For those of you who have been following along throughout the year, you have a good idea of what the year looked like. For those of you that haven’t been, there were both successes and failures.
In the success column — 8 Triathlons (including 4 Podiums and being part of the first-ever all Adaptive Tri), 4 OCRs (including a Holy Grail), 5 different Athletic camps (including scoring my 2nd TD at Notre Dame), and being recognized by the Tough Mudder community for my accomplishments during the season.
In the failure column — having to scratch a total of 6 OCRs (2 due to safety, 4 due to school / injury) and failing to complete the season without injury. And for those of you who might be worried, the injury at WTM was minor and I’m able to run. I was just worried I might injure it further in Florida so soon after WTM.
While there were speed bumps, hiccups, and struggles, the successes far outweighed the failures. I am truly grateful to everyone who supported me through both the successes and failures, along with all of those who provided me with so many opportunities. THANK YOU to all of you!
As I look forward to 2025, I am mindful that 10 years ago, none of this was planned. Ten years ago, Terri and I were focused on which Triathlon was going to be the “one and done”. I knew nothing about Dare2Tri or any of the other organizations that I’m part of at this point.
But because I said yes to those opportunities, I’ve been able to do so much. Yes, some of it has been scary at times; yes, I’ve second-guessed myself a couple of times (AKA WTF am I doing?). There have also been a couple of times that have come close to breaking me. See the 2019 Pleasant Prairie and 2022 Leon’s blogs for more details. But the support of so many has helped me to work through those challenges.
As I prepare for another 46-week season that will include a long list of Triathlon, running, OCR, and other events, I’ll leave you all with this piece of advice. Even if it scares you, say yes to the opportunity. Even if it isn’t perfect, trying and failing (safely) is 5000 times better than just saying no and sitting on the couch.
To that point, my first OCR of the year will be in the snow. It also includes an obstacle that will definitely be a mind game. But I’m up for the opportunity. If you want to join me, the Abominable Snow Race (ASR) is on January 25th in Lake Geneva, WI!
“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.” ― Jack Kerouac The simple words are “Thank you”.
After Chicago and Pittsburgh, I thought I was ready for Tampa (WTM). While I was right in some regards, I was wrong in others.
Going in, I believed that I had a solid plan to hit both an initial goal (30 miles) and a stetch goal (50 miles). This included having access to a Pit crew, guides, and support crew. It also included having what I thought was the proper nutrition in place for 24 hours on course.
After going through registration, talking through the Adaptive Athlete parts with Evert, and getting everything set up, we were ready to go. Sean did his normal and amazing pump up intro, and then we were off.
Because of my vision, I relied on my guides for footing on the terrain. As I learned during the first lap, this was not a course that I would be able to run. This was because of multiple roots and holes, along with sand and other pitfalls. So before we even finished the first 5 mile loop, I knew the stretch goal of 50 most likely would not happen.
While most of the obstacles were closed on the first loop, I did have to tackle Mudderhorn. With the help of the Men of Mudderhorn, I made it up onto the cargo part of the net and then over.
After about 15 minutes in the Pits, we headed out for the second lap. By this point, it had become overcast, which made it harder for me to see. Also during this lap, a lot more obstacles had opened. Prior to it, we had agreed to do the lap without the harness and see how it went. While it wasn’t always “comfortable”, I made it over all of them with help from the team and others. Pyramid Squeeze was probably the hardest of these, as the cargo net kept you low (instead of being able to get leverage from standing). And getting my shorts caught in the knot anchor at the top was a lot concerning — thankfully one of the team was able to get me disconnected.
While it was definitely the most scary obstacle for me, Shawshanked was also one of the most fun obstacles of the lap. As a brief description, you’re crawling under barbed wire and then into a tube, from which you dive out of into water. Being a bigger guy, I wasn’t able to get the right positioning within the tube to jump out forward. So having to trust that I would clear the tube and hit the water properly was a lot. The night platform diving from 5 years ago when I couldn’t see the water helped with the fear though, and I made it through.
The sun set during this lap, which made some of the later obstacles (including the second trip on Mudderhorn) more difficult. But after 20-30 minutes in the Pit, we haded out for the 3rd lap.
By this point, all of the obstacles were open. There were some that I was able to do (like the longer Kiss of Mud, the improved Cry Baby, Cage Crawl, Arctic Enema, Sand Jacked, and others). But there were a few I had to bypass or take the penalty at for safety reasons. It was during this lap that “Energizer Bunny 2.0” (aka Kali) started to emerge. That will come into play later.
After finishing the third lap, we made a substantial pit for real food. This was where I made a mistake with nutrition. I thought that Raumen would be great on several levels. However, as I found out on Kiss of Mud, it was not. I spent most of the obstacle burping up the meal. Once I made it through and was OK, the rest of the lap was similar to lap 3. The main differences were that the gator didn’t check in on us (I guess 1 AM was after its bedtime), Energizer Bunny 2.0 did work, my left knee became very painful, and Ian dumped between one and two full pallates of ice into Arctic Enema. As in Pittsburgh, I slipped at the exit and fell back in because of all the ice. But a big difference between 75 to 80 in the sun during the day (Pittsburgh) and 69 in the dark (Tampa).
After completing lap 4, I was cold and disheartened. The crew helped me to get to the fire and I also put on my jacket. It still took a good 30 – 40 minutes to get the core temperature back. My left leg was hurting so badly that I didn’t know how I would get lap #5 in. It was at that point someone from the Orphan Tent (sorry that I’ve forgotten their name) offered a massage. They said ‘this is going to hurt, but it will help’, and they were right. Also, one of the team helped to fix the insole, which was slightly bunched up (and may have contributed).
Shortly after sunrise, we headed out for lap 5. It was extremely painful, especially as both legs started hurting by mile 23. I know that lap 5 would not have been completed without EB 2.0. 🙂 When I crossed the finish line, Sean was there to greet me. Brittany, who was one of my guides at Pittsburgh, was also there. You can see the finish video here.
While it wasn’t perfect or even as intended, I did complete 25 miles. I am extremely grateful to everyone who helped me to make it to that point. Thank you.
The next day at the awards brunch, I was presented with the Accomplishment Community Award. I am grateful to those who nominated me and supported me for it. You can see the full awards ceremony on The OCR Report’s YouTube channel.
While there were challenges throughout it, I believe I had a successful year. Between 2 hour crab walks, an extra loop, and on course struggles, there was a lot that went “wrong”. But there was also a lot that went right.
Throughout the course of these races, I went from needing to have the harness to even try a climbing obstacle to being relatively OK doing them without it. And I know that I’ll continue to get more comfortable the more obstacles I do. I also found a way to work through the mental challenges of the courses. These races may start as physical, but they turn mental the further you get into them. As I mentioned above, 18+ hours in (around mile 23) became a mental game.
Because Pittsburgh has been scratched, and WTM is in the UK, Chicago will be my only Tough Mudder weekend in 2025. But I hope to see a lot of you out there! If you want to save on your race entry as you join me in Chicago, or you do any other 2025 race, check my IG bio for the current discount code!
Last year, I had planned to do my first Spartan race in Dallas (Granbury). But the Welcome2Running camp was that same weekend, which was the priority. With the camp earlier this year, the Spartan Trifecta Weekend (21K Beast, 10K Super, and 5K Sprint) worked. With guides (Jaime and Cheyenne) and support crew from More Hearts Than Scars in place, we headed out onto the course for the Beast race.
For this race, almost all obstacles that you failed had a penalty loop (usually about 1/4 mile). This was different from the Tough Mudder races, and both good and bad in its own rights.
While I won’t go into all of the obstacles, there were some early successes on some of the smaller walls (both with and without the harness). and failures on the grip obstacles, we made it through the first few miles at a decent pace. Then we headed into a long stetch of hills and rocks.
I slipped on one of these and tore myself up in a couple of places. Thankfully, the support crew had the liquid bandage stuff, which helped a lot. Once we had it out of that part and to an aid station, I ran into a sauna.
For those of you who have used port-a-poties during a race, you know they can be hot from the sun. Having one in the 90+ degree heat for 4-5 hours was like sitting in a sauna. But it was the only option… Once that was done, we moved on to the first of the heavy carry obstacles — and once through, onto more stable path. At least, that was what I thought…
Instead, we ended up in a gravel quarry followed by 1.5 miles of the remains of the quarry and hills. To say it was rough terrain would be an understatement. And to illustrate the point, it took us 93 minutes to go a single mile in it.
At some point within this area and rejoining “solid” ground, we came to a wall obstacle. At this point, I was mentally drained and wasn’t fully thinking about the initial plan. So instead of usin the harness for the nine foot wall, I went up without it. The group was able to help me get up, and was on the other side to help me down. But it took me a good five minutes on top of the wall to “settle” as I felt it moving and knew I didn’t have any support. (harness).
By the time we made it back to the more “stable” ground, we had been out for longer than I had planned. We still had three miles to go at this point. So after a grueling, long barbed wire crawl, we headed to the finish.
Even though the terrain was “better” than the rock quarry area, it was still a challenging 3 mile trek. This was topped off by a final climbing obstacle that you had to go over to finish. It took everything I had and help from the group to get over it.
While it wasn’t pretty or as intended, I did cross the finish line. I am extremely grateful to everyone for sticking it out with me. It was an extremely long day of course.
As I sat on stage post-race, all sorts of emotions went through me. The largest one being disappointment over how the race had gone. It took time, but I was able to work through all of that and finally enjoy dinner (lesson learned about buying food at the site…)
While my mind wanted to do the remaining two races the next day, my body did not. We decided as a group that it wasn’t safe to try and push it. While I didn’t complete the Trifecta here, I will try again before year’s end.
Five years prior, Catapult had hosted their first Tri camp at Camp Olympia (Trinity, TX). As I mentioned in that blog, platform diving was so much fun — and opened doors to more fun things. So when Catapult announced that the 2024 Welcome2Running camp would be back at Camp Olympia, I was really excited to see that!
Having spent a fair amount of time working on running in 2024, I was excited to continue pushing at camp. Unfortunately, an unexpected session derailed that.
After introductions, Day 1 began with us running loops (first small and then increasing to larger ones with a hill). Eric helped with the pacing, and the session seemed to go well — especially as I was able to go beyond the initial walk / run interval schedule.
Between lunch and the second run session, we had pilates and strength. Even though I’ve never done pilates before, I could tell that the instructor was pushing at an advanced level. I know that I pulled something during the session, which impacted my run for the rest of the camp. I was able to work through it during the strength session and most of the second run, but then it hit hard.
The second run session of Day 1 started with metronome run sessions (to work on speed and turnover), followed by terrain training. As I mentioned, my body was hurting so much from pilates that I couldn’t get much effort during the terrain part.
I had hoped to get platform diving in when we gathered at the pool later that night. However, they had set up the lighting for the night on top of it. So instead, I swam laps and tried to stretch out the legs. Unfortunately, that just made things worse.
Day 2 started with a long run. My legs were still hurting so much that I had to walk it. After a stretch session (bands) and a TRX session, we had the second run session of the day. This included the tire pull and then running laps. As with the morning, my legs were still not in a place where I could do much, so we walked it out. Once the session was over, I found ice and remembered passing out for a bit. When I came to, the pain was a bit better.
Day 3 was the community run. By that point, my legs were a bit better. While it was still painful, I was able to run it.
While camp didn’t go as I had hoped, I still learned a lot during it. I am grateful to Catapult for the opportunities and to Eric for guiding me.
Earlier this year, I was made aware of the first-ever all Adaptive Triathlon and Camp. At the time, it was scheduled for April and I already had commitments. But then it was rescheduled to September, which meant I could attend!
After the introductions and check in at the hotel, we headed to a local pool. While it was great to be in cool water, the pool went very heavy-handed on the chlorine. It was so bad that I had to stop evry 50 yards to clear out my mouth. While this created some interesting challenges, Paul helped me through them. We also had the opportunity and privilege to learn from two-time Paralympian Kyle Coon.
After about ninety minutes in the pool, we transitioned to a run session along the paths around the pool. After doing some drills and short runs in the heat, we broke for the day.
After a very long dinner (due to slow service times) and sleep, Day 2 started out with a run session in the Texas heat. From what I was told, it was 101 degrees with 80%+ humidity. So it was like running in a sheet of water. Really not the most fun — especially when the run workout included tempo work. While it definitely wasn’t ‘fun’, I made it through. And the experience would pay off later on…
After a break, we transitioned to being on the bike. I’m extremely grateful that House of Tandems came up from Houston to provide bikes and support for the camp. I would not have been able to participate without their support!
We started out with some basic riding and drills, eventually transitioning into turns. Even though it’s been more than two years, I still have some residual issues from the crash in May 2022. So when we went into a turn too sharply, I felt anxiety creep in. After a brief stop and talking through things with Paul, we headed back out with the group. I was comfortable enough to do a ‘tandem Grey Poupon’ later in the session.
After lunch and a break, we headed into the lake for the first of the open water swims. This was the first time using the new tether that Andrew had made for me after someone walked off with my old one at PT Nationals. This first session gave Paul and me an opportunity to refine the tether while also working on communication and stroke.
Day 3 was a shorter one, which started with another open water swim followed by transition practice. Things seemed to go better with the second swim, and the transitions seemed good. After a long break in the hotel, we headed to a pre-race banquet / presentation.
As part of the camp welcome bag, there was a personal letter from the Mayor of Pflugerville. This was very nice, and something that I had not seen at the multitude of camps / races I had been at before. During the dinner, members of the City Council joined us. It was very nice to see the entire city behind Scott’s efforts!
Going into race morning, I was prepared to finish the season strong. This was my last outdoor Triathlon for the year, and my last Tri until the indoor ones in early 2025.
The race start was done with each of us starting 5-10 seconds after one another. I ended up being the first in the water, and the swim went well. Even with the time from swim out to the T1 line, I was on target with where I wanted to be.
After a T1 that was roughly half of most of my 2024 times, we headed out on the tandem. The season had started with hills in TN, so it was only fitting that it ended with hills in TX… While we were aware of ‘two large hills’ going in, they didn’t mention the other 10-15 that were out there… But even with all those hills, we still managed a respectable 17 mph. So all the frustration in the Knoxville hills (including when we were at 1.9 mph on a 9%+ grade) paid off!
After a solid T2 that was in line with most of my other 2024 T2s, we headed out for a run in the Texas heat. Up until that point, there had been some cloud cover, so it hadn’t been that bad. While I don’t remember the first 2 miles, I can tell you about the last mile. At that point, I was hurting and wanting to just give in. But Paul helped to continually push me. Having water bottles at the second aid station was also crucial, as it allowed us to have a steady water source for that last part.
While there were a couple of bumps, I felt it was the most solid race I’ve had in a while. The icing on the cake was having Kyle put the race medal around my neck. Hopefully I’ll be able to find that photo.
Thank you to Scott for the opportunity and all of the volunteers and support people that helped to make it possible. Thanks again to House of Tandems for ensuring that we all had tandems. And thanks to Paul for guiding and Para Guide for all their support!
When I planned this 5K race, I didn’t know about the Tough Mudder Infinity that I’d have to do the day before. But I managed to get a minimum of 15.6 (but really probably 16.1) miles before heading out that morning.
Even after two epsom salt baths the night before, my left knee was still tight. But I was able to get it almost completely stretched out before the race started.
Going into the race, my plan was more of a walk/run. Especially after 8+ hours on course the prior day, I didn’t think I’d have much of anything in the tank. But I was wrong…
After we started, my focus was to run until my legs became tight and then go into walk/run mode for the rest. But that never happened. While it wasn’t break-neck speed, it WAS the first 5K that I’ve been able to complete without having to stop.
I did pass up the aide station as I was concerned about a repeat from Houston 2023. And where I was at with consisentcy, I didn’t want to have the last mile be a ragged run. We were able to finish right before the kids’ race began.
Thanks to John for all his help and guiding for me!
For those of you who haven’t read Eyes of the Dragon, the context is one of the later characters and one of the main characters racing back on a sled dog team. That quote is what’s said to the lead dog — it’ll make sense shortly…
After the painful crab walk in Chicago, I started trying to figure out World’s Toughest Mudder (WTM). This included going down the rabbit hole of all the details around the race. One of which showed that I needed to also do an Infinity (8 hour) race before WTM.
So in very short form, I started trying to find guides and how to get between Pittsburgh and Cooper’s Lake. As painful as the Chicago crab walk had been, it did have a silver lining (as I had mentioned in the last blog). Several people from Chicago who were in the Pittsburgh area saw me struggling through it, unwilling to quit. So when I asked for guides and help, many were willing to do so. Also, a friend of a friend (Jenny) volunteered to be a Sherpa.
Going into the race, I was under the impression that I only had to do two loops to obtain the minimum 13 miles. Even though it’s listed as 15K and 5K, the 5K loop has been 3.5 miles of prior races. So I didn’t see too much problem for them to add .1 for the 15K loop. However, pre-race, we were told that it was strick Kilometer to Miles conversion, so you really needed 2 5K loops after the initial 15K loop for it to count.
Also prior to the race, several of those helping me (both of the official guides and one of the support crew) said they were planning to race in costume the following day. This led to one of them (Ben) deciding to do the Infinity race in costume, to which I said ‘come dressed as a guide dog’. While he didn’t have that costume, at least both Brittany and Rob were (ears, tail, etc.)
** LOOP 1 – 15K **
After Sean’s normal pump-up (video is on IG at @nocrappyexcuses), we were off. Before arriving at the first obstacle, we had to go through creeks and ravines.
When we arrived at Kiss of Mud, Rob and Brittany helped with the positioning so I could get under the barbed wire fence. They and at least one of the support crew from the side helped with positioning so that I wouldn’t have the fence. While this crawl was far more mud that Chicago 2024, it was still far less rocky than Chicago 2023 had been.
After more running through creeks and ravines, we next arrived at Skidmarked. While I didn’t realize it from the pre-race descriptions, this was the obstacle I ran into significant issues with at Chicago 2023. That was because I messed up with the leg positioning at the top (as I did with Pyramid Scheme at Chicago 2024). This time, I had a harness and rope along with the knowledge of what I needed to do to not screw it up from the top. Even with all of that, I still almost screwed it up — but made it work.
Next up was the first Devil’s Beard of the course. Having the group with helped to make it through the obstacle.
Next up was an obstacle that I intended to bypass for safety reasons and complete “alternate” penalty for. I had fallen twice at Chicago 2023, so I didn’t want to chance falling again. But Ryan helped to “persuade” me into at least trying it. And while it wasn’t great or pretty, we did make it over with the harness and rope.
Next up was the Block Ness Monster, which is a fun water obstacle. It’s also a great opportunity to get some of the mud off. With the help of others, we were able to get the blocks turning and over both.
After Block Ness was a Mud Mile that was more challenging than RTM Chicago had been. This was because the pits seemed deeper and the water level was lower. Also, unlike RTM Chicago, there weren’t ropes within the pits to help you climb out. It took all of the group and others to help get through the obstacle.
After Mud Mile, the course split and we headed towards the woods. But before getting there, we encountered Laying Pipe. This was a holding and swinging obstacle. While I tried a couple of times, I just couldn’t get it to work, so I had to give up a penalty bracelet.
For safety reasons, my guides were told race morning for us to skip the next obstacle (Texas Hold Em). So we headed into the woods and “concrete mud”.
What I mean by that is the path through the woods was a 4×4 trail, which had ruts to begin with. It had been raining overnight, so it was a solid, muddy mess for about 4.5 – 5 miles, with obstacles put in. There were a couple of points where it tried to suck my shoes off. There was also one point where we needed the rope to get over a slippery mud slope/hill.
In the middle of the concrete mud, the first obstacle we encountered was Cry Baby. This was a 20 ft crawl through a pipe filled with methan gas. While that would have been challenging enough, the ground which you had to crawl over was littered with sharp rocks. Honestly, the crawl was several times worse than the actual gas.
The next obstacle we encountered in the mud was Hero Carry. As this was not possible due to my / size, we had to go with the “alternate” option.
Next up was Pitfall, which was a watery pit that then had holes within it. Prior to the race, we had decided that one of the guides would go in front to find the holes and be able to guide me through them. That worked out fairly well…
The next obstacle was Just the Tips. As with Laying Pipe, this one was a no-go, and cost another penalty bracelet.
The next obstacle up was Electric Eel. At RTM Chicago, I had gotten shocked a couple of times when I had more flexibility in my lower body. With how the legs were at that point, I believed I could get shocked several more times (far more painful in water), so I opted to give up the penalty breacelet.
The next obstacle was Hangin’ Tough, another upper body/swinging obstacle. After the experience on Laying Pipe, I had to give up the peanlty bracelet.
The next obstacle was Ladder to Hell, a climbing obstacle. With the guidance of the guides, I was able to find a safe path over and up and we continued on.
The next obstacle up was Funky Monkey. This is one which I will always have to skip for safety reasons. While I know I’ll get better with the stable swings (pipes / rings / bars) over time, trying to judge a rotating set of bars with the vision I have is a no-go. I did give up the penalty bracelet here.
As we finally came out of the mud somewhere between 8.5 and 9, Brittany saw Lumberjacked and the grassy area around it. Jenny was also in that area. While I don’t remember if it was before or after Lumberjacked, she told us that the plane had been delayed by 55 minutes at that point. In 40 years of flying, that has been the one and only time that I’ve ever been excited to hear about a delay! It also gave us a little breathing room to get the third loop in.
Out of the 4×4 tracks, the first obstacle was Lumberjacked — essentially two 8-10 foot sawhorses. The guides and others on course helped me to get up and other both of them.
Next up was Everest, which I have continually had issues with. This was the obstacle in Chicago that led to the crab walk. I did have to give up a penalty bracelet here.
Up next was Arctic Enema into a second Devil’s Beard. Going into the race, I had put on a set of Under Armour because it was colder in the morning. Having that paid off extremely well during the rounds of Arctic Enema — especially as they kept adding ice into it. Once through and up, we completed a second Devil’s Beard like the first.
The last obstacle was Electroshock Therapy, and I gave up a penalty bracelet.
After getting through the penalties and getting some fuel in, we headed out for the 5K loops.
** Loops 2 and 3 – 5K **
Loops 2 and 3 are very similar to loop 1. The obstacle list went from Mud Mile into Lumberjacked for the 5K (skipping everything mentioned between).
I did have to go with the “alternate” penalties and giving up penalty bracelets more on these 5K laps. The most notable thing from these laps was Mudderhorn on the first 5K lap.
When we arrived at it, my left leg was having problems getting “lift”. But I still went up onto the slick wall and into the cargo net. When I got onto the net, I started having trouble going up. I was concerned that I would fall, so I started trying to come down. But with the slide wall, there wasn’t any real way to get down. So for about 5-10 minutes, I played pickle on the obstacle — stuck between wanting to go down and up. I did finally find a walk to work through the pain, and with help from the guides, made it over. But it was a struggle.
Also, when we made it to the split and went into those woods, I was told a 3 mile sign was at the apex of the 180. However, it was far more than .1 mile (528 feet) between that sign and the finish.
As we were doing the 5K loops, Jenny helped tremendously by keeping track of the time for us. This helped with knowing where and when to really push. WIth the penalties after the 3rd loop, we still finished with twenty minutes to spare.
As I was changing, all of the emotions hit me. It was nice to have that semi-privacy to let go of everything that I’d had pent up over the last two laps. I was so tense about trying to get through those 2 5K laps and obstacles in roughly 3h 20m.
Thank you to Rob, Brittany, Ryan, Ben, Steven, and so many others on course for their help. Thank you to Dan, Scott, Ben (Spartan), and Joan for their help behind the scenes. And thank you to Jenny and Dan for their hospitality and to Jenny for being a super Sherpa. 🙂
With both the Infinity and Toughest checked off, the final step to obtain a Holy Grail is WTM.
“[…] I’m a stronger man by far. There is power in me yet. […]” – Les Miserables
Last year’s Chicago race was simply about finishing. I struggled throughout it, including falling off of Berlin Walls and almost falling off of Murderhorn. It was also a very slow slog overall — I think somewhere in the 3 – 3.5 hour range for 3.5 miles plus obstacles.
Between that race and this year, I had had the opportunity to be in Vermont. As I mentioned in that blog, I came away stronger in several ways. Also, implementing the incremental changes that Don talked about helped tremendously.
Even so, I was nervous going into the race. Simply because the race was going to be in the dark for the first ten hours. But I knew I would be safe — I had two strong guides in Scott and Anna. Also, Scott B. (Producer) had provided information pre-race that helped to quiet a few of those concerns.
Prior to the race, I had purchased a harness, rope, and carabiner to try and help with the climbing obstacles (specifically Everest and Mudderhorn, but others as well). While the rope was the proper strength, it wasn’t thick enough. While Scott B. was able to help find rope, we weren’t able to find anyone to help tie proper knots mid-race, so we were without the harness for the race.
After setting up our Pit area (well, really just dropping things), we gathered with everyone for the mass start.
For this race, almost all of the obstacles were closed for the first lap. They opened on a rolling schedule, so if you ran fast enough, you could get two loops in before the early obstacles (i.e. LumberJacked / Sack Up) opened, and a third with minimal obstacles before the late course ones (i.e. Everest and Electric Eel) opened. Since you received a “skip” bracelet for each loop starting at #3 (approximately 15 miles), you could time skipping your most challenging obstacle if you were fast.
This was not the case for me. While I was able to get a decent first lap (Mudderhorn was the only true course obstacle I had to do), the second one was a challenge. I believe that if I had had the harness, I might have gotten a third and fourth loop in. But that was not to be…
On the second loop, the first obstacle we encountered was Lumberjacked. These are wooden hurdles (maybe 8 – 10 feet high). Scott and Anna helped with a boost up onto each, and I was able to get up/over both.
After a brief run, we made it to Sack Up. This was a relatively easy obstacle for me. The biggest challenge was getting through the path when I couldn’t see it. But Scott and Anna helped with that aspect.
Next up was the Mud Mile. This year, there seemed to be more pits and several of them seemed deeper. Both Scott and Anna helped to ensure that I could safely get into and out of them. Getting out involved using one of them for a boost, the installed ropes, and the pre-made hand/knee holes outside the rim of the pits. Even still, I did fall back down into one of the pits because of the slippery mud around the edges. But we did make it through safely.
After this, we made it down to the creek (with me going down between the guides) and across. The creek crossing is always a great opportunity to get mud from Mud Mile off. You’ll end up with plenty more before crossing back, it’s just about getting the first layer off…
Next up with Kiss of Mud, which was a bit better than last year. I expected another gravely mess (which tore up my knees last year). This time, it was more sand than anything else. Both Scott and Anna helped to ensure that I kept myself low enough to avoid hitting the barbed wire.
After that, we headed to Block Ness Monster. We did have to wait a few minutes until others showed up to help rotate the blocks. But once we had enough people, it went fairly smoothly.
The obstacle after that was Well Swung. For safety reasons, I skipped the actual obstacle and went to the penalty.
Once the penalty was complete, we headed to Just the Tips. While I tried this one (hanging and moving laterally) obstacle several times, I couldn’t get past getting off the platform. I think I would have had more success with the harness. But since I couldn’t complete it, I had to do the penalty.
Next up was Funky Monkey, which I again had to skip for safety reasons. Once we made it through the water base, I completed the penalty.
Next up was Cage Crawl, which is a water based obstacle where you’re crawling under a cage. Both Anna and Scott helped me throughout this, expecially as I got caught a couple times.
Next up was Berlin Walls, which was “skipped” for safety reasons. I did complete an alternate obstacle instead.
After that was Pyramid Scheme, a climbing obstacle. While I made it up the face of it just fine (using a rope that was on the obstacle), I had issues at the top. Like last year’s “inverted log” climbing obstacle, I had my legs in the wrong position when I made it to the top. This meant that I couldn’t easily turn around to climb down the A frame. Scott and Anna tried to help coach me through it, and a couple of other competitors tried to help. But I just couldn’t safely reposition myself. So I ended up having to come down and complete the penalty.
After making it back across the creek and up the cargo net, we headed to Ladder to Hell. While I was able to get up the first two steps, I just didn’t feel safe without the harness. So we had to move on.
When we made it to Everest, we were about 4 hours in the loop. That wasn’t bad given I couldn’t run as much in the dark/mud the second loop and I’d had to do several penalties. And then it all fell apart…
While I have intentionally excluded what the penalties were for prior obstacles, I will talk about the one for Everest. This is because others have already publicly commented on it and seen me doing it.
When we got to Everest, there was a rope, and I was able to get about halfway up. But without the harness, I just didn’t feel safe enough to make that stretch/grab between the sets of knots, so I headed to the penalty (crab walk). It was a 200 yard penalty, which in the dark took me almost two hours. I’ll admit that crab walk has never been my strength. I’m sure that I also lost time/distance by unintentionally going at angles since I couldn’t see anything. Scott and Anna helped throughout that ordeal, and helped to reposition me and ensure I wasn’t hitting posts. There were a couple of points in the first 100 yards that it almost broke me. But I was able to draw strength from what I had been able to work through in Vermont.
After almost two hours of a very choppy, very tiring crab walk, my legs were spent and I was exhausted. So I limped over to the next obstacle.
Arctic Enema was up next, and it actually felt really, really good. If there hadn’t been a sizable crowd at the obstacle, I would have tried to stay in for a little longer to get more feeling back in my legs. Scott and Anna helped me to get under the barricades, and we made it out.
As we went from Arctic Enema to Mudderhorn, I remember saying to Scott that I didn’t know how I was going to do it. My legs were so spent that I was afraid of falling off. As this was a mandatory completion obstacle, Scott/Anna were able to find others to help. It was a very slow trip up and over, but we made it through safely.
As we were standing before Electric Eel, I had a discussion with my guides similar to the one I had with Scott last year. While it was Electroshock Therapy instead of Electric Eel last year, the conversation was still about which would hurt the least.
While the penalty option would have been the best, I wasn’t confident that my legs would hold out for it. Also knowing that there was water knocked out the running through it option. So I went with the crawling option, with a volunteer helping to be our eyes from above. Even with all that help, I did get hit by the wires a couple times. And yes, they hurt a whole hell of a lot worse in the water…
After completing this lap we were done. The crab walk had killed my legs, and the opportunity to try another loop. At that point, it was 4:30 AM and the race ended at 8:00. In a best case scenario, it would have been 5-5:30 before I would have been “ready”. But my legs would not have supported a third lap, and there wasn’t time to get through it in a best case scenario. Crab walk had killed things. So we spent the time trying to walk out the cramps in the Pit and meeting people.
While it was a challenge and painful at times, it was also a lot of fun. Thanks to Scott B. for all of his help, Scott and Anna for their help and guiding me, and all of the others on course who assisted (especially during Murderhorn and Electric Eel on the second loop).
And there was a silver lining to the painful crab walk. More on that in the next blog…
This race had been on my list for a solid year. I tried to make it work in 2023, but the timing just didn’t work out. I also tried to make one of their July 2024 races work, but the logistics just didn’t.
Prior to going into the race, the RD (Marc) had worked with us so that this race could potentially count as a Nationals Qualifying race. I really appreciated him / them (FSService) doing that. It did mean that like Glenview, we would be the last ones into the pool.
Once we were in the pool, it seemed to be a solid swim. I believe we were out about ninety seconds behind where I wanted to be. But I was OK with that since I couldn’t see anything in the dark pool area.
After making it through a little bit of a gauntlet to get to transition, I had a very solid and extremely fast T1. I believe it’s the fastest I’ve ever gotten through T1.
On the bike, we had lots and lots of hills to deal with. I would guess that they were 6-7% grade. Not as bad as they were in Knoxville, and even on the worst of them (those with false flats), I still managed to make it up.
Even though it’s been more than two years since the crash in Texas, I am still working through comfort issues on ths bike. This reared its head as we were going 30+ downhill. Having Paul as the pilot and guide at that point helped tremendously. Not only did I know that he’d keep us safe in that moment. But I also knew from experience that we had done 22 into and through curves (prior to the TX crash) without any issues. Therefore, instead of panicking, I was able to just curse out my anxiety…
After a normal T2, we headed out on the run. The run course was most of the first mile of the bike course. This meant that all of those fun hills we had done on the bike came back again on the run… Even still, I was able to put together a fairly solid walk/run through it and finished strong.
Thank you to Marc, Rob, and the rest of the FSService staff. I cannot wait to do my next race with them. Check out their race calendar at fsseries.com. Thank you to Paul for all his help and guiding!
Since my initial race at Naperville, I have constantly tried to figure out the best way to handle the swim. If I go in too early (clean water ahead), then I get swum over by the Elites. If I go in at the end (clear water behind), I end up having people climb over us as we pass slower swimmers and catch people at the last turn or two. Maybe someday I can crack the code on this…
After arriving and finding a very “quiet” and “subdued” Chris (that man needs a megaphone for 2025… :P), we headed in to set up the transition. Because of how things ended up with setup, we were racked in with the kids section (but still in the same general area as usual).
As mentioned at the beginning, we had the “people climbing over us” issue in the last couple of turns. Even still, it felt like a solid swim until that point.
After coming out of the water, we then made the long trek to where the bike was racked. Things were going well in T1 until I couldn’t find my second bike glove. After a mildly frantic search as the clock ran, I found it in the last place I expected. I didn’t notice it was still in my helmet when I put it on…
After that was sorted out, we went out and had a fairly solid bike. We did have a minor crash on the first U-turn, which led to us dismounting and manually turning the bike around during the second loop.
After a normal T2, we headed out on the run with a plan for the hills (especially the one up into the bridge). While it became a run/walk at times because of both the hills and heat, the run was OK.
Even though there were a few hiccups, the finish time was where it should have been. Subtracting the time lost in T1 looking for the glove and for the crash would put me at about where 2023’s race was.
Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped to make this a great race! Thank you to Joe, Dave, Bill, and everyone at 10X for all their help. And thank you to Scott for all his help and guiding.
