Confessions of an obstacle runner

Retirement

2014-09-18T09:00:00.002+01:00

Hi lovely readers. I just logged on here to shut this page down, as I haven't been able to keep up with it since launching www.obstaclekit.co.uk, my online store dedicated to hand-picked, tried and tested obstacle course racing kit and equipment.

However I have just noticed that even this old blog is still getting daily hits. If you could comment on this if you're reading this then I will get back on it and bring it up to date with my latest adventures!

In the meantime you can catch up on what I've been doing on the News page of Obstacle Kit Ltd, following us on Facebook or Twitter

Event review - Back 2 The Trenches, Redhill, 9th March 2013

2013-03-15T22:12:00.003+00:00

There's nothing quite like news of a cold-snap to really get you ready for a race! Desptie being a cold-weather person, after the terror of the Winter Tough Guy in January I was looking forward to some slightly warmer runs! Luckily, the snow wasn't due until Sunday, but we still had a chilly and foggy start for the long drive across to Redhill.

The site was easy to find using sat nav and following the signs when we got close. It helped that I'd been here before for the Spartan Sprint last July. The marshals in the parking area were good and with free parking we were soon onsite with plenty of time to go.

We were a team of 10 mostly of friends from Salisbury and a few guys that I had met through previous Spartan races. A lot of the team were using this as their first obstacle race to prep for Tough Mudder and as always with team runs the focus was on having a laugh and getting through together.

Registration was quick and easy with a single form and timing chip. Key and bag drop facilities were available as always. We made our way to the start line for the obligatory group warm up. Unfortunately it was impossible to hear the instructor, but I never really have been one for those warm ups :-)

The race was either a 5 or 10Km race, the later being two laps. Cost was the same for either option and very good value at £25 for each team member.

We set off towards the back of the pack. There was a single start wave of ~250 runners, which was really nice when I've been used to cramming in with a few thousand people at a time. I was armed with two GoPros for this race and for some reason my head mount camera battery died on the start line :-( I've since re-tested it and it's fine, so I can only think that I'd accidentally turned it on when packing my bag. So, when the race started, I was running back to my bag and then back to catch up with the rest of the team!

Anyway the Priory Events venue is very hilly and straight away we were greeted with some lovely muddy hills. After some turns and muddy tracks, we were at the first obstacle, a ~5foot hurdle. Nice and easy and although there was some queuing, this gave chance to split the main pack up and there was very little queuing once this obstacle was out of the way.

We moved on to further hills with a plastic sheet slide down one. Great fun, but it could have done with some extra water to help you slide down a bit easier. The majority of the course was based around natural obstacles, primarily very, very muddy steep hills. This wasn't a problem for most of us after a furious ordering-spree of Inov-8 Talons and Mudclaws, we were able to breeze through these obstacles whilst others crawled, slipped and slided. It was also easier for us to help out Joe as he was on road shoes.

Our Inov-8 trail shoes ready to take on the mud

The rest of the run was pretty standard stuff for these mud runs now- Crawling under barbed wire in thick mud and a separate water section, a sandbag carry and 2 x tyre carries. There was a very good cargo net climb and 2 exceptionally steep, muddy hills with ropes to help you get up them.

There was also a fun "grenade" throw where you lobbed a water bottled at some army targets and yelled "Grenade" at the top of your voice. Silly stuff, but a lot of fun and a very good laugh. We moved on further to a trench maneuver and another water slide before starting a second lap.

Having 2 laps of a 5Km to make up a 10Km isn't ideal, but it actually suited this course very well. The reason for that is that there were very few areas that weren't thick mud, and on the second lap this had been chewed up very nicely and made it more boggy and thick (Not allowed to use the words mucky or sticky apparently ;-)). It was good, but the obstacles themselves could have done with a change up. This is something that last year's Super Spartan in the Midlands did very well- Lap two started by picking up a house brick which you had to carry for the entire second lap. Whilst this may sound trivial, by the end of the second lap that brick got heavy! This small change made the second lap have a whole new challenge and is something that Back 2 The Trenches could have done with.

As far as post race goes, the times were viewable on the finish line, photos went up on Facebook very quickly and within a few days the professional photos were up for sale as well. The organisers were also very good at asking for feedback on the Facebook site and have kept a good rapport with the runners commenting on there. This bodes well for the future, which I'm told are going to involve some longer runs with new obstacles. I'd be very interested in them designing a course involving the lake that they have there :-)

The best thing about Back 2 The Trenches is the value for money. It was a great day out for the team and a very good introductory race for anyone looking to get into obstacle racing. Everyone was friendly, the race was easy to find and well organised. A top day out and looking forward to the next one!

www.back2thetrenches.co.uk

Muddy March! Back 2 the Trenches Vs. Rock Solid Race

2013-02-24T20:25:00.001+00:00

After a decent brake since Tough Guy, I'm nearing my next two events on two consecutive weekends in March.

Back 2 The Trenches in Redhill Surrey, is run by Priory Events and held on the same site as the Spartan Sprint that I did last July. There are 5km and 10km options, and I'm signed up with a team of 10 runners for different experience levels, most taking on their first mud/obstacle runs. We're going to have a great day, good laughs and finish the race as a team.

The Rock Solid Race near Exeter takes place on the following weekend, which again has 5km and 10km options. The Wife was signed up for this as her first run by our son as a Christmas present, with a place for me to run with her to help out. Again, we're not going for time but to enjoy it and to help the Wife get some experience before she tackles Tough Mudder in May.

Both runs are the first outing for these organisations, both the same distances and both claiming to be tough. The big difference between the two- Cost! When signed up, the Rock Solid Race was £57 whereas Back 2 The Trenches was only £25. Rock Solid justify the cost with live acts/bands and the Rugby being shown live. Whilst that's lovely for some, for those of us that obstacle run as their main sport, keeping the cost of each event down is a big priority. It would have been nice to have the access to the entertainment as an optional extra so that those of us there to run can do so.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to both runs especially the first event with The Wife. Will they be any good? Well as far as the "local" runs go, they have to live up to the mighty Grimm Challenge run which used only natural obstacles.

www.back2thetrenches.co.uk
www.rocksolidrace.com

New kit- Inov-8 TrailRoc 245's

2013-02-24T19:27:00.000+00:00

Now I'm starting to think that I'm becoming a bit obsessed with buying Invo-8 trainers. Between Christmas presents to each other and the January sales, The Wife and I added TrailRocs, RecoLites, F-Lites and Road-X to our collection, resulting in quite a full utility!

When the Wife's TrailRoc 255's arrived, it was the final push I needed to buy some myself. They looked great, though I knew I wanted the slightly lighter 245s. I've been trying to decide between a set of TrailRocs and TerraFlys for a while now, the reason being that there are a lot of trails locally that are short and linked by roads. My Talons, whilst amazing in the soft stuff, absolutely ruin my knees if used on hard surfaces and likewise my Road-X leave me on my arse when taken through wet grass or mud. So, after seeing The Wife's and seeing even more trail races being won in TrailRocs, my mind was made up.

I wasn't however in a hurry. Whilst helping a few runners get kitted up for our forthcoming Back2TheTrenches race, my friend Simon made contact with Rich at Swaledale Outdoors who offered some very good deals. Although I was in no rush to purchase, I haven't been overly impressed with the service from my current supplier recently so I took Rich up on an offer on the TrailRocs. I must say, service was great- He was responsive, sent me a direct link to purchase online with some Inov-8 ProSocs in a bundle package and the package arrived very promptly. I consider myself a loyal customer to my suppliers and moving supplier to supplier is not something I normally do, but I must say I'm happy to use these guys for everything Inov-8 moving forward.

Box fresh...

So anyways, I decided to give them a run-in as a lazy Sunday afternoon session. I haven't run properly/consistently in a while as I'm bulking, so it'd be a good way to try out the new trainers and blow the cobwebs out of my lungs in prep for the new race season. I mapped out a route (In my head) around Holders field, Old Sarum Castle and down through the meadows to 5Rivers and back. This would give me mud, wet grass, concrete, chalk, bogs, wood and gravel to run across and get a real feel for the shoes in their first outing.

In a nutshell they were great. I had to adjust my running style on the wet grass and mud as they obviously didn't give as much grip as I was used to with the Talons, but they were far superior to a normal road shoe. It didn't take long on the steep hill sections of mud to adjust to sliding my foot completely flat after toe-striking thus engaging more of the grips and getting good grip.

The chalky and stoney sections of Old Sarum is where they came into their own. The Talons aren't great here and the slightest damp on chalk makes it quite slippery and tough on the knees. Not the case with these- Great grip on flat, incline and decline sections.

Moving down to the mud and bogs in the meadows they performed very well- Again, not as good as the Talons but as an all-road shoe, fantastic. All of these sections were linked by road sections and very hard stoney paths. The TrailRocs gave good grip without the punishment on my knees and back associated with the Talons. Again, my Road-Xs are better at this but they are a focused shoe.

... mud fresh!

It was a slow run, but perfect for what I was after. The shoe was great overall, exactly what I expected from Inov-8. I'll be using this for some long-distance trail runs this summer and as always will be back with an update in 6 months after proper use.

www.swaledaleoutdoors.co.uk
www.inov-8.com

Event review – Winter Tough Guy, Midlands, 27th January 2013

2013-02-03T20:04:00.000+00:00

Well, the time has finally come- Tough Guy is here for the first time since I started obstacle racing last May. The stories that I have heard about this event paint a picture of freezing temperatures, physical and mental torture and provide many with the firm belief that this is THE toughest obstacle race on the planet. I can’t wait!

I’ve been waiting to tackle this event since running the Tough Guy 10K in September 2012. The 10K was good fun and great starter event for the guys with me that hadn’t run an obstacle race before. Lots of lovely mud, deep water and purpose-built high rise obstacles made for a fun and challenging day and only heightened my desire to take on the full 10 miler in winter J

The start to the process wasn’t the best as I was met with a similar level of pre-race information before the beginning of the race. Whilst a large race pack arrived in the post shortly after registration, the photocopied pages were very difficult to read in places and seemed in many parts to be written in broken English. The story was similar on the Facebook page- updates regarding snow and parking seem to be written in “Tough Guy English” often missing words from sentences meaning that they either didn’t make sense at all or could be read one of two ways with two contradicting conclusions. I noted that other users were having similar issues but veterans of the series did not. I’m assuming this is something that you pick up after a while and I’m sure in 5 years’ time I will be getting frustrated with the newbies who can’t understand basic instructions!

Whilst annoying, I do remember a similar situation with the 10K (Even at the start line we still didn’t really know what time we were due to start!). Whilst pre-race clearly wasn’t a strong point, the race itself is, and that should be the main thing really. So I decided to go with it and as long as I knew were to park and where to register, I would figure everything else out on the day.

January 27^th was a cold day and despite the snow of the previous week completely vanishing, it was still cold enough to warrant a few layers waiting for the race to begin. Rumours, eventually confirmed, that the stagnant water pools were approximately minus 10 degrees, cemented my decision to run with a top on. This is not normally something that I do as I get very hot, but the ice chunks floating on the top of the water spoke for themselves. So my kit list included my normal shorts, Under Armour ColdGear long-sleeve fitted top, Invo-8 MudSoc 20s, Altura wind guard for my ears, GoPro HD Hero2 on the head mount, a shed load of Vaseline and of course my trusty Invo-8 Talon 212s. I also carried a spare battery for the GoPro in my pocket, sealed in a waterproof bag*.

As I was videoing the race on my GoPro, I wasn’t expecting to put in any competitive times. I knew I’d have to change the battery, which in a muddy run is a good 5 minute job. That coupled with my plan to complete the Wolf6Pack challenge at a suitable part of the course meant that a good time would be impossible, so instead decided to just enjoy the run and take it all in.

The venue was easy to find through the postcode in my new satnav (finally joining the 21^st century!) and although I was taken to an impassable ford at one point, I got there in good time. There were several car park entrances with helpful marshals looking at the colour-coded car park passes hanging from the rear view mirror and directing us to the correct places. The “blue” car park held my space and was on the side of a grassy (muddy!) hill. Getting into the space was quite easy, again with loads of marshals to assist, but I had a feeling getting out would not be as much fun!

Despite there already being thousands of people on site, there were no registration queues and the registration process was as simple as quoting your name and number, signing and initialling the waiver, and being handed your race pack. Race number transfers were included, along with a room with wet sponges to apply them with. Little things like this make a big difference to the whole experience. Timing chip was also included along with the official race number and confirmation of my squad, the Tough Guy Squad. As I only registered a week before the race I was expecting to be in a much later wave, but more than happy with that!

I went to the bag drop/changing rooms to vas-up and chat to some fellow competitors. A final bite to eat and sip of water and I was ready to start running. Making my way towards the start line at about ten to eleven, I had to fight past a lot of people to get past the later start waves. It was easy to see the start lines for the squads with large signs, however I couldn’t see the Tough Guy Squad start. In the end I found a large group of people standing on the back of the hill with TGS numbers and decided to start with them.

Just after 11am the cannon fired, fireworks went off and we ran into battle!

The ‘running’ was few and far between over the first half mile. The sheer volume of runners meant a serious bottle-neck and even with very wide running sections, we constantly slowed to walking pace. After a while the running sections opened up a bit and I could open the taps to move past some of the slower runners. This wasn’t the same issue that Spartan Races tend to have where they make you run down a single file track but more that the waves of runners aren’t spread out enough and there is a huge volume of people trying to get down a track. This unfortunately was a common theme throughout the race- not so much of a problem at this point as I wasn’t going for a time and was nice and warm, but got very problematical later on in the race when the cold started setting in.

The run had a few small hurdles with some thick mud to start with, moving on to a nice long trail section through thick mud with some higher hurdles and steep hills. A few people had already started to dodge these where possible and some even down to walking pace within the first mile. This didn’t bode well!

Moving on we moved onto a slalom hill section- Constant very steep muddy hills to run up and down. My Talons performed excellently here. I know I rant on like I’m sponsored by them, but they really were superb. There were very few places where I slipped and I notice that most others in the same situation were using Talon’s or Mudclaws. Truly amazing shoes! This was one place where queues got frustrating with a lot of people down to walking pace, and again the sheer volume leaving little room to move around them.

On getting to the top of the slaloms we were treated to a short but heavy rain-shower, which was more than welcome to keep us cool. We moved down the hill into the wooded section that I had previously experienced through the 10K run. This was exactly as before with a section of cargo nets and high steeples to climb. It was equally as annoying as last time- these obstacles aren’t tricky or taxing in any way. The only thing that they do is get caught on my GoPro, which is a real pain in the bum.

We then moved on to the river slalom. This was the second time we were in water, but a proper dip this time, right up to chest level at some point for a short-arse like me. Whilst the layout was no different to the 10K, one thing was different… the cold. It was truly freezing, and with each dip in the water my feet got colder and colder. Chest and legs held up ok (Though my legs did go very pink!) but it wasn’t long before I couldn’t feel my toes.

Out of the water and time for a battery change and to complete the Wolf6Pack challenge (A friendly fitness challenge which, on the day, involved me videoing myself completing 21 press-ups. Here is a link to see what it’s all about).

With that done, we moved on to more water, cargo nets and a berlin wall or two before reaching the first high-rise net climb with the first electrocution of the day. Now, I’m not sure if it was generally more powerful or if it was that I was wearing a top for the first time, but the electric gave more of a shock than I’d previously experienced by a very long way! I felt it all across my back that made me think that it might have been that I had a soaked top on. I feel an experiment coming on…

Next was the beginning of the serious water- what seemed like a 100m wade through chest-high, freezing water. It was tough, but I was determined not to slow my pace and kept a quick stride up, passing many people. I did not want to be in the water longer than I had to, and I knew my trusty Talons would drain very quickly once I was out.

With that out of the way, we moved on to a few walls, up to another high-rise via cargo nets then across balance ropes before heading back down to more water. Plenty of dips into the water and out again, with fire to run through in between. The bit of heat was a pain, as you felt warmth then cold, then warmth then cold. The end of this was a tyre tunnel to crawl through into the last section of water, so deep that a short-arse like me had to swim. I was pretty glad to be out of this as I was very cold and was looking forward to being able to sprint off and warm up a bit.

Next followed a large stint of thick mud, really testing on the calves and thighs, then on to the dreaded Torture Chamber. The Torture Chamber required you to crawl in near pitch-black within about 2 foot of height. The floor was a few inches of water and rows of logs followed by electric cables hung down throughout. As you crawl in, there are blood-curdling screams from other runners getting zapped by the cables. I got hit about 5 or 6 times and on one of those I am sure I blacked out. This was pretty horrific- physically not too bad but physiologically the screams and not really knowing where the electric was going to hit really made you not want to go forward. Top work Mr Mouse, top work!

These moved on to the Vietcong Tunnels which were easily tackled and onto the next high section, the Skywalk and Paradise Climb. By this point, the cold was starting to become a pain as the inability to close my grip on my hands properly really made me have to think about things that normally came naturally. Because of this, it took far longer for me to scale down the ropes. I was expecting for the cold to cause physical issues, but was not ready for the way it changed my thinking during the run.

A small run later and into the deep water. A combination of swimming and the first forced dips under the water was a killer. My lungs started to burn towards the end of this and getting out of the other end was when I really started to feel too cold. The next high climbs, walk-the-plank and rope traversal was a struggle, not physically, but mentally working out what I had to do. The cold was really starting to get to me.

I started really sprinting between each section, trying to warm up as efficiently as possible. The long section of tyres helped with a nice section of running with high knees followed by some nice warming electricity. Another dip in the water, and run up the hill and the final slide down into the lake and up to the finish line.

What followed next was standing in a hot shower for about 10 minutes, and very quick change and a sprint back to the car to get the heaters on. 20 minutes of sitting in the car with fresh clothes and I just about stopped shivering enough to be able to start the long drive back to Salisbury.

The pictures and times came up very quickly. I came 410th overall which, considering I wasn't going for time and the queuing I had to do, I was more than pleased with. Banter afterwards on the Facebook page for Tough Guy was great and you get the real sense of a community of people, all bound by the blood, sweat and tears shed together. Many didn't finish, some finished in hospital, but I have huge respect for every single person that started this race.

In conclusion, there is only one word to describe the Winter Tough Guy: Epic. Physically, I feel like I could have run it three times over, but the cold was just crippling. Many other races claim to be the toughest or hardest of these obstacle races but truth is that nothing I have done so far even comes close to this. If you think the others are tough, you have to try this. Mr Mouse, I salute you!

*I don’t use the GoPro battery BacPac on the head mount as it makes the camera too heavy and the video goes all over the place.

Kit recommendations- What should I take to a run?

2013-01-29T21:23:00.000+00:00

One of the things that I am most frequently asked is “What kit should I use or take with me to a mud and obstacle run?”. It’s a bit of a tough one to answer, as every promoter has different rules and regulations.

The below list is based on my experience so far and that alone. It’s therefore highly biased, but that’s one of the best things about writing a personal blog- I can be as biased as I want to be :-)

Before I get to the list, a few things to consider:

ALWAYS check the website or information pack for the race that you are doing to make sure that the equipment that you are taking is allowed.
“Studded shoes”. Most race websites will often say that studded shoes are not allowed as they can cause serious damage to both other competitors as well as the obstacles. Whilst this is true, don’t take that to mean that all shoes with studded grips are not allowed. This simply means that metal studs like football boots are not allowed. Trail running shoes with rubber grips are perfectly acceptable, and in the case of most mud runs, highly recommended.
Waterproof or not? Waterproof gear is obviously very good at stopping water going through it, but not necessarily around it. If you run with waterproof gear on, whether shoes, leggings, jacket, gloves or anywhere else and get to a (very frequent) swimming section of a race, the waterproof gear will simply keep the water in. This will result in you getting heavier and colder quicker. Unless you are sure that you will not be submerged, it is far better to run with a technical fabric which I will discuss later.
Check the weather report around the time of the race. This will have a massive impact on the clothes and accessories that you will wear. I personally get very hot very quickly, so rarely run with a top on. However, if you are doing events designed to make you as cold as possible, you will want to consider wearing a top, gloves, and perhaps a hat. This is a personal thing, but I’ll try to cover guidelines.
Hydration. Check the race information for number of water points, if any. Most races of 8Km or over will have at least one water stop, but not always. Again, you should know how well you cope with a lack of water. Again, if the weather says it’s going to be hot, consider a hydro pack or carrying a small water bottle.
If you're going on your own check that there will be bag/key drop facilities. Also make sure that your emergency contact person knows that you are putting them down as the emergency contact, and that they are near their phone, just in case ;-)

Pre-race

Fuel! You should look at taking on plenty of carbs, at least the night before the race and in the morning before. I always start the day with a very large bowl of oats with full-fat milk, various seeds, nuts and fruit alongside a protein shake. The night before I normally make a pasta-bake (I eat for a family of 4 ) with some fresh veg.
Water- Take water with you and get a decent amount in you before you run. Not so much that you’ll want to pee the whole way around, but enough to get you hydrated. You’ll want extra for after the race as well for both hydration at to wash any cuts with.
Towels and fresh clothes- Easily forgotten, but you will be very muddy when you get back! Many races don’t have hot showers but instead a lake or river for you to wash in.
Antiseptic gel, plasters and general first aid. All races will have first aid, most have local ambulance teams in attendance, but it never hurts to be prepared. As a lot of these races have you swimming in stagnant water, you’ll want to wash any cuts with fresh water and get some anti-septic gel on them pretty soon after the race.
Bag- A waterproof or water-resistant bag to keep your dry stuff dry and mud free is highly recommended. Keep your towel near the top of the bag for easy access after the race. You can pick these up from most good outdoor/hiking/trail shops.
Money for parking and food- If you need this explaining, you shouldn’t be walking let alone running ;-)
Registration documents! Don’t forget them including any passes, disclaimers, death waivers, Last Will and Testaments, etc …

Footwear

For me, good footwear is key. Many blogs and forums will have people that tell you “What’s the point in using purpose-built shoes, they’re just going to get ruined” or “There’s no real advantage when mud gets thick”. IMO, this is utter balls! The amount of times that people have face planted in front of me, often with very painful consequences due to no grip from their road running shoes is unreal. I personally can’t afford to break my ankle/leg/hip/ribs falling over onto a tree stump, and therefore will do everything I can to avoid it!

Road running shoes, whilst giving a lot of underfoot protection are dangerously slippy and soak water up like a sponge due to the amount of padding and cushioning in them.

Trail running shoes or hybrid on/off road shoes are the way to go. They are typically lightweight, allow your feet to move with enough flexibility to provide a good ground strike even at strange angles and have the grip to keep you on your feet. Typically a good trail shoe will eject water very quickly and have very sticky long grips to cut through mud and into the hard surfaces below. They also tend t have rubber in the laces, helping to stop them come undone when you are running.

My personal preferences are Inov-8 trail running shoes, in particular the Talon 212’s for full on mud running. Simply superb shoes that have carried me safely through a year of trail and mud runs now with minimal slipping. For the more urban races, the TrailRoc 245 is a class leader, though I haven’t tried these myself…. Yet!

inov-8.com

Underwear

I’m afraid other than saying “Supportive”, I’m not going to be much use to the female-specific items here Avoid cotton wherever possible by to be honest, for most of these races you won’t notice either way. The one thing that I always use are Inov-8 Mudsocks on my feet as they provide good protection, comfort, they dry quickly and are very tough. In fact, I use them for all of my running both on and off road including general training.

inov-8.com

Clothing

Clothing is quite a personal preference. I’ve stood side-by-side at the same race with a guy in his pants, one in a triathlon wetsuit and another dressed as Where’s Wally (Waldo for my American readers ;-)).

The one thing that should be considered whether for legs or torso is the type of fabric. There are 2 simple rules: Don’t wear cotton and don’t wear waterproof. Cotton will simply soak water up, keep it close to you and become heavy. This will make you cold and increase the weight you have to carry. With regards to waterproof clothing, this will be a hindrance if you have to submerge, which you normally do, as the fabric will hold the water in against you.

You should look at a technical fabric that is quick drying and breathable. If you’re worried about the cold, layer up but don’t forget that you will get warm when running.

My personal preference is to run with no top and MMA shorts on. These shorts don’t hold water, aren’t cotton and are very, very tough- Perfect for these race conditions. Many people choose leggings, run shorts, MMA shorts- It really is a case of finding something that you feel comfortable in.

I’ve only run once with a top on, and that was for Tough Guy. The top of choice was an Under Armour ColdGear long sleeve tee. I can highly recommend it, and the areas of my body that it covered stayed very warm indeed, even in the -10 degree water on the Tough Guy course. I will without a doubt be using this for the run next year Under Armour also do a HeatGear range designed for summer running. I use these in summer as the Wife won’t let me terrorise the neighbours by running topless around the village. Again, highly recommended.

underarmour.com

Hats and gloves

Again, these are by personal preference. I use a wind guard for my ears as wind (Not cold) gives me very bad earache. I only really use a full beanie hat in the very coldest parts of winter, and I usually find it too hot to wear for a whole run. Many people doing long water stints or in the very coldest races, again like Tough Guy, will wear triathlon swimming hats or similar.

With regards to gloves, you should look at the same guidelines as clothing when it comes t fabrics. Waterproof are a no-go, and you should look at something that has very good grip as you’ll be needing them to climb and lift as well as swim and crawl.

Some people prefer full length, even in summer, some fingerless and some not to wear gloves. My preference is no gloves. I wore some on my first Tough Mudder as it was recommended on their website, but to be honest they were a hindrance more than a help. I’ve only used them since for Tough Guy for the warmth factor more than anything.

I use a Mechanix Wear M-Pact Fingerless although I am planning o doing a group test very shortly I’ve recently come across Darkfin Gloves which I think might prove to be quite handy in some of these runs.

mechanix.com

Hydration and food

You will be given information on the available water stops on the race. In some case, like Tough Mudder, food was also provided on the way around in the form of bananas, but this is quite rare. It’s very important that you scope out what you need based on your current training before the race and plan appropriately.

You likely won’t want to eat on the way around to void getting a stitch, but here are many performance gels and hydration drinks available. Find one that you’re comfortable with and test it before racing. I made the mistake of trying a homemade isotonic drink during the Spartan Beast and was almost sick half way through due to the taste.

The fancy stuff (Boy’s toys!)

POV camera- I can highly recommend the GoPro series of cameras, as per my review here. Don’t forget to use a flotation device though, as losing them in deep water is a possibility as I found out!!!
GPS tracking- If you feel the need to track your run as part of your training, make sure that it will be able to cope with being bashed about and the water. Not many people use these, but if you do, best to go for a wrist mounted one.

gopro.com

Post race

Cleaning wounds- As I’ve already mentioned, hot showers are a luxury and most of the time you’re left to bathe with your fellow runners in a lake or river after the race. As fun as this is, if you have a concerned (Nagging ;-)) partner with you, they ‘ll want you to make sure that open wounds are cleaned properly. Use some bottled water to help clean the wound and apply some antiseptic gel to help keep open wounds clean. This will hurt like hell, but hey, you’ve just finished an obstacle run, what do you care? ;-)
Recovery food and drink- There are plenty of nutritional experts out there that will give you much better information than I ever could on this, but as a thumb rule I always try to rehydrate with water as quickly as possible. After a particularly long run, I’ll also use PHD Recover 2:1- It’s a fantastic recovery drink and really helps fight against DOMS for the few days after a tough run.
Arnica tablets / cream- These can be seen as a bit “hippyish”, but I bruise like a peach and need bruises to heal as quickly as possible. I’ve found that Arnica tablets for a few days after a race will help greatly reduce the time it takes bruises to fade. Great if you have a public facing job!

phd-supplements.com

So there it is. Everything that I have found useful so far. Feel free to comment if there's anything I've missed :-)

Tough Guy.... Almost missed it!

2013-01-13T18:51:00.000+00:00

It suddenly dawned on me this evening that I hadn't actually signed up for Tough Guy yet! Bugger!

I've been looking forward to this run as one of "The big 3"- I've done Tough Mudder and the Spartan Beast, but like most Tough Guy is the original test. I would be absolutely gutted if I couldn't make it!

Luckily, registration is still open. Only just, but still open. Expensive at £85, but that's my own fault and if it's as good as the 10km Tough Guy was that we did as part of the Tough-Guy-Tri event, I know it'll be worth it.

As far as training goes, it's only 15km so I don't think distance will be a problem. The only issue is that I have been bulking since Boxing Day. I'm coming on 8kg up in weight and have only been doing a very little running, 8Km at most recently. As I'vebeen bulking, all training has been "Low and slow".

I've got 2 weeks to get back in to shape- Plenty of cardio and circuits should help quite a lot, but it's going to be a squeeze!

I want to look forward to enjoying this one and not be competitive. Not sure that'll happen on the day :-)

Christmas presents :-)

2012-12-26T19:16:00.000+00:00

Well Christmas is upon us and I've decided to sort race entries for some of my relatives.

Firstly, my big brother who is an amateur triathlete will be joining our Tough Mudder team for Kettering next year.

My two nieces will be completing one of the kids Spartan races, which I hope they'll enjoy. They are 12 and 9 so I hope they'll enjoy getting muddy over a short course.

Finally is The Wife. She has mentioned on several occasions that she wants to join me for an obstacle run and after signing up to CrossFit in November and Tough Mudder for June 2013 I decided a warm-up in in order :-)

I've therefore singed us both up to run the Rock Solid Race 10Km obstacle run on 16th March 2013. Her initial reaction was surprise, but she now seems to be getting quite excited for it. I am too, both to run the race myself with her but to help her through to the end.

Bring on 2013 :-)

Event review- Grim Challenge Aldershot, December 2nd 2012

2012-12-08T18:57:00.000+00:00

I saw a post on Facebook a few months ago for the Grim Challenge series, sent by a friend of mine who wanted to get into mud and obstacle running. After answering a few general questions on these sorts of runs, I decided to keep this on the back-burner as a possible short run to warm down after the Spartan Beast which was only two weeks before it.

As it transpired, the friend was unable to do the run so I asked around a few people who were also trying to get into these runs. As it was only an 8 mile run I thought it would be ideal for people looking to start out. Turns out the person I was due to run with had to pull out last minute, so in the end I decided to run it on my own and treat it as a fun wind-down to the end of a long season of mud runs.

After finishing the race I only have one word to describe it- Exceptional!

The race was amazing from start to finish, and not just the course. Of all the races I have joined this year this was the best organised, with the best atmosphere and without a doubt the best value for money.

Firstly, the welcome pack. I received a fully glossy race pack with lots of information, my race number, timing chip and information on future events. All other races have just provided an email, often missing some pretty vital information. In the case of the Spartan series, I often didn't even receive the email and had to chase them!

The superb race pack

Next was the general organisation. I know that it was on a military camp, but you got the impression that it was being run as a military operation (maybe it was!). There were signs guiding us in from as far away as the M3. Again, with other races there has been confusion as to the correct sat nav postcode, or no signs until you are actually at the entrance to some small farm in the middle of no-where. This sat very well with The Wife, aka The support crew, who I always burden with being the navigator, and if she likes a race it makes it far easier for me to justify going to another in the series :-) Bravo Grim Challenge, bravo.

The entrance to the race was easy to find with good parking facilities and helpful marshals A short walk from the car park got us towards the start line where there were plenty of toilets, including the male only urinal port-a-loos which are great in avoiding queues for us gents. As we already had race numbers and timing chips there was no rush once we were there. You could simply soak up the atmosphere, which was really nice. Again, it's the little things which make all the difference.

As I wasn't too fussed about my time for this race, I didn't worry about joining the start line too early and ended up about halfway through the queue to start. The temperature was hovering just above freezing and I was still trying to decide whether to run topless or use my Under Armour heat gear top. In the end, I decided to test myself against the elements properly and take off my top just before the start. With the GoPro set, I was ready to run.

The run was itself was great and the atmosphere superb. As I was doing a gentle pace I had chance to talk to people as I was running, and everyone was having a great time. I got a few funny looks when breaking ice wearing not very much, but that's all part of the fun of it for me.

I coped pretty well after mile 3. Between miles 1.5 and 3 I started to get very, very cold to the point where for the first time ever I was starting to wonder if I could get through it. My severe lack of prep meant that I was burning off my morning breakfast pretty quickly and I wasn't battling the cold as easily as I normally do. I started losing feeling in my left thumb completely to the point where I had to run holding it in my other hand. For whatever reason, my temperature stabilised by mile 3 and I was able to properly enjoy the rest of the race.

There were very few obstacles as such, only a few cargo nets and some logs to run over. The mud and water were considered the main obstacles, with people choosing how thick and deep they wanted to go through them. This seemed great, especially for those starting out. I hit full force to begin with, ducking out only between miles 1.5 and 3 as I tried to warm up. I didn't avoid altogether, but chose on some to exit puddles before the very end until I got warm again. Later on in the race when the track opened very wide many chose, as I did, to aim for puddles and mud not directly in the way. Great fun.

Towards the end, still sporting my ridiculous Movember 'tash

That brings me on to another great feature of the course- the width. There were no points whatsoever that forced you to run at single file so you were never stopped by other people's pace. Take note Spartan and Tough Mudder!!!

The marshals throughout were also great, offering encouragement, telling you about dangerous ice, guiding you in the correct direction and generally paying attention to what was being done. This was coupled with visible off-road Ambulance presence throughout the course to give the overall impression that the organisers cared about the runner as much as they did about taking your money. A really nice change!

My wife commented that the information for spectators was also great, with plenty of room to let my son run around and get muddy himself whilst they waited for me at some of the obstacles. the only thing missing that would have been nice would be a spectators map showing good photo spots, but the marshals again were very helpful I'm told in pointing out the good spots. She managed to get this footage of me running through one of the lakes:

After 8 miles or mud soaked fun, I reached the finish line and despite taking it pretty causally, still came in the top 100, which I was pretty pleased with. When you crossed the line, the announcer called out your name as well, a really nice touch. I picked up my race bag which had a decent quality cotton tee. Ok, it wasn't a technical or branded tee, but all things considered not too shabby. There were also some free samples of snacks so it was easy to get a bit of food immediately (Though I admit I headed straight for the burger van ;-) )

After the race times were announced very quickly and photos placed up pretty quickly. The Grim Challenge Facebook page also had the courtesy to repost links to mine and another runner's GoPro footage. This helps with the views and ads on our own pages which in turns helps to pay for the recording equipment and promote things like this little blog. Little things like this make a big difference to those of us that have these races as our main sport and hobby.

I can honestly say that after the huge disappointment that was the Spartan Beast, this was a refreshing change for all the right reasons. For the very low £30 entry fee, this was the mud/obstacle run bargain of the century and I can do nothing but sing its praises. I seriously hope that the "Big three" race organisers in the UK had reps running this race and took something away from it. A lot of lesons to be learnt and a massive round of applause needed for the organisers of Grim Challenge.

www.grimchallenge.co.uk

Kit review- Liquid Grip update

2012-11-21T21:37:00.000+00:00

I almost forgot to give a quick update on the Liquid Grip product in the race after my earlier review!

I used it twice- Once before the monkey bars and once before the final wall. The grip was simply amazing. Even though the ropes and bars weren't wet or greased as they have been previously, I could fly up and across both obstacles with ease. Not necessarily faster, but with less effort.

I need to practice getting the Liquid Grip on to my hands whilst running with more efficiency, but I'll get there. In the meantime I can confirm that this product is great for obstacle running! :-)

liquidgrip.com
www.wellnaturalhealth.co.uk

Spartan Beast Race Kent- I got my time

2012-11-20T21:54:00.000+00:00

Well I finally got my time through for the Beast, but for reasons that I won't go into once again, I'm not sure how relevant it is.

In the end I got a 01:52:20 which placed me 9th. Normally I'd be pleased with this as I really wanted a top 10 time, but with the amount of problems with this race, I'm not even going to count it. The best thing I got out of this race was my Trifecta medal and a test of my pain threshold.

Oh, and one last thing whilst I'm here: A friend of mine who ran the Beast in a later heat did take his GoPro and got a lot of the footage from the race. I thought the least I could do was post a link up for him!

Event review - Spartan Beast Race Kent, November 18th

2012-11-20T19:50:00.000+00:00

Well this was it, the big one. This was the race that I've been looking forward to ever since tackling Tough Mudder in May. After the recent Spartan series races that I have completed, I was very excited that finally the time had come to take on the biggest Spartan Race in the UK, the Beast.

Billed as a 25km, 50+ obstacle onslaught, I was ready to shed blood, sweat and tears getting through this challenge.

The first impression unfortunately was a little off, as I didn't receive my normal confirmation email a few days beforehand with the waiver form and confirmation of the directions. I emailed the UK Spartan team in the end for confirmation as many people on the Spartan Facebook page said that the address provided on the website differed to that in the confirmation email. As always the lovely Jess from Spartan sorted my issues out pretty quickly.

Race day was upon me- An early start of 6am to get the family up and in the car to start the ~2 hour journey to Brands Hatch. The best thing about driving that early on a Sunday morning was that the roads were pretty quiet, so we made good time to the venue and parked up pretty promptly.

The air was pretty cold out of the sun, with think frost covering the ground anywhere the sun hadn't hit. Luckily once in the sun, it was actually a warm enough air temp for a nice run without the need for a shirt. That said, I did keep my top on until the beginning of the race, just in case :-)

Getting ready for the race

There was no queue for registration but, as a season pass holder, I had to visit a second tent to have my timing chip entered. I thought this was strange as surely they should have my details- I have run twice on this number with them in the past year. Unfortunately the tent was empty and no-one knew where the people were. 5 minutes later and I was stuck behind a queue of 30 odd people all in the same boat.

With the timing chip sorted, I handed my shirt to the wife on the start line and after the normal Spartan speech (which we could barely hear!), we all set off. Mostly we were quite surprised that the first section of the race was a lap of Brands Hatch circuit. There were some barriers to jump over, 2 in total, but otherwise this was a road run. For those of us in extreme trail running shoes, this was more than slightly painful! It was a welcome relief that after approx 2 miles, we headed off the Tarmac...

Tarmac running- Boo!!!

A few more twisting sections on grass which involved running inside the track the wrong way round brought us into the woods in the centre of the circuit.

We soon reached several areas that simply hadn't been marked properly. There were either 5 different ways all of which had tape on them, or no tape whatsoever to follow. A large group of us followed the tape into the woods and completed a sandbag lift, cargo net and rope climb before being told that we should have been coming from the other direction. The initial marshals didn't mention this, too busy playing on their phones to care :-(

After losing another 30 seconds listening to more marshals try to decide where we should be running, we we sent back onto another track where we met more runners. I would like to say this was an isolated incident, but there we six separate occasions where we got completely lost due to lack of markings.

The marshals were simply awful. They weren't about where needed, doubled up on some places where they were not needed and either chatting or playing on their phones rather than giving encouragement to the racers or looking to be pro-actively helpful. This was such a huge change from every other Spartan Race that I had been to where the races have been so well staffed.

We ran through several more obstacles, 2 sets in total of the cargo climb, rope climb and sandbag lift- not exactly what you'd call imaginative. The worst part of it though was the running through brambles and holly hedges. Sure they hurt a bit and cut my body up, but that doesn't bother me. It felt like miles of doing this and as most of the time they surrounded us, it forced people to move single file which therefore forced queuing. YOU CANNOT HOLD A TIMED RACE WHERE YOU FORCE PEOPLE TO MOVE SINGLE FILE!!!! It simply doesn't work, at all. If you can't overtake, you're forced to run at the pace of the slowest person and as there are no qualifications needed even for the elite heat, you can get some very slow people in there.

My legs the day after the brambles

This bored everyone who was around me. As we were down to walking pace, we had a good chance to chat and share war stories!

We progressed though the wooded section with a fire jump, some spiders' nests and a few obstacles suspended about 3 feet above the ground but nothing particularly innovative. There was also a brick hold for 50 seconds at arms length. Completely unregulated so people ran off whenever they felt like. The marshal there was simply awful, not telling us which way to run and again, three groups or people went in three separate directions. Not cool.

Final gripe (for now) was that as well as people getting lost, some groups just after this obstacle seemed to be purposely cutting the course. Not strictly running through tape, as there wasn't any, but not exactly playing by the rules or spirit of the runs either. This obviously isn't the fault of the organisers, but sad nonetheless.

We eventually made it out of the woods and on a run back up to where we started. After getting back on grass and a bit more running, we had some monkey bars to complete and two flips of a tyre. In reality the monkey bars were way too easy, cleared in 4 swings and 2 flips of a tyre isn't exactly challenging but enough for the volume of people that were running through. The monkey bars weren't thick, wet or greased- Three things that could have made it a tougher obstacle.

A quick loop around and we hit three farmers-walk style obstacles- 2 x ammo cases (I estimated 15kg each, the marshal didn't know!), a single car tyre run and a sandbag run (approx 30kg). I used these as time to catch my breath a bit and store some energy. After leaving these we hit balance beams and then started a crawl under camo netting which went on seemingly forever, must have been at least 150m. I didn't even know you could get camo netting that long! You could argue that it got tough on the knees, but really most of it you could stand and run as the netting was very loose. Not tough, just irritating.

Further up the hill we hit the seemingly impossible spear throw which this time had to hit a hay bale, and stick in. Previous races you simply had to hit the target. Suffice to say whist I was there, everyone was doing 30 burpees :-) After another jog we then had a hay crawl and then a new one (hurrah!)... 50 pull downs on vertically mounted Concept 2 rowers. Not bad actually, quite tiring and marshals there checking people were doing it right! Bravo!

We then moved on to the final 3 obstacles- ice crawl, pretty standard with no electrocution :-(, wall climb and the Gladiators. Well, Gladiator. The wall was different to the normal one- higher but the ropes seemed to be suspended differently. The tough part of the normal wall is that the rope stays very close to the peak when you get to the top.

Ice crawl

I crossed the line not particularly tired and not feeling like I had run 25k. I went to pick up my Trifecta medal, only to find that I wasn't on the list for it. I argued my case giving details of the races I had completed and I was allowed both the Beast and Trifecta medals. I don't understand why this was missing from the system though.

My timing chip had been lost in the brambles, so I was given a line cross time of 1:52:20. Pretty fast for 25km... We later found out that several people GPS'd the run and had it down as 11 miles. No wonder that time seemed fast!

Then after scaring some people who were about the start with the blood pouring out of my legs, the final obstacle was in fact finding the showers. We were told about them on the start line but not a single member of Spartan Race staff that either my wife or I talked to could tell us where they were. We eventually tracked them down through word of mouth. It turns out some A4-size signs were what we were looking for!!!!

In conclusion I'm afraid to say it was a disappointment. The few things that they got right were vastly overshadowed by all of the bad points and poor administration. As I'm writing this, I'm currently looking at the Spartan Facebook page full of similar complaints. I have also emailed the UK team asking for a point of contact to give direct feedback to.

The most annoying thing is that these guys can organise really compelling, interesting races with innovative obstacles- The Sprint and Super that I completed earlier in the year was amazing. This just wasn't one of them. The general impression was that the course was thought up the night before over a beer. I will continue to support and run their races in 2013 under a season pass but I fear that they have severely damaged their brand name, due to this race.

Beast and Trifecta medals

Roll on the 2013 season and my next Trifecta :-)

Spartan Beast- T -3 days!

2012-11-14T22:02:00.002+00:00

Well the prep is all done. Sunday 18th @ 1000 I'll be setting off in the elite heat of the UK London Spartan Beast. I must admit, I'm feeling great but I am concerned about my cardio, or lack thereof. It's been really tricky recently to get solid training in. The Wife and Oscar have both been very ill recently, which has limited the time I've been able to spend training.

The worst part has been running- I've been unable to get in more than about 40 minutes running at a time, enough to get in 10k at most. I've tried to combat this with as many hill sprints and skip sessions using the Training Mask as possible which has been killing my lungs. I've also tried putting my legs through as much training as possible that will simulate what I'll be doing. Plenty of lunging, squatting and crawling.

Finally the normal sled drags, tyre flips and bodyweight stuff.

I'm feeling great, but over 12 miles at full pace and all those obstacles.... Well bring them on!

Kit review- Liquid Grip

2012-11-10T21:36:00.000+00:00

I was sat at work the other day, pondering a few things about the Spartan Races that I've done so far this year. The main thing that hit me was how slow I was up the ropes at the end of the courses. These were the ropes soaked in mud and water up the "Wall" obstacles. You need to pull yourself up the 45 degree slope via the ropes, and with the slope being covered in plastic and soaked, all of the effort needs to come through the rope.

The problem is that because the ropes are soaking wet, you have to clench your grip very tightly which not only tires your arms out but makes you spend longer securing each grip. In addition, your hands naturally start sliding down the rope even once you have grip.

So, I was (very) bored at work one day and my mind started wandering onto the subject of what I could do to help with this. I remember hearing a friend of mine at the local supplements specialist who competes in and organises strongman competitions raving about a new product called Liquid Grip. Liquid Grip is designed to be a modern alternative to chalk used in weightlifting and strongman competitions to achieve greater grip. So would it work for me legging it around assault courses covered in thick mud and water?

I put in a call and bought a small tub to try it out. I used this opportunity to have a pop at my first video review of the product. I must apologise for the poor quality of the audio- I'm currently sourcing a microphone for my GoPro for doing these in the future :-)

In short, it was amazing. Even with a soaking rope the Liquid Grip help me keep a very tight grip with the same effort as if the rope was dry. As my hands didn't slip, I was able to climb the rope in my garden with ease. I also did a short test on holding up a soaking sandbag- Again a common obstacle on the Spartan Races. Once again, the Liquid Grip held up really well.

As it came with a carabiner, was small and in an easily squeezed tub, I figured it'd be perfect for a run. So, based on my short test I took the decision to attach it to my shorts for the upcoming Beast. More news to follow after the race!

liquidgrip.com
www.wellnaturalhealth.co.uk

Pain... Tell me I'm wrong

2012-10-21T14:24:00.000+01:00

A bit about pain. This post may single me out as a bit of a weirdo, but I'm not worried, I'm totally cool with that.

I like pain. There you go I said it. I'm not talking about in some sort of sexual, kinky way, but I like pain when training and competing. Whether the sting from a punch inside the cage or the feel of stones slicing through my skin when crawling under some barbed wire, there's something about the sharp feel of pain that gives me focus and drive.

I've discussed this with others, the last time with Simon on a training run before Tough Guy. He had a large blister and suffers from them badly and it was causing pain to run. For me, that is exactly the sort of thing that keeps me going. The pain of something like that doesn't make me want to stop, it makes me want to keep going. I find it motivating. Sharp shocks are the best- The electrocution obstacles that I've encountered do not make me want to stop or turn back, but instead I feel it right up my spine, I get goosebumps instantly and most importantly, a massive grin. It might sound strange, but I feel like Super Mario with a mushroom- It helps me run faster, lift heavier and fight longer.

People tend to fear pain, but I don't see why. I use pain, take the pain, push it into the pit of my stomach and give it pain back. The pain is trying to stop me, just like any other type of opponent. It's either going to to win or I am, and I'm not one to back down easily.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that pain should be ignored. It's obviously the body's way of alerting that something isn't right, but if that something is you achieving your physical goals, it should not be there to stop you but more as a flag that you are doing something right.

Tough Mudder 2013!

2012-10-18T21:24:00.002+01:00

Last night The Wife and I signed up for Tough Mudder in 2013. Northampton, 5th May. We're in as a team of 8 so far but it'll likely be closer to 12 I would have thought.

Quite excited. For most of the people running with us, it will be a first obstacle run. The Wife has just signed up with the local CrossFit club that opened a few months ago, Sarum CrossFit. This will be the basis for her training, interspersed with some running. She won't let me train her, we've already been down that road :-)

As for me, it'll be business as usual :-) Stayed tuned for more updates as we go along!

Event review- Tough Guy Wolverhampton, 10km mud thrash, 14th October 2012

2012-10-15T17:15:00.000+01:00

Four of us signed up for the first of a series of new events from Tough Guy, the founders of the obstacle run. Traditionally only run once a year, Tough Guy appear to be adding new events each year which I assume is to cash in on the growing market for obstacle runs bought on by the heavy promotion of Tough Mudder and Spartan Races.

The 14th October saw the first "Tough Guy Triathlon" consisting of a 400m swim, 12k mountain bike ride and a 10k Tough Guy "Mud Thrash" run. Two of the guys in the team, Mark and Simon, had never run an obstacle race before and as you could chose just to do the 10k run, the timing of this event was perfect. Paul joined us who is a veteran of the main Tough Guy run and so we had a team for the event.

The team: Mark, Paul, Simon and Me

We turned up just before 9am, to a very foggy morning and a -1 degree centigrade air temp. With the run due to start at about 11ish, I was starting to wonder if my tradition of running topless was going to remain a good idea!

The Tough Guy venue is a permanent set-up so facilities were great. The thought of a nice hot shower at the end of the race rather than bathing in a lake sounded fantastic! There were also lots of toilets which were pretty clean and well kept, again a nice change from the porta-loo setup at most of these runs.

Registration was a simple process- hand over our waiver and we were given timing chips, race number and a goody bag straight away. As this was the first event, there were not many participants. Across all events there didn't look to be more than 100 people. Most of these left with the triathlon, then another large portion with the "Screwball" kids race, leaving about 40 of us on the 10k only run. Whilst the atmosphere therefore left a bit to be desired it did mean that there were no queues at the obstacles when the race did begin...

The race was due to start when the first of the triathletes had finished the swim and cycle, and them crossing the start line of the run signalled us to begin as well. Unfortunately this meant that we didn't really know when we were going to start, only that it would be around 11ish.

The race itself started with some pretty basic log jumps and a decent stretch of trail running across fields, small hills and a wooded section. We then moved into a wood with cargo nets and log pyramids into another field run. From there on there were very few open runs but a lot of intensive obstacle sections. Lots of river running and yet more cargo nets. I personally would have liked to see less cargo nets and a bit more imagination. Cargo nets are fine but they aren't difficult to traverse and they got a bit dull after a while. The river running went on for quite a while and got quite exhausting. This was good- too many of these runs allow you so much recovery time between obstacles that you barely notice them but the more relentless nature of this run shone through.

After the water came some high log and net climbs, with electric cables in-between which unfortunately weren't turned on :-( This sucked, as the electric obstacles are something that you don't get to do that often so a real missed opportunity there. At this point our team split with Simon and Paul keeping up a higher pace, and Mark and me taking it more easy.

Mark and I traversing one of the high log climbs

Next came more log jumps and bog running before moving on to a large assault course over one of the lakes. A combination of short rope swings, overhead rope shimmying and cargo nets to climb over or swing from got us around a figure-of-eight circuit before heading to a low crawl under barbed wire. Unlike the Tough Mudder event, there was no safety wire here, just the real thing. If you don't go low enough, you get cut, it's that simple!

We then moved on to a high section of tight-rope walking. These were fine and as there were no queues, these were cleared quite quickly. Next we went into plunges into deep water followed by sections of burning hay. This meant you went from very hot to very cold time and time again, finally having to crawl through a small tyre tunnel. I'm told that Simon had quite an ungraceful exit from the tyre due to the last one coming apart. Luckily one of the WAGs got some photo evidence of this... :-)

Simon exiting the tyre crawl in style :-)

Next came some dark tunnels to crawl through. These were concrete and it was pitch black. Really couldn't see a thing! The last section of tubes were even smaller than the first and although I'm quite small framed I struggled to make it through. For the very last section I switched to a more elongated crawling technique in order to make it through.

With Mark and I both out we move to a very high tight rope section over a small section of water, then onto "Viagra"- a slide down the side of a hill with electric cables dangling down. These were definitely turned on! Shocks all the way down and it was after a water section to make it conduct nicely!

With that done it was over, all 10k done! It was an interesting and fun event. The intensity of the obstacles, even if some of them were repeated to death, meant that it didn't feel like 10k at all. I would highly recommend this for anyone worried about the distance side of a 10k run or as a good warm up if you are thinking of doing the full Tough Guy in January.

The full video taken on my GoPro HD Hero2 can be seen here:

Was it tough? For me, at this pace, no. If I was running it at full pace and going for the best possible time it would be a good test, but I'm still not sure about tough. More electrics and more, thicker mud sections to really drain your energy are needed. I survived this with far fewer cuts and bruises than the similar distance Spartan races. As this was the very first time it was being run though this can all be forgiven. For the price, the distance and the facilities given, this was a top event.

www.toughguy.co.uk

Kit review- Inov-8 Talon 212 trail trainer

2012-10-08T22:00:00.000+01:00

I've been using the Inov-8 X-Talon 212s for 6 months now as a trail running show for use in training across Salisbury Plain and as my race shoe for both Tough Mudder and Spartan series races. After researching before Tough Mudder in May 2012, I found several blogs and reviews from people who had run it before recommending either Inov-8s or Vibrams. When looking at the course structure, I decided to go for the X-Talon 212s as they seemed to have far superior grip and the majority of running would be through thick mud or wet grass fields.

Parcels arriving at work like this are always welcome :-)

I have been blown away at how good these shoes are off-road. The rubber grips are very sticky which is perfect for running on wet wood surfaces which you regularly have to in these races and during all of my training and races I have not slipped once in them. Even when running down wet, muddy hills racing in Spartan races and through the mile of mud at Tough Mudder, I was able to stay stable, fast and agile whilst others around me looked like Bambi on Ice!

Talon 212s in thick mud during Tough Mudder

They are very lightweight which helps not only with manoeuvrability but also by drying out very quickly after being soaked. They are also comfortable to swim in when traversing lakes and rivers- My old Asics would feel like bricks once they were soaked. The laces have rubber in them which helps them keep grip and they very rarely come undone. After 6 months of use they are still in very good condition with no rips, tears or marks. I've thrown them in the washing machine several times and each time they've come out looking like new.

Talons anchoring me to the wet grass when helping Mark out of some water in Tough Guy

These are minimalist shoes, so if you're not used to running in a minimalist shoe you should take precautions to both bed them and your feet in correctly. Using a traditional running technique that you would use with cushioned trainers can result in some pretty nasty injuries. There is loads of advice about this on the Internet and through your doctor- I found this link particularly useful. As with everything on this blog I'm no expert, I'm just listing what I did. Take professional advice if you feel you need it!

The only negative is that they are awful on hard surfaces- even chalk or flint. If it's not soft ground, you really feel it through your feet. They're not designed for hard surfaces, so this shouldn't be a surprise. They also aren't very handy on the balance beam obstacles that you sometimes get, due to how high the rubber studs are as they can send you off balance easily.

All in all, they have been fantastic.

www.inov-8.com

Kit review- GoPro HD Hero2

2012-10-04T16:55:00.000+01:00

As I write this, I'll be honest, I'm a bit annoyed. I purchased my first GoPro HD Hero2 towards the beginning of the year. It unfortunately got lost in the Tough Mudder run (My own fault!) and I re-purchased towards the end of June.

Why am I annoyed? After spending the best part of £750 on a new GoPro with a lot of the accessories, the replacement model was announced just yesterday, the GoPro 3. Twice as faster but more importantly smaller and lighter. I will however try not to let this shine through in this review!

I've had the GoPro for a few months now and have used it on training runs and mountain bike rides as well as all of the obstacle runs that I've been on. It has taken some getting used to, particularly finding the best settings. I made the investment after seeing footage online and wanting to document my first event Tough Mudder. We also didn't have a camcorder at home and having a young son I wanted to be able to catch some of his moments growing up as well.

For me, the super-wide aspect ratio running 60 frames per second on 1280x720px has been the best by far. Sure, it will do a full 1080 shot but only at 30 frames per second. This is fine for shooting slow moving stuff, but for anything at speed, super slow-mo editing or screen grabs, you can't beat the 720px with 60fps. You should also follow the guidelines from GoPro and make sure you have a class 10 SD card to keep up with the processing write speed. I used a class 4 whilst waiting for mine to turn up and the video was blotchy with parts missing. It's never worth missing the unique and awesome footage it for the $15 or so extra that it costs.

I bought the outdoor edition, but have since also purchase the chest mount, handlebar mount, tripod mount, etc and they have all been great allowing me to shoot anything that I've wanted to. For the obstacle runs, the head mount is the only way to go. The chest mount is ok, but with the natural body movement from running it makes you look like a dodgy first person shooter, and watching the footage can be quite nauseating.

The Outdoor Edition with LCD BacPac, battery BacPac and floaty back door.

A few words of warning though if you're using the head mount on an obstacle run:

If you're jumping into deep water, keep one hand on the camera or strap. I lost mine in the deep river jump on Tough Mudder, not only costing me £350 worth of camera and SD card but all of the memories from that event :-( I've since bought the floaty back door accessory which has been great!
The head mount gives true first-person perspective on what you're doing. This means that both laddish conversations and looking where you shouldn't will be picked up on when others watch the video. Sure we're only human, and when a toned CrossFit competitor is crawling through mud under barbed wire in leggings in front of you it's difficult to look anywhere else, but trust me, try!
You'll look like an idiot. All of the photos of you running around will have this huge camera on them. It's a cool bit of kit, but not exactly stylish or discrete.

There are loads of videos from the GoPro on my YouTube page , including some taken at a swimming pool with my son on one of his first swims.

Its a great bit of kit and you can attach it to virtually everything. Other videos which aren't online include using the stick mounts to attach to my prowler sled and to my son's mountain bike trailer to get footage of his first outings.

Head mount test

So what are the bad points? Well, buying all the accessories is an expensive affair. It also doesn't cope very well at all in poor lighting conditions. I'm sure some of my videos could be greatly enhanced in post-production but for me for now with my skills and the time I have to dedicate, better standard performance in normal light conditions would be great.

Those aside, I love this camera. I always get asked about it and people seem to love the footage that it provides. I think it's a great way of videoing these runs.

www.gopro.com
www.stonehengecycles.com

Spartan Race Super and Sprint Birmingham- I got my times!

2012-09-26T16:44:00.000+01:00

Hmmmm, another long wait with no emails after my Spartan Race. I'm starting to feel like the Spartan email system doesn't like me!

Anyway I got the times through and there was a bit of a problem. As I did the Sprint straight after the Super race, I was told the get a temporary timing chip for the second race. Unfortunately as I crossed the line twice with my original chip, my Super time came out as the race time, plus wait time, plus Sprint time... 3 hours and 24 minutes, not exactly lightning quick!

After chatting to the nice chaps at Trumin who did the timing for the event, the managed to find my two times and untangle the mess leaving me with the following:

Super: 01:41:00, placing me 11th competitive
Sprint: 00:56:38, placing me 60th non-competitive

Pretty pleased with both to be honest, especially the Sprint as I was pretty tired from the Super. The Super time was a big improvement from the 28th that I got in Redhill for the Sprint and I'm now very excited about the Beast in November. I hope it lives up to the hype!

Sprint Times
Super Times

Event review- Spartan Race Super and Sprint Birmingham, September 9th 2012

2012-09-11T13:21:00.000+01:00

The Super Spartan in Birmingham was to be my 3rd obstacle race, and optimistically I wanted to do a Sprint on the same day. This was possible due to a last minute change in venue due to a double booking and both races being moved to the same date.

I entered the elite heat at 10am for the Super as I was keen to make sure that the time I spent queuing was minimal on the good run. I was therefore a little disappointed to find out that the Super was in fact 2 laps of the Sprint race, which meant on lap 2 we were running with some non-competitive runners. I know we were all in the same boat, but it still wasn't great.

The venue was very easy to find, but registration was a problem- There was a long, very slow moving queue for anyone who didn't have a timing chip allocated, which seemed to be most people. As this was the first race in my season pass, I had to queue which took 45 mins, leaving me with only 10 mins to drop my bag, set my camera, go to the loo and fuel up. Not great at all.

At least the sky was clear but there was a chill in the air. I was very hopeful that we would be able to get body temperature up enough by the time we hit the water :-)

Super
This was the first time I've entered an elite heat so nerves were kicking in at the moment. unfortunately there isn't any entry criteria for the elite heat so in chatting to some guys on the start line, it became clear that it was a really mixed bunch. A few people were running off road for the first time, let alone doing an obstacle run. Don't get me wrong, everyone has to start somewhere and fair play to them for jumping in at the deep end with a Super distance straight away, but the though of more queues worried me.

It was explained at the start line that the second lap of the Super race would involve doing twice as many reps on lap two- Carrying two sandbags on the sandbag run, 2 reps of the sandbag twist, etc. In addition, on lap 2 we would also have to carry a house brick around for the whole lap and have it with us across the line to get an official time and medal. This was great news- I was hoping it was going to be a real challenge and it sounded like it would be.

My brick, which I named Phil. He wasn't much of a swimmer...

The race was superb- Only two criticisms in that a lot of it was running through water which for me showed a lack of creativity. It was draining on the legs for sure, but got a bit dull after a while. This can be forgiven though due to the last minute nature of the change of venue. The other problem was the lack of marshalls on the course. At one point, the lead pack ran into a field with no indication as to where we were supposed to go. The course should and could have been marked out much more clearly.

The ice bath with red dye

This was really tough- The fact that you did two laps I thought made it even harder as having to run past the finish line and in effect start all over again was psychologically quite damaging. Also, carrying that brick around on lap two sucked. A house brick doesn't sounds like much, they're not even heavy. But at the end of 4 miles of running holding one whilst also trying to carry 2 sandbags or two car tyres, trust me, it got heavy!

Top work to the Spartan organisers, if only the marshalling and administration at the beginning would have been better, this would have been faultless. As with the other races, the only indication I have of my time was from the GoPro footage, which unfortunately ran out of battery before the end of the second lap, so I was once again in a waiting game for my time :-/

The full video taken on my GoPro HD Hero2 can be seen here:

Sprint
I finished the Super just before 12pm and decided that I had enough in the tank to do the Sprint at 1230 as well. I would have gone for the 1200 heat but I had to get a new timing chip for the second run. I took the Sprint far less seriously- Helping others out and not fussing too much about the queues. It was nice to not carry the brick, or do twice the exercises and I could really enjoy the course.

The thing which I noticed most this time around was the long running sections between obstacles. I hadn't noticed earlier, but particularly after the large wooded section the run was very long and open (And boring!). I don't mind running, but prefer to do it over challenging terrain rather than a field.

It was nice- Much flatter than the previous Sprint race and therefore not as challenging, but a great way to spend an hour on a Sunday afternoon :-)

The full video taken on my GoPro HD Hero2 can be seen here:

www.spartanrace.com

Kit review- Inov-8 Road-X 255 road trainer

2012-08-06T21:51:00.000+01:00

I purchased these Inov-8s as my Asics died on me and I've taken the decision to get into minimalist running. I was sold on the fact that these were a "transition" shoe for on-road running, having transitioned already to Inov-8 X-Talon 212s for trail running. I wouldn't consider any other make at the moment due to how fantastic my X-Talons and Mudsocks have been from Inov-8.

As my main sport is obstacle running (Tough Mudder, Spartan, Tough Guy, etc) I wanted a shoe that I could use on the road which would be a similar makeup and to the X-Talon, whilst giving a little more support whilst I get used to hitting harder surfaces in "minimalist".

I've been using them for about 2 months and so far they have been amazing. Very lightweight for a non-race everyday running shoe and considering these are the heaviest Inov-8s for the road that is saying something. My old Asics feel like running with bricks and now, particularly on short-distance runs of 1-3 miles, my times have improved dramatically since using these. I hope to eventually move to a more hardcore of the Inov-8s but for the foreseeable future, these are perfect for me.

Even on my road runs I regularly run through water (fords and rivers)- The Road-X 255s have shown no sign of wear, they dry out extremely quickly and the laces stay tight even through the longer runs.

These are minimalist shoes, so if you're not used to running in a minimalist shoe you should take precautions to both bed them and your feet in correctly. Using a traditional running technique that you would use with cushioned trainers can result in some pretty nasty injuries. There is loads of advice about this on the Internet and through your doctor- I found this link particularly useful. As with everything on this blog I'm no expert, I'm just listing what I did. Take professional advice if you feel you need it!

Cannot recommend them highly enough for anyone wanting to start out in minimalist running.

www.inov-8.com

Spartan Race Sprint Redhill- I got my time!

2012-07-27T12:24:00.000+01:00

Unfortunately, I didn't seem to get the email through like everyone else did to get the time for my Spartan Sprint in Redhill, so I've had to wait a little longer than normal some others. However, for my first obstacle run out there on my own, I was pleasantly surprised!

00:28:39. 25th out of 2,076 non-competitive entries, 40th out of 2,314 in total. All in all, I'm pretty pleased with that! Sure I had queues, but so did a lot of people. It come with doing a non-competitive heat I suppose. Whilst I might have been able to drop a bit of time off of the time without having to queue, the experience of doing the first one without a team to help me was well worth it. Plus, it was nice not to have a stupidly early start for the run.

Another huge plus- I met some really nice people and had a bloody good laugh. It was a great day out with the wife and boy. That said, Elite heat next time :-D

Sprint Times

Event review- Spartan Race Sprint Redhill, July 22nd 2012

2012-07-24T13:25:00.000+01:00

The Spartan Sprint in Redhill was to be my second obstacle race and the first one which I would be doing solo to see what sort of pace I could keep up. I was in no-way looking to be competitive but really to try to gauge where I was fitness wise. I therefore signed up for a non-competitive heat, the 12pm heat.

The Wife and my son came with me in support and we arrived in good time. The entrance to the event was tricky to find, but once we got close it was very well signposted. The facilities were good, but the event was much, much smaller than Tough Mudder, my only previous experience of one of these.

Whilst I'm comparing to TM, there was another clear difference. Looking around at the other competitors it was clear that some people here were doing this for fun or as a real test. However the percentage of teams and individuals that looked organised and really ready to attack the course seemed much higher. Notably there were a lot of CrossFit and MMA clubs- People doing proper warm ups, organised and ripped teams looking like they were ready to eat nails and ask for seconds. This seemed much more hardcore.

The bag drop and information areas at the start

Organisation was good and despite queues I was registered within 10 minutes of getting to the registration queues. Not too shabby at all considering this included allocating a timing chip.

The race began promptly at 12, with a 5 minute motivation speech from a guy dressed as a Spartan. He was good and funny, but unfortunately hard to hear as he didn't have a proper PA system.

I'll be honest, at only 5k I was not expecting this to be tough at all, especially as I have been running 10-15k trail runs regularly. I was wrong! At pace and with the types of obstacles, it was tough! We immediately started on several hill climbs and descents, a few of which had some small Berlin Walls in place. Thankfully I am pretty good at hill sprints so this wasn't too much of a problem. The problem was that it was a scorching day and dehydration became a problem for me within a mile. This was partly due to waiting at the start line for too long with no water- Lesson learned for next time.

We then moved into several different small obstacles including a run with a 10kg sandbag and an stick with a sandbag attached which you had to ravel up at arms length until the sandbag reached the stick. It became clear very quickly that these were not the "adventure playground" style obstacles as seen in Tough Mudder, but much more fitness based. The origins of Spartan and synergies with CrossFit became clear as we moved on, with rope climbs, overhead log presses and sandbag hoists coming up next.

There wasn't much in the way of water obstacles, which are normally pretty draining, but a spear throw, balance beams and high Berlin Walls made up for this. I cam unstuck on the balance beams as they were very thin and had to perform burpees as punishment. I misheard the marshall and unfortunately found out later (Through a YouTube comment) that I didn't do enough. Therefore my time should be +20-30 seconds. This then moved to a run holding a tyre. Not to difficult, but the marshall was not paying attention and had to wait for him to tell me what to do. This was a bit of a pain.

Fire jump!

Next came a fire jump, with nice high flames lead through to a rope climb and tyre run. I unfortunately twisted my ankle quite badly on one of the tyres as you can see in the video. Thankfully the next obstacle was an electrocuted ice bath and the ice did wonders for the pain.

A small tunnel run and a few Spartans later and I was at the final obstacle, a peak to climb over. It was covered in plastic and very wet. Although ropes were provided to assist, they were soaking. This obstacle looked very easy when I watched before starting the race, but it turned out to be incredibly difficult.

Pyramid climb

With that done, I crossed the line, grabbed my t-shirt and headed to the lake to clean up. I was now a Spartan Sprinter. Now just to wait and see what time I got!

In conclusion, I won't beat around the bush- This was tough! Cuts, bruises and scrapes all over me. I was out of breath, dehydrated and physically exhausted and all of this from just 3.1 miles of running. It was far more "real" that the Tough Mudder- There was no safety wire stopping you from touching the barbed wire. the electrocution shocks were more powerful and combined with the ice bath to really make you hurt. Painful. Exhausting. Fun. I LOVED IT!

This run cemented in me that I had to complete the Spartan Trifecta (Sprint, Super and Beast in one calendar year) and immediately started planning the next one.

The full video taken on my GoPro HD Hero2 can be seen here:

www.spartanrace.com

Event review- Tough Mudder South East Kettering, May 12th 2012

2012-05-20T20:16:00.000+01:00

Well here it is- My first ever obstacle run. Tough Mudder had been thrashed around the media a lot in the run up to the event, and I was really pleased to be taking part. Our team was six strong from our MMA club through to a triathlon and Ironman veteran. About half of the runners in our team were weight lifters and hadn't completed a run before. We committed to the spirit of Tough Mudder and placed camaraderie above a good race completion time. We all helped each other throughout the run however was needed.

The event took place in Kettering, in the grounds of a stately home. It was in beautiful surroundings and it was a lovely day for it- a decent bit of sun and not too hot.

The registration was very well organised with multiple stations based on surnames to register. Despite there being thousands of people running, the queue was minimal.

The run started with a 15 minute warm-up and very American-style motivational speech. Very cheesy but it did the job of getting everyone very hyped up for the run ahead. The run began with about 1k of open running with a few river crossings, before starting a belly crawl up hill. It soon became very clear that the original map we were given of obstacles would be nothing like the actual race.

The marshalling was very good and there were no points where the course wasn't 100% clear. There were also toilets, water and bananas at 4 points throughout the race, so there was no need to carry your own provisions. Top marks for organisation!

The Artic Enema obstacle was next and at first I was disappointed. When at chest level, it didn't feel any colder than a dip in a normal tub of cold water. Then I dipped my head under- it was bloody freezing! Next came some pretty simple Berlin Walls and quite a bit of running.

Following that was a lumberjack run and several slogs through thick mud through wooded areas. These were OK, but the logs were pretty much all rotten and weighed virtually nothing. It look very cool, but wasn't exactly what I had in mind especially as I had been training with large heavy logs :-/

What I would call the "main" obstacles came in two bursts, the first being about 4/5ths of the way through with the mile of mud, tyre runs, fire walking and tunnels. These were great- the mile of mud was super thick clay mud and quite knackering. It was heavy as well, and once covered it added quite a bit of weight.

The firewalk wasn't particularly hot and you didn't really get close to the flames, but the smoke from the diesel induced burning hay bales did get into your lungs quite badly.

There was then another section of running with some minor obstacles before the Electric Eel. This was a crawl under electric cables whist being sprayed with water. This sucked quite badly, as you had to use your own momentum to keep you going. It was often the case that you would pass past a cable only for it to hit your ankle, which was a real pain in the leg!

The last section of obstacles- walk the plank, monkey bars, the deep river jump, Everest and finally the electroshock therapy were bunched very close together. They were all fine, nothing to write home about. The biggest pain in the arse was that I lost my GoPro in the river after the deep jump. I will need to invest in a flotation device in the future! Lucky Phil from the team missed this, and his survived, so we did get some quite good footage.

The last we saw of my GoPro!

Helping Aaron up Everest

So how was it? It was great, such a good laugh and genuinely one of the most fun days I have ever had. Was it tough? Unfortunately not. "Probably the toughest event on the planet"- Not really! Don't get me wrong, it was massive fun, but I'd liken it more to a day in an amazing adventure playground than a really gruelling event. There were little things that gave me this impression: The best example is the barbed wire. In all of the marketing photos and videos, the participants are centimeters away from the barbed wire. In reality we had plain wire 6 inches before that- It looked like we were close to the barbed wire but there was very little risk of touching it. In addition, the "Nettles to nipples" obstacle was completely missing. I know people who sponsored me to see me in as much pain as possible, and without this it just wasn't going to happen. This annoyed me a little. I signed up for "Probably to toughest event on the planet". Safety nets aren't tough! Toughness for me is being able to endure and come out the other side still wanting more, not risk assessments and mitigation.

With that said, I can highly recommended as a great team event for a good laugh with good mates. I'll give a comparison to the other main events once I've done them!

The video from Phil's GoPro HD Hero2 in the team can be found here:

toughmudder.com