obstacles were to be completed by all
than normal for most female, and some male,
competitors in the same fashion. Teams of 4 men
participants. The other concerning obstacle, the
and women would be competing against each other
great equalizer, was the rope climb.
for cash prizes, and as we stood together receiving
All elite teams met at 8am to receive our final
our instructions I realized that this race would be
instructions from the Race Director. It was deemed
no easy competition. The likes of World’s Toughest
that the monkey bar obstacle may be too challenging
Mudder winner Junyung Pak, Spartan Race Elite
for some female competitors, so although men were
Racer Hunter McIntyre, and Spartan Race Elite/
required to attempt till completion, women were to
Body Builder/All Around Beast Mode female Ella
Kociuba showed up with hopes to win the coveted
body challenges. Monkey bars, tractor pull, sandbag
cash prizes, taking the competition from intense, to
carry, parallel bars, rope climb‌ these obstacles
all around insanely fierce. We knew that to place
alone are tough enough to challenge the most
anywhere above last place, we would have to give
seasoned elite males, which makes me even more
this event all we had.
proud to have been a part of the amazing group of
The elite men began at 9am, one team of four beginning each minute. This gave us the perfect
women that took on this course. Despite the shorter length course, this race was
opportunity to spectate as team after team was sent
no cake walk. The barrage of upper body challenges
down the course, tackling the 20+ obstacles one by
and obstacles left even the fiercest competitor feeling
one. We watched as they tackled many obstacles
zapped of energy by the time the finish line was in
with ease, and formulated a hopeful plan-of-attack
sight. I took the obstacles in stride, knowing that I
where they seemed to struggle. After the last team
was not the fastest competitor present, I planned to
of men was sent down the course, it was our time
use my strength in obstacles to surge ahead of my
to line up, it was time for the women to take on the
competition. The sandbag carry and tractor pull
course.
did not phase me in the way that it crippled many
Eight female teams gathered in the starting corral.
racers, and the series of cargo climbs and over/
32 powerful, determined women, ready to tackle
unders were completed with ease. My attempt at the
the course the men had just taken on. We lined up,
monkey bars was quickly followed by the 20 burpee
said our well wishes to our team mates, and before
penalty, as I was unable to keep a quality grip to
we could blink we were on our way. My focus for
maneuver the obstacle. And as I rounded
this race was on pacing. I didn’t want to start too
the bend toward
fast, only to find myself with no gas left in the tank by the final obstacles. To me, the race itself was a course built to play toward a man’s strength, with a heavy emphasis on upper
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the finish, with only the rope climb to complete, I felt confident. I was ready to claim a quality finish. Now I must explain that although the rope climb has given me a bit of a struggle at previous races, I’ve never failed a rope climb, nor have I had to attempt the climb more than once. Each time prior to this race I had moved methodically up the rope, taking a quick break if needed mid-climb, but I had never failed. Well apparently Extreme Nation was determined to shake that confidence a bit, and I was forced to come face to face with the shattering reality that I may not be as strong as I thought I was, because at this race, I struggled with this obstacle more than any obstacle I have ever faced. I reached the rope climb, and quickly realized that my entire team was there with me at the same obstacle, attempting to reach the bell at the top which would release us to finish the race. I felt confident that I could lead my team to victory, planning to climb the rope with ease and then dash ahead to the finish line. But with increasing despair, we each attempted to ascend the rope, and time after time, we each failed. I recall hitting a point where I looked over at my husband on the sidelines, discouraged, my forearms burning and my hands shaking uncontrollably, and I said, “I don’t think I can do this.” I had never spoken those defeated words during a race, and allowing that phrase to escape my mouth in a desperate plea to be given mercy felt like a punch to the gut. I felt like a failure. I felt foolish to have believed that I could compete against the women who had effortlessly cruised up the rope as though it posed no challenge whatsoever. I looked around at those who remained at the ropes, all of us struggling to overcome an obstacle that, with
each failed attempt, seemed to grow taller and more ominous. As I watched the frustration building around me, I came to the resolve that this obstacle would not defeat me, and that I would not leave this race feeling as though I failed. I mustered all of the strength I had remaining, gripped the rope with a resolve to finish my race, and climbed that rope. I hit that bell with a triumphant ferocity, it’s ring announcing that I had not been defeated. With a renewed strength I shouted out my victory, a sense of relief and empowerment washing over me. I eagerly descended and crossed the finish line, thrilled that I didn’t give up, that I didn’t allow the voice inside me telling me that climbing that rope was impossible. I had won a personal battle, and it
was a pretty amazing feeling. The championship wave quickly arrived, and the top 10 male teams lined up to compete for their spot on the podium. The competition was fierce, and as they battled it out on the field, the 8 female teams prepared to again tackle the course. With my recent struggle still fresh in my mind, I dreaded my 2nd turn at the rope climb, but resolved that I would push as hard as I could to complete the obstacle more quickly this time. I wanted not only to make myself proud, but to make my team proud. Happily, that is exactly what I did. I traveled the course again, taking on obstacle after obstacle. And as I neared the rope climb, I watched on as my first two teammates conquered the rope on their first attempt. Their excited screams echoed through the air, and I told myself that I too, was going to follow suit. I arrived, noticing that a few of the other competitors who had struggled initially were again attempting their climbs. Not this time, I told myself, I’m not going to get stuck here again. Deep breath, tight grip, and climb! I dug deep and climbed to the top of the rope, swiping for the bell.. and narrowly missed by a fraction of an inch‌. Feeling defeated yet again I found myself slipping toward the ground, dumbfounded that I had not hit the bell. Upon reaching the ground, I took a moment to calm my nerves, and again reached upward, ascending the rope with profound
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determination. This time, I succeeded! I was able to finish the championship wave with a time that I was proud of, I helped my team earn a 6th place win and $400, and above all with the knowledge that I did not let the course get the better of me. That, to me, has got to be one of the best feelings in the world. I came away from Extreme Nation having experienced a vast array of emotions. I arrived hopeful and confident, experienced time of major struggle, became discouraged and doubtful of my abilities as a competitor, felt elated when I finally achieved a result I’d begun to believe was not going to happen, and left with a pride in myself and in my team that in almost indescribable. Despite my initial skepticism, I’m now left with an intense gratitude for having run this race. I am grateful to have been provided with such a fantastic experience, proud to have pushed through pain and self-doubt to finish a race that I, at one point, thought might be impossible, and am empowered to continue growing, learning, and building my own abilities for future races. Although the future of Extreme Nation may have a few hills and valleys as they discover what exact formula will fit their ideals best, I do hope to see this one stick around. They have a great, challenging race, and it’s one that I know I will always be proud of. ~Holly
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