Mud, Sweat, and Beers

Last weekend I had the opportunity to participate in the Gladiator Assault Challenge at Seven Oaks in Boone, Iowa. I hadn't done an obstacle course run yet and this one just happened to pop up in Iowa, so I was really excited about it.

This is the group before the race. 

The Gladiator Assault challenge was billed as a 5.3 mile course with 30 obstacles and a guarantee that we would get muddy. Well it lived up to that, and then some. My first thoughts were, I've run farther than that before, how hard could it be. I severely under estimated the difficulty of this challenge.

The course was set on a ski hill with some nice wooded single track mountain biking paths on the back side of the ski slopes. The first thing you do is walk up the ski slope to get to the start line, so the huffing and puffing and sweating started before the race even began for me. Then our start time came and back down the ski slope we ran, at the bottom was a series of mud pits to jump in and then climb out of. We're maybe a quarter of a mile into the race and we're all soaked head to toe with mud and water, and I'm already exhausted from pulling my weight out of the mud pits. 

The next element of the race is to run right back up the ski slope. Well some people ran, most walked up the steep hills, I don't know what you call what I did, but I made it. Then we got to the fire, where we ran through a chute with some burning hay. A tip for anyone planning to do a race like this. Don't do what I did at the fire obstacle, which was breathe normally. Hold your Breath! 

So the race continued on like this for another 4.5 miles or so. There was plenty more mud, barbed wire, cargo nets, balance beams, hills with ropes, walls, and hurdles along the way. After about 2 hours and plenty of help and encouragement from the group and other racers, we completed the Gladiator Assault Challenge. And it was awesome. They were literally pouring beers in the finishing chute, which was way cool. It was one of the most physically demanding things I've done in my life. I can't wait for the next one, but I've got a lot of training to do.

The group post race full of mud.

Drake Relays 8k

The Drake Relays 8k race went quite well. I set a new PR of 56:18 with help of my good friend Kelsey. I think we pushed each other just enough. Then we after everybody finished, some people in the group ran the half marathon, we went down to the Hessen House and started drinking German beer like all good runners.

Picture of the group post race

The Drake Relays race is a really fun one. It's well put together and I really like the distance for an early spring race. I hear that they're bumping it up to a 10k for next year, so I'll have to make sure I'm ready for the extra 1.2 miles next. 

That's about it for now. Get ready for the next post though, because it will be an assessment of how well my progress has gone in the 1st third of 2012. I've been dreading writing that one because I haven't quite done everything I've wanted to do.

Spring Thaw - Quick Update

The Spring Thaw was held this past Saturday. It was a windy one, but fun, and I got to see a lot of familiar faces. 




Here is a race calendar update after the recently completed Spring Thaw 5k.

• Sunday March 11th, @ 9:00 A.M. was the Blarney Stone 5k in South Sioux City, NE. 

              Result: Finished: 1st in Age Group Male 25 to 29, TIME 34:13

• Saturday April 7th, @ 10:00 A.M. was the Spring Thaw 5k in Sioux City, IA.

              Result: Finished: 13 out of 13 in Age Group Male 25 to 29, TIME 35:28

• Saturday April 28th, @ 8:00 A.M. is the Drake Relays 8k in Des Moines, IA.
• Saturday May 19th, @ 10:20 A.M. is the Gladiator Assault Challenge in Boone, IA.
• Saturday June 2nd @ 7:00 A.M. is the Dam to Dam 20k in Des Moines, IA.

That's it for now, but I will have to do an update on the 1st quarter of 2012 progress soon.

Bringin Home the Hardware

I know what you're thinking. "Is he really gonna start bragging about some participant ribbon from a 5k," right. Well not exactly. I took home an age group winner award today, and damnit, I'm proud of myself even if I was the only Male 25 to 29 years old. Check the picture out below, it's actually a pretty cool little trophy.

My Bad Ass Trophy

So I've finished the first race of the 2012 spring season. The Blarney Stone 5k in South Sioux City, IA.

My unofficial finish time was a solid 34:13. That turns out to be just over an 11 minute mile split, which is faster than what I've been training at. So I guess that means I should train harder right. I will try.

Peace Out

Race Calendar

This will just be a quick update, but here is a list of races for the spring that I'm planning to run.

• Sunday March 11th, @ 9:00 A.M. is the Blarney Stone 5k in South Sioux City, NE.
• Saturday April 28th, @ 8:00 A.M. is the Drake Relays 8k in Des Moines, IA.
• Saturday May 19th, @ 10:20 A.M. is the Gladiator Assault Challenge in Boone, IA.
• Saturday June 2nd @ 7:00 A.M. is the Dam to Dam 20k in Des Moines, IA.

I think I will try and keep this list updated and perhaps even post my results as the races happen.

Well that's it for now. See I told you it'd be quick. Now back to training.

Tough Mudder anyone?

Yet another health oriented undertaking started recently. The Live Healthy Iowa 100 Day Challenge. Me and several co-workers will be competing against teams across Iowa to increase our fitness levels. Go Team!

I've decided to amend my race goals to include a Tough Mudder, which is a 10-12 mile race that includes a bunch of different obstacles. The races were developed by British special forces guys and they look pretty intense. There is going to be a new tough mudder race in Omaha starting some time in 2013. I've already pre-registered and I'm now recruiting teammates. So if you're interested let me know.

On the list of races for this year already are some of my classics. There is the Drake Relays 8k in April. the Dam to Dam 20k is the 1st week of June. Hopefully the Sioux City Marathon and Half-Marathon will return in October this year. Then there is also the Corporate Cup 10k in Omaha.

Dam to Dam team 2010

As far as training goes, I've taken advantage of this unusually dry and warm winter and have put in a couple 5k's outside. Kosama is still going, however getting out of bed for a 5 A.M. workout has been getting a little more difficult. I don't know if that is like Seasonal Affective Disorder or what, but I need to get back to going every day, instead of just 3 days a week.

Happy Birthday to ME!

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for all the happy birthday wishes, both on facebook and in person. It's great to know that all these people want to wish me a good day. And just so you all know, it was a damn good day, even for a Monday.

I will say that I definitely broke my eat healthy resolution on Monday January 9th. My mom took me out to Mexican food at La Fiesta Chara here in the SUX. It was delicious, but I ate appetizers, I cleaned my entire plate, and I finished my Mom's dinner when she couldn't finish it. Sorry Wubbus.

Despite all of that, I did go to Kosama that morning and show some noobs what was up. We have an absolutely enormous class joining us Alumni this session at 5 A.M. It's pretty crazy, but it was still an amazing workout.

Now, we move in to the plan for the rest of the week and next month or so.  Since the weather around here has been ridiculously amazing, I am planning to run 6 miles this weekend her in SUX. It might be colder finally but the snow is still going to hold off, i believe. In addition to that there will be the usual Kosama workouts at 5 A.M. Monday thru Friday.

In other news, It will be Kipper's birthday tomorrow the 12th of January. For those that don't know Kipper is my little brown Dachshund, a.k.a. Wiener dog, a.k.a Honey Badger Killer. So for this event we will be going to PetCo on Hamilton Boulevard at approximately 5:15 P.M. tomorrow (Thursday). If you're around, join us, it will be epic.

I promise to have lots of pictures in the next post, so I can make up for the lack of pictures this time around.