TRAINING FOR

THE GREAT OBSTACLE RACE

OF LIFE

Greetings from the great Pacific Northwest. Once again I’m on a swing out of New Jersey and into a part of the country where much of the time life is lived, it seems to me, with a distinctly different attitude.

That’s not meant to sound critical or snarky (although on re-reading I can see it smacks a little of Jersey attitude. But, hey!) 

In fact, it’s kinda awesome. Amazing vistas, quite a different climate, a mindset (especially among the folks I’ve been hanging about with) that embraces the unique opportunities the area affords them.

Like Obstacle-Course Racing. Drawing on roots in expedition adventure racing, trail running, parkour and other outdoor opportunities easily available hereabouts, a race, it seems, is not a race unless it includes obstacles, contrived Fear Factor-style challenges, and, of course, plenty of sticky, gooey, slippery mud.

Not exactly my cup of tea. But I do “get it.” (And, yes, my more athletic and adventurous NJ friends, I know this is a nation-wide phenomena and it’s also taking place locally. It’s just that out here it’s x10.) 

Social media, it seems, has been a huge catalyst for the explosion. It seems everyone wants to post photos of themselves – preferably covered in mud –

 

... sometimes in outrageous costumes 

… crawling under barbed wire

… scaling greased walls

… climbing cargo nets in order to leap from 12-foot platforms

… shivering and smiling bravely with a buddy or two after wading that water pit fed by melting mountain snow.

And that last element, it seems, is a great deal of the point.

As it was explained to me: “The camaraderie and encouragement you get on the race course is the best part of an obstacle race. It’s the most positive atmosphere you’ll ever be in. Everyone is working hard, and everyone wants to help each other through the obstacles. There’s no negativity out there at all.”

 

Ah-Ha! Moment: Even for those of us who may never choose to participate in such Spartan adventure, training for an obstacle race is much like getting through each day of life.

I had a chance to peruse a magazine titled Competitor whilst cooling my heels in a bicycle shop here as friends investigated curiously configured trail bikes. In it an avid obstacle racer named Pete Williams shared a few insights about “how to prepare for your first or next obstacle race.”

As I read his bullet points, my unlikely-athlete’s brain clicked into TGIM mode with the realization that his training tips have wide application for each and all of us by simply be adding the thought –

… JUST LIKE REAL LIFE

Read ‘em and reap: Here’s an abbreviated version of Pete’s Points plus my reminder. 

►Be a Kid Again: Children are natural obstacle racers. They instinctively climb or leap to touch anything in their paths. They attack playground "obstacles," in a non-stop flurry of running. Instead of working out in a gym, play outside to train. You might find you enjoy it just as much as the muddy obstacle race itself.

… Just like real life. Turn down your adult censor. Unleash your inner kid at every opportunity. Navigate the daily monkey bars you encounter and the ups and downs of the 9-5 see-saw with the uninhibited enthusiasm of your youth.

►Run Off Road: Obstacle races take place off road. So why train on concrete or asphalt, which is harder on the body anyway? Even in urban areas, you usually can run on the grass along sidewalks, through parks, on gravel or packed sand, and along waterways. Challenge yourself to run as much as possible off-road, leaping over sidewalks and other paved areas.

 

… Just like real life. Sure most of the daily routine takes place in the equivalent of the asphalt jungle, and sticking to the clearly marked paved path may well be the correct and most efficient way to get through many, even most challenges and achieve many life goals.

But at some time or another – in fact, multiple sometimes or another -- we bang up against a detour … lose our easier way … are tipped off to the treacherous-but-outstandingly-more-efficient shortcut to the outcome we desire. If we’re not ready or ill-equipped, those options will slow us, rather than move us forward. So it pays to be tougher than average in advance. 

►Run Intervals: Long, slow distance runs have a place in some training programs. Interval training builds speed and is especially important in obstacle race training, which combines intervals of running and obstacles. After a warm-up run, alternate between intervals of work and rest, i.e. three minutes of running at 80 percent followed by 3 minutes of walking or light running.

… Just like real life. We’ve all heard similar everyday-world counsel such as this cached in running terms before: “Life is a marathon, not a sprint.” But only a few are capable of attacking a marathon full on from beginning to end. 

So isn’t the Marathon of Life actually intervals, requiring the ability to modulate and pace your performance to fit the obstacles at hand? Clearly then, when we’re not actually “racing” through our day at an adapted-to-the-conditions pace, we should prep for inevitable variables to come.

►Run Hills: Unlike the steady, paved inclines of road races or the run portion of triathlons, obstacle races feature short, steep, off-road climbs. Here, too, your local park can be a perfect training ground. Sprint uphill and take twice the time to walk down. Repeat several times. Be sure to keep your stride compact to prevent hamstring pulls.

… Just like real life. If we’re not prepared to confront the variety of hills (and maybe mountains, maybe even Rocky or Himalaya-sized mountains) we’ll confront in our lives, we’ll struggle more mightily at the first little incline and battle from that deficit for the rest of the life run.

But anticipating the range of uphill battles we’ll face and meeting them having prepared should ease and speed our way over them, unencumbered by that physical or mental charley horse.

►Mix It Together: Obstacle race training is not just about running, of course. Simulate the rhythms and challenges of a race by stopping every half a mile to do a dozen pushups, pull-ups, or Burpees. The key is to make it continuous, mimicking a non-stop obstacle race.

… Just like real life. Ah, Burpees. Begin in a standing position. Drop into a squat with your hands on the ground. Extend your feet back in one quick motion to assume the front plank position. Do a pushup. Return to the squat in one quick motion. Return to standing. Throw up your arms and jump as high as you can before beginning the next Burpee.

Q: Does that sound somewhat like your day from rising to returning to bed at day’s end?

Point made. If you aren’t prepared for the mix of challenges, the struggle’s all the harder. And all you'll be able to do is throw up your hands at the end. 

►Choose Your Own Adventure. Safety is always the primary concern, of course. But there’s no reason you can’t run up and down that mountain of mulch available to the public at your local park. Those huge concrete culverts along your running trail waiting for installation? Why not bear-crawl through them as you will in a race? Instead of avoiding muddy trails after the rain, embrace them. Use whatever you find: Hop up and down on a fallen tree, straw bale or stair steps.

 

… Just like real life. Are you more poet than athlete? While they’re not mutually exclusive, you can sense the aesthetic dissimilarity. So if you can’t relate whole-heartedly to Pete Williams, embrace the counsel of Robert Frost:

 

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

 

And now I’ve overcome the “obstacle” of writing a meaningful motivational message for today.

 

Hoping with Robert Frost that today’s TGIM makes a difference.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com

P.S. More familiar with “Slurpees” than Burpees? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the exercise was named for American physiologist Royal H. Burpee. He earned a PhD in Applied Physiology from Columbia University in 1940 and created the Burpee Test as part of his PhD thesis as a quick measure of agility, coordination and strength. The exercise was popularized when the US entered WWII and the Armed Services adopted it as a way to assess the fitness level of recruits.