RACE REPORT: Bonefrog Charlotte - Tier 1

2 WEEK TRAINING LEAD-UP:

Thursday, Nov 9:
5.0 in 40:15, 8:03 ave, 2 degrees of incline.  I went for a progressive run, because I need some faster paced stuff, less slogging.  I've been doing lots of  OCR "racing" (in quotes because I'm not necessarily going hard, since I'm more focused on obstacle completion and endurance during those, vs. when I'm training for road races) and recovering from all of those races this half of the year.    I want to start gaining some speed again.

Saturday and Sunday, volunteered at Build for Bonefrog.

Day 1, built the Kraken, Swingers Club, Rope Climb, and a little bit of Chopper.

 

 

Day 2, I was joined by Bev, and we built Mike & Murph, Mouse Holes, Reverse Slant Wall, Dirty Name, Cliffhanger, and some Slip Wall.

 

 

 

Tuesday, Nov 14:

6.0 in 48:36, 8:06 ave, 2 degrees of incline.  Getting past a cold and an emotional day at work.  A hard effort run, even though it wasn't that fast.  

That was all, workout-wise... only 1 run per week!

BONEFROG TIER 1

I was able to sign up for the Tier 1 race, as a result of volunteering for two days.  The Tier 1 is their 8-ish mile Challenge course, immediately followed by their 4-ish mile Sprint course.  About half of the course overlaps.  

Parking was pretty easy, and the festival area is simple.  Porta potties, merch, a couple of vendors, reg + bag drop, and the starting area.   The premier obstacle, Black Ops (an uphill monkey bars) is at the finish, so people can watch easily.  A number of other obstacles weren't far off, either.

An elite heat went off at 8:30am, followed by a couple packs of volunteer waves.  I decided not to upgrade to the elite heat, since I wasn't sure I'd manage the mandatory obstacle completion on everything.  This would be my first Bonefrog, so I wanted to get a first taste of the obstacles before committing to an Elite heat.

The Tier 1 heat set out at 8:45am.  It was good that I didn't do the Elite heat, since I would've lost my band at the first obstacle, Rolling Thunder, which is like hurdles, except the hurdles are covered in tires.  The width and height of it makes it really hard for shorter people to get over.  I got help getting over, after a few tries on my own.

Next, a 6-ish foot wall.  After that, the Challenge and Sprint courses split off.  Challenge went through a low crawl, then a ring swing but instead of rings it was ropes with tubes, but the tubes wouldn't stay on the bottom, so you ended up using the rope loop anyway.  A little tricky to control and time, since you had to get your hand in the little rope loop instead of a big, clutch-able plastic ring, but doable.    

Next, another obstacle of that style, except it was cylinders on ropes.  The best strategy is to grab right above the cylinder.  I had to try twice to get that one, because the first time, I missed the third grab, and it's hard to keep going straight once the pendulum starts getting out of control.  I'm short, so I had to climb on the truss to get onto the first set of ropes.

Next, Krakken, then the tarzan swing, then some running through forest.  Next, the Cliffhanger (Battlefrog had this, and it's similar to Spartan's Bender, except with ladder rungs all the way to the bottom, which makes it a little easier... no toes to bar to start it off).  2nd phase wall, a grenade toss into a bucket that I tried like 10x before I got it (I think most had to try about that many times).   Some more running, followed by Viking Tables, which is like an Irish table.  I've heard of it but don't think I've ever encountered it.  I was happy to get through it, treating it kind of like a wall climb.  Another low crawl, then a place where the names of 31 Heroes were listed, and you did a burpee for each of them, in their memory.   

After that, the challenge course merged back into the sprint course. there was a memorial wall where you can write the name of someone you wish to commemorate, who is no longer with us.  Then, Brute Force carry, not too bad.  Same weight for men and women.  Ran through a field, then did the slip wall (they call it the Siege Wall).

This was followed by a Normandy Jack low crawl, then a balance beam that was quite challenging because it swayed, but was cdoable with patience.  Frogman was a river run, lots of waist-deep mud and creek.  Then, there was an 8-ish foot wall that I had no chance of getting with my poor vertical leap, so I did the 25 squat penalty.  Next, Mouse holes, Mike, and Murph.

After that, Get a Grip, which was like 2 sets of inverted arch monkey bars after an initial rope climb.  Fun and challenging.  Another low crawl, then rope climb, tire drag, reverse slant wall.  Then, Dirty Name (sternum checker)... I got up the first one, but I do feel like the second one is up higher... couldn't do it... tried twice.  So I did the 25 pushup penalty.

 

We finished off the Challenge course with Black Ops.

Then, I started the sprint lap.  This lap jumped from obstacle 2 to obstacle 15.  It felt crazy bypassing all of that... a good crazy.  I ran into Bev at the Brute Force carry.  Then, I ran into Bertha at Frogman.  It's fun running into friends on course.

I failed the same obstacles on the Sprint lap, as I did on the Challenge lap: Dirty Name, Rolling Thunder, Phase 3 wall... all the stuff that favors the tall.

I was excited to get through the arm stuff, though.  Chopper was challenging.  I ended up hanging quite a while on the first lap, because it spins the way it wants, and sometimes, you're on the wrong side of the spinning, and you have to make some moves to have a chance at reaching the next spinner.

Here's round 2 at Get a Grip:

Black ops was the finish again.  A great way to finish.  I've seen Bonefrog racers post this iconic picture on Facebook in the past, so I was glad to finally get a chance to do the obstacle, too!

Afterwards, I showered off.  Fortunately, we only got muddy up to our waist, so it wasn't too bad.  I hit their nice merch tent, then headed home.  It wasn't a big hanging out atmosphere afterwards.  I'd say that this event was more focused on the race itself, and in particular, the obstacles.  Not a racey race, since there were lines at a few of the obstacles, but an obstacle-centric one.  It was nice to try out some new, creative obstacles, and experience Bonefrog.

RACE REPORT: Spartan Carolina DOUBLE Beast 2017

In my second year of OCR, when I was going for my first Trifecta, I thought I was crazy for doing a Beast on day 1 and a Super on day 2.  I was so sore on day 2 and wasn't sure if I could even walk that fast.  I ended up warming up ok and made it through.  Three years later, I was back at Carolina Beast weekend, this time for my first double beast.  After that first Beast/Super experience, I had thought that a Double Beast was harder than an Ultra Beast, since you'd have time to get sore.  I think I've built up obstacle endurance, though.  I made it through West Virginia, which was a Beast on day 1 immediately followed by course sweeping the whole thing again, then the Super and Sprint the next day.  Survived that!  I also did the Dopey challenge this January, with a 5K, 10K, HM, and Marathon on successive days.  So this was less daunting than it would've been a year ago.

TRAINING LEAD-UP:

Wednesday, Oct 25: 
6.0 in 51:29, 8:35 average, 2 degrees of incline.  Pretty good progressive run.  I was hoping for a long run, but this is all I managed.  Something's better than nothing.  My heart felt like it had been sprinting afterwards, even though it wasn't that fast. 

Friday, Oct 27:
45 min strength

• Crunches: 400/side
• Plank: 3 + 2 = 5 min
• 6 inches: 60s + 60s = 2 min
• Abductor/Adductor leg lifts: 95/125
• Pushups: 25 + 25 = 50
• Single Leg Squats: 50 + 65, both knees crinkle quietly
• Pillow lower leg extensions: 95
• Assorted dumbell rows
• 1 min hang 

Saturday, Oct 28:
I have so much training that I should be doing for the Iceland 24 hr. Also needed to get in a longer run before the double beast.  12.7 in 2:50:18, 13:23 average at the Whitewater Center trails.  I started off with some of the trails I do less often, to keep things fresh, then went to my stand-bys.  I listened to a Zombies Run race episode while running, which made it a little more interesting.  I didn't feel that tired afterwards, but I had gone really slow and easy.  It was a long duration run, for going less than 13 miles.

Sunday, volunteered at course build for Carolina.  Thorny, cool temps.  Wrapped a truck, registration tents, fences, and tables, start and finish tents and fences. 

Monday, Oct 30:
Intervals!  I didn't think I had the fitness to do this.  4.5 in 32:43, 7:16 average, 2 degrees of incline.   I need to get fitness back.  The second half of my year has been race-heavy, but not training heavy.  Lots of OCRs without much time pressure, so I didn't think I had much speed left.  It was actually pretty good, though!

• 1 mile warmup in 8:04
• 2 x [0.75 mi @ 9mph (5:00), 0.25 mi @ 7.5mph (2:00)]
• 2 x [0.50 mi @ 9mph (3:20), 0.25 mi @ 7.5mph (2:00)]

Thursday, Nov 2:
1 hr biking at the gym, 16.7 mi.

CAROLINA BEAST DAY 1 

I got there early, so I got a decent parking lot.  There was a walk to get to the festival, but only maybe 1/3 the distance of the walk at Conyers, GA, so not too bad.  I was in the Elite heat, but my main goals for the weekend were to 1) get more OCR endurance training, 2) beat as many obstacles as I could, and 3) not get hurt. 

Having volunteered the weekend before, I knew that the vines on the ground would be intense.  The start line emcee aptly called them Jumanji vines.  It was actually not as bad as it was during the course build.  The first part of the race went through some wilder terrain, with bumpy grass and thorny vines.  Fortunately, I had my leggings on.  Some people still go bare shinned, though, and this was a brutal course for that. 

I wore new OCR shoes, non Reebok All-terrain ones, for the first time.  After volunteering for Merrell and trying their shoes on for a day and seeing how durable they felt, and remembering the phrase I repeated so often that day, about how good they are for drainage, protection, and grip, I had to get a pair for myself.  I wore the Merrell Dexterity.  It did drain well, and my laces were much better to work and keep on than the laces that come with the All-terrains (I've had the glow in the dark ones, and the no-lace cinch ones which I ended up cutting out and replacing with real laces because they wouldn't stay in place).  I did get blisters, but it could just need my feet to get used to it. 

Overwalls, Over-under-through, Hurdles, 6 foot wall, Herc Hoist.  We got spit back out at the festival area, where we did Rolling Mud, Barbed Wire, Dunk Wall, Slip Wall, and a failed Spear Throw.  I haven't been able to repeat since West Virginia.

We went back out into the wild, where we met the Sandbag Carry, Rope Climb, Atlas carry, Bucket brigade not so bad because the terrain was mostly flat on this course, 8 foot wall, Log carry, Tyrolean traverse, Bender, Vert Cargo, 7 foot wall, Invert Wall.

I'm pretty consistent at Twister, which I've been 100% at from my second encounter with it onwards.  At this race, though, they had put pads on the handles.  Maybe the intention was to make it less slippery, because it was forecasted to be cloudy all day with a small chance of rain.  However, those things would spin and made the handles much thicker, and I made it only a third of the way before I fell.  It was frustrating.  Hopefully, those go away.

Plate drag, barbed wire through thorns... so there were barbs above and barbs below.  Glad I have arm sleeves and gloves.  Farmers carry log, MOnkey bars, Stairway to Sparta, Z-wall at mile 11.

In the final gauntlet, failed Olympus.  I have no idea how I made it through that at Tahoe.  I haven't come close since.  I wonder if I'm doing it differently.  No idea.  I got through the multirig, though, including the uphill pipe, and was told that I was only the 9th woman to make it through that obstacle successfully.  A-frame cargo, then the fire jump.

12.4 in 3:12:53, 15:33 average.  I was pretty happy with how it went, obstacle-wise.  I got my double trifecta medal after standing in line a while, showered cold, then enjoyed a beer before doing a PM volunteering shift.

CAROLINA BEAST DAY 2

The next day, I was surprisingly not sore.  I had treated the blisters the night before, and was ready for day 2.  This time, I was in the 8:30 volunteer wave, so I had 45 minutes less time to run, before my 1pm volunteer shift.  My goal was to finish as fast as I could and make it in time for the volunteer shift.  Since I was in the open heat and running just for completion, I took my time and enjoyed myself out there.  I chatted for a little bit with a volunteer who recognized me from Fayetteville.  Not too many Asian OCR girls, I suppose.  That was in the part of the course with the field that was 100% covered in fallen logs.  It was interesting. 

 
I also took a couple of minutes to soak in one of the creek crossings, to wash the mud off myself and make showering easier later.  On Day 2, the dunk wall was way muddier.  I also ran into a couple of friends from other events - G & A from HH12HR & GBC BEL.  They had done a HM the previous day, so we were all running on day 2 legs. 

The running was actually decent.  I wore my watch, which I don't normally do so that I don't destroy it with mud and the stress of walls and stuff, so that I could keep track of how I was doing on time. Despite the leisurely attitude, I finished in 3:35:53, 17:25 average.  Not bad for day 2! 

I failed the same obstacles that I failed the previous day, which is pretty good.  I'm feeling pretty good with where my obstacle endurance is.  I've improved quite a bit this year, with all the racing and the increased focus on pull-ups (and by "focus" I mean I may do 1 set of 5 once a week, but that's more than I used to do).

I finished with an hour to spare for going to the Results tent to put my name down to have a 3XT medal sent to me, since they ran out of the ones they had onsite, plus a shower.  A productive weekend!

RACE REPORT: TOUGH MUDDER CAROLINA 2017

The weekend after OCRWC, I was back at it, with a "for fun" race at Tough Mudder Carolina.  It was good timing, because TM is untimed, it was my first time so I just wanted to get a feel for this series, and its focus is more on teamwork and fun than competition.  I didn't do any running or workouts leading up to the event.

They do have a timed, competitive wave in the first heat of the day, but I was going to be racing with a volunteering-based discount and was not really prepared to perform well, so I didn't go for that.  I got a late start time of 12:30pm.  TM lets you do multiple laps if you're crazy enough to want it.  But with a start time of close to the last heat of the day, it wouldn't be an option for me, not that I was in the mood for 20 miles of obstacles that day a week after OCRWC, anyway.

There is a different kind of vibe at TM.  They seem to market to what I feel like is more of a college frat boy demographic, but that's just my feeling.

Before the race, I hung out in the festival area, where I could watch Electroshock and see Kong.  I happened to see someone that I had met and raced with at OCRWC... turns out we both live in the same state!

Each race series has their own start line spiel.  Nothing too crazy here, some pumping up, and we were off with our untimed selves.  We got spread out with the first stint of running, then "Kiss of Mud", which is barbed wire.

 

After that, there was an invert wall that was too tall for me to get myself.  A guy helped me up.  When I was up at the top, I almost started going down the other side, then I remembered that this event is about the teamwork, so I waited for the next guy to come, and helped him (a little) by pulling him up by his leg, although I think he probably could've made it up himself anyways.

Devil's Beard was crawling under a surprisingly heavy net of rope for a long distance.  My hair probably doesn't thank me for plowing head-first through that.  Next, I got to a sign called Hero's Carry.  The instructions said to buddy carry someone halfway, then switch.  I was near the front of the heat, so there wasn't anyone around.  It was like crickets.  Just the photographers.  

I briefly considered just continuing on, since I didn't come here with anyone, and there wasn't anyone around.  Then, I figured that this was for the experience, and it was all for fun, so I just waited around.  Fortunately, a trio came along.  There was a guy who went with his friend, but they had split early on.  

This guy was a strong-built Krav Maga guy.  He naturally carried me first.  They ended up having designated places to switch, so we switched at the midpoint, and I figured I'd give it my best... worst case, I make it only a few feet, and we'd switch back.  I was suprisingly able to carry his 170lb self the whole way, though!

After you buddy carry someone, you become immediate friends, so we continued on with the race together.  Our paces matched well, so we talked while running.  It was his first time doing any OCR!  We hit a couple of walls, which he helped me up.   We encountered the infamous Blockness Monster, and used teamwork with a few others in the area to get through it.  Time and again, this guy demonstrated a great willingness to help others, which I admired a lot. It does feel good to work with others to get through tough obstacles.  Very different from other race series.  Not rushed for time.  Help each other.

We ran up a giant hay bale, ran through rolling hills, ran up a slippery slip wall with a curved top that had nothing to grab onto, forcing you to use teamwork.  The rule of thumb is get help, then turn around and help someone else up.  Crawled down and up a pipe.  

The biggest backup was at Mud Mile, which was a long series of "rolling mud".  The last one was tall and steep, so the pools close to that one had people just sitting in the muddy pools, waiting in traffic.  Not the best design for traffic flow.  We were there for sooo long just waiting to move up a spot.  Oh well, it was something we all endured together, and it became an experience in itself to wait.  I did consider just jumping out and bypassing the last couple of pools, but I would feel like I was missing out on part of it, so I waited.

Next, a big slip wall called Pyramid Scheme, where people stacked 3 high to get up.  Spartan Ultimate Team challenge makes it look easy.  I had trouble, even with climbing up people.  My buddy worked really hard as one of the bases of the ladder, helping people up.  Eventually, after helping many, he got up, too, and we continued on.

Temps were nice that day... chilly, which is good for a runs.  I was getting a little cold even before I got to Arctic Enema, though, and that was painfully cold.  You'd think that it would feel good to get in an ice bath mid-run, but it's like shockingly cold... just gotta keep moving.  

In Birth Canal, you crawl under tarps filled with water.  There was a "Legionnaire" version for TM veterans, which was similar, but pitch black dark.  The next obstacle also had the slightly easier TM virgin option, and a harder "Legionnaire" version.  The Stage 5 Clinger "Legionnaire" version looked more challenging and more fun and more fulfilling to get through, so we both tackled that one.  It was backwards monkey bars, then pulling yourself up (with the help of a block on a post, if you want).  

While we were running across one of the many rolling hills at the farm, we ran across Arnel Banawa, of OCRTube fame.  He captured GoPro footage of us running, which is featured at minute 3 of this video:

We climbed up a wall with a rope, did a log carry, more muddy pits, then a challenging Funky Monkey 2.0 which featured an uphill monkey bars (not hard), followed by some spinning/swinging wheels or structures to grab... that was tenuous, and I wasn't sure that I'd make it, but I did!  And so did my buddy!

We were near the finish at that point.  Our legs were tired, but we pressed on.  It was all mental.  The last obstacle was Electroshock (a must for first-timers).  There are different approaches that people take.  I went carefully and slowly, and managed to avoid getting shocked at all.  I think not all of the wires are electrified, because I do think I hit one or two.  One benefit of being small.  

The "Legionnaire" option for the last obstacle is Kong, which I really wanted to try, so I looped back around to do it.  It was rings, really high up.  I have no issues with them at Spartan.  These were a little farther apart, and was really high up, so it was scary getting started, but once you get going, it's fine.

Once you finish, you get a headband.  They have different colors, depending on how many you've done.  I personally prefer medals, but they have some other fun incentives that they've recently started, like the Repeat Offenders program where doing a Full and a Half mudder in consecutive years gets you a shirt and a fake kettlebell, or the Holy Grail that you get for doing a Tougher, Toughest, and World's Toughest in the same calendar year.  We'll see what 2018 holds.

It was a fun adventure, and I made a new friend.  TM is definitely different with its teamwork aspect.  I'm not sure how competitive variations of this event would feel, since you'd constantly feel torn about needing to go, vs. staying to help others.  It feels contradictory.  People do seem to love it, though... World's Toughest Mudder has die-hard fans, and it's considered one of the big three premiere events in our sport (along with OCRWC & Spartan World Championship).  I've now done the latter two, so maybe WTM will be my next big-time event in 2018!

The day after, I volunteered with Merrell.  With TM, you just get a discount on your race, rather than a free race plus insurance.  However, they treat you well... we got cool swag (cool hat, nice design shirt), and good food for once (Panera bagels and lunch).  The volunteer coordinator was really nice, too.  I would definitely volunteer for them again.  If only they had more events!!!  I enjoyed the time in the festival.  They had an emcee who was cracking jokes all day, commentating at Electroshock.  It made it different and interesting the whole time, vs. the usual OCR festivals that just have music.

It's a fun day out, whether you're racing or volunteering.  TM exceeded my expectations on both fronts!