Monday, June 24, 2013
Summer 2013 Pentathlon - and sea level experiments
Last Friday was the longest day of the year. That means time for the 2013 Summer Solstice Pentathlon!
This time we were visiting my mom in Grayland, WA. Elevation about 1 foot. Down significantly from our home in the Mile High City.
We arrived on Saturday the 15th. For Father's Day, the next morning we went for a run on the beach. The plan was for an endurance run until one of us quit. But my son and I are stubborn, so even though I had a cramp in my hamstring and he stressed a tendon in his foot, we ran until we came to a jetty and had to stop. It was just about exactly 6 miles and took just about exactly an hour.
I was able to work my cramp out halfway through the run, but Kellan injured his foot pretty good and limped around for several days. This made for a long 6 mile walk back.
Fast forward one week and we've found a school track to do our quarterly Pentathlon. We're hoping for impressive numbers due to the elevation drop and although Kellan's foot isn't 100%, he decides to push forward.
Below are our numbers. As always, participant's age is next to their name, change from last quarter in black and overall from the beginning in red.
Wade (39):
Push-ups - 58 (-2) (+9)
Sit-up - 60 (0) (+20)
Broad Jump - 80" (-4.125") (-1")
Sit & Reach - 1" (+1") (-.375")
Mile - 6:50 (-:46) (-1:40)
Kellan (13):
Push-ups - 50 (-9) (-5)
Sit-up - 71 (+6) (+23)
Broad Jump - 60" (-4.75") (+9.75")
Sit & Reach - .25" (0") (-1.25")
Mile - 7:03 (-:11) (-2:27)
Thoughts:
Our experiment in elevation blood doping seemed to work well right away. The 6 mile jog was pretty easy and neither of us felt too winded. Bodies gave out well before lungs, and if Kellan hadn't tweaked his foot we would have ran a good part of (if not all) the way back. But after a week of acclimatizing (and partying, staying up late, etc. Hey, we were on vacation!), the mile run for time felt pretty rough.
Consequently, my workout today back at the gym at 5280' elevation seemed particularly rough.
That said, I still cut a good chunk off my mile time and Kellan would have done better, I'm certain, with a foot that was 100%. More surprising was our severe drop in the broad jump. Although it's never been my best event, the fact that we both lost over 4" is interesting. Fatigue? Sea level weight gain? Who knows.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Race Review - Insanity Mud Run
Last weekend was go time for the Insanity Mud Run down in Larkspur, CO.
The venue is just to the side of the Renaissance Festival grounds and uses the same parking lot. Parking was a bit of a free for all, but turned out fine. It took a minute to actually find the start area and registration, due to the hilly nature of the area, but we just followed the crowd until we found the path.
Registration was busy and the lines weren't clearly defined, so everyone ended up in one big line until they got closer and could see the letter designations (written in thin pen), such as A-F, etc. The process was much like Rugged Maniac, consisting of them checking your ID and crossing your name off a list. Then you simply grabbed a bib off the table, went around the side to get your grab bag and T-Shirt.
We were in the 2nd heat, fifteen minutes after the first one that went off at 0900. For whatever reason, you had to start out running back towards the parking lot. This also meant that you started out facing the long registration line and we had to yell out to the people that we were coming their way, so we wouldn't have to plow through them. There was no guy up front with a bull horn, or even shouting and the DJ was over a small rise far enough away that we couldn't hear the start call, even though we had watched the same thing happen to the first heat and were trying to listen. Jonathan was actually the one who started running first, so we just all followed suit.
The first obstacle was a rope up wall and climb down. No problem. The 2nd was a rope up wall to a 10' platform and a jump into an unknown depth of cold, cold water. This was a bit of a gut check, but I managed to hold it together enough to do a cannonball. The 3rd obstacle was a nylon rope cargo net climb straight up about 12' and over the top beam and straight down. This one was already backed up when we got there as we were already catching up to the tail end of the 1st heat. Not only was it freaking people out, but you could only go 4 at a time. People were skipping it and we considered the same, but wanted to do every obstacle so we waited for several minutes for our turn.
After this the path cut off into the trees and up and down the side of the mountain, allowing the pack to spread out a bit. It became a trail run with some balance obstacles, then cut back out to the field for a wire under crawl and then into some walls. The first one was probably the highest I've seen yet. It must have been 10' high and fortunately had a step you could launch off to get up. Then there was a 9' and an 8', then we went back into the woods and hills. Pretty smooth sailing here until the slide.
The slide was pretty well backed up and although it was very wide they were only allowing one person at a time. Maybe because it was slanted too much and only the far left side was safe enough to use? It looks like it was sorted out later, to allow at least 2 at a time. Also, we were warned that the water right at the base of the drop was shallow. So you had to either try and go super fast to shoot past it, or slow down and then hop down in. I choose to leg up and go for speed. I went at a pretty good clip and shot out far, I thought, but still hit my butt on the bottom of the pool. As I was slogging to the side people were helping out a guy who went before me that tweaked his knee somehow. He ended up getting carted off in an ATV.
The next major hang up was the rope crossing. There were two ways to get across: a single rope, or a double with one about 6' above the other. So on the single you had to get you feet up and risk rope burns to get across and the double required a bit more balance standing on the wobbly rope. The water pit below was extremely shallow and it was apparent you didn't want to fall off and land on your back. We all chose the single rope and made it across without too much difficulty. My over calf socks came in handy here. I talked to a gal at work who ran a later heat and said the line was so long they skipped the rope traverse all together.
An interesting obstacle popped up a bit later consisting of 4 pallets on platforms canted inward at about 15 degrees towards each other, so you had to hop from one to the next, much like the setup on American Ninja Warrior. They spanned a short ravine that was around 20' wide and 6' deep, so it was a bit of a mind bender to get over. Saw some people stall here trying to courage up.
Some of the obstacles could even be missed on accident. The course wound back behind the Renaissance fairgrounds where there was some construction going on. We nearly missed a trench and rope out that was on the side of the path. Occasionally even the path was hard to find, especially up the mountain on the 10 mile route. I overshot the path at least once and had to stop and get a good look around at other times to be sure where we were going.
Shortly after the mile 3 marker the course splits and you have the option of taking the 5 mile or 10 mile route. We choose the 10 and it quickly pushed us up the mountainside. At this point it began to vary from trail running, to hiking to even a little rock scrambling. This route offered some great views and if you stayed on the 5 mile, you really missed out. So few people took this path that we only had 2 guys come up behind us (and then they lost the path and wandered off course. Sorry guys, we tried to yell at you!) and then barely caught up to 2 other guys right where the path converged back with the 5 mile course. At the top of the long climb, the guy at the water station said only about 40 people had proceeded us, so we're guessing less than 10% took the long way.
The obstacles on the 10 mile made use of many natural features. Climbing over large boulders, some with rope ladders, crawling under deadfalls, balancing along downed trees (every balance obstacle had a confidence rope running the length to hold on to for safety, as I recall) navigating a dry stream bed, etc. One of my favorite parts was near the top where there is a large white sandstone formation to scramble up and around. Beautiful rock and it was a shame we couldn't just hang out there for the day. The extra 5 miles didn't feel all that long and the long downhill run was fast moving.
When we rejoined the 5 mile route, it didn't appear that we missed anything, as it looked like the route merged back in not far from where it split. After the scenic mountain hike, that last couple of miles was a bit boring, but broken up with some good obstacles, like the tunnel crawl, a cargo net climb, a very cold water tank that forced you to submerge your head to get under a low mounted board and the final obstacle: The swinging monkey bars. This was the hardest one for me and the only one I failed. I fell off 2 from the end when my grip failed. This last obstacle took some time and was backed up pretty good as it was set up for only 2 people at a time to go.
Insanity Run is not a timed event and no clock at the finish to gauge your time by, so wear a watch if you want to know what you ran. We finished in about 2:15. They give you a dog tag finishers medal and a free Sapporo beer. The goody bag came with several local coupons and a Red Bull blue series. There were a few vendors around with pre and post workout drinks. Jonathan had some other business to attend and it was a bit of a chilly day, so we didn't stay too long post race. We did see the 1215 heat go off before we left and it literally had 6 people in it.
All in all, I liked the Insanity Mud Run and would run it again, but it had some serious flaws. With some tweaking it could be a great event. What I would change: Run smaller heats and/or prevent heat jumping. There was no one monitoring the starting line at all. The first heats were huge, probably due to some heat jumping. Space the heats out more. Considering the later heats were empty, you could space the heats out by half an hour and help alleviate the back ups. The harder/slower obstacles need to be bigger to allow more than a couple people to go at once. Also having the slowest one (up and over vertical net climb) within the first mile screwed things up big time. And one person on the slide at a time is ridiculous. This run seemed particularly dangerous, something I don't particularly mind, but if you're nervous, or in poor shape, you might want to skip some of the nastier obstacles. I saw more people limping around and/or being carted off than I think I have at any other event.
 |
| Getting photo bombed post race. |
The venue is just to the side of the Renaissance Festival grounds and uses the same parking lot. Parking was a bit of a free for all, but turned out fine. It took a minute to actually find the start area and registration, due to the hilly nature of the area, but we just followed the crowd until we found the path.
Registration was busy and the lines weren't clearly defined, so everyone ended up in one big line until they got closer and could see the letter designations (written in thin pen), such as A-F, etc. The process was much like Rugged Maniac, consisting of them checking your ID and crossing your name off a list. Then you simply grabbed a bib off the table, went around the side to get your grab bag and T-Shirt.
We were in the 2nd heat, fifteen minutes after the first one that went off at 0900. For whatever reason, you had to start out running back towards the parking lot. This also meant that you started out facing the long registration line and we had to yell out to the people that we were coming their way, so we wouldn't have to plow through them. There was no guy up front with a bull horn, or even shouting and the DJ was over a small rise far enough away that we couldn't hear the start call, even though we had watched the same thing happen to the first heat and were trying to listen. Jonathan was actually the one who started running first, so we just all followed suit.
The first obstacle was a rope up wall and climb down. No problem. The 2nd was a rope up wall to a 10' platform and a jump into an unknown depth of cold, cold water. This was a bit of a gut check, but I managed to hold it together enough to do a cannonball. The 3rd obstacle was a nylon rope cargo net climb straight up about 12' and over the top beam and straight down. This one was already backed up when we got there as we were already catching up to the tail end of the 1st heat. Not only was it freaking people out, but you could only go 4 at a time. People were skipping it and we considered the same, but wanted to do every obstacle so we waited for several minutes for our turn.
 |
| Best not to think about this one and just jump. |
After this the path cut off into the trees and up and down the side of the mountain, allowing the pack to spread out a bit. It became a trail run with some balance obstacles, then cut back out to the field for a wire under crawl and then into some walls. The first one was probably the highest I've seen yet. It must have been 10' high and fortunately had a step you could launch off to get up. Then there was a 9' and an 8', then we went back into the woods and hills. Pretty smooth sailing here until the slide.
 |
| That's a tall wall right there. |
The slide was pretty well backed up and although it was very wide they were only allowing one person at a time. Maybe because it was slanted too much and only the far left side was safe enough to use? It looks like it was sorted out later, to allow at least 2 at a time. Also, we were warned that the water right at the base of the drop was shallow. So you had to either try and go super fast to shoot past it, or slow down and then hop down in. I choose to leg up and go for speed. I went at a pretty good clip and shot out far, I thought, but still hit my butt on the bottom of the pool. As I was slogging to the side people were helping out a guy who went before me that tweaked his knee somehow. He ended up getting carted off in an ATV.
 |
| Try not to die, please. |
The next major hang up was the rope crossing. There were two ways to get across: a single rope, or a double with one about 6' above the other. So on the single you had to get you feet up and risk rope burns to get across and the double required a bit more balance standing on the wobbly rope. The water pit below was extremely shallow and it was apparent you didn't want to fall off and land on your back. We all chose the single rope and made it across without too much difficulty. My over calf socks came in handy here. I talked to a gal at work who ran a later heat and said the line was so long they skipped the rope traverse all together.
 |
| Soccer socks and knee sleeves, FTW. |
 |
| Harder on the mind than the body. |
Some of the obstacles could even be missed on accident. The course wound back behind the Renaissance fairgrounds where there was some construction going on. We nearly missed a trench and rope out that was on the side of the path. Occasionally even the path was hard to find, especially up the mountain on the 10 mile route. I overshot the path at least once and had to stop and get a good look around at other times to be sure where we were going.
Shortly after the mile 3 marker the course splits and you have the option of taking the 5 mile or 10 mile route. We choose the 10 and it quickly pushed us up the mountainside. At this point it began to vary from trail running, to hiking to even a little rock scrambling. This route offered some great views and if you stayed on the 5 mile, you really missed out. So few people took this path that we only had 2 guys come up behind us (and then they lost the path and wandered off course. Sorry guys, we tried to yell at you!) and then barely caught up to 2 other guys right where the path converged back with the 5 mile course. At the top of the long climb, the guy at the water station said only about 40 people had proceeded us, so we're guessing less than 10% took the long way.
 |
| Ka-splash! |
The obstacles on the 10 mile made use of many natural features. Climbing over large boulders, some with rope ladders, crawling under deadfalls, balancing along downed trees (every balance obstacle had a confidence rope running the length to hold on to for safety, as I recall) navigating a dry stream bed, etc. One of my favorite parts was near the top where there is a large white sandstone formation to scramble up and around. Beautiful rock and it was a shame we couldn't just hang out there for the day. The extra 5 miles didn't feel all that long and the long downhill run was fast moving.
When we rejoined the 5 mile route, it didn't appear that we missed anything, as it looked like the route merged back in not far from where it split. After the scenic mountain hike, that last couple of miles was a bit boring, but broken up with some good obstacles, like the tunnel crawl, a cargo net climb, a very cold water tank that forced you to submerge your head to get under a low mounted board and the final obstacle: The swinging monkey bars. This was the hardest one for me and the only one I failed. I fell off 2 from the end when my grip failed. This last obstacle took some time and was backed up pretty good as it was set up for only 2 people at a time to go.
 |
| I failed right where this girl is, reaching for the crooked bar. |
Insanity Run is not a timed event and no clock at the finish to gauge your time by, so wear a watch if you want to know what you ran. We finished in about 2:15. They give you a dog tag finishers medal and a free Sapporo beer. The goody bag came with several local coupons and a Red Bull blue series. There were a few vendors around with pre and post workout drinks. Jonathan had some other business to attend and it was a bit of a chilly day, so we didn't stay too long post race. We did see the 1215 heat go off before we left and it literally had 6 people in it.
All in all, I liked the Insanity Mud Run and would run it again, but it had some serious flaws. With some tweaking it could be a great event. What I would change: Run smaller heats and/or prevent heat jumping. There was no one monitoring the starting line at all. The first heats were huge, probably due to some heat jumping. Space the heats out more. Considering the later heats were empty, you could space the heats out by half an hour and help alleviate the back ups. The harder/slower obstacles need to be bigger to allow more than a couple people to go at once. Also having the slowest one (up and over vertical net climb) within the first mile screwed things up big time. And one person on the slide at a time is ridiculous. This run seemed particularly dangerous, something I don't particularly mind, but if you're nervous, or in poor shape, you might want to skip some of the nastier obstacles. I saw more people limping around and/or being carted off than I think I have at any other event.
 |
| Picking up a gal who fell off the monkey bars. |
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