I look forward to this race every year. It's a challenging trail
with a little bit of everything, and I love running out at Fort Yargo.
This is the third time I have run this race. Here are my results from
those other years.
2009- 2:17:00
2011- 2:03:44
I
missed the 2010 race because we flew to New Hampshire to mourn the loss
Mary Ruth's brother Ben. Ben passed on February 26, 2010. Ben always
loved the outdoors and he was a great natural runner. So now I use this
race as a way to remember Ben. I wear all black o race in, and I
pretty much occupy my thoughts during the race on remembering him, and
the times we shared together.
Last year, I had a real
goal to finished in 1:55:00, but a twisted ankle left me hobbling the
last 4 miles of the race, and I just came in almost 10 minutes shy of my
goal. I was disappointed.
Fast forward to this year.
I have been running a lot lately training for this 50k. My training
schedule this week looked like this.
Monday- Run 6.58 miles / 1 hour
Tuesday- Run 6.76 miles / 1 hour
Wednesday- Run 6.43 miles / 1 hour
Thursday- Run 6.4 miles / 1 hour
Friday- Rest
Saturday- Fort Yargo 1/2 Marathon
So
between Monday-Thursday I had a marathon on my legs. Could I run a a
sub 2 hour half and set a 4 minute PR? Could I do this while bringing my
weekly total to 39 miles. I was getting ready to find out.
At
8:30 am the race started and the first mile is on park road to thin out
the heard. After that you disappear into the woods for the 12 mile
mountain bike loop. This loop has a little bit of everything as far as
trail running goes.. I was utilizing the Vega Sport electrolyte powder
in the handheld water bottle, and a Vega Sport gel every 45 minutes. It
was cold at the start and I kept a constant pace. The biggest
disappointment during the race was the amount of time the Garmin did not
pick up reception. I am really considering not racing with the Garmin
at all. I had to mentally fight want the Garmin was saying and trust my
body.
I did feel like I struggled just a bit on the
uphills. I started to tighten up a little at mile 11. I knew it was
going to be close. I started to press. At 1:59: I hit the 13 mile
mark. I came around that final corner and started sprinting. Mary Ruth
was yelling at me, and I just hit another gear. 1:59:36... We did it
Ben. We did it.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Tough Mudder Georgia 2012
Tough Mudder has come to Georgia once again, and I was not going to miss it this year. You see I am a big believer that to achieve a lifetime of fitness, one must mix it up in life. If you focus too much on one thing your interest will wane. It is human nature. As an example over the last 5 years I have raced and written about on this blog of several different types of races. These include Triathlon, Running, Bike Stage races, hiking, train running, and now extreme obstacle mud courses. This will continue because variety is the spice of life.
Now without Further ado, Tough Mudder Georgia 2012. I started when half of the Endurance Junkies decide to attack Big Mudder in Washington Georgia this past weekend. Andrew drove down from Tennessee, and Micheal, Jennifer, Henry, Holly, and myself rounded out the 7 that would represent this weekend. Pam also came out and took great photos for us. Our start time on Saturday was 11:40 am so we all met at my house and took off for Washington.
We parked the car and got out. You could smell fire, hear heavy metal, and just plain feel machismo in the air. Tough Mudder is synonymous with Testosterone, but even the girls get it done to. After an inspirational speech from TMHQ the 11:40 tribe was off. HOORAH! The layout of the course was as follows. 27 obstacles were separated by stretches of trail and mud running. For the sake of this report I will cover each obstacle as I member it.
1. Devil's Gaps- This was a series of water/mud filled ditches setup much like hurdles. This was a warm up.
2. Kiss of Mud- Just like it says. Crawl on your stomach and Kiss the Mud to avoid being slashed by barbwire.
3. Berlin Walls #1- Two 10 or so foot high wooden walls. If you have ever seen any military movie you have seen these walls. Work as a team to get over 2 of them. Feelin Good!
4. Artic Enema- Imagine a 25' x 10' pool filled with dyed ice water with wood separating it in half, requiring you to go under water. This was a shock to the system.
5. Turd's Nest- I don't remember much about this obstacle. Probably just more mud.
6. Fire Walker- A path lined on both sides with kerosene and lit a flame. This was my favorite because it warmed us up and let's face it fire is cool.
7. King of the Mountain- A hill of Mud, designed to make you look like an ass while trying to climb up the mud. On all fours son.
8. Mud Mile- Imagine pig slop. Now walk in it for a while. Good thing I duct taped my shoes on.
9. Funky Monkey- Long Monkey Bars with a pit of ,you guessed it, ice water below. I got halfway across before taking my second ice bath of the day.
10. Trench Warfare- Underground trenches separated by barbed-wire and mud.
11. Log Jog Bog- Navigate though a pile of fallen trees.
12. Spider's Web- a 20 foot high rope web you had to climb up and over.
13. Cliffhanger- I don't remember much about this either.
14. Devil's beard- Lift a large rope net over your head and pass under it with fellow Mudders. I walked backwards. It worked well.
15. Boa Constrictor- A long mud covered pipes you had to crawl through.
16.Jumpin Bale- I 25 foot high Hay bale pyramid. Image Qbert with mud and hay. It's like that.
17. Berlin Walls #2- This is where I was going up over the second wall and a fellow Mudder tried to boost me up when I didn't need it, and I fell 4 feet back on to the bracing of the walls. I was not to happy.
18. Hold Your Wood- Carry a log for a quarter of a mile.
19. Tired Yet?-Carry the log through the tires for a while.
20. Electric Eel- A longer version of Kiss The Mud with sprinklers and live wires hanging down. I got zapped twice.
21. Log Jamming- Climbing through a log structure.
22. Hanging Tough- At this point it started to get cold, with the wind whipping. We had to wait 20 minutes for this obstacle. It was rings you had to swing across, or you were rewarded with another ice bath. I took the ice bath, as I was losing fine motor function in my hands due to the cold.
23. Walk The Plank- A 15-20 foot drop off of a platform into a lake. I thought the lake would be warmer than the ice water tanks. I was wrong.
Turning Point- I exit the Lake and I was cold. very cold. we ducked out of the wind on the side of a hill and lye on the warm grass. My instincts took over. We were all cold, and we had to run to get our heart rate up to fight off the cold. I yelled out and the other 5 joined me running.
24. Dong Dangler- Another ice bath with where you were supposed to shimmy across with your arms and legs, at this point I opted to run through the ice batch after attempting the obstacle.
25. Everest- A 10 foot high quarter pipe. I almost quit and skipped this obstacle, but Andrew made it up. My one individual goal was to attempt every obstacle. I tried to run up 10 times and each time I came crashing down the ramp into the mud. I earned my war paint there even tough I didn't get up the ramp. At this point the other Endurance Junkies headed toward the finish. The cold was getting ugly.
26. Twinkle Toes- Image shaking uncontrollably and trying to walk 30 feet on a balance beam over yet another ice batch ditch. I didn't want to get wet again, but I did.
27. Electroshock Therapy- Andrew and I ended the race on the final obstacle and the wind stopped. I slithered through without getting shocked once. We all became Tough Mudders.
The Aftermath.
We picked up our bags and headed to the "showers" Remember this is Tough Mudder. A shower consists of a water hose. Oh well nothing like yet another final cold soaking. We dressed and I was Hell Bent on drinking my free beer, and I did.
I learned today that everyone on course was in this together, and not one was greater than the other. After the jump off the plank, I drew on all of my previous experiences and had "warm" thoughts. I persevered. We persevered. Because let's face it at one time this year, I will be running at 100 degrees and wish I was back here. In the mud and cold, and on that day I will remember these ice baths fondly. What a valuable experience this was. I will be back.
Now without Further ado, Tough Mudder Georgia 2012. I started when half of the Endurance Junkies decide to attack Big Mudder in Washington Georgia this past weekend. Andrew drove down from Tennessee, and Micheal, Jennifer, Henry, Holly, and myself rounded out the 7 that would represent this weekend. Pam also came out and took great photos for us. Our start time on Saturday was 11:40 am so we all met at my house and took off for Washington.
We parked the car and got out. You could smell fire, hear heavy metal, and just plain feel machismo in the air. Tough Mudder is synonymous with Testosterone, but even the girls get it done to. After an inspirational speech from TMHQ the 11:40 tribe was off. HOORAH! The layout of the course was as follows. 27 obstacles were separated by stretches of trail and mud running. For the sake of this report I will cover each obstacle as I member it.
1. Devil's Gaps- This was a series of water/mud filled ditches setup much like hurdles. This was a warm up.
2. Kiss of Mud- Just like it says. Crawl on your stomach and Kiss the Mud to avoid being slashed by barbwire.
3. Berlin Walls #1- Two 10 or so foot high wooden walls. If you have ever seen any military movie you have seen these walls. Work as a team to get over 2 of them. Feelin Good!
4. Artic Enema- Imagine a 25' x 10' pool filled with dyed ice water with wood separating it in half, requiring you to go under water. This was a shock to the system.
5. Turd's Nest- I don't remember much about this obstacle. Probably just more mud.
6. Fire Walker- A path lined on both sides with kerosene and lit a flame. This was my favorite because it warmed us up and let's face it fire is cool.
7. King of the Mountain- A hill of Mud, designed to make you look like an ass while trying to climb up the mud. On all fours son.
8. Mud Mile- Imagine pig slop. Now walk in it for a while. Good thing I duct taped my shoes on.
9. Funky Monkey- Long Monkey Bars with a pit of ,you guessed it, ice water below. I got halfway across before taking my second ice bath of the day.
10. Trench Warfare- Underground trenches separated by barbed-wire and mud.
11. Log Jog Bog- Navigate though a pile of fallen trees.
12. Spider's Web- a 20 foot high rope web you had to climb up and over.
13. Cliffhanger- I don't remember much about this either.
14. Devil's beard- Lift a large rope net over your head and pass under it with fellow Mudders. I walked backwards. It worked well.
15. Boa Constrictor- A long mud covered pipes you had to crawl through.
16.Jumpin Bale- I 25 foot high Hay bale pyramid. Image Qbert with mud and hay. It's like that.
17. Berlin Walls #2- This is where I was going up over the second wall and a fellow Mudder tried to boost me up when I didn't need it, and I fell 4 feet back on to the bracing of the walls. I was not to happy.
18. Hold Your Wood- Carry a log for a quarter of a mile.
19. Tired Yet?-Carry the log through the tires for a while.
20. Electric Eel- A longer version of Kiss The Mud with sprinklers and live wires hanging down. I got zapped twice.
21. Log Jamming- Climbing through a log structure.
22. Hanging Tough- At this point it started to get cold, with the wind whipping. We had to wait 20 minutes for this obstacle. It was rings you had to swing across, or you were rewarded with another ice bath. I took the ice bath, as I was losing fine motor function in my hands due to the cold.
23. Walk The Plank- A 15-20 foot drop off of a platform into a lake. I thought the lake would be warmer than the ice water tanks. I was wrong.
Turning Point- I exit the Lake and I was cold. very cold. we ducked out of the wind on the side of a hill and lye on the warm grass. My instincts took over. We were all cold, and we had to run to get our heart rate up to fight off the cold. I yelled out and the other 5 joined me running.
24. Dong Dangler- Another ice bath with where you were supposed to shimmy across with your arms and legs, at this point I opted to run through the ice batch after attempting the obstacle.
25. Everest- A 10 foot high quarter pipe. I almost quit and skipped this obstacle, but Andrew made it up. My one individual goal was to attempt every obstacle. I tried to run up 10 times and each time I came crashing down the ramp into the mud. I earned my war paint there even tough I didn't get up the ramp. At this point the other Endurance Junkies headed toward the finish. The cold was getting ugly.
26. Twinkle Toes- Image shaking uncontrollably and trying to walk 30 feet on a balance beam over yet another ice batch ditch. I didn't want to get wet again, but I did.
27. Electroshock Therapy- Andrew and I ended the race on the final obstacle and the wind stopped. I slithered through without getting shocked once. We all became Tough Mudders.
The Aftermath.
We picked up our bags and headed to the "showers" Remember this is Tough Mudder. A shower consists of a water hose. Oh well nothing like yet another final cold soaking. We dressed and I was Hell Bent on drinking my free beer, and I did.
I learned today that everyone on course was in this together, and not one was greater than the other. After the jump off the plank, I drew on all of my previous experiences and had "warm" thoughts. I persevered. We persevered. Because let's face it at one time this year, I will be running at 100 degrees and wish I was back here. In the mud and cold, and on that day I will remember these ice baths fondly. What a valuable experience this was. I will be back.
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
A well earned recovery week.
Last week was my highest volume running week in a while.
Running: 4hrs 50 min 32.10 miles.
Riding: 1hr 10 min 21 miles
Swimming 27min 1500 meters
Right now the knees feel fine. The toughest part of the week was the Mon Tues Wed back to back to back 1 hour runs, After that it was easier. Throw in a bike commute day and a swim day, mixed in a long run and you have a pretty stout week.
This week we recover with Tough Mudder on Saturday... Did I just say that!? Tough Mudder report up next.
Running: 4hrs 50 min 32.10 miles.
Riding: 1hr 10 min 21 miles
Swimming 27min 1500 meters
Right now the knees feel fine. The toughest part of the week was the Mon Tues Wed back to back to back 1 hour runs, After that it was easier. Throw in a bike commute day and a swim day, mixed in a long run and you have a pretty stout week.
This week we recover with Tough Mudder on Saturday... Did I just say that!? Tough Mudder report up next.
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