For the first week after, I pretty much nothing workout-wise. Okay, I did a day of pushups and a day of pullups lasting what, twenty minutes each at about 50% effort. This weekend I did a lot of walking around New York City just for fun. Until I spotted an adult-sized playground down on Riverside Park at 105th Street. Suddenly the juices started to flow. But I get ahead of myself.
That first week after a race like ABF Mud Run (a 4+ mile, 50+ jam-packed obstacle race) is almost all recovery, starting right at the finish line. My wife loaded me right up with protein, carbs, electrolytes, and water. Same thing all week.
Honestly, I didn't even feel like working out this week. Physically, mentally, and emotionally, I did not feel like it. Is that typical for someone my age? I don't know. I'd like to hear from others out there.
Tomorrow I will be ready to go at it full blast for training. My focus will be on manhandling that Destroyer obstacle from ABF. It looks deceptively simple. But if you can't do a single motion pullup to muscle up or a single arm pullup for the super elite, then you ain't doin' this obstacle. And nobody but the designer of that wicked thing did do it last Saturday. That's a good thing. We need to fail obstacles sometimes. We need to know where to grow and how to do it. I will be on the high bar doing those single motion baddies until I can do them unassisted. I have about a month until my next race.
And that month is about the right amount of time for me in between races. I love to see the younger folks go at it every weekend. I wish I could. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Any masters level runners out there every weekend of the season? What's your secret?
A little more about the ABF Mud Run last weekend. Forget that it is my home course and that I train there year-round. Literally overnight a few new obstacle popped up there to surprise me Saturday morning. I loved them. They kicked my butt. Threw me into the penalty box. Kept me humble. Taught me some lessons about where to improve. You see, at the end of every training session, Chad asks us what was easiest and what was hardest. For me, the obstacles used to be easy. With these newcomers to the course, I have something to work up to. Not just the individual obstacles, but one after the other after the other. No recovery in between. You gotta be able to endure a constant onslaught of upper body, grip, leg, forearm, and especially, mental strength. Otherwise, these things will waste you quickly. I loved every second of it.
I can't wait to train on it again and run it again in October. These obstacles were not rickety things of wood. They were solid, home designed, metal monsters. Unique to ABF, they are worthy of any elite runner out there to come and try them. I expect there may be one or two new ones in October.
The bar was set high and it pushed my to my limits. So my reboot time may be lengthier than yours. My time between races might be longer than yours. But I will tell you a secret. A lot of people come up to me and ask me how old I am. "53" They want to look as good when they get to be my age. Now that might inflate the ego a bit, but that is not the point. My buddy Larry Cooper put it right. He said, "Don't brag to me about how great you are at 20 doing OCR. Let me see you going at it strong in another 30 years. Then I'll be impressed."
It's a lifestyle of fitness. That means endurance. My reboot is long? So what. I'm loving every moment, setting the standard for a lot of people who are hungry for help, a better life, and a little bit of someone caring about them along the way. That's not asking too much. ABF delivered in a huge way last weekend. They're family.
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