- Total Time: 4:47:08
- Overall: 1,428/2912 = 49%
- Male: 1,167/2,084 = 56%
- 40-44: 177/319 = 55%
Something that I can't discount is that I earned my 2015 Trifecta. Officially, 2 years in a row. That is something to be proud of.
Not my best race. I really want to start to blame it on the heat since I did the Vermont Beast and New Jersey Beast with no real leg problems. Going forward I am now thinking about doing a upper vs lower body split with the lower body being very strength based. Squats, sled drags, lunges & split squats with a weighted sandbag. I would end up doing less burpees and conditioning but would make sure to do an endurance workout (preferably hill/trail run) every weekend.
A couple of reasons that I didn't do what I dreamed of doing:
1- Fatigue. I have been dragging the past several weeks and I am not back to where I need to be recovery wise.
2 - Diet. I need to make a no carb push to trim down a little bit. Overall I am good but I am probably carrying too much weight.
3 - Conditioning. This one will probably improve as I make gains on the first two but I need to be strong late.
4 - Race Day Diet. I don't know about this but I didn't have my banana before the race, I cut it to half an oatmeal for breakfast, part of a protein bar, only had one mustard pack and one energy gel during the race. I probably need to concentrate more on fueling.
5 - Do It Alone. This is a bullshit excuse but all of my best races have been when people have left me alone and I did it myself. This is more mental than anything since I did not wait for, or run side by side, with Scott. He didn't hold me back, I did.
How to Improve between now & Vermont:
1 - Rest. I need to get fully recovered before I stat my training for Vermont. I am taking a week off. I probably won't but I need to recover and then take those deload weeks. I guess that they have a purpose.
2 - Weighted Lunges. I miss the gym and the 12/10/8/5/3 rep scheme with squats and deadlifts were awesome for Vermont last year. Since I can't do that I need to do weighted lunges and sandbag lunges. Lunges must prepare me for Killington.
3 - Lose Weight. No more carbs for lunch. No more office snacks. Maybe invest in beef jerky, slim jims, Quest bars and fruit for snacks.
The positive was that I felt a lot stronger in my upper body. I am doing the fight things and need to continue. I will do even better if I lose weight.
Comments about the course was that this had some brutal uphills and it was hot with temps in the upper 80s.
- Log Hurdles
- Vertical Cargo
- Cliff Climb #1
- Herculean Hoist - He missed it the video but it was here. Others struggling but not me. I heard many thuds of fall ing sandbags and Course Marshall calling people out to do their burpees.
- A-Net Cargo
- Monkey Bars - The fun part about this was that the bars seemed more spaced out and higher and lower for each rung. I stopped about 2/3 of the way through and had to swing again to get my momentum back to get to a higher bar. Then, just cruised through the remainder. Really nailed this one and it was a high point since it showed how my training has helped me.
- Sandbag Carry - Brutal hill up & down. Had to stop several times coming up.
- Spear Throw - It seemed as though my rope was not long enough. I had it but then it snapped back. I did my 30 burpees.
- 6' Wall - No problem. Again, my training came out here.
- Inverted Wall - No problem due to training. Others were really struggling and I have struggled here in the past.
- Stairway to Sparta - Upper body strength made this no problem.
- Atlas Carry - Seemed very simple
- Sled Drag - No problem but my stomach was really bothering me and I ripped a nasty one here.
- Farmer Carry - Easy, but not for everyone.
I think that this long trail run picture belongs here
- 7' Wall - I had trouble with these walls and needed a bit of a boost. Legs were starting to give out and I was getting low on upper body strength.
- 8' Wall
- Cliff Climb #2
- 5' Wall
- Log Carry - Really taking a pounding on the legs by now. Gutting this out.
- O-U-T - This was after a long trail run. I had to stop at the water station and take a long time to get my rest. It took me 3 tries to get over the small Over Wall. By this time I was contemplating if/how I would do the rest of the obstacles. I was exhausted and my right ankle was starting to bark at me. As I write this on Tuesday, it still aches.
- Mud Pits
- Tyrolean Traverse - This is where I cramped up and could not do this obstacle. My left leg completely locked and it took me some time to clear myself off of the course before I started walking again.
- Z-Wall - Didn't stand a chance. Not sure if this was here or some where else. It was around this part of the race.
- Water Crossing - I walked across since they said that you could cramp if you swam. Usually I would swim but I had just cramped so I thought it best not to do it in 8 - 10 feet of water.
- Bucket Brigade - This was the deciding point. Somehow I mustered up the gut to do this. This is where I earned my medal. There were a lot of light buckets and spilled rocks on that hill. I did a lot better than many others.
- Rope Climb - Failed again. Tried to do burpees but only go to 3. I really did my best. I had nothing left at this point.
- Barbwire Crawl #1 - These barb wire crawls were brutal with the only saving grace being that I could roll the entire time. The first one was downhill.
- Slip Wall
- Barbwire Crawl #2 - Uphill. Gutted it out rolling.
- Log Hop - Almost made it to the beam. Couldn't do burpees. Sorry.
- Clif Multi-Rig - I tried twice. It takes momentum and swinging with 1 arm ring to ring. Good precursor to Vermont. I hope to continue building my upper body so that I can nail this thing.
- Fire Jump
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