uring a difficult trail race, you sign up to be pushed past your comfort zone. In certain types of races, you can expect to be told to do new activities and translate your skills towards new challenges. With that challenge comes responsibility and risk. It’s both up to the race and the racer to figure out what’s the appropriate amount of risk, and how to minimize that.
This is the race SO many of you have been waiting for since the season kicked off. While Saturday racers had to rely on the insanity of the course itself, Sunday racers were treated to proof that Norm Koch has indeed made some dirty deals with a particular underground entity. Rain, wind and cold took out many a racer on this already incredibly challenging course, and even without all that on Saturday, when it came to numbers on the UB, over 800 started, but less than half finished.
The SISU Forge will always have a special place in my heart. It was my first endurance event back in 2014, and my first real introduction to the crazy and wonderful people of Team SISU. I've been fortunate enough to be able to attend the Forge every year since, making me one of only two athletes (along with Patrick Scully) to participate in all three of them.
There is a new way to exercise and condition your body in the great outdoors which has been gaining popularity over the last couple of years. You may be a veteran of it, or completely unfamiliar with the term, depending on the circles in which you play. It's called rucking, a term that derives from the military slang for a rucksack (aka backpack). To ruck is also a verb meaning to move with a rucksack (usually with a significant amount of gear), and implies action, energy, and purpose.
What do cinder blocks, air soft rifles, a Robert Frost poem, a disgusting, smelly pond, donuts on a string, a waterfall, wood chopping, a brutal & unconventional core workout, community service, and Dave & Busters have in common? All played vital roles in the 2015 SISU Iron: a world-class 30h endurance challenge in the hills of Monrovia, CA.
