The atmosphere at the race was certainly unique.  There were some people there who were trying to get a good time, but the vast majority were there to have fun, wear a cool costume, get dirty and people-watch.  Over 6,000 racers attended on Saturday (and probably close to that number again on Sunday) in waves every 30 minutes, so the race site was always very busy with racers coming, going, running, frolicking and eating.

The event staff did an excellent job of having enough portable toilets (I did not see *any* lines ever), having plenty of food (for sale) and posting results quickly (they had a dedicated tent displaying results more or less as they came in off the course).  The packet pickup lines were well-staffed and efficient.  There was a gear check for the many items racers did not want to get dirty.  Excellent organization on their part.

The only thing I did not like about the events of the day was that spectators were not allowed onto the race course to take pictures or view the obstacles.  Race viewing was limited to the start and about a 200 meter sector of course near the finish line.  While I can appreciate this for liability and business reasons, I was looking forward to photographing all of the course obstacles before the race, which I did not get to do.

I decided to wear a compression base layer on top and some tri shorts.  If I had thought of a clever costume, I certainly would have worn that, but since I didn’t, I decided to dress functionally.  I chose tight clothing so nothing would snag on any obstacles, and I skipped a hat, sunglasses and watch for the same reason.

Here were the obstacles we encountered, in order, on the 3.02 mile race course:

• Knee deep muddy water. After running about 1/4 mile over easy terrain, the race immediately got us dirty with several 5-20 meter sectors of murky water.  This was relatively easy to navigate with some high-stepping and running in the more shallow parts.  However, our shoes were immediately muddy and soaked, which made running at speed more difficult.
• Hay bales. The course presented us with a 10 meter sector of hay bales, stacked next to each other.  The bales were about three feet tall and very soft.  Most of us hurdled onto the bales and ran over them cleanly, though the bales were soft enough that footing was unsteady enough to topple a careless racer.  This was another easy obstacle, but slightly more difficult to navigate without losing speed due to the softness and uneven-ness of the bales.
• High-stepping tires + car obstacles. We had to hurdle over some old cars, high-step through a 20 meter sector of tires, hurdle over more cars, high-step through more tires and hurdle one last set of cars.  This was one of the more technical obstacles–I saw several athletes get their legs confused in the tires.  The cars were small enough to “steeplechase” over.  I was able to high-step through the first sector of tires with no problems, but on the second sector I found myself running on the tire edges (rather than high-stepping through the centers of the tires in the “proper” fashion).
• “Over/under” hurdles. The next obstacle was five or six sets of “over/unders”–hurdling over a four foot tall wood wall, then immediately rolling under barbed wire positioned about two feet off the ground.  This was definitely the most exhausting obstacle.  Many of us “steeplechased” over the walls; I found myself hurdling them without placing my feet on the wall (just using my upper body to thrust myself over).  I could have taken the “under” portions much faster, but I couldn’t figure out how to roll quickly and I didn’t want to take any chances with the barbed wire.
• Crawl through the “mud tent.” We soon came upon a low, long tent made of black tarp.  We couldn’t see what was inside the tent–all we could see was muddy ground leading into the tent.  So, without knowing what was inside, we were forced to get on our hands/knees in the mud and crawl.  The tent was about 10-20 meters long, hot, full of mud, and almost pitch-black dark inside.  A few sections were tall enough that I didn’t have to crawl, but most of the journey through the tent was on all fours.  When I came out the other side I was completely muddy.
• Balance obstacle. We arrived at an obstacle that consisted of several narrow-ish (10″ wide) wood planks connected to each other in a straight line.  The planks went up and down at various angles, rising to a height of 4-5 feet.  We had to traverse the planks without falling.  This was a relatively easy obstacle, though I could see this being a challenge for someone who was particularly tired or afraid of heights.
• Horizontal cargo net. This was a large grid made of rope knotted at about 1 foot square intervals.  The net was held up by a framework of wood spaced about 5 meters apart, with significant sag in the net between each piece of wood.  This was difficult to navigate quickly due to the rope sag and the wide spacing of the grid (I actually lost my balance and fell into the net at one point).
• More knee deep muddy water. Though we were thoroughly dirty by this point, the water served to re-soak our shoes and make running more difficult again.
• Log hurdling. We had to run through muddy water while hurdling felled tree logs at a height of about three feet.  The logs were very close together, perhaps a stride’s length apart.  I decided to straddle and swing my legs over the tree logs, which was a bit slow but definitely “safe.”  It may have been possible for a faster racer to jump on top of the logs and actually run across them to get to the other side!
• Very long sector of muddy water. This was the longest and most challenging sector of muddy water yet.  The water was deeper (thigh level), the sector was probably 40 meters long and we had to navigate a 10 foot sandy descent into the water (and a 10 foot sandy ascent out of it).  Plus, we were 2.5 miles into the race, so we were all pretty tired.  Fortunately there was a “sandbar” on one of the sides of the mud sector so I just ran through that.
• Vertical rope wall climb. The finish line was in sight!  However, first we had to climb the rope wall.  The wall consisted of a wood platform about four feet off the ground onto which we had to jump, and then a 6-8 foot (nearly) vertical rope climb.  The descent on the other side mirrored the ascent.  Experienced climbers could definitely use their skills to gain time on this obstacle.
• Warrior fires. This was one of two obstacles viewable by spectators from the start/finish area.  We had to hurdle over two “fire walls” about a foot high.  These were more visually impressive than anything else, as a normal stride would take most racers cleanly across the fires.
• Mud pit laced with barbed wire. Just 10 meters from the finish, we dove into a mud pit and crawled through it on our stomachs.  Barbed wire laced about two feet above the surface of the mud ensured we got super dirty.  I was able to half-swim through some of the mud, and had to crawl at the end.

In the end, I was able to complete the course in 25:00.35, good for 30/959 in the M25-29 age group on Saturday and 109/6394 overall Saturday.  I probably could have been at least a minute faster had I taken more chances on the obstacles and been more aggressive with my run pacing, but I, like the rest of the racers, was there for the experience.

And what an experience it was!  I’m definitely going to do another one of these races in the future.

However, I have to take issue with Marilyn McDonald’s recent post on Endurance Corner entitled “Workout of the Month: Ironman-Specific Running.”  In this post, she suggests, for athletes preparing for Ironman, a 60-90 minute workout with 20-60 minutes of work at Ironman pace, broken up into 8 minute sets with very short recoveries.

I believe that, for the majority of athletes, this workout is a waste of time. Here’s why:  For the vast majority of Ironman athletes, the run pace in an Ironman run leg IS easy pace, or even slower!  So, the “main set” would be completed at the same pace as the warm-up.

If an athlete has 60-90 minutes to run, there are better ways to spend the time than just running at E pace. Even for Ironman, some speed work will result in greater fitness in the long run, especially for the time-limited age group athlete.

Here are some 60-90 minute workout ideas that would be more appropriate for an age-group athlete training for an Ironman.  These all aim to improve race-specific Ironman run fitness, but also take into account the need to maximize TSS for a given training time investment:

• 20-30 minutes of intervals at I pace or faster, then immediately transitioning into a 30-60 minute straight Ironman pace run.
• 60-90 minute run, starting at Ironman pace and negative splitting each mile (ending at T pace)
• run 60-90 straight at Ironman pace after a huge bike workout, say, 300 or more TSS
• 6×1 mile at Ironman pace on the track, with no watch, trying to get closer to Ironman pace with each mile rep (this would be a skills workout, and can be done multiple times in the early training periods to gauge fitness by comparing HR to pace)

I should note that there are two situations where the workout Ms. McDonald suggests may be useful:

1. Elite athletes, who legitimately run the Ironman run leg with pace, may find this workout useful as a little bit of speed work. (This is supported by Ms. McDonald’s use of a 2:48 example Ironman run, which is a super-fast pace that’s only attainable by a handful of athletes at each Ironman race.)
2. During the taper, age group athletes may find a benefit using this workout as their long run.  It’s not too taxing and gives practice running at race pace.

However, it is possible to get in some decent run training during the Gainesville summers. Here are some tips:

1. Run early in the morning.  Before the sun comes up, the temperature is usually below 75, and if you finish before 10am you’re likely avoiding the 90 degree temperatures for which Gainesville summers are famous.  It’s very humid, and you’ll be sweating buckets, but you can get in a pretty good workout if you get up super-early and finish up before you head to class or work in the morning.
2. Take frequent breaks.  You won’t be able to do your long runs without breaks, as you’ll simply overheat if the heat index is in the 90s.
3. Drink plenty of water.  I suggest that you find a loop course with a water fountain to do your summer runs.  That way, you can have regular opportunities to drink and not get dehydrated.  The city park at 34th st and 8th ave is where I do all my runs here in town, it’s a 1.5 mile loop with *three* different water fountains on the loop!
4. Run in the shade.  If the other side of the street has tree cover, cross and run over there.  Running early in the morning has the hidden advantage of having more shade opportunities, with the longer shadows created by the shallow angle of the sun.
5. Don’t do speed work.  Your body will probably get too stressed from the hard intervals, unless you’re thoroughly acclimatized to such intervals.  Strides and anaerobic endurance intervals are probably OK (as they incorporate long recovery periods), but muscular endurance intervals are usually a bad idea once it gets really hot.
6. Ignore your heart rate, if you use an HRM.  Your HR will be much higher than normal at a given speed.  Focus on your Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) instead.
7. Ignore your pace.  You will be much slower than you normally are at a given effort.  Again, measure your effort based on your RPE.
8. Wear as little clothing as possible.  With few exceptions (see tip #9), clothing gets in the way of your body’s cooling system.  Men, that means bare chests (YOU’RE WELCOME, LADIES) and a small pair of running shorts.  Women, that means sports bras  and *maybe* a singlet over it if modesty calls for it, but a covered midriff is especially bad for your core temperature.
9. If the sun is out and you’re going to be running for more than 45 minutes, consider wearing a long-sleeved white cooling shirt.  Several manufacturers make these (I bought a L/S cycling jersey from Performance for $35 that does this).  The long-sleeves and full coverage will protect you from the sun’s harsh rays better than sunscreen (which can wear down and get sweated off).  If you can keep the shirt wet with water, it may even keep you *cooler* than wearing no shirt!
10. Wear a hat or visor.  This keeps the sun off of your face, and helps to manage the sweat around your eyes.  On really hot days, the hat actually works better because you can pour water and ice in it and keep your head slightly cooler.
11. On long runs, supplement your salt intake a bit more than normal.  You’re sweating more, so you may need to increase the amount of salt you consume on your long runs.  Don’t worry about this if you’re running for less than 2 hours, though.
12. Don’t be afraid of the treadmill.  It’s a perfectly valid alternative to running outside in the heat, especially if you’re doing a short, intense workout with lots of short intervals that otherwise would be hard to accomplish outside.

So, when running in the heat, just remember to take it easy, drink a lot, wear the right clothes and not to concern yourself with trying to be Speedy McRacehorse.  You won’t be fast this summer, but you’ll be ready to go fast for your fall and winter races!

There are several different general types of running shoes, depending on how much your foot pronates:

• “Neutral,” or “cushioning” shoes provide minimal support and are usually designed for runners who do not pronate excessively (known as “overpronation”).
• “Stability” shoes provide more support to the moderate overpronator.
• “Motion Control” shoes strive to give the severe overpronator adequate support.
• “Racing flats” are shoes designed primarily to be worn during races.  They have no support, minimal cushioning and a shorter lifespan in exchange for their ultra light weight.
• “Minimalist” running shoes are designed to mimic the natural motion of the foot as you run.  They forego cushioning and support in lieu of strengthening the body’s running muscles naturally.  This new trend has seen a great deal of success in some runners.

(Note–some runners with unique needs (runners whose foot rolls *outward*–known as supination, those with extremely severe overpronation, etc) may consider having orthotics custom made for them.  These, when combined with a neutral shoe, can solve just about any gait problem, though they are expensive.)

To buy a running shoe, first go to a running store (not Sports Authority or Dick’s, but an actual dedicated running store) and have your gait analyzed.  They’ll be able to tell you what general type of shoe you need after watching you run and walk for a few minutes.

Then, figure out which brand you want.  Most quality brands of running shoes make a shoe in all of the above categories.  When choosing a brand, make sure you know what type of shoe you need (stability, motion control, etc), try on a shoe from each brand’s line of that type, and buy the shoe that feels and fits the best.

Remember to support your local running shop by actually making the purchase in the shop in which you try on the shoes, even though you probably could save 20% by buying online.  The gait analysis and the physical “trying-on” process are value-added services that are part of what you’re paying for when you buy the shoe from the shop.

Lastly, keep track of the mileage you put on your new shoes.  Running shoes have a finite life (usually 250-500 miles) after which the support and/or cushioning starts to wear down.  Don’t wear shoes beyond their intended lifetime–your knees and legs will thank you.