Down and Dirty

by Matt B. Davis

  PALEO COOKIES

  1/2 cup (118 ml) coconut oil

  2 large eggs

  1 very ripe banana

  1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

  1/2 cup (118 ml) + 1 tablespoon (15 g) coconut flour

  1/2 teaspoon baking soda

  Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C or gas mark 6). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

  In a medium bowl, combine the oil, eggs, banana, and vanilla.

  In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda. Combine the wet and dry mixtures. Spoon out cookie-size amounts onto the baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

  Makes 15–18 cookies

  I follow the Paleo diet, but in endurance events I do use GU shots or shot blocks, or whatever easy sources of energy work for me. Also, I take a protein shake within 30 minutes of every work-out, whether or not it is a Paleo–approved shake. I also have a pre-workout drink that I consume roughly 15 minutes before a workout.

  Paleo is a tool to help you listen to your body in terms of diet and find a healthy balance, including what works for you. I think it can be very individualized; for example, some people can tolerate dairy (I, unfortunately, am not one of those people) and include dairy in their diet. Paleo gives me the boundaries I need so I don’t eat sugary snacks every single day and then wonder why I feel sick or lack motivation to work out. But by stretching some of the boundaries to include foods that I have tried and tested and that improve my athletic performance, it gives me the flexibility when it’s needed.

  Friends always say they couldn’t try the Paleo diet because they love desserts too much. Two simple dessert recipes that I enjoy are included here.

  RESOURCES

  The Paleo Diet for Athletes, by Loren Cordain: excellent for breaking down the Paleo diet for athletes

  The Paleo Solution, by Robb Wolf: the original, a good read for information about the Paleo diet

  Michael Symon’s Carnivore, by Michael Symon: not the Paleo diet, but it contains good meat recipes that can be Paleo, just double-check the ingredients

  Everyday Paleo, by Sarah Fragoso: great simple recipes as well as an overview of the Paleo diet There are also numerous websites such as www.everydayPaleo.com, which have some great recipes.

  Nele Schulze is an obstacle course racer who has been racing since June 2012. She lives in New England and feels fortunate to have met a lot of other obstacle course racers in the area. She races and trains with the New England Spahtens and Team Reload Fitness.

  CAVEMAN CRUNCH

  1/2 cup (73 g) raw sunflower seeds

  1/2 cup (32 g) raw pumpkin seeds

  1 cup (100 g) almond meal

  1 cup (80 g) shredded unsweetened coconut

  2 cups (290 g) almonds, chopped or slivered

  2 tablespoons (16 g) unsweetened cacao powder

  Cinnamon to taste

  1/2 cup (118 mL) grape seed oil (or any oil of choice, you can try coconut)

  1/2 cup (118 mL) 100% raw organic honey

  1 teaspoon vanilla

  Preheat oven to 325°F (170°C, or gas mark 3). In a large mixing bowl, combine the first seven ingredients and mix well.

  In a separate bowl, combine oil, honey, and vanilla. If needed, microwave on high for 20 to 30 seconds to help it mix better.

  Pour wet ingredients over the dry seed and nut mixture, and mix well with a fork to coat. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and spread thin and evenly. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

  Remove from the oven and stir to ensure nothing burns; you can put it back in the bowl and then re-spread it on the baking sheet, if needed. Place back in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove and let cool to let it develop crunchiness and improve taste. Serve in a bowl with some almond milk or coconut milk and enjoy.

  Makes 10 servings

  Courtesy of www.civilizedcavemancooking.com

  PART IV

  ADVANCED OCR

  17 TRAINING FOR 24-HOUR AND ENDURANCE OCR EVENTS

  The Death Race will push you in ways you have never been pushed.

  Featuring Amelia Boone and Olof Dallner

  For this chapter on surviving 24-hour-plus events, I reached out to the best in the business. Here is a list of just some of their accomplishments:

  Amelia Boone and Olof Dallner have both won the 60-plus-hour Death Race, and they have finished multiple times.

  After finishing second last year in the 26-plus-mile (41.8-plus-km) obstacle race known as the Ultra Beast, Boone won it in 2013 in spectacular fashion. Dallner was the second-place male this year behind only Junyong Pak.

  Additionally, Boone won World’s Toughest Mudder in 2012 and almost every short distance obstacle race that she entered in 2013. Dallner, meanwhile, is one of a select few who were handpicked for the 48-plus-hour GORUCK Selection and completed it successfully. In addition, he won the Quintuple Anvil Ultra Triathalon in just under four days.

  For this chapter, I asked them both how they prepare mentally and physically to perform at such a high level for such a long period of time.

  Olof, How do you increase your endurance?

  Endurance is to be able to repeat an action, to remain active for a prolonged time. More important, it is the ability to endure difficulty and hardship. For many people, endurance is being able to physically perform for a certain time, such as completing a marathon.

  In my mind, the mental aspect of endurance is more interesting. I grew up inspired by people such as Thor Heyerdahl, a Norwegian adventurer and explorer who built a primitive raft and sailed it 5,000 miles (8,000 km) across the Pacific Ocean in 101 days. He inspired me to go further and explore my limits.

  Why would this have relevance to endurance obstacle racing? Often, longer obstacle races have many unknowns, or unexpected things will likely happen during the race. Some of these races are really just about finishing. It is important to be physically prepared, but you stand no chance without the right mindset. When you are at the start line, the major thing that can get in your way is your own brain. Worrying about what is out there instead of focusing on the task at hand may be your downfall. Imagine taking a step from shore onto a raft made of balsa wood to sail 5,000 miles (8,000 km) across the Pacific Ocean in 1947. There is no room for worrying about what is going to happen after 4,000 miles (6,400 km) somewhere at sea.

  Olof, how do you build mental endurance?

  My philosophy for building everyday mental toughness is to choose the worst circumstances for training when possible. When I used to get ready for a climbing expedition, my partner and I would pick a Sunday following a particularly party-heavy Saturday night to go climbing. Preferably it would rain, we would put on mountain boots instead of friction climbing shoes, make sure we were very sleep deprived, and then go climb a very exposed, mentally tasking route. This is a very good simulation for how you will feel high up on a mountain when you really need to perform.

  “It is important to be physically prepared, but you stand no chance without the right mindset.”

  This is my approach for an endurance obstacle race, too. If you are out there for a long time, the probability is exponentially higher that weather will be bad, you will be out of nutrition and water, and you will be lost and getting increasingly stressed about it. You can train for this by depriving yourself from these stressors and seeing how you react and how you perform. You will learn more about how to prepare yourself and not stress about it. Endurance is experience and knowledge.

  Once you are toeing the start line, however, it’s time to focus on the task at hand. It’s common to worry too much about what will happen later on and not focus on what is in front of you right now. It is not tunnel vision but a very concentrated focus on where you are at this very minute. What are you doing at the obstacle in front of you? Where is the trail going the next 20 feet (6.1 m)?

  Wood chopping has become a staple at OCR endurance events.

  Most elite athletes practice visualization, and there are obvious reasons for this. Seeing yourself complet
ing something in your head is a lot better than going around talking about how you are going to do something. People who are good at visualizing perform better and are more likely to finish. So the start of the race is not where you should start second-guessing yourself. See yourself going through the entire race and finishing.

  If you are in a very long endurance race with many obstacles, you’re also likely to fail one or several obstacles. You may even fail all of them. This is where compartmentalization is key. What happened at a certain point in the race can be cornered off and locked into a part of your brain. Say to yourself, “Okay, I’m done with that, did not go so well, move on.” You can learn to do this efficiently, and you will fail fewer obstacles if you can do this, particularly if you get a bad start. You should not let yourself be too emotional and let that affect the rest of your race.

  Sure this guy is huge, but a huge heart is what separates the winners at these kinds of events.

  If you end up doing a race that is very long, maybe days, there will surely be ups and downs. Your brain wants you to stop much earlier than you really need to. That is just a protective mechanism; humans should reserve energy and power for when it is really needed. If you think you have to stop, and you really can’t go further, I assure you that you would run a personal record pace if a bear suddenly decides to come after you. Experience in endurance racing will give you tools to deal with this. I think about how fortunate I am to be able to be out there and doing it. I take a look at my surroundings and smile at how beautiful things are, and usually that gives me my energy to go on.

  The naysaying voices in your head get a lot worse if you did not take care of your nutrition. Countless times I have seen people quit, take a 5-minute break with some water and nutrition, and then look dumbfounded about why they actually quit. Try to keep your emotions in line and be rational. If you are having negative thoughts and thinking about quitting, take a short break and check yourself. Most of the time, you’ll be back on track before you know it.

  Amelia, what kind of mental attitude does it take to last 24 hours plus?

  I know many endurance athletes say that you can’t even let yourself consider quitting, because as soon as you do, you’ve already defeated yourself. I disagree. I think about quitting pretty much every 24-hour-plus race I’ve done. I think you’re lying to yourself, or downright irresponsible, if you don’t consider that, especially when your physical well-being starts to get compromised—which it will. I prefer to take the event in chunks, and I only focus on the next obstacle or next task, and no further beyond that. When you start to think about where you are in the grand scheme of things (“only three hours in?”), then you start to second-guess yourself.

  You do, however, need to have a high threshold for pain and for being uncomfortable, and you need to have the ability to disengage from those feelings. But I think, most important, you need to keep the fun in it for as long as possible. If you’ve ever seen pictures of me from races, I’m always trying to smile. And, for the most part, I have a blast. But there will come a point in the 24-hour-plus events where you will hate life, and that’s natural. So find ways to have a good time while you are out there.

  You may be asked to complete tasks alone…

  Olof, how do you improve your physical endurance?

  There’s really no secret to increasing your endurance in different disciplines. To me, it seems people need to be more honest with themselves. What’s your weakness? As I mentioned before, endurance obstacle racing very often has unknown elements, and you’re likely to encounter obstacles you haven’t seen before. Identify your weakness and train to improve. Many athletes in this sport put emphasis on doing obstacles. But more specific exercises will result in greater improvement faster. If you’re a slower runner, you will have to acknowledge this and train to be faster. Long average-tempo runs will not accomplish this. You will need to do sprints and intervals, maybe even find a track to do your workouts on. If you aren’t a good swimmer, you should think about improving that skill. Most obstacle races don’t include a proper swim, but I’m sure it will happen, and you should be prepared for it. All of this means you need to push yourself outside your comfort zone. That does not necessarily mean you should carry a tire until you feel very uncomfortable. Does a 3- to 5-mile (4.8- to 8.1-km) swim sound like it’s outside your comfort zone? It is not impossible, but it requires training, and you will have to take a step outside of said comfort zone. I personally like to train for a wide variety of things, and I try to constantly identify my weaknesses to improve on them. There is always plenty of work to be done no matter what level you are on. Don’t get comfortable with just going back to do the same workout all the time.

  …or your competitors might be your teammates at certain times of the event.

  Caring for your feet is a topic frequently discussed in these types of events. This could be an issue in a regular ultra, too, but it’s a bigger factor in an obstacle endurance event. You’re more likely to spend a long time being wet and muddy with little time to rest, maybe carrying something heavy, putting even more stress on your feet. Blisters and maceration will happen in no time. First and foremost, I emphasize foot strength and running form. Stronger feet in combination with a good running form will decrease the stress that your feet will experience.

  This is legendary Death Racer Todd Sedlak. Many have credited his wisdom of “nothing more than 5 minutes or 5 feet (1.5 m) ahead of you” with helping them complete the event.

  Most of these races require you to stay on your feet for a long time. I do some of my run training with a focus on keeping a good running form and avoiding putting my feet too hard to the ground, using a much shorter and quicker stride. I also do some foot strengthening exercises on balance boards and one-legged balance squats. The second way to counteract the destruction of your feet is self-discipline at every little break you get. If you can dry out one foot for 20 seconds, do that. Next break, you can dry out the other foot. If you have been up for two days straight, it’s very tempting to just lean back on your backpack and sleep instead of attending to your feet. This is where self-discipline and experience come into play. You will have to think of your priorities.

  Amelia, what kind of training do you specifically do for 24-hour-plus endurance events?

  It’s difficult to train for a 24-hour race, because you hit a point of diminishing returns. In other words, it makes no sense to do a 4- or 5-hour workout. I do CrossFit five or six days a week, and I either run, ruck, or hit the giant step mill four or five days a week. Aside from one rest day a week (which may incorporate yoga, a light jog, and mobility), I’m generally training 1.5 to 2 hours a day in a variety of disciplines.

  Amelia, how does your “endurance event” training (World’s Toughest Mudder, Death Race) differ from your “regular” or OCR training?

  Aside from the fact that I actually will taper for a few days before a long race, my training doesn’t vary at all. I try to keep my body in peak physical condition year-round, which is all you can really do to train for a race that lasts a day or more. At some point, the race shifts from the physical to the mental.

  Amelia, what kind of physical shape should racers be in before they attempt 24-hour-plus events? Can anyone do them?

  Can anyone do them? Sure. Should anyone do them? Probably not. Honestly, no one should do 24-hour-plus events. But I’m a firm believer that people give up mentally before they give up physically in these 24-hour-plus events. The first WTM, none of us had any idea what to expect. I had only done two Tough Mudders previously. How I survived and finished—and came in second—but others quit after a lap or two likely isn’t explained by lack of physical preparation. Anyone can really do them, as long as you go in with realistic expectations of what to expect your first time. You may “blow up” and DNF [did not finish], or you may surprise yourself and win. Some people are suited for the long haul, but others aren’t. There’s no way of knowing which you are until you attempt it.

 
; Olof, what are your thoughts on nutrition for longer endurance races?

  The longer the race, the less dependent I try to be on fast nutrition such as energy gels. Stretching over days, I prefer to eat regular meals with snacks in between. It is really a very personal preference about what works for you, and you will need to figure that out. The golden rule is: Don’t try something new on race day. I find that if it’s possible to have access to liquid nutrition such as a fruit/vegetable smoothie, I’m able to consume more calories quicker without upsetting my stomach.

  How you pack can make or break your endurance event success.

  Try to keep some of your nutrition close at hand. If you pack all of your nutrition in your backpack, you’re more likely to skip taking in some nutrition often. That could result in one of the previously mentioned mental down turns when you feel like quitting. When that happens, first eat and drink something that you have in your pocket. During a very long race, you’re more prone to losing electrolytes, so bringing salt/electrolyte pills works for most people.

  Depriving yourself of nutrition and water during training does not really adapt your body to it, but it could help you with the mental aspect of pushing through. If you are looking to train to improve your physical fitness and endurance, you should not do this. Decide what your plan is for the event and then just let it go. People tend to overthink what type of energy bar to bring or what electrolytes. Most of the time, it will have very little impact on the outcome—unless you forgot to bring it entirely!