Nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in North Georgia, this race offers natural scenery that will take your breath away. That is, if you have any to spare after negotiating the killer hills, briskly cold water of the streams and ponds to negotiate, and some seriously fun and challenging obstacles.
The Fitathlon Challenge recently brought their 5k fitness based race to Massachusetts. The event focuses on cardiovascular endurance and incorporates it in many of their obstacles. As a playful jab at the other OCR's, they promote their race as having "no mud, water, fire or electrocution - just sweat."
This was my very first venture into the land of longer distances. I am going for my Trifecta with Spartan this year. I am doing it while I can, and while I still feel capable. I have done 7 Spartan Sprints with 2 more on tap for this year. What do I think about the Super versus the Sprint?
The performance socks market is expanding because let’s face it, you might train for years to have the body of Adonis coated in bronze but a quarter-sized bleeding blister on your foot could put you on the DNF list. There are many different options available out there with varying blends of fibers and styles, each touting their own merits, but it comes down to figuring out for yourself which pair of socks works best for you in specific situations.
When I was 18 months old, I was accidentally shot by a .22 caliber round. When I was 12 years old, my father and I almost drowned in the Gulf of Mexico (he was resuscitated on the beach). When I was 16, I was involved in a head on collision at 50 mph and walked away from the wreckage with just a scratch on my knee.
Lets start off by saying that I did not want to like these shoes, but after giving them a shot they are my “go to” shoes now! The last 2 -3 yrs I got used to wearing minimalist shoes so anything slightly heavy was a “NO” for me. At 9.1 oz per shoe & over 1lb these would typically be too heavy for me. My first impression when putting these shoes on the first time was how comfortable they felt. I loved the way the Internal slip-on construction fits the foot like a sock without causing excessive pressure, the stretch air mesh tongue is one of the most comfortable I have tried in any shoe. It makes me want to use them without socks.
BoldrDash holds an annual event on a beach, and this was it. It was fun, but challenging, though not too hard for a newcomer to obstacle course racing. In places, the obstacles allowed you to select a harder or easier challenge, such as the ten foot walls. You had your typical ten foot wall, then on the side was a wooden ladder climb for the majority of us.
I got the privilege to check the new, first time, KC Timber Challenge OCR in Bonner Springs, KS this past Saturday. This is the first OCR that I have seen that is literally STRAIGHT UP NATURAL- NATURALLY TOUGH!! It’s on 130 wooded acres along the banks of the Kansas River. It’s definitely a one of a kind natural course with unique terrain and landscape. I’m talking huge fallen trees you’re jumping over and crawling under, sliding down ten foot banks into creek beds, mud pits, hurdling fire logs, boulders and rock bluffs, just to name a few. Some of the man-made obstacles are their 300 foot hand held zip lines over a muddy water hole, swimming through the Icy Shriveler, and a 40,000 cricket cage crawl. Is that crazy enough for you??
I always have a blast and look forward to what Tough Mudder is going to bring to the table. I was scheduled to go off in the first heat at 10 AM on Saturday and the weather was perfect. I arrived there between 8-8:15am and it’s always exciting to see people already waiting in line to get their bib # and getting fired up!! Parking was well marked and all the volunteers were in their places and racers were checking in smoothly.
Here I am, a little over a week after the Indiana Spartan Sprint and finally sitting down to put my experience into words. I have mulled over even writing down the day’s events but ultimately you can’t document a journey toward a goal without also including the low points.
