When you’re preparing for a race, most people’s first goal is being able to run the whole distance without stopping. When you’re doing track work, people look at you with an evil or confused eye when you walk on the track. Well… let me tell you a secret: I have walked during every event that I’ve done since November of last year.
There was a lot going on in the world of endurance. In The Cooldown Episode 8, we focus on the endurance world following Western States 100-mile ultra marathon over the weekend as well as a crazy adventure race and how to add intervals into your training.
This week on The Cooldown episode 7 features Agoge, Rocky Mountain Marathon as well as tools to help you train in the mountains. This week is action packed. There are more things to cover in a weekend in the world of OCR and endurance than could be covered in a 5-hour show, so we just pick a couple that stood out this week. Thanks for tuning into The Cooldown, produced by Athlete On Fire.
I realize I may be talking to a very small group of people in this article, but I thought it was worth writing anyway. Most people enter BFX with that elusive third lap in mind. They are looking to get through three laps of some of the roughest obstacles in OCR. Fifteen miles and around 75 obstacles are no joke and anyone that walks away from a BFX event clutching that big black X of their newest medal with three stars on their ribbon should be proud.
In obstacle course racing, we get familiar with seeing new challenges at almost every event that we complete. That’s part of the joy of the sport: you’re always learning and problem-solving. The challenge is that it’s hard to keep track of how you are improving and progressing. Dr. Redtights brings you a couple benchmark workouts to track your progress.
Mud Run Guide recently received an advance copy of the upcoming book from Spartan Race founder Joe De Sena, Spartan Fit! The book builds on De Sena's first book Spartan Up! to bring readers a 30-day workout plan which requires no gym membership or fancy tools. The book is currently available for pre-order through major online retailers or you can request it from your local bookseller.
A few friends and I (Melba Garcia, Mario San Roman, and Jeremey Katopol, seasoned OCR athletes of varying levels who workout regularly together) offered up our services to check out some of these programs and facilities, meet and chat with the owners and give you our impressions of them. This is the first in what I hope will be a series of reviews of such training programs.
Last week we sat down with Brakken Kraker to talk about the new training system he recently launched. Kraker first mentioned his new offering during a recent Obstacle Order Podcast. Kraker is currently part of a team launching a new OCR Coaching product for Leaderboard aimed at the obstacle racing community. Below is a Mud Run Guide exclusive with Kraker talking more about Leaderboard.
The Cooldown is a weekly show produced by the team over at Athlete On Fire specifically for the crew at Mud Run Guide. Get ready to hear from the athletes that competed last weekend as well as the most interesting news we could find and a little training advice mixed in. Enjoy this first episode of many to come and don't forget to give Mud Run Guide some love for sharing this show with you every week!
Speed is something that is very misunderstood in the endurance world. We use the term "speed work" to mean anything from short sprints to 10k paced intervals. Regardless of what your personal definition is, true speed work is essential for any athlete to perform at their best. The endurance and OCR world is no different. Learn why you need OCR Speed Work.
