Conquer the Gauntlet Iowa Race Recap

If anyone has been reading my blog recently, not that I've been actually writing that much, you would have read in my post "The Next Challenge" that I am going to be tackling a Spartan Race Beast in Breckenridge, Colorado.  In preparation for this challenge I have changed my eating habits, started working out more and in different ways, and even resurrected Spartan Race's #Spartan30 squat challenge.   I'll write a separate post on some of those changes.  Since I'm doing all of this, and my buddy that I'm doing it with figured we could use some real life training and he talked with his buddy William about the Conquer the Gauntlet series.  We got an opportunity to volunteer and run the race in Iowa on a short notice.  Like REALLY short notice.  The race was this past Saturday August 5th, 2017 and we talked about it (and signed up) just a few days before the race.

I was even able to get Caden (12) registered to run it.  He ran Mud Factor about a month prior which was short of 2 miles and he has ran 5k before.  So, I figured this was going to be a pretty good challenge for him as well.  I confirmed with my buddy and the rest of the crew that would be running with us that they would be okay with him joining.  They were more than enthusiastic to have him join.  Checking out the potential obstacle list I knew there would be some that I would not be comfortable with Caden doing as you need to know how to swim.  Caden is learning, but knowing that the water would not be see through in order to be able to see if he was struggling I was not comfortable with him even attempting some.  Other than these obstacles he at least attempted all of them.  I was so proud as he was able to attempt and basically complete them all.

I'm not going to lie, this course was kind of brutal!  The course was just over 4 miles by my Garmin, but a couple of other competitors mapped just below 4 miles.  So, we'll call it "roughly 4 miles." There was some ups and downs as you go in and out of a creek that runs through the property several times.  Those climbs were muddy at the bottom and loose soil with nothing to grab above there.  None of us (or any other competitor that we saw) was able to complete the pegboard.  There were balance obstacles that we did some pairing on to complete.  Most OC Racers don't train for balance necessarily, so I was the one that was able to fare better in these.  The biggest guy with the "best" balance....HA!  The Cliffhanger is their monkey bar section. They threw a surprise in when you got halfway up the 1st side and the rungs spin! Yeah, that was a shock to my forearms.  My buddy bested the Stairway to Heaven with ease.  The Belly of the Beast was a cargo net that you start atop a platform and climb down the inverted underside of the net to ring a bell.  Once we hit More Cowbell (the rope climb) I was surprisingly able to climb the 1st half of this soaking wet rope.  I tried several times, but don't have the skills yet to climb it.  When we got to the end the Torpedo was a fun water slide to take right before the finish line to get you soaked.  The negative to this, needed to go volunteer a few minutes after racing.  All in all it took Caden 2:27:05 to complete and he did awesome!

Caden posing with Deadpool, Spiderman, and She-Thor. They ran in those costumes!

Afterwards Caden rocked in helping to volunteer.  He walked the entire kids course a few times in order to clean up while we tore down the obstacles.  He helped to tear down and carry things to be loaded.  It was a great experience to share with him and a group of race friends.  I recommend checking out the race series if you want to run, volunteer, or both!  It's a "small business", but the owner is there doing everything himself.  He doesn't just own it.  He was there setting up, running it, tearing down, and loading things up.  You can check out the pics that we got for FREE from the event and photos that we took during the event below.  I still have to download the GoPro footage that I captured.

There are still 2 more weeks in the Resurrected Spartan Race #Spartan30 squat challenge.  Be sure to join and you can post your fun with the challenge!

Here's a cool replay of the course we ran at @conquerthegauntlet Iowa on Saturday. #conquertheguantlet #relive

A post shared by Cecil (@vermule) on Aug 8, 2017 at 4:23am PDT

Until next time, keep those beats coming!

The sun on the rise on our way.

We are sardines!!!

Slack line

Atop the A-frame Cargo Net

Caden tackling the Pegatron!

I swear this is my motto, so it is fitting we found this sign mid-course.

Log carry

Caden starting under the Belly of the Beast.

I actually had enough strength to conquer the Belly of the Beast.

My buddy finishing the Stairway to Heaven.

Conquering the Cliffhanger.

Looking like I was doing good, but I failed.

At the finish!

Caden's Race Results

Nebraska, Spartan Race, Inov-8 and Giveaway

You might be asking what Nebraska, Spartan Race, and Inov-8 have in common.  Well, the answer is me!  I signed up to run the Nebraska Spartan Sprint in Lincoln, NE on Saturday October 12th, 2013.  Inov-8 has a persona that they created called the "Masked Mudder."  They choose a different Masked Mudder for each event.  I was lucky enough that they chose me for this one.  So, what did that mean!?  That meant that I got to run the race with some awesome gear.  They gave me a couple of their Wrag 30s (See more HERE) to wear for my "mask," a special Masked Mudder jersey to wear, an awesome race pack, and a free pair of shoes to represent in.  Oh yeah, I also got to give some away.  They gave me several wrags to give away with codes written on the inside for free shoes!  Now how awesome is that?!  I had several winners, more than I even expected.

Training image to get used to the "mask."

My Masked Mudder gear. Inov-8 Trailroc 255, Inov-8 Race pack, Masked Mudder jersey, lots of wrags!

Now, since I live not far from Lincoln there wasn't a pre-race trip really.  It was a short 35-45 minute drive that a few friends and I made.  Now, I had joined the Spartan Street Team in order to help promote the event.  I was wanting to participate in the event that much.  If you want to race you can click the link to the top-right and save 15%.  You can also contact me directly and I'll help out.  One of my buddies even volunteered at the event.  During pre-race we got to take some pictures, I even handed out some swag.  I had connected with a few people on the Blackshirt Spartans group on Facebook that were looking out for me.  I only came across one and he let his wife draw a wrag.  And she won a pair of Inov-8s!

My 1st Inov-8 winner.

This little one drew for her mom,
not a winner but cute still.

Pre-race Selfie

Now, this event was A-MA-ZING!!!  It tested not only my endurance, but it also tested my (non-existent) upper body.  During Tough Mudder I had both tested, but you are "allowed" to skip an obstacle if you feel that you can't perform it or if you fail in your attempt.  At a Spartan Race you aren't allowed to skip or fail otherwise you feel the wrath of the burpee.  Most people in fitness have a love/hate relationship with the burpee.  And I am no exception by any means.  I did at least 120 burpees while doing the race.  I know for sure I failed the spear throw (harder than it looks), the rope climb (made it halfway before slipping), the monkey bars (couldn't believe it!), and something else that I'm not remembering.  I know, I'd remember if I had wrote my recap closer to the event.

Barb wire crawl

Traversal Wall

Under the wall through MUDDY water I got a mouth full!

Most people get a cool "over the fire" picture, I got just after landing.

Spartan pugil hit to finish.

And now I am a Spartan after 3.8 "wonderful" miles and 120+ burpees.

The feeling you get when you finish is just awesome.  You are dirty and sore, but you are almost ready to run again or find your next event.  I know that I will probably be running the Nebraska Spring again in 2014, but I want to run a Super Spartan or even a Spartan Beast.  Eventually I would like to earn my trifecta!  In order to do that you have to run all 3 types of races (Sprint, Super, and Beast) in 1 race season.  I'll get there one day, but until then I'll support my fellow Spartans that have the ability to do it.

After the race I cleaned up, put on my finisher's shirt and gave out the rest of the Inov-8 wrags.  Each picture has a winner and a winner.  One a winner because they finished the race and got a wrag, the other because they did those and won a free pair of shoes.  Can you guess which one in each picture won?

After the race I switched from my Inov-8's to my Bedrock Sandals.

I also went shopping for some Spartan gear.  I got the tank on the left for my future Spartan 1 year old.  The band on the right I got for myself with my free $5 credit that came in my registration!

Now that we've had some picture overload, how about you check out this awesome video next!?

That's right folks!  For those that haven't been able to run a Spartan run, or even if you have you will be able to watch the championships on NBC tomorrow!  And in honor of this, Spartan has given me a code so that one of you can run your choice of Spartan.  Yes, that means you can win entry!  All you have to do at a bare minimum is claim your "awesome entry" and your name will be in the hat.  If you'd like more entries, there are some other things you can do.  Like follow Dreadmill Drummer in the different ways you can, tweet daily, follow +Spartan Race on Google+, follow @SpartanRace on Twitter, like Spartan Race on Facebook, and I may even add entry methods.  So, be sure to check back in order to find out those.  I do need to apologize ahead of time to any non-continental US readers as this giveaway does exclude you.  I'm sorry, it's not my rules.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Until next time, keep those beats coming!

Orange Pain....A Tough Mudder Kansas Recap

Before the race

Now, I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted.  I am WAY behind.  I have this post to finish and I have Spartan Race Nebraska that I have already run 2 recap, and I have a Tiger Balm review and giveaway to post, but for now let's get down to the meat of Tough Mudder Kansas.

So, picture this if you will.  You are at a friends birthday dinner and you know that afterwards you are all going to go out somewhere.  Now picture everyone else around you having a drink or 3 while you are drinking water in order to make sure you are hydrated for your run the next day.  Well this was me the day before Tough Mudder.  Now picture looking at your alarm clock after you set it for 4:15 A.M. so that you can get ready and drive for 3 hours to meet up with the rest of the group that is doing the run with you.  And then reading it say 12:13 A.M.  Yes, again this was me.  Now, after you do get to sleep imagine waking up and looking at the clock at 2:00 A.M. and thinking you overslept only to realize that you've barely slept.  I did that until my alarm finally went off about every 20-30 minutes.  Even know I was only running on a few hours of sleep I was still pretty energetic.  I think I was really excited about the run.  So, as my wife lay there sleeping I finished getting myself ready.  I had a 3 hour drive ahead of me to Topeka and I was ready.  The drive down was quiet to say the least with nobody else with me.  It was a pretty cool sunrise, and I think I got myself a little worked up as I was going down.  I got to see the stars, then I got the sun come up, and I even got some really cool pictures of the sunrise.

Once I got to Topeka I was able to find my friends pretty easily once they gave me the address.  We all met up at one location to get our gear on and headed out.  With my friend's inaccurate GPS they plugged in the address to the raceway and it lead us one way, and as we were going it told us to do a u-turn.  Then a few moments later it told her to do another u-turn.  So, my buddies wife used her GPS and it told us to go another way entirely.  So, instead of relying on the GPS we stopped at a gas station to ask for directions. Most of us wanted to get some water for hydration anyway and we asked the gas station attendant and he told us that the GPS would lead us wrong and told us how to get to the raceway.  Once we got there I realized that as usual I forgot my waiver form at home. So, I had to go see find in new one while everybody else got their bibs.  We met up with the more people that were running with us and we were watching some of the competitions.  There was one where people were doing tire flipping and pull up for the fastest time and all of our team said that they were not going to wear themselves out before doing a 10 and a half mile obstacle course race. We got some pre-race pictures done, got our bags checked, and decided to go line up

In order to get to the starting position they make you do a wall climb.  I don't know if anybody has watched the Tough Mudder videos or heard the speech that is given, but the MC that they have on those videos is actual one to get you pumped up and going.  I think that it is so awesome that they recognize all of the military members before you even start.  Past and present.

As the race starts the very first thing we got to run through was the shower.  And that's only because right after that you get out of it you get to jump over fire.  Who doesn't like jumping over fire.  One obstacle of this race that was very present, but well used was the concrete barriers.  It's a race track and they are everywhere,  And they use them, and use them, and use them, and use them again.  I lost count at how many concrete barriers we actually went over.  The cool part is is that you actually get to run on the race track.  So a race on a race track; not quite the purpose they intended for it but still pretty cool.  I will tell you for anyone that's looking at the videos that the ice water is really, REALLY COLD!!!  It really does take away your breath. Your best bet is to jump in, get under the barrier, and get out quick.

I will admit that all of the obstacles were challenging, but I am proud of myself of how well I did on some of them.  I completely expected to fall on "Funky Monkey" and I made it all the way across!  Now I'm getting ahead of myself because "Funky Monkey" was towards the end, but it's one of the ones I totally expected to fall.  I know my daughter Bella is loving the fact that her dad can do the same thing that she likes to do.  She loves to go across the monkey bars at school.  I will also let anybody know that the "Mud Mile" is a mess to go through.  It takes forever and there were shoes everywhere.  I can and can't believe how many shoes I saw off to the side from people digging out shoes that they thought where there's.  They were throwing them out so they can finish the obstacle to come back to only to find out that it wasn't their shoe(s) that they dug up.  "Walk the Plank" was a-maz-ing!  It was such a rush to jump off and land in that water.  There were several people who were sitting there saying, "I don't think I can do this! I don't think I can do this!"  I told them its just 2 feet and I jumped.  Technically I wasn't lying...you do jump in with just two feet.

To kind of skip around I knew "Everest" was still coming up.  It is one of the last obstacles  and I know that at other events that I have always done fairly well at.  I generally have been able to get up them in my first 1 or 2 tries, but I knew "Everest" was going to be a challenge.  Especially since I've already rubbed out several leg cramps to this point in the run.  So, as I started to run and made it all the way to the top I grabbed a hand.  I grabbed another hand  and started to make my way up.  As I was walking up the wall with assistance my grip failed and down I went.  Now I was determined to get up this wall so I went back to the gate for another try.  I ran and made it up the wall to my waist and was at the top, but I wasn't able to quite get over and my buddy Aaron and the volunteer hesitated as I reached out for their arms.  So, I went down again.  Now I am on my third try and they always say 3rd time is the charm.  So, my 3rd time I ran up to the top got my grip and got 1 leg up to the top.  My right leg was up and what would happen as I'm pulling up.  My right calf cramps really bad!  I lost all mobility in my right leg so it went limp.  I lost my grip and I tumbled down.  Only this time I knew I wasn't going to be able to make another attempt.  I limped off to the side of "Everest" and sat down.  I looked at my calf and the cramp was so bad that I could see what looked like a finger in my calf so I knew I needed a minute to rub it out and let it get better.  The medic came over to check me out to see if I was okay and offer me some water.  I politely thanked him for his help and waved him off and let him know that I would be okay.  I just needed a minute to let the cramps subside.  He asked me if I was sure and I said I was fine.  I just needed the time to let the cramp go away and that even if it didn't the finish line was right there.  I was less than a quarter mile from finishing my first ever Tough Mudder and I was going to finish and earn my head band.  Just like I thought within a minute or 2 the cramps subsided enough that I was able to get up and finish.

All that stood between me and the finish line was "Electroshock Therapy" and I wasn't stopping.  With my buddy Aaron and his wife Spring with me we kept going.  We didn't stop even as we were looking at the dangling electric wires.  We made it through and none of us got shocked!  Naturally we were "shocked!"  So as I limped to get a Clif bar and some water someone placed my orange headband on my head and I knew that I've completed an amazing feat.  I had finally joined the ranks of those that had finished earlier.  I finished it with some of my closest friends and I thought I couldn't have a better group of friends to complete this with.

Until next time, keep those beats coming!

Virtual 1/2 Recap

My very 1st half marathon.  Holy cow!  Did I just say that I actually ran a half marathon?!  Never in my life did I think that I would like running.  Let alone be able to and wanting to run a half marathon.  Once back when I started high school I asked my dad to take me out to a cross country meeting about joining.  He had me run the dike behind our house to get a feel for what it would be like to run.  I run about 2 miles, but I don't quite remember if I didn't go out because I never spoke another word and just dropped it after that, or if I didn't like running so I purposely didn't bring it up, or if it conflicted too much with my band schedule (yes I was a band geek) and I dropped it because of that.

So, I came along the idea of running a half marathon when I "found" the RunningNerds.  They created the Virtual Half Marathon and Treadmill 5k Challenge and I contacted them because I was interested in the half marathon, but I knew that I might not be able to pay for it so I was probably going to do the 5k.  The "leader" of the RunningNerds, Tes Sobomehin, contacted me back and helped me out.  So, I was able to run the half marathon at a discounted rate in exchange for helping to promote the event.  I graciously agreed to this offer.  They were giving me the opportunity to represent Nebraska as the 1st runner.  I did promote this via my Twitter account and also some on Facebook.  The basic "rules" of the run were to run where you wanted, when you wanted, and how you wanted.  This means that you plot your own course or run the distance on a treadmill.  You choose when you want to run between Dec 22, 2012 - Jan 1, 2013.  You are to then upload your time to the Zulu Racing site for the results to be given publicly.  The final results can be found here.

Now that I'm done rambling, on to the actual recap of the morning.

The day started out with the alarm going off at 6:00 AM.  I laid out my clothing the night before.  We had actually ran to get me some compression pants the night before because I realized that I didn't have any and I should probably have another layer on my legs.  So, you'll notice that most of my gear is C9 by Champion.  It's only available at Target stores, but it was certainly within my budget.  I also have my Swiftwick Sustains that a won courtesy of Larisa over at 0to26point2.  I also wore my Mizuno Wave Creation 13's that I also won.  These were courtesy of Mizuno's Mezamashii Project and Louise Cunningham over at Runners Ramblings for the invite into the project.

As I walked out the door it didn't feel that bad outside.  I looked at the temperature and it read that it was 10 degrees out.  Wait, was I really going to do this?!  Not only have I never ran a half marathon, but I also have not really run when it's that cold out.  I knew that my 3 running buds were expecting me by 7:30 AM to do what was now being called the "Polar Bear Friendship Run 2012" between us.  We were going to run around Zorinksy Lake a couple of times to make the distance we needed.  I had actually heard from my boss the day before because he runs Zorinsky regularly and had ran it the day before.  He was letting me know that the trails looked pretty good.  I had made a pit stop on the way in order to grab a bar for before and after since I didn't eat anything before I left home and a bottled water to hydrate some more beforehand.

We all started together and for about the first 2 or 3 miles we were within about a quarter mile of each other.  After that time frame we all kind of hit the stride that we were used to.  Me being the only non-military/non-fitness person of the bunch I figured I'd be last, but Aaron kept about the same pace as I.  I was glad to have him running with me to keep me company because I am sure it helped the time go by much quicker than it would have otherwise.  I wasn't opposed to running the whole thing by myself, that was how I was originally expecting to do it.  We both kept one of our headphones in, but ran together chatting as we were going.  It actually turned out to be a great morning to do the run.

After about the half way point I ran into an issue.  On my right foot behind the "ring toe" in the padding of my foot it felt like I was "rolling" a bone every time my foot hit the ground.  I was upset about this because I was already running at a pace faster than I normally run at.  I knew I would have to slow my speed so I didn't hurt myself.  I kept on running though.  The view was great and the company was great so I couldn't complain much.

As we were running along towards the end I felt some sweat running down around my mouth.  I went to wipe it away and noticed that I had ice crystals around my mouth.  I hadn't even noticed them until now.  Aaron said that I looked like Jack Frost.  I guess you can look for yourself as I took a picture.  It's in the pictures below.

Once all four of us finished I certainly felt accomplished.  We took a little different routes, but we all finished. Aaron and I took a different route so we finished first.  3-5 minutes after we finished Brian trotted in to the finish.  He got something to drink and had to leave after he "cooled off" a bit because he had somewhere to be.  Mike finished shortly after Brian.  He was what I'm describing as drone running from the distance.  He is active Army and is used to running, but not this distance and not this temperature.  He just got back from a deployment in Kuwait.  So, we was used to it being 120+ degrees. VERY different temperatures.

Below are the pictures that I took of the day:

Here is the gear I wore. 2 layers on bottom, 3 on top.  My top always seems to get colder.  I could probably have ran in shorts except that I didn't want wind burn on my legs and to end up sick.  Notice, I wore my new Swiftwick Sustains on this run. I also just noticed that I forgot to add a my Mizuno Wave Creation 13's to the picture. (Note: The link is to the 14's page as there is a new model out now.)

The view beyond my buddy Brian's car is just a great one to start a morning run.

My buddy Brian while we wait for the other 2 runners to arrive.

A quick snapshot of me.

As we start to run this is what I see. You can see my buddy Brian ahead in white and my buddy Mike with his yellow reflective stripe.

We had an onlooker that we were onlooking that was playing hockey by himself in the middle of the lake.

A quick post-race shot as we wait for all of us to finish.

And here is the 4th runner, Aaron having a post-run smoke

You have to love an ice beard!  This is even after I pulled some off.  I thought I should have a picture to share before I take it all off.  I was told that I looked like Jack Frost running!

Now, here is runner Mike and runner Aaron the night before our run.  Mistake?  Or equalizer?

Post run I added a 4th layer since I was cooling off and sweaty, but I'm still smiling!

So, what did we do to celebrate...some more beer the night after the run to celebrate the New Year as well!

Aaron was my running buddy as we ran most of the time together.

The 4th runner that we haven't seen yet.  This is Mike.  Or as he looked at the end of the run, the Dumb & Dumber Zombie.  He was "drone running" with snot frozen to his face similar to you see in the movie.

Now that all of that is done, where to next?  I guess I'll have to look forward to training.  I'm trying some interval training to increase my speed and endurance.  I was talking with Aaron and he talked about maybe heading out to Zorinsky to train more.  I guess we'll see where we end up.

UPDATE: I forgot to post my time yesterday.  I finished with a time of 2:39:36!

Until next time, keep those beats coming!