First off, for those of you that are new to obstacle course racing or OCR, welcome!! It is a blast and a lot of fun whether you take yourself seriously or not.
The purpose of OCR races is to test you in a non-linear race environment. In other words, kiss the road, trail or treadmill behind. You will be faced with a variety of challenges that will test your endurance, your strength, your mental toughness and your "ick" factor. My brother, who is a bit of a princess, will be going through his first race this season and I really hope he wears his nice shoes.
As a result, we need to train in some non-linear ways. Cardio is a must. You need to be able to run successfully at some type of distance. Whether that is 5k or greater is up to you. Most races start at around 5k, or 3 Mi, and go up from there. However, if a 5K seems daunting to you, you need to remember that the obstacles will provide a bit of respite from the running portions. Not that they are sunshine and roses. I am not a runner...at all. Running gives me hives and a perpetual feeling of failure. However, I love OCR races because it's not all about the running.
Training
1. Running.
This is a three (3) week series so we need to get rolling. You need to build your run capacity. Start with a series of run/walks. Run for one minute, walk for one minute. Then run for two minutes, walk for two minutes. Progressing to run for two minutes, walk for one minute...you get the idea. Set a realistic goal that challenges you and go from there. Don't worry about anyone else or there times. Worry about you. I had a buddy that did one of these with me a few years back and beat me by three minutes. It didn't matter that I had run my first race and put in a good time. It didn't matter that I gave it my all and that we ran in different heats. I let that three minutes consume me and it really hurt my memory of that first race.
2. Getting down and Getting up.
This is probably going to be the most ridiculous thing I will ever post but it does have value. People are crap at falling down. We are. As kids we do it all the time. We wipe out, we pick ourselves up as fast as we can and we keep on going. Elapsed time...nothing. Or we go down, take a moment to collect ourselves, contemplate the inner meaning of the GI Joe cartoon we watched that morning and off we go. Elapsed time...2 seconds. As adults, we suck. We fall down, get our bearings, do a damage check, do a wardrobe check, see if anyone saw it, address it if someone saw it, establish an effort factor to getting back up, get back up, shake it off, make sure our clothing is still in place, then set off again. Elapsed time...A LOT!!
So, fall down, get back up and fall down again. Practice the following. From a standing position, squat low, lower or fall to your butt, roll down your spine to your shoulder blades. Roll yourself over onto all fours, get your feet under you and stand back up in an active stance. Then do it all over again. It will help you get a feel for your body and the numerous times you are going to have to pick yourself up.
3. Fencing.
You're thinking Antonio Banderas in tight pants, a sexy mask/mustache combo, and a sword. I'm thinking of the thing you have to stain every few years unless it's pressure treated, cedar or chain link. Every OCR worth it's salt has at least one, if not many, climb over obstacles. These can be A Frames, Walls, Cargo Nets, Bars or any other variation. The result is the same. You have to go over it. You should be comfortable doing so. You should have the basic technique down so that you can avoid the following pitfalls.
A) Inappropriate behavior on a wall. That's right...you. We saw what you did to that wall as you shimmied, shook and basically looked like a love starved wildebeast. Somewhere, someone has that on a phone and is uploading it to youtube.
B) Sad Struggle. Your butt has just taken on the gravitational pull of a mini black hole. Your arms are doing everything they can just to keep you hanging on while the rest of you has resigned itself to a slow and drawn out fall. So there you hang.
C) The Crusher. More typical of boys but definitely a gender equal opportunity activity. This is usually done by the gung ho first timer that launches up the wall, breaches the summit in mid leap, throws one leg over to signal the return from your lofty visit to the top, only to come crunching down on the top of the 2x4/pipe/cable/bar that makes the top of the obstacle. This is usually followed by a sense of dread, nausea and a responsibility that you have abandoned to your future progeny.
The training for this is simple. Find a fence, your fence...not a stranger's. Then climb it. Get over to the other side and repeat as often as possible. You will be amazed at your strength gains, your body awareness and your agility.
Muddy Times!!!!
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