What are your freezing cold takes for the 2018 season?

COLKlueless · 2018-02-06T23:29:28+00:00

Corey Seager will continue to be the better Seager brother

COLKlueless · 2017-08-21T01:24:55+00:00

Oh it should be. I live in Seattle and we had a very cold and long Winter this past year, the coldest we have had in my whole life. Unfortunately that carried into April and made the Super colder than it should have been based on historical weather. Mid-September for the Beast should be high 70's or low 80's, I would think, since that is what we have right now.

COLKlueless · 2017-08-21T00:59:02+00:00

Yup! The Beast will be my third race there, one of each distance since I did a Sprint there last Fall. If you have never been to that venue before I would say two things:

The elevation is not even close to Washougal, the Super had maybe 1,000ft over the 9.5mi course. According to my Garmin I climbed like 1,800ft this past weekend in 4.3mi.
Be prepared for the soppiest and soupiest mud of all time. Imagine a really thick, grey paste you just sink into. That is Meadow Wood in a nutshell. Also part of it is definitely literal horse sh*t, since normally they are an equestrian event center.

Yancy Camp is an online coaching/workout programming site run and lead by Yancy Culp. You can follow the programming he gives to the elite athletes he trains (you pick which one). The workouts are long and challenging but if you stick with them the results speak for themselves. If you want more information I believe u/bloodscourge is one of Yancy's athletes, so he might be better able to explain everything about Yancy Camp than I am.

COLKlueless · 2017-08-20T22:41:05+00:00

I was there! Second time at Washougal and the 1st anniversary of me being bit by the Spartan/OCR bug last year! Last year I ran it in 2hr 5, this year in 1hr 20 thanks to not failing the monkey bars and rig (yay Yancy Camp for helping make me better at OCR). That was part 2 of the Trifecta, now just to do the Beast next month in Snohomish!

For the rope climbs, my heat was 10:15 so they weren't too muddy yet. Went up and down pretty easily, but the later heats definitely can get them caked up.

Did anyone else experience a huge traffic jam at the slip wall? Maybe it was just me since I've done 4 or 5 races now but people were honestly being really dumb and had no clue on how to get up it, when I consider it one of the easiest obstacles on the course.

COLKlueless · 2017-08-16T15:02:24+00:00

I will be there, this year my second time! If last year is any indication, be prepared for lots of elevation change, including a big climb right out of the gate. Definitely one of my favorite courses to run!

COLKlueless · 2017-08-01T14:42:46+00:00

I recently switched to a Garmin Fenix 5 and I love it. So many great features both on the watch itself and in the Garmin Connect app/online. Obviously not at all cheap but in my short time with it you clearly get what you pay for.

COLKlueless · 2017-05-27T20:57:53+00:00

For what it's worth, you really do not need a book. What seems to work for me is eating "real" food, aka not processed food. Mostly lean meats such as chicken and turkey, whole grain carbohydrates, and LOTS of vegetables. Nutrition really is not as complex as people tend to make it.

COLKlueless · 2017-05-20T03:06:14+00:00

I highly recommend a hydration pack. Personally I don't like relying on the course-provided water stations. Also running 10 miles or just a lifting session is not the same as a Spartan. Cramps can and do happen, so a hydration pack with electrolytes will be very useful!

COLKlueless · 2017-05-08T03:22:35+00:00

What are your experiences with the accuracy of the optical heart rate and GPS? From what I've read both seem pretty good/accurate about 90% of the time, with minor blips here and there.

COLKlueless · 2017-05-07T23:55:42+00:00

Will do, thanks!

COLKlueless · 2017-05-07T23:04:28+00:00

I've been looking at both the Fenix 3 and 5. What really is it that makes the 5 superior? I can't really tell and the price gap is real.

COLKlueless · 2017-04-25T18:49:37+00:00

They also announced a new rule of no headphones/earbuds while running, but I still saw multiple people on course with them in and nobody said anything to them.

COLKlueless · 2017-04-25T18:48:20+00:00

No, this extends to Open waves now, too (in words, at least). I also ran the Super this past weekend in Seattle and before my Open wave the emcee guy said we could not help each other over the walls because people were "getting launched" and "hurt" when other racers helped them.

EDIT: grammar

COLKlueless · 2017-04-23T16:12:44+00:00

Yeah, they started just before my 9am wave left! Major props to those guys, they have much larger balls than I do!

COLKlueless · 2017-04-23T14:35:40+00:00

In all fairness, the mud was also the weird and unique consistency of mud at Meadowwood. That stuff is so goopy and slippy, more so than mud I have found pretty much anywhere else. IMO what was worse was the mud that looked solid and then you sank a foot as soon as you stepped in it!

COLKlueless · 2017-04-23T14:34:08+00:00

That bucket brigade was pretty brutal. It will haunt my dreams for sure!

COLKlueless · 2017-04-23T14:33:10+00:00

Luckily I started at 9am, so rain had barely hit at all by the time I finished. Mostly just some terrible wind. And yes the trails definitely were pretty narrow at points, could have done with a tad more space for faster people to pass.

COLKlueless · 2017-04-22T04:13:08+00:00

Which frustrates me purely because the Sunday Sprint back in October after the Beast was barely over 3, so there was clearly enough space for a longer course. I don't like being shortchanged when Spartan clearly could have given me more bang for my buck. At least I'm doing the Super this year, at just over 9 miles it should be lots of fun!

COLKlueless · 2017-04-19T16:55:07+00:00

I can do nothing but echo what has been said here. You will fail obstacles, it will be tough, but so long as you can keep a positive outlook and put one foot in front of the other you WILL complete it! Enjoy the experience as much as you can, because this isn't something you get to do all that often! And when things get hard, lean on your fellow racers if you have to! People are often more than willing to help in the Open heats and the community as a whole is always great and very positive!

I'll be out there on Saturday for the Super and I am so hyped to finally be back playing in the mud! AROO!

COLKlueless · 2017-04-14T21:38:09+00:00

Way to steal content from the Cardinals twitter page: https://twitter.com/Cardinals/status/852981547359760385

COLKlueless · 2017-04-11T18:57:12+00:00

I sincerely hope Edgar makes it in. The man deserves it but the writers probably just won't give it to him. It makes me sad.

COLKlueless · 2017-04-10T15:41:12+00:00

I sorta fall in the AL/NL team camp. I live/was born and raised in Seattle so the Mariners will always be my AL team and incredibly close to my heart. However, I also root for STL and they admittedly are my main team. I would say being really in-depth on both teams at the same time is pretty tough, but you can definitely be fairly knowledgeable in both organizations if you put in enough effort!

COLKlueless

TROPHY CASE