yotah1
Well-known member
I create the topic to post reviews and summaries of my competitions for this year, in order to not post it anymore in the fitness thread as it's not completely its place.
In 2012 I did the StrongManRun at the Nürburgring, an obstacle race of 20km approx (12-13 miles).
This year I decided to train even more and race several times instead of only one.
I will also post my review in September after the 24h Rad Am Ring bicycle race like in 2012.
Well, here I am coming back from an epic day ...
Saturday, March 9: first race of the year, Braveheart Battle Run.
It is an obstacle course like the StrongmanRun I attended in 2012 (of which I will attend two events in 2013), except that it was much worse!
The StrongmanRun, it was hard, it was wet, it was cold (7°C), and it revolved around the F1 circuit so it must have been about 600m of elevation gain in total over the 20km race. 11,000 particpants ...
Well, I'll be brief: this was worse!
3000 participants, so I said "oh it's a smaller event". Yes, but it is much, much more radical!
26km long (more than 16 miles), 7km ascent, mud as you can find in the worst places of England in March, obstacles were a huge problem, mostly impossible to overcome without the help of other runners. It was 4°C, the water was 1°C, and we had to cross that damn river more than 10 times during the race!
Up at 6am, I finished the preparations, took a frugal breakfast, and hop in the car. Arrived on the scene just before 10am, I changed clothes and headed to the gym to get my race number and then went straight to the starting grid (already full) on the athletics stadium. 30 minutes later, the first wave of 300 runners is launched, after 6 minutes, it's our turn. I go flat out to cover the first 200 meters overtaking almost 150 people to arrive in early on the first obstacle, a 2m high wall to cross. I jump, take support on the wall and get catapulted over the summit ridge. Thrown over, I crashed heavily on the trail on the other side. The race started well...
We then went into the fields to descend to the river, go under the highway viaduct (140m vertical drop, a leg breaker already). First ford to pass, water up to the abs, it's cold but I'm jumping in. Less time I stay, the better. Out of it we run 50m and already the second passage through the water, we go "uphill" in the river bed, everybody gets stuck, the current drags us the wrong way, it freezes the balls, but we eventually go through. The hot muscles from the quick start take a hard slap, hard to pick up the pace again. We have covered ... 2km! It will be long!
We cross a small ford once again, back in a field and turn in the direction of the river again, with a 15m wide ford. Two possibilities, the cowards take the path of water in the ford and struggle to climb out with a slippery muddy slope on the other side. The furious attack it like me using the tubular structure installed at 2m high, to cross with the force of your arms. I personally adopted a method which made me look a little like a "monkey" with feet in front of me, wedged into the triangular structure, and hands on the center bar. I "crawl" at a steady pace and without forcing too much. It's still quite killing me, but I'm going through anyway, like real men do!
Along the river we head back to the city, a little run to stretch the legs, but it's muddy, yet i'm still good. Through town, we had to pass under a bridge, closed by covers, the interior is filled with smoke coming out of the machines installed. We advance a little slow, groping, cross the river which is 50-60cm deep. It is overcome quite quickly, for the better. Out of the bridge, we arrived directly on a wall of straw bales, 6m high, with several levels of 1m to climb. Big effort to overcome the difficulty quickly, and I miss twisting my left knee on the way down. Then we headed to another obstacle: 2 muddy lengths where you have to crawl over 50m in total, with a wooden structure above the head to force you to stay in. I throw myself forward at every start, gaining valuable meters by slipping through.
First stop, 2 glasses of water, one for drinking, the other to spray the head.
Back in the race, a huge ford to dive through again, then 2km race in the fields. We covered the first 5 kilometers!
Another ford, still deep (2.50m) and we must swim, and when the bust and neck are wet in the icy water, you come out dizzy with a migraine from hell! Just a little running, one through a pile of stones in a career, then come to one of the most difficult obstacles in the race pits dug in a clay quarry, 2m deep, then a 7m wall to climb, completely smooth, ultra slippery. We must necessarily help each other, and it is exhausting. We thus passed through all 7 holes! Everyone gets out of it broken in half, covered with mud from head to toe! But the shower arrives. We arrived on four dumpsters, sometimes those seen on trucks with two sloping sides. They are full of water, and wooden planks are forcing us to dive completely under water to pass. The shock hurts you badly as your head goes underwater and you try to get out as quickly as possible. The foot race starts again, we head to the mountains. Fast refueling as i swallow half a banana. When you enter the woods, we climb straight into the slope, for a long, long time. All the way to the top, in fact, knowing that we started from the bottom. We certainly walked 700m, and climbed vertically 400m! The heart is racing, and i go up at a steady pace to keep my forces, because we are only seven kilometers into the race! It does not advance fast! Will we do see the end of it today? Then comes the part that will be terrible to many of the runners left: a sequence of ups and downs between two paths directly into the woods, with branches across the floor (i believe they combed the whole forest to get them all here). You climb 100m in altitude, you do 50m flat, head back down and again, 50m flat, and you get back up! This ride will be repeated 7 times, with the final climb to the summit to finish our story. We finally covered kilometer 9! Before arriving at kilometer 10, we had to go through a series (two actually) of straw bales, with wires 30cm above, forcing us to go prone. Everyone bothers to drag, I decided to just roll over myself. No effort, it is fast and efficient and I overtake several runners! Ok, I finished with straw everywhere but given my current state it became a totally insignificant detail! Descent through the woods in the valley and fields. We leave to the river for yet another ford (with entry and exit on the same bank this time). But before that, there is still a long 30m net in which you have to crawl in the mud full of stones, knees and shins love it ... The first ford past, then we were walking in a creek for 20m, then exit in the fields, we go towards the mountain to resume the climb. Good attention of the organizer, they provide us with big pills of magnesium, to crunch. If you've ever tried to eat an Efferalgan 1G, it is a bit like it ... Quite atrocious! But magnesium does its effect and everyone finds energy again! Out of the woods, we crossed the halfway 13km mark. Towards the river again with 200m to run in it, it's muddy and full of tree trunks, a twisted ankles paradise. I go without pitfalls.
200m further, we must tackle the biggest ford of the race. We literally plunge into the river, without having foot in it, and we must swim 100m (remember, water is 1°C), with rescuers all around, just "in case" ... The 100m swim would be feasible, almost enjoyable if there had not been 3 flipped up rows of canoes in the water, all tied together, under which we must dive head first. It shocks you, and in the second row, I caught my arm between a canoe and a retention cable! I tried to unhook myself, but between fatigue, sudden panic, and ultra cold and muddy water, I got stuck a few seconds, but it seemed an eternity to me! A rescuer got me and brought me to the surface. Except that I'm totally confused and convinced that I was brought before the canoe, so I dive to attack the cross again ... in the wrong direction! The rescue grabbed me again by the jersey and pulled me to the surface for the 2nd time, insulting me in German and I understood nothing! But I understood his waving, showing me the right direction. So I crossed the third row of canoes out of the water to attack again to crawl in the mud for 50-60m under the barbed wire. Honestly, at this point I was following guys ahead of me, because I was totally disoriented, hypothermic, and if you had asked me my name, I do not know what I would have said. Out of this obstacle, we arrive at the third refueling, km 15, I gather my thoughts back and resume my race.
We tackle a long run in the fields up and down without stopping, until about km 19. At kilometer 17, I get big cramps in my calves. Kilometer 19, i get feet cramps in addition to those in my calves, and I begin to slow my pace. Whenever I can, I massage my calves to relieve the pain a little, but it's getting worse. A passage out of a grove, we are forced to crawl under some cables, apparently harmless. First contact with a cable proves otherwise, I take a big electro chock which glues me to the ground. It awakens! And I learned my lesson! We will crawl and pull forward with the arms only to keep the body close to the ground. Out of this obstacle, we cross an equestrian center, with passage in one of the dressage arenas with obstacles for horses. We must overcome the obstacles, and during that time the horses are watching and enjoying certainly their revenge! Passing through the center of the farm, we encounter a wall of straw bales up almost to the ceiling, vertical, with muddy ropes to climb! It is slippery, several falls, including a girl who falls quite heavily. I decided to wrap the rope around my forearm to create a friction force, thus avoiding slip, the climb is therefore much easier, all you need is strong arms to climb.
Kilometer 20, it returns to the part of the circuit taken at the beginning, the first 6 km, which we will almost fully complete in reverse. We begin with the iron dumpsters full of ice water, and honestly for once, cold water is a very good feeling! Then come the clay quarries. A horror to go through now that more than 3,000 people have gone in it, with the least good runners who certainly struggled even more, the place became a nameless horror! The walls are smooth, the bottom of each hole is 30cm mat sticky clay, impossible to get the momentum to exit. I finally extricate myself of each hole by planting in my fingers as deep as possible in the walls of clay, and drag myself out just with the force of my arms. Intense effort that puts me on my knees, the same goes for most of the other competitors. Then back to the finish, therefore, again with many fords, two muddy areas to crawl under the wooden structures, the 6m high wall in straw bales, and the bridge with smoke. Except this time, it is not through the river, it pulls to the right into a totally opaque smoke, making it impossible to see where you are going, even if only to see your own hands! Way out of this "nightclub" obstacle, we land directly on a pile of tires starting with truck tires forming tunnels in which we must drag ourselves. Nothing fixed to grab and hold onto, the tires are almost sharp, we must extend our body forward and once again use the force of our arms to pull. Out of the tunnel, no white light waiting for us but a tangle of car tires for 15m and truck tire rolls again, but sideways, over which we can easily let it slide. Towards new fields along the river fords, 2-3 times again (I've lost count after a while), and we attack to run in an uncleaned track where you have to cross the trunks of trees collapsed everywhere, and that for 1 km. It is brittle, not pleasant at all, and frankly to finish the race, they could have done better! So we pass the 24 km and once at the end portion of the messy track, we arrive almost at kilometer 25. Relief because it is about that 800-900m to go? Not really, since the first downhill to the viaduct, 140m vertical drop, became a steep climb of 140m of elevation gain! With 3000 people having tumbled down the slope 4h earlier, it has become a skating rink. We all reach the top of course, but not without difficulty. For 3km my thighs also suffer from cramps and my lower back too when I have to bend forward to get under something. What a pleasure, but I'm almost at the end! Last obstacles, return to the athletics track with two 2m high barriers to cross again, my cramps are awfully painful each time i start jumping to overcome the fences. At landing my legs are almost paralyzed. I finally crossed the finish line, exhausted, at the very end of my resources, but i feel relieved and happy thanks to the applause of the spectators who do us the honor to congratulate all the competitors for their effort and achievement.
Medal around my neck, I go get something to eat, I vomit as soon as food reaches my mouth, i can't eat anything, so I go drink something sweet, it gets better, and I therefore returned to my car. Shower, clean hot clothes and a phone call to the family, I go home. Finally at night my legs are less painful than after the StrongmanRun, although during the race, I went much further into and beyond my limits. Fitness, better than 2012, should help me recover faster.
I calculated quickly, but I expect the official results to confirm: our competitors wave has launched around 11:25, and I crossed the finish line before 15:15, so I achieved my two goals: to finish, and make less than 4 hours.
It was excruciatingly difficult, as I've never done before, but I will if I can go again in 2014, with an even better training to improve my time and suffer less pain during the race.
Now i must address my bike training and continue training in foot race for both StrongmanRun in May.
Incidentally, I weighed myself this morning before leaving and after returning tonight. After getting well hydrated and eating a little something, I just lost myself 3kg today (that's over 6.6 pounds)!
Edit: final result: 645th position (compared to my StrongmanRun 880th place, with the same competitors, this is a good improvement) and 3h53'49 "race.
In 2012 I did the StrongManRun at the Nürburgring, an obstacle race of 20km approx (12-13 miles).
This year I decided to train even more and race several times instead of only one.
I will also post my review in September after the 24h Rad Am Ring bicycle race like in 2012.
Well, here I am coming back from an epic day ...
Saturday, March 9: first race of the year, Braveheart Battle Run.
It is an obstacle course like the StrongmanRun I attended in 2012 (of which I will attend two events in 2013), except that it was much worse!
The StrongmanRun, it was hard, it was wet, it was cold (7°C), and it revolved around the F1 circuit so it must have been about 600m of elevation gain in total over the 20km race. 11,000 particpants ...
Well, I'll be brief: this was worse!
3000 participants, so I said "oh it's a smaller event". Yes, but it is much, much more radical!
26km long (more than 16 miles), 7km ascent, mud as you can find in the worst places of England in March, obstacles were a huge problem, mostly impossible to overcome without the help of other runners. It was 4°C, the water was 1°C, and we had to cross that damn river more than 10 times during the race!
Up at 6am, I finished the preparations, took a frugal breakfast, and hop in the car. Arrived on the scene just before 10am, I changed clothes and headed to the gym to get my race number and then went straight to the starting grid (already full) on the athletics stadium. 30 minutes later, the first wave of 300 runners is launched, after 6 minutes, it's our turn. I go flat out to cover the first 200 meters overtaking almost 150 people to arrive in early on the first obstacle, a 2m high wall to cross. I jump, take support on the wall and get catapulted over the summit ridge. Thrown over, I crashed heavily on the trail on the other side. The race started well...
We then went into the fields to descend to the river, go under the highway viaduct (140m vertical drop, a leg breaker already). First ford to pass, water up to the abs, it's cold but I'm jumping in. Less time I stay, the better. Out of it we run 50m and already the second passage through the water, we go "uphill" in the river bed, everybody gets stuck, the current drags us the wrong way, it freezes the balls, but we eventually go through. The hot muscles from the quick start take a hard slap, hard to pick up the pace again. We have covered ... 2km! It will be long!
We cross a small ford once again, back in a field and turn in the direction of the river again, with a 15m wide ford. Two possibilities, the cowards take the path of water in the ford and struggle to climb out with a slippery muddy slope on the other side. The furious attack it like me using the tubular structure installed at 2m high, to cross with the force of your arms. I personally adopted a method which made me look a little like a "monkey" with feet in front of me, wedged into the triangular structure, and hands on the center bar. I "crawl" at a steady pace and without forcing too much. It's still quite killing me, but I'm going through anyway, like real men do!
Along the river we head back to the city, a little run to stretch the legs, but it's muddy, yet i'm still good. Through town, we had to pass under a bridge, closed by covers, the interior is filled with smoke coming out of the machines installed. We advance a little slow, groping, cross the river which is 50-60cm deep. It is overcome quite quickly, for the better. Out of the bridge, we arrived directly on a wall of straw bales, 6m high, with several levels of 1m to climb. Big effort to overcome the difficulty quickly, and I miss twisting my left knee on the way down. Then we headed to another obstacle: 2 muddy lengths where you have to crawl over 50m in total, with a wooden structure above the head to force you to stay in. I throw myself forward at every start, gaining valuable meters by slipping through.
First stop, 2 glasses of water, one for drinking, the other to spray the head.
Back in the race, a huge ford to dive through again, then 2km race in the fields. We covered the first 5 kilometers!
Another ford, still deep (2.50m) and we must swim, and when the bust and neck are wet in the icy water, you come out dizzy with a migraine from hell! Just a little running, one through a pile of stones in a career, then come to one of the most difficult obstacles in the race pits dug in a clay quarry, 2m deep, then a 7m wall to climb, completely smooth, ultra slippery. We must necessarily help each other, and it is exhausting. We thus passed through all 7 holes! Everyone gets out of it broken in half, covered with mud from head to toe! But the shower arrives. We arrived on four dumpsters, sometimes those seen on trucks with two sloping sides. They are full of water, and wooden planks are forcing us to dive completely under water to pass. The shock hurts you badly as your head goes underwater and you try to get out as quickly as possible. The foot race starts again, we head to the mountains. Fast refueling as i swallow half a banana. When you enter the woods, we climb straight into the slope, for a long, long time. All the way to the top, in fact, knowing that we started from the bottom. We certainly walked 700m, and climbed vertically 400m! The heart is racing, and i go up at a steady pace to keep my forces, because we are only seven kilometers into the race! It does not advance fast! Will we do see the end of it today? Then comes the part that will be terrible to many of the runners left: a sequence of ups and downs between two paths directly into the woods, with branches across the floor (i believe they combed the whole forest to get them all here). You climb 100m in altitude, you do 50m flat, head back down and again, 50m flat, and you get back up! This ride will be repeated 7 times, with the final climb to the summit to finish our story. We finally covered kilometer 9! Before arriving at kilometer 10, we had to go through a series (two actually) of straw bales, with wires 30cm above, forcing us to go prone. Everyone bothers to drag, I decided to just roll over myself. No effort, it is fast and efficient and I overtake several runners! Ok, I finished with straw everywhere but given my current state it became a totally insignificant detail! Descent through the woods in the valley and fields. We leave to the river for yet another ford (with entry and exit on the same bank this time). But before that, there is still a long 30m net in which you have to crawl in the mud full of stones, knees and shins love it ... The first ford past, then we were walking in a creek for 20m, then exit in the fields, we go towards the mountain to resume the climb. Good attention of the organizer, they provide us with big pills of magnesium, to crunch. If you've ever tried to eat an Efferalgan 1G, it is a bit like it ... Quite atrocious! But magnesium does its effect and everyone finds energy again! Out of the woods, we crossed the halfway 13km mark. Towards the river again with 200m to run in it, it's muddy and full of tree trunks, a twisted ankles paradise. I go without pitfalls.
200m further, we must tackle the biggest ford of the race. We literally plunge into the river, without having foot in it, and we must swim 100m (remember, water is 1°C), with rescuers all around, just "in case" ... The 100m swim would be feasible, almost enjoyable if there had not been 3 flipped up rows of canoes in the water, all tied together, under which we must dive head first. It shocks you, and in the second row, I caught my arm between a canoe and a retention cable! I tried to unhook myself, but between fatigue, sudden panic, and ultra cold and muddy water, I got stuck a few seconds, but it seemed an eternity to me! A rescuer got me and brought me to the surface. Except that I'm totally confused and convinced that I was brought before the canoe, so I dive to attack the cross again ... in the wrong direction! The rescue grabbed me again by the jersey and pulled me to the surface for the 2nd time, insulting me in German and I understood nothing! But I understood his waving, showing me the right direction. So I crossed the third row of canoes out of the water to attack again to crawl in the mud for 50-60m under the barbed wire. Honestly, at this point I was following guys ahead of me, because I was totally disoriented, hypothermic, and if you had asked me my name, I do not know what I would have said. Out of this obstacle, we arrive at the third refueling, km 15, I gather my thoughts back and resume my race.
We tackle a long run in the fields up and down without stopping, until about km 19. At kilometer 17, I get big cramps in my calves. Kilometer 19, i get feet cramps in addition to those in my calves, and I begin to slow my pace. Whenever I can, I massage my calves to relieve the pain a little, but it's getting worse. A passage out of a grove, we are forced to crawl under some cables, apparently harmless. First contact with a cable proves otherwise, I take a big electro chock which glues me to the ground. It awakens! And I learned my lesson! We will crawl and pull forward with the arms only to keep the body close to the ground. Out of this obstacle, we cross an equestrian center, with passage in one of the dressage arenas with obstacles for horses. We must overcome the obstacles, and during that time the horses are watching and enjoying certainly their revenge! Passing through the center of the farm, we encounter a wall of straw bales up almost to the ceiling, vertical, with muddy ropes to climb! It is slippery, several falls, including a girl who falls quite heavily. I decided to wrap the rope around my forearm to create a friction force, thus avoiding slip, the climb is therefore much easier, all you need is strong arms to climb.
Kilometer 20, it returns to the part of the circuit taken at the beginning, the first 6 km, which we will almost fully complete in reverse. We begin with the iron dumpsters full of ice water, and honestly for once, cold water is a very good feeling! Then come the clay quarries. A horror to go through now that more than 3,000 people have gone in it, with the least good runners who certainly struggled even more, the place became a nameless horror! The walls are smooth, the bottom of each hole is 30cm mat sticky clay, impossible to get the momentum to exit. I finally extricate myself of each hole by planting in my fingers as deep as possible in the walls of clay, and drag myself out just with the force of my arms. Intense effort that puts me on my knees, the same goes for most of the other competitors. Then back to the finish, therefore, again with many fords, two muddy areas to crawl under the wooden structures, the 6m high wall in straw bales, and the bridge with smoke. Except this time, it is not through the river, it pulls to the right into a totally opaque smoke, making it impossible to see where you are going, even if only to see your own hands! Way out of this "nightclub" obstacle, we land directly on a pile of tires starting with truck tires forming tunnels in which we must drag ourselves. Nothing fixed to grab and hold onto, the tires are almost sharp, we must extend our body forward and once again use the force of our arms to pull. Out of the tunnel, no white light waiting for us but a tangle of car tires for 15m and truck tire rolls again, but sideways, over which we can easily let it slide. Towards new fields along the river fords, 2-3 times again (I've lost count after a while), and we attack to run in an uncleaned track where you have to cross the trunks of trees collapsed everywhere, and that for 1 km. It is brittle, not pleasant at all, and frankly to finish the race, they could have done better! So we pass the 24 km and once at the end portion of the messy track, we arrive almost at kilometer 25. Relief because it is about that 800-900m to go? Not really, since the first downhill to the viaduct, 140m vertical drop, became a steep climb of 140m of elevation gain! With 3000 people having tumbled down the slope 4h earlier, it has become a skating rink. We all reach the top of course, but not without difficulty. For 3km my thighs also suffer from cramps and my lower back too when I have to bend forward to get under something. What a pleasure, but I'm almost at the end! Last obstacles, return to the athletics track with two 2m high barriers to cross again, my cramps are awfully painful each time i start jumping to overcome the fences. At landing my legs are almost paralyzed. I finally crossed the finish line, exhausted, at the very end of my resources, but i feel relieved and happy thanks to the applause of the spectators who do us the honor to congratulate all the competitors for their effort and achievement.
Medal around my neck, I go get something to eat, I vomit as soon as food reaches my mouth, i can't eat anything, so I go drink something sweet, it gets better, and I therefore returned to my car. Shower, clean hot clothes and a phone call to the family, I go home. Finally at night my legs are less painful than after the StrongmanRun, although during the race, I went much further into and beyond my limits. Fitness, better than 2012, should help me recover faster.
I calculated quickly, but I expect the official results to confirm: our competitors wave has launched around 11:25, and I crossed the finish line before 15:15, so I achieved my two goals: to finish, and make less than 4 hours.
It was excruciatingly difficult, as I've never done before, but I will if I can go again in 2014, with an even better training to improve my time and suffer less pain during the race.
Now i must address my bike training and continue training in foot race for both StrongmanRun in May.
Incidentally, I weighed myself this morning before leaving and after returning tonight. After getting well hydrated and eating a little something, I just lost myself 3kg today (that's over 6.6 pounds)!
Edit: final result: 645th position (compared to my StrongmanRun 880th place, with the same competitors, this is a good improvement) and 3h53'49 "race.
