Mud, Guts, and Glory ROUND FOUR!

Mud, Guts, and Glory #4 is this Saturday. And it looks like this will be the biggest event to date. I'm excited for them and glad to see the event has continued to grow each round.

Even though this is a "fixed" location, the race is never the same. And it looks like MGG is busy putting some final touches on the course (thanks to my buddy, Mark Doney, for the pics)...

Cleaning up the UOUOU and tubes. Likely relining the pit (they had to bring in five tankers of water during the first race)...

Cleaning up the pit below the monkey bars...

What the...? I'm not sure what this is, but I'll find out on Saturday. Maybe this is part of the "cinder" obstacle that OCR Championships mentioned.

Bottom line: This will be a great day of racing and all-around fun. My brothers are racing in the elite heat with me. And my wife is in the challenger wave (I need to catch up with her after I finish my race).

DC Spartan Sprint Race Summary

Wow, what a race the Washington DC Sprint was on Saturday, July 26. I spent most of the race running scared, because I was in third place after the OUOUO (Over, Under, Over, Under, Over...there might have been a "Through" in there also) obstacle near the start.

Third place in a Spartan Race?!? A goal for this year is to make a podium, but I set that at the beginning of the year when I was naive and didn't realize the amazing athletes and competitors that run these Spartan Races.

That said, I came in fourth.

My grandma told me to start on the front row, so I did (see below...I'm on the left). I usually start two or three rows back, so I don't go out too hard. But I noticed I would be well behind the leaders just a short distance into the race. Starting in the front row did make me go out harder. And there's no way I could have held that pace for a Super or Beast.

The race was going fine (relatively speaking). The only major delay was the barbed wire, because I went to climb over the A frame cargo thing instead of running under it and through more barbed wire. After the second set of barbed wire, you circle back and then go over the A frame. And my legs weren't working on the rope climb for some reason.

Moving along, I had a decent lead on Kevin Donoghue when I reached the Traverse Wall--which I slipped off of. Ugh...how did this happen?!? I think I mentally failed the obstacle before I started, because I noticed one of the foot holds was chipped (lesson learned: pick a different wall). A couple steps in and my foot slipped. So I went over to do my burpees and found McCauley Kraker doing burpees also. He finished and took off. Kevin made it across the wall and then made the spear throw, which--thankfully--I made also. McCauley finished about 30 seconds in front of Kevin, and I was 30 seconds behind Kevin.

David Magida won, which I thought was great since it was his "home" course and he had his Elevate clients there running their first race. Congrats to David and his Elevate clients.

Kevin ran a great race, and he was great to talk with after the race. He even got to bring his dog onto the podium. No complaints here about a fourth place finish.

My placing fourth is the beauty of obstacle racing. Had this been just a trail run, I likely would have finished third and McCauley would have been a good minute ahead. Had I not fallen off the wall, I would have passed McCauley and been in second. These races truly are not over until you reach the finish. Maybe that's another reason Spartan Race has the trademark "You'll know at the finish."

Pennsylvania Spartan Sprint Summary

Thankfully, I ran a clean race. Yep, no burpees. The spear throw stuck right in the middle. The rope climb was quick. And the bucket carry felt "light" compared to the bucket I used for training (different rocks, I guess). Finished 6th in Saturday's Elite Heat filmed by NBC.

As usual, I start a few rows back. One, I don't feel like I belong on the front line. And, two, I can go out at a slightly easier pace and work my way up. However, after the first mile, most people up front were spread out, and I found myself alone most of the time. At that point, I was comfortably in 8th.

To my surprise, I caught up with David Magida on one of the climbs/hikes and was able to keep a very short lead. He sprinted by me on the sandbag carry going downhill, and I took the lead again on the way back up. Brutal sandbag carry area. David just ran the Death Race a couple of weeks ago, so I'm sure he'll put me in my place at the next race.

I held 7th place until the bucket carry, which is where I caught up with Glenn Racz and was relatively close to Junyong Pak. Both had to do burpees on the log hop, which was the only reason I caught up to them. And I almost lost it on the log hop.

Pak easily stayed in front of me thanks to his speed and endurance and finished almost two minutes ahead of me. Glenn was a close 7th and only about 10 seconds behind me.

Injury? Something popped/tore in my right shoulder when I started the monkey net / cargo bars obstacle just before the finish. Will have to baby it for awhile.

Shoes blowout? Yes. They're shot. But Reebok is going to refund me for them, since this was only the third race, and they're designed to hold up to these races.

Next up? DC on July 26.

Ready to race...PA Sprint this Saturday

Saturday is my first race since May's Mud, Guts, and Glory race. I'll be at the Pennsylvania Spartan Sprint at Blue Mountain Ski Area in Palmerton, PA.

The Athlete Guide says the course will be 4.9 miles with 2000 ft of elevation gain. It is a ski area after all. Mud, Guts, and Glory was 5.3ish miles with 1200 ft of elevation gain.

Since I've not been racing, I've had a chance to get some quality workouts in...hope they pay off:

• 20.2 mile long run on trails
• 18.2 mile long run on trails
• 9.75 mile long run with 20 lb vest
• 12 x 400 workout
• 3 x mile of a hill
• 5 x 1000 workout
• 43 mile ride
• 56 mile ride

And a number of "Hunter" workouts (8x100, 6x200, 4x400). I think my speed is improving, which is cool for someone that's always been not speedy.

And--maybe more importantly--I've added obstacle training to my workouts, which includes:

• Spear throwing
• Bucket carrying
• 60 lb sandbag carrying
• Rope climbing

I feel more confident about the spear throwing, but you still only get one chance. 

The rope climb should be cake this time and allow me to not lose any spots.

Support LOVE146 and train at Mud, Guts, and Glory on June 28

Come support LOVE146 and get some OCR training in Saturday, June 28 at Mud, Guts, and Glory.

LOVE146 is working to end child trafficking and exploitation. Obstacle racer and personal trainer, Patrick Harner of NRG Fitness, is organizing the training session and asking that participants donate to LOVE146. Patrick will hand out the donation links for his team's fundraising page during the training, so no need to feel like you need to donate now.

Training starts at 9:00 a.m. Patrick will discuss how we can help LOVE146 overcome child trafficking. And I've been recruited to demonstrate how we can overcome MGG obstacles.

Get registered here for training: http://mudgutsandglory.com/#theTraining

The training session fee is $10 if registered for Mud, Guts, and Glory's race on August 16 or $30 if not registered.

- Chris

P.S. Why 146?

Mud, Guts, and Glory Race Recap

Well, it wasn't Hunter McIntyre. It was David Magida.

Another amazing Mud, Guts, and Glory event with 500+ participants. Being a spectator was free again, and the "Glory Village" offered spectators and participants plenty to do.

I didn't hit my sub-59 and went about 2 minutes slower than last time due to the following reasons:

1. Failed to hit Goliath in the head with a paintball using a slingshot (later learned I could have hit any part of his beard and face..doh!).
2. The "carry five pieces of firewood" obstacle was replaced with a "carry two 5 gallon buckets filled with something" obstacle along the same path, but the path was twice as long.
3. The Start was pushed back about 100 meters, which was a good thing.

While I'm thinking about it, rumor has it the OCR World Championship version of the course will include 3 more miles on top of this already challenging ~5.3 mile course.

Jeff Bent and another guy took the pace out quickly, but I hung back with Pak and Magida. Magida probably thought I was just following him, so I ran along side and then pushed ahead a bit at the top of the first hill. Within the first mile, I found myself in first, which I held until we reached the mud crawl before the monkey bars. It's probably a good idea to reach the monkey bars in the top 5, so you can be first in line for one of the rows of bars.

Someone remembered to connect the battery to the wires above the mud crawl, because they got me this year. It took a few shocks to slow my roll down, and then finally crawl out. At that point, the mud was thick. This nice coat of mud made the monkey bars even more challenging, but I was able to get most of the mud off of my hands and cross without any issues. Pak took over the lead at this point, and I think Magida and I reached the other side of the monkey bars at the same time. We went through the gauntlet together and traded 2nd and 3rd through the second stage.

Things went downhill when we reached Goliath at the top of stage 3. But I must say, I knocked out my 30 burpees with ease. However, Pak and Magida were gone at that point and 4th, 5th, and 6th arrived. 4th and 5th hit Goliath, so we left together for the log carry. At that point, I was 6th. We hit the traverse, which uses old light poles (they can be harder to wrap your legs around). When my feet hit the ground (successfully making it across), I was off like a mad man (looking back, I'm not sure what was going through my head since I was running down hills you probably shouldn't run down). From the traverse, you head down a hill to the creek again and make your way to the rope climb. Up the rope I went (glad they put 1.5" ropes on) and then started trekking up the first of three major climbs. (The second time I ran the course on Saturday--yes, I ran it twice--I didn't use the rope on this first climb and it almost felt easier or at least faster.)

I held 3rd from that point to the finish. Scaled the walls. Weaved through the Weaver. Repelled down the cliff. Climbed back up the cliff. And slide down the water slide. Boom. 3rd place. 1:01:55.

Pak was 1st in 56:28. Magida 2nd in 59:08.

In other news, Jeff Cain of OnMyWayToSparta.com invited me to be on his team a couple days before the race. I'm completely humbled by this invite and was honored to be on the team. The team was stacked (usually "Schapman" and "stacked team" don't go in the same sentence) with Magida, Boone, Banawa, Kauder, and I. We won the fastest team award.

The next Mud, Guts, and Glory race is Saturday, August 16. Sign up early. And run lots of hills before then.

- Chris

Mud, Guts, and Glory...round 3 this Saturday

Mud, Guts, and Glory's third race is this Saturday (May 24). Rumor has it that they've recruited Hunter, and I think Magida is signed up. And Pak will be back. So...my chances of a repeat 2nd place finish are slim to none. But I'm excited they're able to attract this level of OCR talent to Cincinnati. It's great for the sport, so who cares if I don't come in second to Pak...for a third time.

http://mudgutsandglory.com

The course should be about the same, but I'm expecting at least a few changes. I've not run the full course since the last race, so who knows what surprises are out there. They were planning to make it longer. The goal is to get it up to 7-8 miles for the OCR Championships, but it's been in the 5-6 range.

My plan is to go out with the lead pack and hang with them as long as possible. If I can nail Goliath in the head with a paintball, then I should avoid any penalties.

My goal is to run sub-59, which would be an improvement on my 59:45 from last time. After I finish, I plan to run it again with my wife and brothers. Nice cool down.

We'll see how it goes.