10 Reasons Why I Love Obstacle Course Races
I recently completed my 19th obstacle course race. I started doing this race 8 years ago and no longer imagine my life without this game. I hope these races will be held for decades to come. In this post my goal is to tell you 10 reasons that I love the obstacle course race and why you should consider doing them too!
#1 – OCR gives my year’s training aim and structure
I sign up and spread them for at least 3 races in a year. My race usually takes place in March, May and October. I also stack the distance, and do the longest work in March, mid -May, and in October. This allows me to have anchors in the first – calendar. Second, it gives me goals to extend my training. I work on January – May, then a long -range, fast run. At the gym, I have always been working hard to continue to build the upper body, arm/grip, and basic power, so that I can handle the obstacles.
#2 – Having a race on the calendar is encouraging!
Having races on the calendar makes me so much purpose and encouragement that they continue their lifting, race, and movement, several times a week forever. Early in the morning it’s a little voice, “Oh, there is cold and dark, but get up and go to the gym – you’ve got a race next month.” I can’t tell you how many times in the coming race has helped me move forward even when I didn’t feel like that!
#3 – OCR drove me into trail
Before the OCR, I didn’t run much trail. In fact, I showed my first OCR wearing a street operating shoes, and obviously the decision was sorry when I was slipping and the Rocky was slipping on the hills and mud skins. After my first couple’s OCR, I noticed that I really like to run in nature more than running roads and sidewalks. I invested some time and money in getting more information about running the trail and getting the right trail shoes. Then I started detecting my state and county parks and enjoying myself really running the trail! OK to run in nature! It also has a spiritual standard that helped me to find more comfort and happiness and purpose in my life, along with my training.
#4 – OCR makes you feel like you can do anything!
In the middle of a race, I sometimes feel upset, upset and frustrated in the stomach. Sometimes I do not succeed in obstacles. Or the mud is so thicker it is thinner with your shoes and makes it really difficult to run. Sometimes it is frozen. Or warm and you get pain and feel terrible. But it doesn’t matter how difficult or easy the course was, when you finish, you feel like you can do anything! The OCR is such a good problem. There is always something new or different about each course, and whenever you can conquer these diverse challenges, you feel like you can deal with the hardest things in your daily life in any area and achieve difficult things. Work, family, personal goals, etc. This is probably the most important reason to OCR!
#5 – OCR removes you from your clean comfort zone
I like to be clean I certainly do not like to be covered in mud and mud! But the OCR usually contains plenty of creeping through mud and thorny plants, sprinkled from the mud rivers, and even fully dranates itself under the wall in the mud pond. The first few times I did the OCR, it was a huge, overall challenge for me. I’m still not a huge fan of it to be honest, but…. I now embrace it more and appreciate it as another way to get out of my comfort area.
Getting down and real mess is just another aspect of OCR that puts another layer of discomfort in your experience. It is not necessary to run with wet socks and shoes that it is amazing, but it will kill you. If it doesn’t kill you, it will make you stronger, or at least, more composed and flexible.
#6 – OCR Community is great
I have met many amazing people of OCR! The community is amazing. There are many impressive people and stories in the OCR. The OCR festival that is in every race is a lot of fun. Great music, food, and people only celebrate each other to do hard work to improve their physical, mental, social and emotional health. I have met and influenced people who have lost enough of the OCRS. Or those who have lost organs in wars but still find a way to finish the course. I have met parents trying to reduce their blood pressure and women who just want to be strong and want to work hard. Everyone has a reason to do ocrs and they are all amazing. Connecting many amazing and impressive people is a great aspect of running OCRS!
#7 – excuses to travel and discover new cities
I live in Austin, Texas, which is in the middle of my major state. I am really lucky because I have 3 big race places where the OCR is regularly at a 3 -hour drive. So I usually run Houston, Austin, and Dallas courses every year just because it is very easy to go. I have also been lucky even though traveling in some places. One year I traveled to Colorado for a race and this was my first time to meet Colorado! I liked the mountain trails and towns on my long weekend there.
Another time I met with North Carolina’s Ashwille to run an OCR and then used as an excuse to go up to a long weekend and used to enjoy some more beautiful parts of our country as an excuse to enjoy and enjoy and enjoy it. My ultimate purpose is to run a one day in Greece and see where the Thermopilli war took place. Gates of Fire is a terrific book you should read if you should know about this war!
#8 – OCR helps you create a development mentality
Every course, I feel like I was here to check my ego on the startline and know that I’m here to grow and improve. Every obstacle is either an opportunity to succeed or the next time it has a chance to improve. In the first few years of OCR, I am really struggling with many different attachments with monkeys with hunger barriers. I didn’t have the power of upper body or grip for them in these first two years!
He is humble and encouraging because of failing an obstacle and doing a penalty loop or a loop of fines – coming back to the gym on Monday and keeping working on it enlightens a commitment! The years of trying, failing, learning and getting better from it have certainly helped me improve my mentality and development mentality. Now when I succeed in the hurdle, such as the hanging circles, the rope climbing, or other hard people that were so hard, it is very beneficial!
#9 – Courses are always different and sometimes boring
No course is ever the same so they are never bored. Even if you walk at the same distance in the same place in consecutive years, they regularly find their obstacles or their order. Also, it will always feel different in terms of weather. Hot, cold, recent rainfall, or sludge all affect the way a course feels.
If this is a wet weather, heavy sticky mud will be a factor that slows everyone. If this dryer has been on the side, the courses are very fast. When it really gets cold, obstacles like climbing a rope or traveling monkey bars are really hard because your hands are gone! So it is often difficult to estimate your real “PR” or personal records, because each course has such a different feeling. For this you need to assess and adjust your strategies and the success of each race!
#10 – they are really just fun
The obstacle course race is really just a great time. The volatility of the course is, harsh and easy parts, and there is no joy every minute. But, you want to tighten, eliminate it, and repeatedly have the overall feeling of it, which makes it a lot of fun.
Conclusion
Running the obstacle course race for the past 8 years has helped me develop in many ways! I have met many terrifying people and have been impressed with many different stories. I am physically harsh and mentally tightened. They give me a goal and structure, as well as stimulus to maintain training and stay permanently! Most of all, they are really fun. If you haven’t racked up the obstacle course, I advise you to get out there and do!
Assistant revelation
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