Race Review - Survivor Mud Run

The first thing that struck me about this race was organization. These guys definitely know what they are doing. Getting parked was easy and parking was close to the fairgrounds. We had a team miscommunication that morning and ended up getting to the venue just a half hour before our heat. This was not a problem as the registration area was easy to identify, organized, and we breezed through it in about 2 minutes. The bibs had the RFID timing chips attached to them, so getting ready for the race was that much simpler. There was a free bag check, but the parking was so close we didn't utilize it.

This race started a little later than most, with the first heat going off at 9:15, and our heat at 9:30. The course was well laid out with a good bit of running at the beginning, which helped spread out the pack before the obstacle choke points. The venue was a motocross track and they used the hills there well, sticking to more of the sort and steep variety, rather than those tough, long uphill ploughs, like at Rugged Maniac.

The course staff were friendly and encouraging.

After some squishy mud pits we came to the big slide, where a race staff member was yelling at us to "run fast and go head first!", so I did. It was a comfy inflatable slide, which was a nice change from the usual piece of this sheet plastic thrown right on the hard, lumpy dirt. The pool at the bottom was a good depth and not as ice cold as these things usually are. Certainly the safest and most comfortable slide I've been on. Not to long or too steep.

It soon became apparent that the title of "mud run" was apt. This race was the muddiest I've run to date. Thick, deep, sticky mud everywhere. Many of the obstacles were wire or net crawls through mud, or just random mud pits you had to slog through and try to keep your shoes from getting sucked off.

Slop pit.

The obstacles were well spaced and getting stuck behind people wasn't really an issue. The few obstacles that were narrow enough to get stacked up, were short enough that you wouldn't be stuck for long. We did catch up to the stragglers in the first heat pretty quickly and it was obvious that several of them were just walking the course.

The later heats enjoyed extra slippery hills.

The most interesting obstacle was a narrow tube crawl that terminated into a drop into a deep mud pit, with a hill to scramble over to get out, that then turned into a slick mudslide down a short hill. The most dangerous obstacle was the cargo net climb, only because it was the only one with any real height to it. The wire under crawls were not barbed. Although I did see some quitters walking off the course, I didn't witness any injuries. I got a few scrapes from rocks in the mud pit, but no major cuts.

If you look close you can see the course
winding back and forth on the right.

The course was quick and you finished covered in mud. If you didn't bring your own wash water, your were in trouble, because we saw no showers there. The obligatory beer was sponsored by Left Hand and they brought 3 nice offerings.

Results:
Kellan posted our best time of 37:31, putting him 12th for age, 63rd for men and in the top 4% overall at 78th place.
I came in a little behind him at 38:49, placing 14th for my group, 73rd for men and making the top 5% overall at 91st place.
Dave pulled caboose with a time of 43:14, going 21st for age, 149th for men and in the top 8% at 206th place.
The quickest time posted was 26:49 with just under 2,000 competitors finishing.

Our personal podium.

This was a really fun race and I enjoyed it a lot. I would definitely recommend to someone looking to run their first obstacle race. It's fantastically organized, safe, well laid out, kid friendly and an all around muddy good time.

DIY - Spartan Slosh Pipe and lifting technique

We first came across the slosh pipe at this year's Spartan Race in CO Springs. After struggling with it post race, I decided I needed to build my own and get a feel for this crazy device.

Putting one together is pretty easy and will run you about $30-40, with the PVC glue. The biggest problem is storing it. I stash mine under the deck in the backyard.

To build one, all you need is:

1 - 10 foot section of 4 inch PVC pipe.
2 - 4 inch PVC pipe caps.
Hot Blue PVC glue, or the like.
Water.

First, clean off the pipe ends and inside the caps for a good glueing surface.
Glue one pipe cap on the pipe.
Allow 15 minutes or so for it to dry.
Fill the pipe about half full with water.
Glue on the other cap.
Wait another 10-15 minutes.

Pro tip: Mark a centerline and/or a preferred grip position, on the completed slosh pipe.

10' of sheer awkwardness

Ours weighs just over 45 pounds, and feels about the same as the one at Spartan. At Spartan, being the best at the pipe can earn you a free race entry, so here's some tips on beating the competition:


1. Get a good base, feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart.

2. With the pipe in a mostly vertical position, establish your grip.

My grip postion is 3 feet wide, 18" each side from center.

3. Squat down slightly, and lift the pipe straight overhead as you stand up.

Dip down into it a bit.

Drive it overhead as you stand up.

4. Once overhead, hold it steady as the water equalizes. Don't fight it by trying to drop your arms one way or the other! Try and hold it steady.

Lock your arms and use your core to hold it steady.

5. Once it's steadied a bit you can begin your presses.

Try to keep the pipe parallel with the ground.

Timing is important, find your rhythm.

6. If it gets off balance, hold it overhead and let it equalize again.

It's easier to steady in the up position. "X" it out.

7. Now invite your friends over and laugh as they struggle to figure out the Slosh Pipe.

You might also like:
DIY Spartan Spear with throwing technique

Multivitamins: Are you pissing your money down the drain?

Nutrilite introduced the first real multivitamins way back in 1934. By the 1970s, multivitamins had become a staple of the American diet, replacing "an apple a day", for many households. One of my earliest memories is taking a brightly colored character from my Flintstone's vitamin bottle, and promptly sticking it up my nose.

Countless studies on the use, abuse, pros and cons of multis have been carried out over the years. Often with contradictory conclusions. Do they prevent cancer? Can too many cause cancer? In short, you can probably find and convince yourself either way. That's not what this article is about. I've set out to discover if taking them is a waste of time and money. Every afternoon, when I see my too brightly colored urine in the toilet, I have to wonder: Am I just pissing all these vitamins down the drain?

Perhaps this money could be better spent.

Rich Froning, 3 time winner of the CrossFit Games, was quoted recently in Outside magazine as saying, "You should be able to get all the nutrients you need from your diet. I take protein and amino acid supplements, but I honestly don't know if they do anything."

This is precisely where I am at. In my goal to get as fit as possible, I cleaned up my diet, drink protein shakes and pre-workout mixes, started twice a day chondroitin for my aging joints (which I've found doesn't seem to do anything), Omega 3s and, of course, the multivitamin. After taking a handful of pills everyday for years, I began to wonder if they were really helping all that much.

My answer: Probably not.
The reason: I probably get all I need from my diet.

The CDC recently reported that more than half of Americans take a multivitamin or other supplement. Most studies show that most people who take them are healthier. But the reason is not the vitamins, but more likely the people that take them. Healthier people are typically the ones who seek out that little extra. If you're reading this, you are probably not gobbling down a greasy McBurger and swilling a beer. More likely you've gone for a jog or had a hard workout within the last day or so. And, odds are, you also take a multivitamin or some other type of supplement. Not because they make you healthy, but because that's what heathy people do. As Nutritional Epidemiologist at NIH, Regan Bailey put it, "It's almost like the people taking them aren't the people who need them."

If you eat fish 3-4 times a week, do you really need to take that Omega 3 supplement? Probably not. If you hate fish and won't eat it, should you take it? Probably wouldn't hurt. If you eat lots of fruit and vegetables, do you need that multivitamin? Probably not. If you eat like crap, do you need it? Probably.

My daily dose of pills, not long ago. 

I'm trying to cut out the pills and go as natural as I can (I'm forced to take some due to medical reasons). I stopped the chondroitin and noticed no ill effects in my joints. I'm phasing out the Omega 3, as I eat quite a bit of seafood. The multivitamin is also on the list, since I cram in fruits and vegetables everywhere I can. The only thing I cling to is my protein shake. I do so because it's a full serving (or more) of fruit, it's really the only way I get any milk in my body, and of course, the protein. If I can get my head wrapped around a solid breakfast (I'm lazy in the mornings), maybe I can phase that out too. That's the goal. Baby steps.

Reasons to keep taking that multivitamin or supplement:

• Poor diet
• Lack of sun or milk (vitamin D)
• You've been advised by your Dr. to do so
• You figure it can't hurt

Reasons to stop it:

• You have a varied and balanced diet
• You get sun
• You'd like to go more natural
• You'd like to save some money
• You hate taking pills

As for me, I'm focusing more on the food and less on the supplements.

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.

Race Review - Insanity Mud Run

Last weekend was go time for the Insanity Mud Run down in Larkspur, CO.

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.

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.

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.

Race Review - Rugged Maniac Colorado

This year's race was at the Thunder Valley Motocross Park in Lakewood. Last year's event was at the same venue and had some weather difficulties, with cold rain and some hypothermia cases, from what I hear. I wasn't there, but I did race at this same spot during last year's Run For Your Lives event, so I had an idea of what to expect.

My personal trainer ran with us. This was his first obstacle race and he started off on the wrong foot (literally) by tweaking his ankle the night before at his last fitness class of the day. But we taped him up and he said when the adrenaline kicked in he hardly noticed the pain.

Registration was a little wacky. It was just some volunteers with a list of names, no pre set bib numbers or timing chips (which were an extra $10 BTW), or packets or anything. So you just get a bib, which is solely for finding pictures post race, and then the chip to check your time (more on this later). It went slow, at first, but then fairly quickly after they got into a rhythm.

The race itself was fun. We ran the first heat and started a little forward of mid-pack. There were quite a few walls to climb over, but they all had steps, so nothing too hard. There were 3 barb wire crawls and I seemed to be the only one rolling under them. It had been raining off and on for the previous 4 days, so any low spot on the course had some thick natural mud to negotiate. A couple sketchy obstacles included one comprised of loose stumps and one a mixture of tires on the ground and hanging tires, promised to add more twisted ankles if your weren't careful.

Passing people on the roll.

By far the most difficult aspect proved to be the hills. If you've never ran on a motocross course, believe me, it's hard. Those guys ride on some steep terrain and trying to run up some of those hills is damn near impossible. Also challenging is staying upright coming down the steep hills. One was so steep I dropped into a squat and sort of skied down it, then had to bound up and take some long pounding steps to not eat dirt.

Up, and up, and up, and up...

Rounding out the trials were the water obstacles. The big slide and a couple balance ones over water towards the end.

Ka-splash!

The fairground was pretty small, but that left more close parking. There was a food mobile, Crons with some racing wear for sale and the beer tent serving Coors Banquet and Coors Light in those weird bottle/can things. The water feed for the showers burst and a giant plume of water shot about 20 feet into the air, for a good while, until they got it repaired. This made for some long shower lines, and an extra little mud pit, but as usual, we just cleaned up at the car.

Invisible fire? That's the very worst kind!

Officially I placed 35th overall at 40:03.6 (the winner pated 25:42.2!). Rugged Maniac timing chips are optional and for $10 extra you get to know your official time and be eligible for prizes. It's not tied to your bib number, however, so you keep the chip and use that number to look up your results later. Unfortunately this means your name shows up as "unknown participant" on the results sheet. I think you can contact RM to get your name listed correctly, but it wasn't obvious to me on how to do that, so I remain "unknown".

This is really my only gripe with the race, but it's one you wouldn't know (or care) about if you don't pay to run timed. From what I can tell only about 10% of the participants chose to run timed. It seems like putting together packets with names and all that, like most other races do, shouldn't be that difficult and would be more efficient to boot.

Also, no medals at Rugged Maniac. This saddened me, as I'm kind of a medal junky, but the shirts were cool.

You can also wander around the outside course and watch from several vantage points which was very cool. We cruised around and saw very little obstacle backups and it was several heats in at that time. The course was well laid out and the crew kept it moving well.

Slide is backed up here, but wasn't so much when we were hanging around.

All in all it was a great time. I beat my personal trainer, which was priceless, everyone was super friendly and it turned out to be a beautiful day for racing. If they would modify the timing setup to be a little more user friendly, it would be even better. It's a pretty tough course, with some interesting obstacles. Would run again.

Gear Review - Zombie, run! Android app

Zombie, Run! is a free app for android by Peter Dolan and can be found in the Google Play market. Look for the red zombie, there's a similar named pay app with another icon.

It's an interesting little interval running trainer. You select a "get to" point using GPS, set the number and speed of the zombies and hit go. Your object is to make it to the egress point without getting eaten. There's also a MultiPlayer beta version, but I haven't tried that portion.

The 28days later speed will work you over.

It helps break up the monotony of just going for a run, as the virtual zombies make you change direction, sprint and sometimes do big loops to get to your destination.
Another way to spice it up is to leave something (say your gym bag) somewhere between points A and B.

For example: where we work out the track is a little ways from the parking lot. We also tend to drag out a bag (or bags) of gear for whatever other exercises we are working on that day. By the end of the workout we can end up far from the car with the bags somewhere in the middle, so we had to figure out how to not only get to the car, but grab the gear along the way. It makes for some interesting routes. Also, having buildings in-between (like a school for example) gives some interesting options to outwit your foes.

The little blue dot is you. Run, you fool!

Downsides to the app are you have to keep an eye on it, which means one person watching their phone the whole time and playing lead. There are no sound queues to warn you (that I could hear anyway) but the phone will vibrate when they get close to you. Monitoring the screen means this app is not great in bright sunlight. In the evenings or on cloudy days is best. Also, if you run by yourself, you will likely look like a lunatic sprinting, cutting and running all over hell's half acre from phantoms.

That said, it's worth checking out. Especially if your bored with you routine and have a tough time working in sprints to your runs. Besides, it's free so you've got little to lose.