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After last week's unfortunate tweaking of the Achilles on my left side, I have been a bit cautious about my activities. Next week will be my first Hurrican Heat in Boston and I want to be sure that I don't create a problem by over doing it. Although I am not terribly concerned about the HH with respect to the Achilles, it is the cumulative effect of the activities that may put a hamper on my Ultra Beast training. With only a week of rest, I have not been optimistic about getting back on the horse.

I have given this a lot of thought, a daily update just isn't for me. This is week 17. I suffered a setback this week, injuring my Achilles. I am not exactly sure what I did, but I can tell you that it hurts. STFU! does not mean be stupid. Training for NJ Ultra Beast, I hurt my knee and was unable to run for a couple of weeks. That did a number on my endurance. The elliptical didn't cut it and I should have hit the stair master instead. This time around, I am going to take advantage of my experience and lean on my brain instead of my brawn.

Today isn't one of my best days so far. Having given this journal too much thought, I found myself unable to sleep. I had grand plans of waking early to get some sprints in this morning. Instead, I crawled into bed around midnight and woke 10 minutes before work. Today will be an average day for me.

With only 123 days left until the Killington Ultra Beast, I decided to create a series of post detailing my preparedness plan, thoughts, and feelings. Although it may seem like 123 days is plenty of time to prepare, I feel like there is a lot of work to do in little time.

When I signed up for the NJ Ultra Beast, I didn't have any idea what I was in for. I mean, you hear about the mileage and the number of obstacles, but you really won't get it until you try it. Also, I joined the best Facebook group on the planet and talked with everyone I could, but having attempted the race, none of that matters. With that said, I learned some valuable lessons that I feel I should share with you.

Without spending a lot of time on personal details, I am about to endeavor on my first Ultra Beast in the great state of NJ. There is a large community of UB veterans, such as our very own War Paint Waldo, and a slew of competent folks in the dedicated …

Las Vegas Super. With a name like that, you would think that the Super would be in Las Vegas, nope. Instead, Hafen Ranch in Arizona is the destination. A short 1:43 drive (from where I was staying in Henderson) is all that separates me from my start time. I wasn’t exactly sure what I should expect from Hafen Ranch, but it sure doesn’t look like the mountains of Vermont, or NJ for that matter. Open mind, open heat.

#OCRUnited, #RaceLocal, #AnyRaceButSpartan you see people posting these types of statements all day long, then promptly followed up with a post the next day with their 6x Trifecta, 10X Legionnaire Headband Plan, etc. That plan never seems to include variety like signing up for quality varieties like Conquer the Gauntlet, Terrain, BattleFrog, BoneFrog or great local OCRs that for most of us are what first brought us into this amazing sport and family.

There is nothing like getting all beast mode on an obstacle course. And of course, what could be better than getting beast mode on a Spartan Beast. Spartan Races have become the most popular and widely recognized OCR. With that, the Spartan teams have to do more and more each year to improve the events, the turnout, and keep the OCR faithful coming. South Carolina is the state, Carolina Adventure World is the venue, and a Spartan Beast is the challenge. The final Beasts of the year. Challenge Accepted.