I am grateful that humans use their hands to type, because if we were to use our feet, this post will never exist. This is because right now, my feet feels like it’s been crushed by an elephant.

My calves are killing me and walking has never been so difficult. You might be wondering how did I  inflict such pain upon myself. Well I was stupid; I joined a 21km obstacle race.

I’ve never been a huge fan of running long distance, if you need to travel that far, you might as well sit in a car with your air-con on with Nicki Minaj on the radio that would probably be much more comfortable.

However, I took part in this race with a few of my good buddies and decided to experience something new.

Little did I know the agony that awaited me.

The obstacle itself wasn’t tough; it was more of the running in between the obstacles that took a toll on me. In the end, I completed the run and well was somewhat satisfied.

It was definitely a painful good experience and I’ve learned a thing or two from this race. So I thought it would only be fair to share my experiences, mistakes and how to train for an obstacle racewith you. Just in case you are ever considering taking part in an obstacle race.

Experiences

1. Having a base of strength makes everything easier.

It is obvious that I am a proponent of heavy lifting.

I did not exclusively train for this event but throughout the first 10km, the run wasn’t all that tough.

It was right after the 10km when the cramps started to take place which then made things a tad tougher.

To me, the obstacles wasn’t tough all that tough. Jumping up walls and climbing monkey bars are sort of my thing and I attribute this to my foundation of strength I have.

When you are strong, you can build other qualites upon that foundation. While I did not perform any training similar to the obstacles, the squats helped me generate enough force to jump over walls while pull-ups helped me perform the monkey bar with ease.

So in anything you do, realize that strength is absolutely critical.

2. Being a leader is no easy task

I was chosen by my friends to be the leader of the team. While this was simply a title given for the purpose of filling up the form, I learned a lesson in regards to leadership.

I finished the run last when most of my team members completed it 15 minutes earlier. You might be thinking that shouldn’t the leader be the fittest and be ahead of everyone?

While having strong capabilities and abilities is important as a leader, I find that the ability to empathize with your team members is far more important.

In any situation, a team will comprise of people with different skill set and abilities. Some might do well, while others will find it hard to complete task that others deem as easy.

This is when the leader comes into play. The job of a leader is to place themselves in the shoes of those that are facing trouble. Only at that point, will the leader be able to guide the members to excel in completing a task.

I stayed behind to ensure that if any of my team-mates were facing difficulties, I would be right beside them to push them on. I did this because I know the feeling of being left behind while all your other members are far far away. Honestly, that feeling sucks, big time.

With that being said, each everyone in the team completed the run with style.

So while staying in the forefront and leading by example is important, a leader must also learn to how to lead from behind. That can only be done by actually knowing what it feels like to be behind.

A leader leads not only from the front but also from behind, that can only be done by knowing what it’s like to be behind.

 

Mistakes

1. Not training specifically for the task at hand.

I dislike long distance running which is why any form of long distance running was not in my training. This was a big mistake I made, and because of that, my feet is now paying the price.

Specificity is highly important for any sport or competition you plan to compete in. If you are competing in a sprinting event, you need to sprint. Competing in a high jump event means you need to practice jumping and or in my case, if you are going to do a freaking 21km run, you need to run long distance!

Training for your specific event will help your body condition itself to the specific demands place on it. This will help your body adapt better on the day of competition and will help you perform better.

Not training specifically for your event is like trying to hammer a nail with your eyes close when you have never ever touched a hammer in your life. Pain is guaranteed.

2. Not using comfortable footwear

Whatever you wear in an obstacle race is bound to get really dirty. With all the mud and water you will be putting yourself through; your mother might not even recognize you after you are done.

That being said, it is common to try and wear lousy clothing so that once you are done you can dispose  it. This could be applied to your shirt and shorts, but never opt for a lousy pair of shoes if you were to go for an obstacle race.

Running 21km was already a major discomfort for me, now top that up with sucky footwear and multiply that by four hours. That was exactly what my poor feet went through and now its hating me for it.

If you plan on running an obstacle race filled with mud and grime, get yourself a pair of trail shoes. These shoes are built to withstand abuse and can be easily be washed once you are done.

It might be a little pricey, but the price is definitely worth paying compared to the price your feet will pay.

A couple of good shoes would be the New Balance Minimus Trails, Merrel train gloves and Vibram five fingers. Besides these shoes can also be use in the gym or for other outdoor activities that are not just limited to obstacles runs.

So get yourself a pair of good shoes and save yourself from unnecessary agony.

How to train for an obstacle race

1. Train your legs

This is obviously  important since your legs would be carrying you around the entire run. If you have weak legs, you will definitely find it hard to finish the entire run.

While the general squats and deadlifts does a great job of strengthening the legs but my preferred movement to train the legs will be lunges.

This is because lunges allow you to train each leg instead of loading both the legs at once. This has greater carry over to the obstacle run when you encounter some weird obstacle that you will need one leg to push your body up.

So go while with the lunges, here is a video that demonstrate what a lunge looks like.

2. Train the pull-up

During the run, there will definitely be a monkey bar obstacle that requires you to swing across. Unless you prefer being drenched in stinky mud water.

Training the pull up will strengthen both your grip and lats to prepare you to swing past the dirty mud water.

If you can’t do a pull-up start with the lat-pull down machine then as you get stronger, try hanging from the bar. Or even better, head outside and start practicing on the monkey bar near your park.

3. Train Explosively

Most obstacles you face will need some form of explosive moment. Be it jumping over a ledge, or pushing yourself up a wall, all these movement would require some form of explosive strength. 

Therefore adding some explosive training would be beneficial during the obstacle run. Movements like clapping push-ups and box jumps will have great carry over to the obstacle run.

4.Train for specificity

As mentioned above, specificity is highly important in any sport you are doing. So in term of an obstacle run that requires some form of distant running, you need to run for long distance.

Most obstacle runs does not solely happen on flat ground so doing the runs on incline surfaces or hills will definitely help. Lastly, if you are available to find up the obstacles beforehand, it is advisable to find a similar modality to practice those obstacles.

 

 

 

Did I just convince you to join or not to join an obstacle run?If you’ve ever participated in an obstacle race what was your experience? Leave a comment below and share this because you might have some friends crazy enough to participate in an obstacle run.

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