Get up and move.

Another good ESE this year.  It seems to change a little every year.  This year there was a lot of “fuel” companies there.  Some of the fuels, like the ZuKay Live Foods, were good, while some of the fuels, even while claiming to “natural fuel”, had various dyes in them.  Once again I found a couple for very cool races I might do and Laura found a sweet triathlon that's right up her alley (Snowboarding, Mountain Biking and Running).  One race in particular that I am considering is the Spartan Race.  While an Adventure Race is no Ultra it does present a unique challenge which is one of the reasons why I love Ultras in the first place.  An Adventure race isn't just a run, it has obstacles and mayhem to slow you down.  To complete one you have to be a good runner and have overall physical fitness along with mental toughness.  Unfortunately, the only one near me is a Spartan Sprint (3 miles plus obstacles) but I’d like to try the Beast (12+ miles plus obstacles).  The part of the Spartan Race that I think I’m looking forward to the most is the fact that my Daughter will be running the kids version on the same day! Many runners, for some reason, bash these adventure races and I fail to understand why.  No doubt that some people come out of an adventure race thinking their invincible but when you look at the large portion of the country that rarely even gets off the couch, in some ways it is hard to argue.  Here's my take on the Adventure Race scene, why I like the idea, and why it’s really Primal.

If you’re a great runner, at any distance, you won't necessarily be a great adventure racer.  If you're a great weight lifter, you won't necessarily be a great Adventure racer.  In order to be a great Adventure Racer you’ll need to be great at Functional Movement.  You’ll need to be able to run at a sustained pace, be able to sprint up, under, or around objects, climb up and under things, and lift heavy objects.  Sounds a lot like what our Hunter-Gatherer ancestors would most likely be doing on a near daily basis right?  The way we pack ourselves into gyms nowadays just to look a certain way is just so wrong. You’re not developing functional movement by being able to do 20 pull-ups; being able to do 20 pull-ups means nothing other then you’ve trained your body to do 20 pull-ups.  That won't help you actually climb a tree, pull up on a branch and swing your leg over it.  You’re simply teaching your body to get good at a single repetitive motion. In an Adventure Race you’ll be doing so many things throughout the race the only way to prepare is to develop functional movement.  How do I do that you may ask? Simple, go play.  Ever see kids working out? Nope. But they are fast and agile and strong.  Why? Because they play, they go out and they run around and play tag or climb trees or crawls through the mud.  There is no structure, their bodies are being worked in different and new ways every time they run out the door.  Their bodies don’t know what to expect so it develops speed, stamina, and strength to be ready for anything.  That is what we, as humans, were meant to do, be ready for anything.  So, next time you're going to “work out”, instead, play tag with your kids (if you have them) or go climb a tree.  It will be way more fun than the gym and you’ll develop real strength from it.

Photo curtosy of Rick Steelhammer