The Dirty Hog Race - Laurinburg, NC

Yesterday I took an hour and forty-five minute drive from my home near Charlotte to Laurinburg, NC to do the Dirty Hog race. There was another mud run, The Thunder Challenge, going on at the same time in the nearby town of Raeford but I decided to do the Dirty Hog for a few reasons:

1) Longer Distance - the Dirty Hog touted a 9-12 mile course with about 30 obstacles that sounded quite challenging on their website.

2) Mystery Challenges - I was intrigued by mystery challenges that determined the difficulty of your course.

3) It was a shorter drive to the course.

My biggest fear going into this race was that it looked like a new mud run promotion. I am no expert at organizing these races but I am sure the logistics to get just one off the ground can be a daunting task and I appreciate the effort that has to go into it.

There is plenty that can go wrong on race day.  Unbearable  long waits to do obstacles is one issue that has arisen in a few races that I have done but the absolute worst is when a course is poorly marked leaving the race participants in utter confusion and frustration. Most people who enter these races take the race seriously and want to get everything out of it that they can. There is nothing worse than knowing that you missed challenges. These races are not cheap and people want their money's worth. I know I do.

I guess you know where I am going with this.  The Dirty Hog had some really impressive marketing. It sounded like they had it all together - at least on paper. The marketing appeared on par with the more established races like the Warrior Dash, Tough Mudder, and the Spartan Race but the execution was probably one of the worst I have seen.  The event itself appeared to be an exercise in over-hyping and under-delivering.

The race map made lots of promises that fell far short.  Here are some examples:

Obstacle #3 MX Hell promised "1.5 miles of grueling watered down motocross track, sure to slip you on your ass."  The reality was that there was more sand than there was mud.  It was like running on the beach for most of the course.

Obstacle #5 Hineys - "High knees through tires up a watered down hill."  The reality - tires up a slight grade if at all and dry as a desert.

Obstacle #6 Blue Baller - Jump into a blue ice cold pit.  The pit was no deeper than slightly above my knees.  It felt great.  With temperatures starting to push into the 80s in the sun - this was hardly an obstacle but a way to cool off.

Obstacle #9 Where Pigs Fly - A rope climb up and then a deep cold muddy plunge.  I do not recall any ropes.  It was a jump into deep muddy water that completely submerged me.  So that one they got half right.

There were supposed to be Reality Show Style Challenges - I do not recall encountering any except for shooting the paintballs with slingshot at a target.  I missed the log carry completely.   The barbed wire over the mud pit was so high that you could bear walk on hands and feet with your butt up in the air and still easily clear the barbed wire - no need to military crawl.  I did get to do a car push, tire flip, sand bag carry and a high wall climb which were the most challenging of the obstacles.

I could have dealt with some of the obstacles falling short of their promises but that wasn't the worst of it.   The course was poorly marked and the race was not properly staffed with enough knowledgeable  people who could give directions.  Even the people at water stations and the obstacles had no clue about where to go next.  After going for about an hour and a few minutes in what we estimated was about 7 miles or so - (not 9-12 miles as advertised) - I found myself back near the race start with a group of about 15 to 20+ others who had no clue where to go.  There was no staff in sight to direct us to the next part of the course.

We looked around for a few minutes then finally decided to just head to the finish line out of frustration.  Nobody was happy.  We all wanted more but did not know where to go to find it - and nobody could help us.  Very disappointing.

So I learned my lesson.  I think I will stick with the big name promotions next time.  I may try the Spartan Beast in October down in South Carolina and then eventually the Tough Mudder.  I'll keep you posted.  When it comes to new mud race promotions - do your homework - and don't fall for the hype like I did.

The Madness Of Overweight Crowds

I get alot junk email and every now and then one skips through my filters and catches my eye before I can delete it. This one had to do with Raspberry Ketones. Apparently this is another "hot" weight loss supplement. In the email ad I saw that it was featured on the Dr. Oz show so I clicked the link and watched the video. I then did some googling and found that two days after the show, Charlotte, NC health food stores were selling out of the stuff. Apparently when TV doctors speak people listen. The problem is that people are taking what is said on TV at face value and not doing their homework. One thing to point out is that Dr. Oz's assistant who is touting the benefits of Raspberry Ketones stands to make lots of money selling this to her clients after the show. She shows pictures of two of her clients who take the stuff but did they lose weight from the supplement or by diet and exercise? Where are the long term human studies? Side-effects? I hear crickets!

To save you some time...here is a link to the Dr. Oz segment and the Charlotte News segment and finally an article that I wholeheartedly agree with 100%. Don't run out and buy this stuff until you have read the article. I personally think you can save your money.

Dr. Oz Segment On Raspberry Ketones

Charlotte News Segment

Dr Ozs Raspberry Ketones Dismissed By Dietitian As TV Hype

NEW World record in speed climbing 2011 - Great Video

If you have ever done any rock climbing - indoors or outdoors - you will appreciate this video. These guys truly defy gravity. It looks like they are crawling top speed on the ground and not vertically up a wall. Amazing!

Gluten-free Paleo Egg, Bacon, Guacamole Pure Wrap

Happy New Year! This is my first post of 2012. I came up with many things to write about over the holidays but just haven't had the time until now to sit down and get all my thoughts together.

January is the traditional month of weight loss resolutions so I thought I would share a simple gluten-free wrap recipe that my wife and I both love. As a side note, I am not on the paleo diet but I am definitely trying to cut out gluten as much as possible.

You might be wondering how can a wrap be gluten-free and acceptable for the paleo diet? I found this bread through the Whole 30 program that I stumbled upon through Facebook. The Whole 30 program endorses the product so I thought I would try it. It is called Pure Wraps and is available at improveat.com. It has only three raw ingredients - coconut meat, coconut water, and Himalayan salt and each wrap has only 60 calories and only 8 grams of carbs. Those 60 calories are amazingly nutrient dense.

The wrap looks like a thin square piece of light brown paper and I was skeptical at first that it would taste like cardboard but after only a few bites I enjoyed the texture and the coconut flavor. It gives you a "bread fix" without the guilt of processed carbs. After my first order I was hooked and ordered a dozen packages to get the free shipping. Each package of 4 wraps is $4.99. It is not cheap but it will get eaten and not thrown out. My wife and I go through a pack every 3 to 5 days. The coconut flavor is not that strong but it is present so if you are not a coconut fan you might not like it as much as I do but may still want to try it especially if you are watching your diet or trying to go gluten-free. They also have a curry flavor but I haven't tried that yet.

Okay, so enough about the wrap bread itself and on to the rest of the recipe:

Simply spread one 100 calorie pack of Wholly Guacamole on the pure wrap or make your own guacamole and spread that or simply add a few slices of avocado. Scramble some eggs - two extra large eggs are perfect for the wrap (I scramble mine in clarified butter (ghee) or coconut oil). Cook up two pieces of Uncured turkey bacon. I cook the bacon in my table top convection oven. Optionally, I add some baby lettuce and some hot peppers. Put the all the ingredients on the wrap and enjoy.

Here is a picture of the wrap - couldn't wait to have it for lunch today:

So that's a wrap. Yes, that is lame but I couldn't resist. Leave comments if you give Pure Wraps a try.

Hindu and Divebomber Pushup Variations

If you are looking to add more variety to your workouts and you are bored with pushups - try these divebomber and hindu variations from Paul Zaichik from Bodyweight Culture. Great video...

Top 5 Bodyweight Exercises

For those of you who think you need an expensive gym membership or need to spend hours in the gym to get a good workout check out this video. Most of the exercises involve burpees. There is simply no better exercise than burpees to get your heart pumping without having to spend a dime on extra equipment.

Don't believe me, try a burpee-only tabata - 4 minutes (20 seconds on and 10 seconds of rest) or try my favorite high intensity intervals - 30 seconds of work and 15 seconds of rest for as long as you can go. I guarantee you that it will kick your butt!

What? Don't have time for 4 minutes? Sure you do. You just spend too much time on excuses!

Losing The Thanksgiving Weight Update

Another good morning on the scale. I weighed 181.8 upon waking and paying a visit to the bathroom. I had the same breakfast for the last three days and had the same dinner that I had on Monday but this time I added a small portion of lentils seasoned with my very tasty mixture of ghee, lemon, Himalayan salt, black pepper, garlic and basil. I had lunch at Qdoba opting for a naked burrito with black and pinto beans, chicken, red and green peppers, onions, guacamole, lettuce and extra hot salsa. Again I did not snack on anything sugary.

I did work out last night doing 24 30 second intervals with 15 second rest intervals in between using primarily the airdyne bike, jump rope, and the Bulgarian training bag. I drank only water throughout the day but had a single size container of coconut water right after my workout.

So to sum up...I lost 5.6 pounds in two days. I am back to the weight I was just before Thanksgiving but would like to be in the area of 175 in the next week or so and maintain that. So far...so good!