Now you can hear me complain with normal sarcasm, bitchynies, via annotations & a chipmunk voice.
Spartan Races to come
Upcoming races
Sunday, September 16, 2012
ToroLoco Video
Video of the race is up.
Now you can hear me complain with normal sarcasm, bitchynies, via annotations & a chipmunk voice.
Now you can hear me complain with normal sarcasm, bitchynies, via annotations & a chipmunk voice.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
ToroLoco Clusterf*ck
I know the title is a bit harsh. But this was an event in desperate need of MANY things.
Lets start with what was done right.
The Bibs. (I think).
As I dont have my official time yet, I am not sure if they worked. But the Bibs themselves had strips built in to them & were more sturdy than tyvek bibs. So no need for a 'chit' to attach to laces & turn in for recording time. That was nice.
Lack of real mud.
most mud was trudging through calf high water/mud. So easy to clean up from.
**not necessarily a 'right' thing, just nice after the difficulties to not have to wait in lines for showers.
OK and that is it.
Lets talk about the things that need improvement.
Registration.
I am an anomaly. I was a part of no race. When I registered they were taking registrations for weeks, yet there was no space to select which race to join (5k Leisurely Longhorn or 10k Raging Bull) I had to email them. They fixed it for others but me I was part of "Unknown Event".
Parking.
The car parkers did not have a clue, and people were being parked in such a way they were being blocked in.
Check in.
There were 3 lines, for different parts of the alphabet. Course the signs indicating what part of the alphabet were obscured as they were at knee height, so one person in line & you had no idea where to go.
Event Grounds
This event is for people & dogs, but the day started out with - only a few porta johns & no water areas for dogs. The drinks, those not from the food trucks, were stored outside & then moved to iced coolers, so after a while only not so cold drinks. (and no Cola or diet, Beer, Beer, Beer, 7-up & water were the options). The registration, free snacks, store, volunteer check in weer all one tent, making it hard to figure out where to go & get around. The changing areas were hidden off to the side along with the cleaning area.
Race Start
So the race was to start the first heat at 8am. They left more like 8:15 per my phone & watch.
Realizing this I was happy to be in the 8:30 heat, as I feared by later starting heats would be way off with times.
Race Course.
Not a well designed course a few times we wandered aimlessly wondering if we were even still on the right path. the 5k people were to follow green flags, 10k orange. I rarely saw any orange flags.
Race Obstacles part 1
You will see when the video is posted this was a difficult course for short folks. It was not meant for short people at all. There were several obstacles that were basically get from point A to point B using upper body (rings, ropes, etc.) If you were not tall enough or could not jump high enough you could not even get started let alone make it through. Just rehanging a few items with 3 inches more rope would have made a world of difference to many of those I encountered on the course.
Race Obstacles part 2
Several obstacles were completely unattended, or even incomplete. There was a set of 4 ropes on the course, no one around & no point to them. Should we go up? maybe rope to rope? Who knows. How about the slack-rope over dirt, no water or mud just the ground. So where does one 'start' & 'finish'? There was a trench we were not sure was still part of the race (due to the aforementioned lack of markings) that had been started water, had been added & some logs & then abandoned, as it was another place no one was around. I am glad no one I saw got hurt as it would have been difficult to attain aid.
Im sure with out thinking too hard I could find more to complain about. I really had no intention of just ripping on the race, it was a good charity & a good idea. I know from experience it is hard to put on an event, especially the first time. Things will go wrong. Especially when one is in an 'outlying area' with few facilities. But one also need to think more about what they are doing, that people will have different wants/needs/objectives and that all people are different so sometimes it takes a fresh eye to spot issues that one has become blind to in the planning stages.
I did get to run a race & get some ideas how to better plan for my upcoming Spartan Trifecta. I met some nice people, and got some exercise (and eegees).
But that said, will I do this event again - no.
**UPDATE 9/16**
Apparently this was the second time this event was run, and per some participants this incomplete course w/ bad planning was 100% better than the spring version. (and that they purge negative comments from their FaceBook page)
Makes me wonder how bad that one was.
 |
| Ready to start |
The Bibs. (I think).
As I dont have my official time yet, I am not sure if they worked. But the Bibs themselves had strips built in to them & were more sturdy than tyvek bibs. So no need for a 'chit' to attach to laces & turn in for recording time. That was nice.
Lack of real mud.
most mud was trudging through calf high water/mud. So easy to clean up from.
**not necessarily a 'right' thing, just nice after the difficulties to not have to wait in lines for showers.
OK and that is it.
Lets talk about the things that need improvement.
Registration.
I am an anomaly. I was a part of no race. When I registered they were taking registrations for weeks, yet there was no space to select which race to join (5k Leisurely Longhorn or 10k Raging Bull) I had to email them. They fixed it for others but me I was part of "Unknown Event".
Parking.
The car parkers did not have a clue, and people were being parked in such a way they were being blocked in.
Check in.
There were 3 lines, for different parts of the alphabet. Course the signs indicating what part of the alphabet were obscured as they were at knee height, so one person in line & you had no idea where to go.
 |
| Most everything |
Event Grounds
This event is for people & dogs, but the day started out with - only a few porta johns & no water areas for dogs. The drinks, those not from the food trucks, were stored outside & then moved to iced coolers, so after a while only not so cold drinks. (and no Cola or diet, Beer, Beer, Beer, 7-up & water were the options). The registration, free snacks, store, volunteer check in weer all one tent, making it hard to figure out where to go & get around. The changing areas were hidden off to the side along with the cleaning area.
 |
| Everything not under the 1 tent. |
 |
| Food arrives |
Race Start
So the race was to start the first heat at 8am. They left more like 8:15 per my phone & watch.
Realizing this I was happy to be in the 8:30 heat, as I feared by later starting heats would be way off with times.
Race Course.
Not a well designed course a few times we wandered aimlessly wondering if we were even still on the right path. the 5k people were to follow green flags, 10k orange. I rarely saw any orange flags.
Race Obstacles part 1
You will see when the video is posted this was a difficult course for short folks. It was not meant for short people at all. There were several obstacles that were basically get from point A to point B using upper body (rings, ropes, etc.) If you were not tall enough or could not jump high enough you could not even get started let alone make it through. Just rehanging a few items with 3 inches more rope would have made a world of difference to many of those I encountered on the course.
Race Obstacles part 2
Several obstacles were completely unattended, or even incomplete. There was a set of 4 ropes on the course, no one around & no point to them. Should we go up? maybe rope to rope? Who knows. How about the slack-rope over dirt, no water or mud just the ground. So where does one 'start' & 'finish'? There was a trench we were not sure was still part of the race (due to the aforementioned lack of markings) that had been started water, had been added & some logs & then abandoned, as it was another place no one was around. I am glad no one I saw got hurt as it would have been difficult to attain aid.
 |
| Erika took this pic of one of their staff, the zip line was too slack, and the pulleys kept getting stuck. She tried to help & her hair got all caught up in it. |
Im sure with out thinking too hard I could find more to complain about. I really had no intention of just ripping on the race, it was a good charity & a good idea. I know from experience it is hard to put on an event, especially the first time. Things will go wrong. Especially when one is in an 'outlying area' with few facilities. But one also need to think more about what they are doing, that people will have different wants/needs/objectives and that all people are different so sometimes it takes a fresh eye to spot issues that one has become blind to in the planning stages.
I did get to run a race & get some ideas how to better plan for my upcoming Spartan Trifecta. I met some nice people, and got some exercise (and eegees).
 |
| After coming down the slide. |
 |
| Time behind me is from the 8am heat so a bit misleading. as I was 1:37 |
But that said, will I do this event again - no.
**UPDATE 9/16**
Apparently this was the second time this event was run, and per some participants this incomplete course w/ bad planning was 100% better than the spring version. (and that they purge negative comments from their FaceBook page)
Makes me wonder how bad that one was.
Friday, September 14, 2012
ToroLoco minus 1 day
Tomorrow is the ToroLoco Challenge.
Since coming back & planning on getting in shape, I have gotten sick and overworked; consequently I am no where near where I had planned on being physically 3 months ago.
But I signed up & paid my money, so I will do it.
One thing that will make this event different is I will be running it alone.
This is the only race I will have done alone other than my attempt at the Spartan Race over 7 months ago. So what my finishing time is will be all on me. No "I was waiting on other people." or "There was a line at the obstacle." excuses.
I am happy that someone noticed I was losing weight today, combining with the weigh in on Monday at 183lbs does put me in good spirits.
IF, and this is a big IF, all goes well Id like to finish around 90 minutes.
But we will see..
In the meantime, here is a look in to my training regimen from this past week.
And a look at the course as it is listed on their website.
So tomorrow 6.2 miles of being stupid.
Since coming back & planning on getting in shape, I have gotten sick and overworked; consequently I am no where near where I had planned on being physically 3 months ago.
But I signed up & paid my money, so I will do it.
One thing that will make this event different is I will be running it alone.
This is the only race I will have done alone other than my attempt at the Spartan Race over 7 months ago. So what my finishing time is will be all on me. No "I was waiting on other people." or "There was a line at the obstacle." excuses.
I am happy that someone noticed I was losing weight today, combining with the weigh in on Monday at 183lbs does put me in good spirits.
IF, and this is a big IF, all goes well Id like to finish around 90 minutes.
But we will see..
In the meantime, here is a look in to my training regimen from this past week.
 |
| Yeah I kinda did that. |
And a look at the course as it is listed on their website.
 |
| I really just wanted to play on the zip line. |
So tomorrow 6.2 miles of being stupid.
Stay tuned..
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Back to the Grind
I have returned from my Canadian adventure, and have to say I had a great time. Food was excellent, wedding was picture perfect, and I even learned a bit about myself.
First of all I may be doing better than I give myself credit for. Today (Sunday) I weighed myself. This is something I decided to do every 2 weeks, so I have an idea where I am, but not too often I get discouraged. I weighed in at 185lbs - the lightest I have seen on a scale in over 5 years. This was a bit of a shock, knowing what ALL I had to eat and drink while in Quebec, from the social event the night before, cocktail hour & open bar the day of the wedding, including cake, 4 course meal and candy station at the wedding topped off with a beer festival on Sunday. I felt I took in way more calories than I used walking around town.
One thing about Quebec, if you are in the old part of town it is all one big hill, waking up to this after a day on planes actually made me wish I had brought shoes I could work out in. It could be that even though I hate the idea of working out, after nearly 2 months of hitting the treadmill daily it is finally part of my routine enough I look forward to it in some deranged way?
Although the shoes were not present, I did do a fair amount of walking around the area, at least 7.5 miles from what I have been able to decipher. Oh and when say hill I mean HILL.
Where I live I am pretty sure the general altitude change can be measured in inches over the miles (8 feet over 4 miles to be a bit more precise) , but it seems within a quarter mile the difference there was about 250 feet.
So in the end, I got more exercise than planned, and am still ahead. So today I decided to abuse myself. Now that I have class and have no time on Mondays to work out, today was to be a long day on the treadmill. The treadmill had other ideas. I had set it for 13.1 miles. The goal to be able to propel myself that distance either walking or jogging, just to see how long it took, and to have a baseline for upcoming events, especially the Toro Loco in a couple weeks. The treadmill apparently has a cap of 99 minutes, after that you are done - workout completed. Sure I could have reset it & gone the rest of the distance. And, sometime in the future will do that. But today I heeded the treadmill & stopped there. I had jogged 7.7 miles in that time, a new distance record for me & although tired, was not as exhausted as I thought I would have been.
Maybe, I am succeeding in the working out & getting in shape. MAYBE I will be able to complete the events I have on my plate. We will see.
First of all I may be doing better than I give myself credit for. Today (Sunday) I weighed myself. This is something I decided to do every 2 weeks, so I have an idea where I am, but not too often I get discouraged. I weighed in at 185lbs - the lightest I have seen on a scale in over 5 years. This was a bit of a shock, knowing what ALL I had to eat and drink while in Quebec, from the social event the night before, cocktail hour & open bar the day of the wedding, including cake, 4 course meal and candy station at the wedding topped off with a beer festival on Sunday. I felt I took in way more calories than I used walking around town.
One thing about Quebec, if you are in the old part of town it is all one big hill, waking up to this after a day on planes actually made me wish I had brought shoes I could work out in. It could be that even though I hate the idea of working out, after nearly 2 months of hitting the treadmill daily it is finally part of my routine enough I look forward to it in some deranged way?
Although the shoes were not present, I did do a fair amount of walking around the area, at least 7.5 miles from what I have been able to decipher. Oh and when say hill I mean HILL.
 |
| Each image was taken on a walk, from the right most near the water, going up the hill (the left most not even at the top) |
So in the end, I got more exercise than planned, and am still ahead. So today I decided to abuse myself. Now that I have class and have no time on Mondays to work out, today was to be a long day on the treadmill. The treadmill had other ideas. I had set it for 13.1 miles. The goal to be able to propel myself that distance either walking or jogging, just to see how long it took, and to have a baseline for upcoming events, especially the Toro Loco in a couple weeks. The treadmill apparently has a cap of 99 minutes, after that you are done - workout completed. Sure I could have reset it & gone the rest of the distance. And, sometime in the future will do that. But today I heeded the treadmill & stopped there. I had jogged 7.7 miles in that time, a new distance record for me & although tired, was not as exhausted as I thought I would have been.
Maybe, I am succeeding in the working out & getting in shape. MAYBE I will be able to complete the events I have on my plate. We will see.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
VACATION!!!
I made it. I have survived working out to make it to my vacation. No more workouts for the next 5 days. Sure I will completely destroy all the work I have done in a matter of 1 weekend but it will be worth it.
In the last 30 days I have worked out 27 of them, totaling 82 miles or 12,300 calories.
The next few days will be spent eating junk food, wedding cake, Quebec red tailed deer & what ever else Canadians eat while celebrating the wedding of a dear friend. oh and drinking lots of alcohol too, as I wont be driving anywhere and sure as hell don't understand Quebecois. (Its bad enough you guys speak French, but to have it be a version of French you cant find online to learn, that is just plain rude)
Unfortunately, once I return my life will become even more hellish with the addition of a college course sucking up one work out day & being less than 30 days from the Toro Loco Challenge.
This is why it is called an act of stupidity.
(Instead of the over used leaving on jet plane, I think I will celebrate w/ some Fletch)
In the last 30 days I have worked out 27 of them, totaling 82 miles or 12,300 calories.
The next few days will be spent eating junk food, wedding cake, Quebec red tailed deer & what ever else Canadians eat while celebrating the wedding of a dear friend. oh and drinking lots of alcohol too, as I wont be driving anywhere and sure as hell don't understand Quebecois. (Its bad enough you guys speak French, but to have it be a version of French you cant find online to learn, that is just plain rude)
Unfortunately, once I return my life will become even more hellish with the addition of a college course sucking up one work out day & being less than 30 days from the Toro Loco Challenge.
This is why it is called an act of stupidity.
Friday, August 10, 2012
So....
First of all , the back pain has been subsiding, albeit slowly. Hopefully I will be back at 100% for my trip to Canada next weekend. Just in time to make other bad decisions.
But I woke up today w/ pain in my left shin. Now I had noticed some tenderness there a couple days ago after a work out, and attributed it to just over use. I have been on the treadmill in some capacity for 13 days in a row starting July 27. Yesterday due to my mom being in town & staying in the room it is kept I did not workout. It was kind of strange, maybe I am getting used to it being part of my routine, as much as I hate doing it. Thus I find it odd that today I have the pain,it makes more sense to me if I had been exerting myself, however I had not. Guess it is something else to keep an eye on.
In other news the Arizona Republic had an article today about 'mud runs' It was mostly an ad for a particular event, and to help tout an article they plan on doing on their 'team' and looking for people to join it. Still it is nice to see them taking notice and having the list of upcoming events. I am also amused that being a newspaper & having access to researchers, they do not list 4 events that I do on my Arizona races page that are occurring later this year. This includes the November event Erika is participating in that already has over 1000 people signed up for it and the October event I am volunteering with.
Finally, for any people interested, the founders of Spartan Race have published an ebook (FREE), it deals with history, training, rules and articles on some amazing people, I hope I have the time to read it this weekend. Being self published it is not the most refined in look, but may have some useful info. Stay tuned.
But I woke up today w/ pain in my left shin. Now I had noticed some tenderness there a couple days ago after a work out, and attributed it to just over use. I have been on the treadmill in some capacity for 13 days in a row starting July 27. Yesterday due to my mom being in town & staying in the room it is kept I did not workout. It was kind of strange, maybe I am getting used to it being part of my routine, as much as I hate doing it. Thus I find it odd that today I have the pain,it makes more sense to me if I had been exerting myself, however I had not. Guess it is something else to keep an eye on.
In other news the Arizona Republic had an article today about 'mud runs' It was mostly an ad for a particular event, and to help tout an article they plan on doing on their 'team' and looking for people to join it. Still it is nice to see them taking notice and having the list of upcoming events. I am also amused that being a newspaper & having access to researchers, they do not list 4 events that I do on my Arizona races page that are occurring later this year. This includes the November event Erika is participating in that already has over 1000 people signed up for it and the October event I am volunteering with.
Finally, for any people interested, the founders of Spartan Race have published an ebook (FREE), it deals with history, training, rules and articles on some amazing people, I hope I have the time to read it this weekend. Being self published it is not the most refined in look, but may have some useful info. Stay tuned.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Ouch
I hurt. Specifically my lower back hurts. It is my fault. But I fear this will effect me more than I'd like.
Some background:
In Arizona a few years back we got rid of pretty much the last of the old blue laws concerning alcohol sales. Sunday Aug 1, 2010 was the first day you could purchase alcohol before 10am in Arizona on a Sunday. Although not a big drinker, I started the "Annual Beer & Doughnut Run". The first Sunday in August at 6am begins a ride around town which includes buying breakfast & alcohol, just because you can. Today was the 3rd annual
Beer & Doughnut Run (and also International Beer Day).
In preparation for this I ran a lot yesterday, 6 miles in 80 minutes. The fastest & longest I have run since beginning this. I felt pretty good about it & the approx 906 calories burned.
This morning all went well w/ the ride. Ride - check. Beer - check. Doughnuts - check. But the place I got the doughnuts was across town, and I was bringing stuff home. it did not fit on the bike well, and to avoid crushing the spoils, I put the ill-fitting box in a backpack & rode home, sitting in an odd manor. So odd in fact that knew something was going wrong while riding, as i felt every bump in the road. But being an idiot I pressed on. I was in a lot of pain when I got off the bike, all in the lower back.
Needless to say it has not been the fun day I had planned, and I am hoping I am not doing as bad tomorrow, but only time will tell. I did work out a very little today to try & stay limber and because I recently read that with injuries like this the best thing may be to use them not to baby them.
We will see......
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)