MudRunFun Magazine Nov. 2013

November 2013



writers Whats inside this issue? Corey Rosado “Stuck in the Mudd” Obstacle Runner Corey Rosado .............................. pg 1 South East Region “Muddy, Dirty and Challenging” Vivian ...........................................pg 5 Vivian Johnson Obstacle Runner OCR Kid South East Region Ally Baby Beast Henrikson ......pg 10 OCR Kid Kathleen Ramirez Brooke Voutsinas .......................pg 11 Team Dirt Bags “Morning Mudtabolism” “Just passed your ass” Roger Smith, PhD ......................pg 15 “Teach a Man to Fish” Holly Berkey Nabilah Fountain. .....................pg 19 Blogger / Writer / Athlete MuddyMommy.com Athlete Spotlight Paola Reategui ...........................pg 23 Nabilah Fountain Race Review - Savage Race NASM Certfed Trainer Lisa Tornton. ..............................pg 25 Nutriton Coach Team Spotlight - Dirt Bags Kathleen Ramirez ......................pg 27 Roger D. Smith, PhD. HMR - MuddyMommy OCR Athlete Holly Berkey ...............................pg 31 Prolifc Author Race Map Mud Run Fun ............................pg 35 Paola Reategui Elite Racer Athlete Lisa Thornton Obstacle Runner South East Region



I am NOT an athlete. Hell, I’m not even a internal itch. Of course, any time I commented on “runner”. I think a more accurate description would how cool they looked, Vivian would quickly suggest be that I’m just moving my feet slightly faster than that Randy and I get out there for a race. It was quite normal while trying not to die from poor breathing. possibly the craziest idea ever, but still I couldn’t Yet, I am absolutely hooked on mud runs! How on help but think, just maybe… earth did that happen? I became the nagging wife. Pictures, videos, Back in February, I had this grand idea that we websites, anything I could fnd about mud runs, I should sign up for one of those crazy color runs. shared with Randy. I was even on the MudRunFun A whole three miles! Now for most of you, that’s a site scoping things out. I was driving him absolutely walk in the park, but not for me. I hadn’t seen the crazy. He was curious, but not taking the bait and inside of a gym in years, had a baby who was barely I still wasn’t entirely convinced I could handle the over a year old, and participated in no regular form challenge. I am afraid of heights, can’t climb a rope, of exercise. Once upon a time, I was in amazing and forget about monkey bars! I’d watch course shape and working part time as a personal trainer. videos on YouTube and my eye out for anyone who A 5k, probably even a mud run, would have been looked to be in about the same shape I was in. It’s much more suitable for me at that time, but ten terrible to judge, I know, but seeing people with years later, umm, not exactly. more body fuf than me was motivating. If they can My husband, Randy, was supportive, but do it, why can’t I? At least, that’s what I kept telling suggested I run with my stepson. Randy’s in great myself. shape, but he’s not a runner and colored cornstarch Soon we were seeing posts for Hog Wild’s 18 just wasn’t enough to entice him. Anthony and I Holes of Hell. August was still a few months away, so began our training, and while I wasn’t a great runner I had time to train. Randy, Anthony and I were all and I always sound like I would die, I was able to signed up and, I’ll admit, the whole process gave me run a full 3 miles. When May came around, we heart palpitations. I wasn’t able to sleep that night, rocked that run! We felt so exhilarated and confdent wondering what craziness I had gotten us into. and we couldn’t wait to do it again. I knew that if I I spent the summer training as well as I could didn’t have a reason to get outside and run, I would with P90x, Insanity, burpees and running. I bought fall into my old, lazy habits. I had to fnd another a pull-up bar in the hopes that I may stand a event and fast! chance against anything resembling monkey bars. Meanwhile, my friend Vivian kept posting all Considering I couldn’t do a real pull up, I felt the these awesome mud run photos on Facebook. I odds were stacked against me. As the weeks drew was intrigued, but intimidated. None of our other near, my sleep became more restless. I couldn’t lie friends would ever consider an event like this. Te down at night without thinking about the upcoming bragging rights alone could be worth it. Te more race. I even had dreams about obstacles! pictures I came across, the more I began to feel that On the morning of 18 Holes, I was a nervous

wreck. Randy was having back pains from work so I was worried that he’d be miserable the entire day. My stomach was in knots and I was afraid of making a complete ass out of myself. Anthony, being a ft thirteen year old was just super excited and ready to go! My anxiety grew even more once we were on site and I saw so many super ft runners. We dropped of our bags by the MudRunFun tent and that’s when I saw the Gauntlet. Oh-Dear-Lord! It was hard to maintain composure at the starting line, but once we started, my adrenaline was pumping and I was feeling good. I loved crawling through the mud and water obstacles, but the idea of climbing was still frightening. I could see the rope wall in the distance and I started to worry. I was shocked when I made it over in one shot; all I could say to the boys was, “I did it! I did it!” Soon I was staring at a new wall. Sure, this one has pegs, but those little wood pieces were narrow and when you have a brain that invents Final Destination scenarios, you can’t help but imagine falling! Still I managed to get safely up and over; awesome work for these short legs! It was about this time that Randy decided we needed to do more mudruns. He was tackling this course head on and opting for the difcult versions of the obstacles. Randy is competitive by nature and I was hoping that would help lure him in because, in my head, I was already planning for future races.

I was holding my own with many of the obstacles and when I needed it, others were there to lend a hand. Eventually we got stuck in a rather long line for the Ninja. Te wait was killing me! Te longer I watched, the more I freaked out. I was psyching myself out the entire time. Hanging upside down, that high in the air? Hello, panic attack! I could actually feel my heart banging inside my chest. Randy got through it easy peasy. Anthony was ahead of me and struggled. He tried and tried, but couldn’t make it. Tis was not good! Athletic as he is, if he couldn’t do it, there was no hope for me! I held on to that wood for dear life and climbed my little heart out, all the way to the top! I couldn’t believe it! Crossing the fnish line that day was one of the biggest accomplishments of my life. Never would I have imagined being able to conquer the obstacles we faced that day. Our family loved the challenge, had a great time with our friends, and met some awesome new people. We were pumped and craving more. Te Rosado’s are ofcially addicted and continue to sign up for more races. How could you not want to be a part of this?!

I have decided- I like it muddy, dirty, and workers. Tey do several mud runs annually challenging. I like to be extra sore the next and because of his accomplishment, they day as well as covered with bruises so I can invited him to run the “Savage Race” with be reminded of all the fun I had. I like to the work team. still have to clean the mud out of my ears for He immediately told us about it. I days afer and have co-workers fnd mud on thought, “What the heck is a mud run?” I my hair/face that I missed. I like ice, shock, went on the website, saw the video and got barbed wire, ropes, hay bales, tires, trees, scared. Scared that it was dangerous and he swims, jumps, ramps, buckets- you name it. would get hurt and scared he wouldn’t be How did I become so damaged? I can thank able to complete it. my little brother for this. Part of me also wondered if this would At the age of 31, with much work be something I could do. Te temptation and dedication, he lost 100 lbs!! He is a was there. Ten the negativity began. I am bartender, working nights and surrounded out of shape, busy with a kid in college and by delicious chicken wings and beer. Tis a kid in high school. My husband and I took a lot of will power and strength for him both work full time, did I mention out of to do and I am so proud of him. He also shape and I love fast food. I have a handful had a strong support system from his co-

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of health issues so excuses are always available. Not 56 year old uncle to join me. We had quite a bit of to mention where to begin, am I too old to start this fun, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted a muddier harder now? How do I train for this? Where do I start? experience. Te addiction began. I fgured; let’s start by seeing how the race is, and Of all the addictions someone could have, I feel how my brother does. Watching him jump at “Davy this is a good one. It pushes us to work out, eat Jones Locker” and attempt “Saw tooth” was amazing. better, and stay in shape because the next race is Tere were spectators and photographers cheering right around the corner. We will have an empty him on. Yelling and clapping and helping him stay nest in less than 4 years and my husband Jason and strong and hang in there. I was in tears. Te support I discussed having hobbies to keep us occupied he was receiving from total strangers with all the for when it is just us. We both really enjoy the struggles he has overcome was amazing. It was challenges these races push us to accomplish. We sincere, it was uplifing and it was enough to get him work hard to get better and better on each one. through the race and move me to sign up I also feel it has brought us a lot closer together. for my frst run. He is my own personal cheerleader, motivator and My frst run was a few weeks stepping stool on these races. He never gives up on me and has more faith in me than I do in myself. I 7 later, a zombie run. I asked feel like superwoman when I run these races with my two brothers, husband and

him. He looks at me with his eyes and I can see one we have been welcome with open arms into the how proud he is of me and it helps me continue mud run community at MUDRUNFUN and I really on. It helps me pull from deep within to fnish the look forward to our runs for the run but also to see challenges. It is exciting and invigorating. all the MUDRUN FUN athletes and fun runners. It’s Not only has it brought us together but it has awesome to see all the familiar and new faces and opened up a whole new world of potential friends. feel all the support and fun energy. I enjoy meeting Reconnecting with family on a whole new level new people and hope to continue getting closer to has been wonderful . My uncle Ruben has been everyone there. running with us and he is amazing. He sets his mind on something and he accomplishes it. We all start together and he leaves us in the dust. He runs and trains on average about 5 days a week and he is a machine. One race ignited him and he hasn’t stopped since. I hope to be as good as he is someday. I love running with Liz and Corey and company, talking to Christina and Tomas and of course- Lenny with the famous Jello shots. Tankfully, while looking into deals on some of the races, I came across MUDRUNFUN. It’s my one stop shop for all my mud run needs. Te event calendar connects me to the sites of all upcoming 8 races and gives discount codes to boot!! From day

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Birthday: I’m 11 but I will be 12 on November 5th Events: Mud Endeavor II, Mud Endeavor Under the Lights, Hog Wild, Monster Challenges, ROA Fundays and Highlander V I love to run mud runs with my family. My favorite part about it is when I try an obstacle and get scared but fnish it anyway. It makes me feel proud. My dad and mom always encourage me and so do lots of the other runners, even ones I don’t know. If you ever try mudruns you will see how friendly and helpful everyone can be. Sometimes I can’t do an obstacle but I always try. When my brother runs it really motivates me, he is 16. I love spending my weekends getting dirty and having fun on the obstacle courses. Tey are all so diferent that I could never pick just one. Sometimes my friends ask me why I go to these races and I tell them because they are challenging and it’s a great exercise. Being outdoors is a great way to spend a Saturday afernoon. My favorite obstacle is the zip line and my least favorite is ice crawls, they are SO cold and hurt my hands but they are a cool idea and only last a minute or so. I am really working hard on getting over my fear of heights, I think if I just keep trying the tall obstacles and trusting the people around me I will be able to get through them in no time. I am getting better with every race. Well that’s a little about me. I hope to see you at the next event. MUDRUNFUN!!!



Your kids look up to you as you did your parents. Why not get them involved in the one thing you have in common? Te love for crawling, jumping, sliding and all things muddy! Join MudRunFun’s campaign to promote mud running and fun running to kids everywhere. With all these opportunities to promote health and ftness while having fun, you cannot lose. Look up events in your area. Email your local race directors and request that they set up a kid’s race. Let’s keep our kids on the right track. Let your kid become an OCRkid today!

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Te Mud Run Blueprint for Fitness sleep, and exercise. While sleeping your metabolism has shifed down to its slowest rate for the entire day. MORNING MUDTABOLISM Te longer that you wait to start your metabolism Mud runs are morning events beginning as early back up in the morning, the fewer calories that you as 8:00am and running through the afernoon. Tat will burn all day, and the higher your body weight means your body needs to be fring on all cylinders will be. One step in building a lean and healthy frst thing in the morning. A good early morning body is to fully engage your metabolism as soon stretch and fex program is going to get your as possible. You need a metabolism boost in the muscles, joints, metabolism, and mind ready for morning just like you might need a morning cafeine morning action. boost. If you typically do your main workout in the If your metabolism remains on “night slow” afernoon, you also need something short and quick for just one additional hour of your waking day, to boost your metabolism in the morning. Tis is then that can be as much as a 6% decrease in your a good time to focus on fexibility, circulation, and daily metabolism. Tis could mean as much as a your core strength. Tis is not a second, full out, 6% increase in your weight. Or a lost opportunity high intensity workout. It is a booster to wake up to drop 6% of your body weight with a very small your metabolism and get you moving for investment in physical activity. the rest of the day. You need to invest 15 minutes each morning to drop 6 to 18 pounds of body fat over the span of a Your body burns calories at single year. 15 diferent rates when you work,

Morning Boost peace in your own soul. You are going to start a new habit of waking up 20 In addition to being a spiritual commune with minutes earlier than usual. You are going to make nature, this mild session will jumpstart your room in your day for a little early morning exercise. metabolism. Te machinery that converts stored Tis is not a full workout. It is just a jumpstart to get your day going. Most people hate to lose even a few fat and calories into energy and muscle will start minutes of sleep, but I promise you that this one is working for you immediately. going to create more energy than it takes away. When you return from your walk around the neighborhood, you are going to fnish up with a When you step out of bed every morning, step directly into some comfortable clothes that are good few calisthenics. Tese exercises do not require any for a little activity. Te best metabolism boost is equipment and can be done in 4 minutes. simply to go for a walk. If the weather allows, step out your front door and start walking. Just walk Tabata Time around the equivalent of a single city block - about Dr. Izumi Tabata published a research study in 15 minutes. which he showed that, even for conditioned athletes, alternating short periods of intense exercise with During your walk, look at the sky, breath the morning air, listen to the birds. Make a connection short recovery breaks provided more improvements with the world around you. Soak in the richness of a in cardiovascular health than longer periods of world that has existed for billions of years. Reach out exertion at medium levels. Tis led to the creation for some of the peace of this ancient world. Notice of the Tabata workout craze. Te simplest of these is how relaxed and in-tune it is. Include some of that done in just 4 minutes. 16

A Tabata Set consists of 20 seconds of exercise, Day Improved followed by 10 seconds of rest. Tis short cycle is Tat’s it. A 20 minute investment in mild exercise repeated eight times. You will fnish the entire set in the frst thing in the morning to jumpstart your day, just four minutes. When you return from your 15 burn extra calories, wake-up without cafeine, and minute walk around the block you are going to pick improve your mood. It’s probably the biggest payof one of the Tabata sets shown below based on your you can get for a 20 minute investment. current ftness level. Mild Medium Hot Alternate Toe Burpee with Burpee with Touch Jump Push-Up Jogging in Place Squat Repeat 8 Sets Trunk Twists Push-Up Squats Bicycle Crunches Repeat Circuit Repeat Circuit Twice Twice Notice that for the Mild and Medium workouts we have listed 4 diferent exercises. You go through these in sequence, 20 seconds of the frst, 10 seconds rest, 20 seconds of the second, 10 seconds rest, and so on. When you fnish all four, go back and do them a second time. For the Hot workout we have prescribed one of our favorite exercises – the Burpee with a Pushup. Do this one exercise for 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest, repeated eight times. Dr. Roger Smith is a researcher at Florida Tis sounds like a walk in the park. But Dr. Hospital, author, and avid mud runner. He competes Tabata discovered something really powerful. Tis with the old guys in every mud run around Central routine packs a lot of work into a very short period Florida. Tis column was drawn from his book Te of time. When you fnish this your frst New Blueprint for Fitness: Mud Run Edition, which time you will be impressed and a is available at Amazon.com. little exhausted. 17 http://www.NewBlueFit.com/

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Nabilah Fountain http://www.facebook.com/revolvefitcamp http://www.livintheskinny.wordpress.com Te weight loss industry is a 60 billion industry to do. One of the many reasons structured diets and it’s growing at lightning speed. Many people do not work for the long term is simply because want that quick fx; that miracle pill. Something it’s disempowering in the same manner that giving they can pop in their mouth and all the fat they a man a fsh is. You know the old saying…”give a accumulated over the years just melts away man a fsh and you feed him for a day. Teach a man revealing a slimmer, sleeker version of themselves. I to fsh and you feed him for a life time. Tis is true hate to be the one to burst your bubble but if it took when it comes to almost anything in life but it’s time to put it on it will take time to take it of. A especially true when it comes to selecting a nutrition better option is selecting a nutrition program geared plan that’s right for you. Here are 3 tips to selecting towards both fat loss and health and one developed and starting a nutrition program and embarking on for sustainability. a path of to health and longevity. Many nutrition programs are #1. Chose a plan that allows you the freedom to designed to tell you what to make choices. Te plan should come with several 23 do rather that teach you what options and a deep explanation as to why those

options were selected in the frst place. If the plan tells you what to eat and when to eat it, steer clear. It should show you the way not tell you the way. #2. Hire a nutrition coach not just a nutritionist. Yes there is a diference. A coach will meet with you weekly to review your daily intake logs. He/she will elicit coaching opportunities along the way as needed. Tis will not only teach you but help you to apply the newly found knowledge to your lifestyle. A nutritionist will hand you a structured diet plan equipped with what to eat and when to eat it and with little to no coaching. With these types of plans, most tend to get board and resort back to what they were eating that got them to where they are in the frst place. #3. Allow for mistakes and setbacks. Tis is a tough one for most of my clients. Many enter in a program expecting not to slip up every once and a while. But in the path of life, setback will occur. It’s the steps taken to readjust and move forward that truly teach you the most. Setting unrealistic expectations of not making mistakes when starting out on a nutrition program is the frst “mistake”. Understanding this will open your mind to learning new things along the way. So remember when selecting a nutrition program make sure it’s a program that teaches you so that you can sustain the program for a lifetime. For more information on nutritional coaching or other related topics, visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/revolveftcamp, email us at [email protected] and follow our blog at 24 www.liveintheskinny.wordpress.com.

Tis magazine wouldn’t be what it is without the support of our partners. Please support them when choosing your next race. Do you have an event you would like to partner with MudRunFun Magazine? Contact [email protected]

Tis magazine wouldn’t be what it is without the support of our partners. Please support them when choosing your next race. Do you have an event you would like to partner with MudRunFun Magazine? Contact [email protected]

My name is Paola Reategui, 26 years old, and I turns out my husband and I were the frst to cross have lived in Miami, Fl practically my whole life. the line. I used to run XC and track and feld (distance I thought I was done, as fun as it was, but runner specialized in the 3k Steeple Chase) for FIU once again my husband convinced me to run the from 2004-2009. I never thought I’d experience an Armageddon Ambush 5k run at Amelia Earhart obstacle infuenced event beyond the steeple chase, Park in Miami, Fl. Also a fun event where everyone especially since Miami trails are nonexistent and the got lost, so no winner was declared. But that didn’t only type of trail running we experienced was once a bother me, I loved the giant water slide, crawling week every year at our running camp in Ocala, FL. under barbed wire, pulling myself up a rope, and My husband, Andrew Charles, fnally convinced proving that I had a lot more than the scrawny me to run one last year in March for fun with him appearance I present. What came next was the afer he had overly enjoyed the Spartan Race in turning point in my training. Te Superhero Oleta River State Park. I thought to myself, “Really? Scramble Charger in Clermont, Fl where my former Have you seen my arms? I’m not getting over a teammate, Daniela Espino, and I decided it would wall!” be fun to run it together and we were lured in by the So we ran the LGBT Mud Run 5k happily $$$ money prize! We came in frst and second and together and he assisted me over some obstacles as we had a blast. I still had no upper body strength due to post birth Ten Damion from MudRunFun approached laziness (even though it was already a year later!). us and asked us to join his awe-inspiring OCR Nonetheless, it was absolutely exhilarating and as it team. We continued the Superhero Scramble Series