2018 My OCR Journey...

A New Year!!

It seems as we get older, the years pass by quicker. 2018 was no different. The year was filled with many highs and many lows, but I got through it, like I do every year. Here's a recap:

Obstacle Racing

Compared to 2017, I ran far fewer races, but challenged myself to longer, endurance type events. May 5, 2018 Toughest Mudder South (Austin, Texas) was a blast. It was an 8 hour, 5 miles, 25ish obstacle course, in which you complete as many laps as possible. The race starts at Midnight and finishes around 8:30am. Yeah!! I know, it's longer than 8 hours. :-) Best of all, I travelled with one of my friends JD. The travel was as fun as the race.

Officially, I complete 4 laps (20 miles) and realized I had a number of areas to work on. I tired quickly towards the end and obstacles were hard to complete, but never fear I had a plan. The plan seemed quite simple. Run more, lift more and increase that grip strength. 

Let's just say, things don't always go according to plan. 

Something happened on my journey and I fizzled out. I wasn't sticking to my workouts and life just go in the way. 

August 2018, NorAm (North American OCR Championships). This was a goal of mine for 2016 and 2017, but I couldn't manage to qualify. In my 2nd race of 2018, I qualified by winning my age group at Bonefrog Talladega. I was shocked. I must have printed the results sheet 5 times and it never changed. An unexpected surprise.

NorAm consisted of 2 individual events, a 3k and a 15k event. It's also a mandatory obstacle completion race. It's simple. You receive a band and if you fail an obstacle, you give up your band. You do have multiple opportunities to repeat the obstacle. (I lost mine both days)

The 3k race was quite fun. I was soaking up the surrounds and admiring all the great athletes. The 15k was a different story. The event takes place on a ski resort in Stratton, VT. The day of the 15k was horrible weather, rain and fog. The distance and elevation highlighted my lack of training. Something happened and I'm not sure what. I lost or left something that day that I wasn't able to get back this rest of the year. 

The continued lack of training led up to Worlds Toughest Mudder (WTM). This has always been a dream of mine. A 24 hour, 5 mile loop course. For me, this is the event of events for a Journeyman OCR athlete. It was an opportunity to test myself and push myself beyond anything I've ever done. 

A freak cold weather spell rolled through Atlanta that week with below freezing temps. I certainly wasn't expectation that. I won't bore you with the details, but I quit. I simply gave up around midnight. I was a beaten man, cold, sore and no will left in me. It was my first and only DNF.

I don't know what's in store for 2019 yet. I have signed up for a few races. My training has picked up in the last month or so, but I won't commit to WTM until I can be more consistent in my training. 

What  bothers me most isn't being ill prepared, its quitting. I felt broken and defeated, but I do have pride and want to seek redemption. Will this be my motivating factor? Stay tuned in 2019!!!!

Shannon