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Accountability Corner
Embark on an adventure with Darren, Morgan, and Chris, the dynamic trio steering the ship at "Accountability Corner." As passionate OCR enthusiasts, they're on a mission to share their expertise and enthusiasm for obstacle course racing with the world. From sharing insider tips on overcoming training plateaus to demystifying the complexities of race registration and gear selection, no stone is left unturned. Whether you're a seasoned competitor hungry for fresh perspectives or a newcomer eager to dip your toes into the muddy waters of OCR, these hosts are here to guide you every step of the way. Join them as they peel back the curtain on the electrifying world of OCR, revealing stories of triumph, camaraderie, and boundless adventure.
Don't miss out – tune in and discover why OCR is capturing hearts and minds around the globe!
Accountability Corner
#36: From Bananas to Bottle Baths: OCR Gear Tips
What's the wildest item you've ever packed for a race? From practical to peculiar, join us on Accountability Corner as we hilariously unpack our OCR race essentials. Morgan Maxwell, Chris Shipley, and Darren Martin share their must-haves, from race kits to Shipley's ingenious "bottle bath." We also talk about Mo's upcoming Croatian adventure and the marvels of traveling with gear—expect laughs, practical tips, and some seriously unconventional packing advice.
Next, we switch gears to pre-race preparation, diving into the nitty-gritty of what really counts on race day. From the perfect footwear and multi-functional tape to the all-important hydration strategy, we cover it all. We discuss bananas and gels, and even get into the benefits of nasal decongestants and neoprene layers for cold races. This segment is packed with practical advice to help you streamline your pre-race routine without getting bogged down by too much gear.
Looking ahead, we explore the future of OCR training centers and the exciting prospects they hold. Imagine a 3k obstacle tour with venues like Fortitude Fitness and The Playground, providing top-notch training and events. We brainstorm innovative race formats, discuss grassroots involvement, and even throw in some light-hearted banter with our best (and worst) attempts at accents. Whether you're a seasoned OCR athlete or new to the sport, this episode promises to keep you engaged and entertained.
Welcome to the Accountability Corner, where we talk about everything obstacle course racing, from staying disciplined in training, affording the sport, signing up for your first race and, more importantly, how the sport is growing around the world, with your hosts Morgan Maxwell, chris Shipley and Darren Martin.
Speaker 2:All right, welcome to Wing it Corner, where today we actually don't have a topic to talk about this is episode 36, and we are ready to talk about Mo. What are we talking about today?
Speaker 3:Shipley. What are we talking about today? Well, we do have a topic, but no we have multiple topics.
Speaker 1:We have multiple topics Shipley. What are we talking about today? Well, we do have a topic.
Speaker 2:No, we have multiple topics.
Speaker 1:We have multiple topics. We could talk about all of them, but we have multiple topics, but Darren is supposed to be deciding which one to talk about.
Speaker 2:Darren, We've got a bit of a Q&A so we had some. We've just come back. We are literally recording this. The weekend after the body hub 3k, 6k, sorry and we got some questions from people and then we also had conversations like this episode today is practically we can call it like the OCR racing chat, like when you're trying to leave and then you chat about something else. You get to your car, someone stops you. You chat about something else. Get to your car, someone stops you, you chat about something else. You go back to get something because you've forgotten something. Then you end up being there for an hour because you talk about like something else, whereas you stay in and things and travel into different races. So yeah, this episode today is going to be a bit of that. Are you keen for that, moe?
Speaker 2:I don't normally do that chat, but I can make an exception yeah, I know I was actually feeling, thinking no offense to everyone, but uh, shipley saw me twiddling my thumbs a little bit. I was. I should have done a bit of a mo exit the other day. I needed to get back to do a bit of life admin and I was like, do I wait round? Do I wait, is that? Oh no, what would mo do right now? Mo would have been gone. Mo'se's frozen. Is he frozen? Oh, yes, frozen, he looks quite lean.
Speaker 2:That's what Moe would look like if he was lean.
Speaker 3:Oh, he's back, he's back, that was perfect timing for me to dip out of it.
Speaker 2:Moe literally just froze on the most lean picture I've ever seen of Mo in my life.
Speaker 3:That looked good, it did.
Speaker 1:Oh nice, I wanted to freeze again.
Speaker 3:I'm feeling lean in a minute, to be fair.
Speaker 2:He's back, he's back now he with his pork pie in his hand.
Speaker 3:I'm filling up the screen again.
Speaker 2:Right. So what's the first one? What do you want to talk about? Like, the quick Q&A was like race kit, and what do we have in our bag when we arrive to a race? So maybe, mo, like you've got Croatia coming up, so you're probably thinking about this already because you're traveling to a race Like what's going to be in your bag, like anything different you put in there to help you with race day, but ships, we've just come back from a race, so maybe this quick, you can quickly go through this. So what did you have? Do you do anything different? What do you have like pack for for OCR?
Speaker 1:No, everything's always the same. In my race bag got a couple of bands, couple of gels, some zinc oxide tape, uh, my swiss army knife I take that everywhere. Uh, spare pair of pants, maybe some shorts, a t-shirt and a microfiber towel. Oh, and sometimes, oh, wait, wait, yeah, sometimes I even carry bottle bar.
Speaker 3:I was waiting for that.
Speaker 2:Please, please. I've been waiting for this in the podcast. It's not come out. It's actually not come out in real life. Yeah, right, right, no. Anyway, I want to set you up a bit more here. We went down training about a year ago, me or three of us and Shipley got this little bottle out of his bag after we'd just done a training session. Shipley got this little bottle out of his bag after we'd just done a training session and he started spraying himself with it. I'm like, what is he doing? Like I've never seen what the hell is that bottle? And over to you ships. What is the bottle?
Speaker 1:well, I thought I could kill two birds with one stone, and instead of having a shower I just put some. Well, I can't tell you the secret concoction, but I basically put some water and some shower gel in a little bottle, so it was basically a shower, and then you just spray yourself and then bob's your uncle, you're clean.
Speaker 3:And then I named it bottle bath, because it's a bottle, but a bath, a bottle bath now the floor with the bottle bath is you've still got soap suds all over you, yeah, but you're relatively clean. You're soapy, you're just greasy.
Speaker 1:You're just a greasy mess. No, you're relatively clean, because if you're like me, you carry a microfiber towel, see, and that just brings up all the muck off you with the bottle bath.
Speaker 2:The thing is, people have asked us this question because they feel like we're athletes and we have something special in there. You've got bottle bath.
Speaker 1:That is special. It's definitely special.
Speaker 2:It's not even a bath, it's like a bottle shower. Bottle shower doesn't sound so good, does it, you wait.
Speaker 1:Okay, it's like a bottle shower bottle shower doesn't sound so good. You wait, they are on sale on the website, so you can't find them. You wait until we get the orders in bottle bath by accountability corner.
Speaker 2:One spray away from being clean, you're in marketing sort it out.
Speaker 3:Okay, I don't think I could market.
Speaker 2:That that's like sell, sell this pen you gotta ask people questions.
Speaker 1:No, it's not selling the pen. You're asking people what do they want from a pen?
Speaker 2:yeah, did you have. How did you feel dirty after that race?
Speaker 1:that's right, yeah, I did feel dirty. Well, you need to. You need what could I help you with? Being dirty with all you?
Speaker 2:would you do you wish you could have a shower? Do you wish you could have a shower?
Speaker 1:you haven't got the space in your bag for a shower no, you haven't.
Speaker 2:No, have you got any shower gel with you as well? No, I haven't. Oh, and also just just to ask you a question, you've got access to water? No, I don't. Oh, wow, okay so, but basically you need bottle bath. Yeah, you're right, I do. You're asking what is bottle bath? You just, you just put both together, spray yourself down and then wipe yourself a microfiber towel. Done, you're good to go.
Speaker 3:Is the microfiber towel included? Yeah, first five orders 5,000 orders.
Speaker 2:Yeah, get a free microfiber towel, and we've already put it in water, so it's ready to wash you down as well.
Speaker 3:Nice wet microfiber towel.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but you clean that with a bottle bath Half that.
Speaker 2:Right Looks like a screen wipe. You, you know the screen wipes. You get little bottles and you get a little towel in it. You wait until I'm a millionaire okay, all right, so ships the only thing in there that I wanted to ask question what's the tape for? What's the tape you bring?
Speaker 1:Zinc oxide tape. So that's um, it's basically just in case you get like um well, I usually use it if my feet are going to get, if I'm doing a long race in my uh, what shoes do I use? Uh, not innovates, I rock things. If I use my rocks, I need rocks, I need to put them on my feet just to stop them rubbing. So it's just like okay, it's just like um, plasters but why?
Speaker 2:why, that's it oh, because it's stronger, yeah, stronger, okay, fair enough that's it any med any medicines, anything, any any extra things you take no, oh, some money some money, some cash yeah, buy the drugs yeah I get the drugs there you guys have the same.
Speaker 1:Yeah, go on, you guys must have the same shit in your bag go on, mo, and unwrap your bag.
Speaker 2:Obviously, I know you're missing one crucial thing, but we can sell you that at the end.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, I won't. Yeah, so probably pretty much the same as ships I'll have. If it's just a UK race day, I'll probably have, but obviously a change of clothes for afterwards. I normally take two pairs of shoes and then assess the ground when I'm there, so I'll have the shoe that I think is going to be perfect for the race and then a shoe that I might need if it's like heavy rain or if it's, I don't know, a really dry course that day. I thought it was going to be more muddy. So probably have two pairs of shoes, then, oh, electrical tape and then my gels and any nutrition that I need.
Speaker 1:Normally a banana as well, and you're not a fan of zinc oxide tape.
Speaker 3:No see my electrical tape's for my shoelaces. So I always take my shoelaces because they came undone once in a race and now I've got like ptsd from that and it was awful, uh. So I always take my laces, as some people have noticed, and they always take the piss out of me. For and I'm like, well, when your shoelaces come undone and I'm running away from you, you'll be looking at my tape shoes.
Speaker 2:What about if both of you this is probably a question for both of you we don't tend? I don't feel like there's many cold races we go to anymore like super cold ones. Do you bring other stuff if it's a really cold race?
Speaker 1:Yeah, more clothes to change into.
Speaker 3:Well, I might bring a neoprene layer.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So Titan Warrior was a good example of this. I didn't know how cold it was going to be on the actual race day, so in my race kit pack I had my Neoprene, just in case, and then actually I thought, oh, actually I might need it. So I warmed up in it, but then I got really warm and I thought, no, I won't need it, but I'll have that there just in case. I'd also normally have another pair of like I might have a spare running vest or a spare change of running clothes as well, just in case in the warm-up. So it's annoying me and I don't feel right.
Speaker 2:I've got that option what about water and things like that? Do you take extra water like electrolytes in water and in another bottle with just water in anything?
Speaker 3:I normally take just a liter of water with me, and then I'll try and do that. A litre of water.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:And then that's my say. It's a, we'll go from a Spartan just because that's the last race. I kind of remember that kicks off about eight o'clock in the morning. So from the time I wake up to the race start line I'll try and consume that litre. That normally tires me over.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:I have filtered water Fancy From a Berkey.
Speaker 2:What's a Berkey?
Speaker 1:It's a water filter that you barely have to change the filters.
Speaker 2:Oh okay, Not a Brita.
Speaker 1:No Berkey.
Speaker 2:Berkey yeah.
Speaker 3:Other brands are also sold.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bottle bath Filters his water, but then sprays himself a bottle bath. That's filtered water, is it? Oh, is that? Oh, that's the USB. We found it. Oh yeah, there we go, berkey water.
Speaker 1:Berkey water. That's the USB.
Speaker 2:We found it, oh yeah there we go Berkey water, berkey water. That's the secret he's just giving away. He wouldn't do well at KFC, would he?
Speaker 3:What's the secret? I'm not going to tell you that.
Speaker 2:Everyone knows, right. So I'm a little bit different to you two. I bet you've got loads of stuff, yeah. So I used to chuck loads of um, like loads of bits in my bag before the night before. But I found lauren has helped me with this found a way to, like I create a sandwich bag full of, like most essential things. So that would be like gels for the right. I would always have one more gel than I need for a race because I might take one before Sometimes I don't take one before Depends, and then I'd have sun cream in there. Got to have suntan lotion, always got to have that. Can't not have that. Then I always have a is it Vicks, vicks thing for my nose, like that.
Speaker 2:I like to clear my airways before a race. Obviously not too much because might be considered doping. Uh, paracetamol, that's. That's still on the legal limit. You can have pretty paracetamol, arbrufin's, a little bit different. That can actually be considered a um sports enhancing drug to some level because it also thins the blood, doesn't it? So, yeah, but that's still in the bag, just in case. Plasters, definitely in there. And then I got so the rip. I forgot it's called the stuff you put on your calluses, like if you get a rip you can put moisturiser on them.
Speaker 2:Got that in there, chub rub oh, to be fair, I yeah, chafing's a big issue in ocr, because I tell you what, when you're a larger runner, well, when you're large like me and mo henchwise, you get a lot of rubbing on. Like the lats, I get a lat rub.
Speaker 3:Don't know if you've had that oh yeah, I get a lat rub yeah, ships, do you get a lat rub?
Speaker 1:I won't say where I get my rub, okay thanks for sharing let's just you wouldn't want to share my job, rub I. What else is in there? Why are you teabagging it, you?
Speaker 2:wouldn't want to share my chub Rob. What else is in there?
Speaker 1:What are you teabagging it.
Speaker 2:You could call it that. I don't think what else is in there.
Speaker 1:Pro Plus, pro Plus. I suppose it's not a bad little caffeine hit if you haven't got time for a coffee if you don't have enough time.
Speaker 2:Oh, lorna's shouting at me. She's actually got the bag out. What's in there now? Body oil. Why is there body oil in here? Why is there?
Speaker 1:body oil. Is that my bag?
Speaker 2:no, tell you what it's a CBD rub oh, he's got the CBD.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's doping, cbd's not doping.
Speaker 2:It's marijuana. Oh, it's a cbd rub. Oh, he's got the cbd. Yes, doping that cbd is not doping, it's marijuana. Oh, it's a heat rub gel. That's just body oil. It's a body or a heat one? Yeah, it's a heat. Yeah, yeah, thanks, lorna. Thank you, goodbye. They're not impressed, they are impressed right, right, yeah, I'm gonna go.
Speaker 1:I want to ask some questions now. Goodbye, they are impressed.
Speaker 2:I'm so impressed, Right right.
Speaker 1:Is that it? Yeah, I'm going to go. I want to ask some questions now.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Right out of us three, I think I've got the least amount of stuff in my bag, so do you guys take that same bag to training with you?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:No, you do Mo.
Speaker 3:Yeah, because the only thing that I don't do when I train is the electrical tape. Everything else gels and everything is all I train with it so you down.
Speaker 1:That's why me and mo have least amount of stuff in our bag, because we train the same stuff. We know what works, we don't need to think my or mine are just in case, cases, yeah you don't need it, just in case, when you know what works yeah, I don't bring it to show, but that's also well.
Speaker 2:We we said I think we said it in the previous episode about we needed to be better at like having water when we train and things like that. I just I've not been training with the things that I use in race as much as I should do gloves. Do you have any of you have gloves in your bag?
Speaker 1:pretty far. They're usually in the van, so yeah, just in case if I'm training, they're in the van ready yeah, I don't know the uk but I have done in european races.
Speaker 3:I've put them in my race belt, yeah I bought that.
Speaker 1:I bought that rubber glove. Didn't I the marigold when we did?
Speaker 2:oh yeah, so you didn't get um electrocuted. Yeah, um, trying to think what else is in there, the oh um water bottles. So not, not, um, not like a standard water bottle that you have pre and post race Soft flask. I have a soft flask that I use during a race because I don't like waiting for the water stop. I like to put it in my shorts and then have it as I go around.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we've spoke about this before in the past Because I like to look on the course map prior and make sure there is enough water stops. But I do think if, because this is all about preparation, it's all about preparing for the race. Really, when it comes, when it comes down to the nuts and bolts, it's it's about us looking at the race and finding out what we need to put in our kit bag. So most of the time there is water I mean ocr is quite lucky, isn't really? Because you do have your stops. You do usually have a water stop. There's usually like some nutrition there, if it be just a jelly baby in that. So for race wise, we usually we are quite covered during the race for what they supply.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, but sometimes the um, how it's spaced out, doesn't fit with your own body's need for um nutrition. That's why I carry a gel, yeah, but water wise as well, yeah, I suppose my body, my body, doesn't go all right. So every three miles this race, you're going to need water. Okay, cool, thanks no possibly.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, I agree with your thought process.
Speaker 3:I just haven't found a soft blast that I've enjoyed using and it hasn't irritated me yeah, I can never, can you, I can never get it out yeah, I always faff and then I end up either squeezing too much water out and losing load anyway, or and it is just because I don't train with it. I think that's the thing. I think if I trained with it more and practice with it, it'd be better. But I, just because I don't train with it, I just rely on water stations if or when I need. But I do a lot of my training without water anyway, and in the uk, because it's not too hot, you can get away with minimal water.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I have to admit I love a soft flask. I'd always have one on me, but they're the most annoying things in the world.
Speaker 1:What was that noise. What was that? Did you hear it? It was like an alien interruption. It went woong, was it? Yeah, I didn't hear anything that was so cool, it was like an alien interruption it went, was it?
Speaker 3:yeah, I didn't hear anything that was so cool are you sure that wasn't outside your room, or something? Nah, we're getting hacked mate sorry, I'll have a look on the edit cool, alright, kit wise.
Speaker 2:We think we've covered kit yeah, again.
Speaker 3:I think, like you said, get, bring the stuff with you that you train with. I bring two pairs of shoes, like I said, for my reasons, because sometimes you don't know what the weather's going to be like. But again, there will never be shoes that I've never used. They're always shoes I've trained in and I know, if the weather's a certain way, that shoe will be better because I've trained in it. I know, if the weather's a certain way that shoe will be better because I've trained in it. I wouldn't.
Speaker 1:I don't overwhelm yourself with kit options yeah, it also depends how far you're going as well. If you're going say, for example, you're going to europe for a race you would want to take a few multiple options because you're going to go over there and it might be slightly different. When you get there and you look at the ground, you think, oh, I really maybe should use these shoes. Or, like mo says, the weather can change, so you do want a different option, but we don't need that much kit as obstacle races. For a race, the only thing that's going to make much of a difference is the shoes and maybe some gloves and something to prepare for the heat or the cold yeah, my process is going down no, no, you go.
Speaker 2:I want to hear your packing process because my packing process is different.
Speaker 3:When I go abroad, then it's a bit like I've pretty much got the uk down to a t. But then when I go abroad and I'm traveling for longer, I'll basically pack for the uk as if I'm doing a race. That's local, so pack for a day and that's packing stage one. Then I'll basically repeat that by packing for another day. So I almost have two sets of the kit, but just slightly different variations. One might be a wet weather, one might be a dry weather. Then I'll put all that together. Then, if I'm going abroad, I will also take more specific things like, uh, theraguns or small like hand rollers or maybe a foot roller, something that I won't have access to abroad because I'm not at home, if that makes sense yeah, you're right.
Speaker 2:Actually, I think that's more of a that's, and a broad bag is a little bit different, isn't it? You're taking things that are available to you at home as well, like that little roller that I've got from Decathlon.
Speaker 3:The little handhold one was perfect yeah, because that just packs up nice and easily. Yeah, most of the time in the UK, because the UK is quite small. I'd say nine times out of ten I'm traveling from home and if I'm staying I'm probably in the van and I could just throw it in the van.
Speaker 2:That's quite easy yeah, is there anything they think we do different? There is something random in a bag, apart from bottle bath, that people might need to know about, but is it? Is it really that simple?
Speaker 3:Maybe not, I think everyone should do this, but bin bags just always bring a bin bag for your clothes afterwards.
Speaker 1:Mr Byrne would not like that.
Speaker 3:No, is he not a?
Speaker 2:fan of a bin bag. No, it's sustainability, isn't it? You bring a bag for life. Yeah, a cardboard bag.
Speaker 1:With wet clothes.
Speaker 2:Do you?
Speaker 1:know what I do. I'll tell you what I do With all my wet stuff. I get my microfiber towel and I roll up. For some reason I've gone down the stairs.
Speaker 2:I don't know why you've got all country on us.
Speaker 1:I take my microfiber towel and I wrap up all my wet clothes in it and stick it back in my bag Lovely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's always a good idea that gives me the ick.
Speaker 1:I've got a washing fairy.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, just sticks it outside, doesn't he? And it just disappears and comes back. My Osprey bag is really good Big one, because it's got a compartment for dirty clothes in it, so it just goes in there. There's a lot of bags out there that have compartments for dirty clothes. Highly recommend them. Or you get a ton of these drawstring bags from like races. Use one of those.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, the ones you get from Worlds and that where they give it, they're perfect little bags to stick I think I've still got all those.
Speaker 3:You don't want to do it oh no, I've got one of them, I think I've got like six, I think, here I put one, I put my dirty washing in once. I think I got one. Yeah, I've definitely not got that, don't worry um, one thing obviously, depending on we've talked about water and stuff and soft blocks and stuff do you guys pretty much always take a race belt then no matter the distance yeah, I have a race belt, no matter if I'm just doing an easy run, it's always there no, don't have a race belt.
Speaker 2:I love a decathlon shorts with the pockets in that carry the flasks. Love them, yeah, you do yeah, that's true then they're good quality shorts as well.
Speaker 1:I've had mine for ages and they've survived loads of spartans, and that's saying something it's saying something actually, but I've also got that pair of shorts and the water bottle. I I don't fall out sometimes I don't, yeah, I don't find it hold stuff well, which is why I use the belt I don't want anyone to take that as advice to get at the katharine shorts, because I have struggled with that.
Speaker 2:To be honest, I think I might be heading towards how getting a good quality belt I haven't got a good quality one, but just just just a belt. I don't think the it hold. I've gone over walls and it's fallen out and I need to perfect that.
Speaker 3:See, I love my belt. It's the best belt I've ever had when you put it on the right way around. So what is it? This thing I love about my belt is there's pockets in the front and back, so you can stack that thing up. What one have you got? I've got the Salomon. I can't remember what it's exactly called. It's the one with the pole holders, so that's what I've got.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's the same one I use. I love this belt. It's all right, but has the zip broken yet? No, oh, the zip will break.
Speaker 3:Well, I've had it like for a long time.
Speaker 1:Oh, maybe.
Speaker 3:I've had it for a long time.
Speaker 1:What's it called?
Speaker 3:It's called the I'd have to Google it I can't remember I'm on it, but it's so comfy for me, it never rolls up or down, it fits everything in there nicely and you can stack for like a long, even if you're doing an Ultra or a beast or something longer.
Speaker 1:You can get everything you need yeah, I've also got the slightly larger one, the s lab bigger version as well, but that's only when it's a bit colder and I can stick a couple more jackets in it. But yeah, yes, lab belt, that's the one I was sporting at the weekend, the little red band around my waist mo said he's he packs for cold weather, he packs like a neoprene vest.
Speaker 2:I've actually never, ever ran in a neoprene vest. I just was running like a vest or or like a base layer. Have you ever, have you guys ever ran in them? Do you ever bring like a windbreaker with you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, have you ran in it? I've only ever done it for longer laps at nuts.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:Yeah, because I've never raced anything that long in the winter or in the heavy rain that I think I need it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's always weather dependent, isn't it? So like, if you're racing in the winter and you've got wind and there's water, that wind is going to suck you dry of any energy you've got, so you need something to keep that wind off you. So, again, it's course dependent. Do a bit of recon, look to see what the race is. But yeah, if it's cold, windy, you will get cold, windy sapped off you. No, cold wind, body heat temperature sapped off you Science. And then that's why you need that windbreaker. I've done nuts with a neoprene top and then on the third or fourth lap, because it was so windy, I've had to put a windbreak on and that's helped so much okay.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's the only time I've used a windbreaker is in that situation where I've been at nuts. It's a lapped race and I think it was the third lap of a winter nuts. I threw on a windbreaker because the wind was battering in the fields and I was getting cold every time I entered the fields yeah, so that was quite handy.
Speaker 1:When it's endurance, you're not running at that speed that you're going to be running at to keep that body ticking over a nice warm temperature, and even if you've got a bit of neoprene on, like um, because I've done that with, uh, just um, a swim, swim run wetsuit, and even that towards the end, the wind was starting to bite through. So that's how, that's how sweat evaporates, isn't it? Because that's how you cool yourself. It's by the wind taking off the sweat. That's what cools you down. It's not sweating, is it so basically, when it's the winter, it's exactly the same water, because you're wet, wind cooling you down. It's cold, extra cold, getting you colder. Yeah, yeah, science, I don't know what about you dan no, never, never wore one, I've always.
Speaker 3:I think that's why I've always hated doing winter courses, because I've never really prepped properly for them and I've just suffered well, even when we do one lap of nuts in the winter, most years I've just worn a neoprene vest and I look around and no one else is in a neoprene vest. They're always in like and I look around and no one else is in a neoprene vest.
Speaker 3:They're always in like just normal vests and every year I get to the finish and I'm still pretty toasty and everyone else is like shaking and struggling on the obstacle. Still, because they're just not warm.
Speaker 2:It's good advice. We've especially liked the winter coming up. This come out on 5th of October and you've got what fallout at nuclear is a winter course.
Speaker 1:And that's always windy. Yeah, that's horrible yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm glad that that well, no, it's good for the sport that it's still it's still about.
Speaker 3:but I'm glad it's not a competitive race anymore to some regard, so we don't have competitive race anymore to some regard, so we don't have don't get forced to turn up to it. Oh, did you not wear neoprene when we did challenge cup in november down?
Speaker 2:nope so that's mad to me. I've never worn neoprene in my life I haven't done, I think I.
Speaker 1:I think when it's over under 12k, I don't. I think I'd probably just about grit and bear it, even if it's icy. I'm not too bad with the cold, but maybe a windbreak.
Speaker 3:I'd rather be a bit toastier and overheating on the runs that when I get in the water I feel like not that bad than fight the cold.
Speaker 1:Just think about me in the cold for a ginger, I'm not very good at it see, I always find when you're really, really cold, you can't feel your body, so then you don't know what's hurting. So it's really quite good you get into that zone, don't you?
Speaker 2:it puts you in that sort of like it does puts you in a mindset, yeah, that there's no messing around, like you're in it now. Yeah, you're not coming out of this. Like even when we did we there was it about two years ago we did winter nuts, didn't we one that?
Speaker 1:as well. Also you boys getting in my ice bath. That time you both wimped out on that. So yeah, you can yeah, I'm not racing.
Speaker 2:I'm not racing. I'll do anything in the cold if it was a race.
Speaker 3:Hang on. I did get in it, though To your waist. That was further than.
Speaker 2:Darren got. Let's finish our bag. Chat up with the most important bit of advice for any OCR that you're going to. Yeah, are you ready for this? I don't know if you're both going to agree Toilet paper.
Speaker 1:Yes, a hundred percent. If that's not in your bag, you're a fool.
Speaker 2:You never want to you never want to turn up to an OCR. Go into the cubicle having your pre-match poo and nothing there. You don't want that.
Speaker 1:That'll throw you off your game. That's why Mo brings two pairs of shorts. Yeah, that's why yeah.
Speaker 3:Right confession corner.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:Have you ever gone in a cubicle?
Speaker 1:or a toilet.
Speaker 3:There'd been no toilet roll, but you still had to go through shit and you haven't got toilet roll on you, so you haven't bothered wiping, and then you've raced no, because I've always had loo roll, never, ever not had paper.
Speaker 2:I'd use a sock you'd use a sock.
Speaker 3:What about what your own socks on your foot?
Speaker 2:yeah, my own sock, I'd go sockless.
Speaker 1:You know what I'd use, didn't you?
Speaker 3:what bottle bath.
Speaker 2:He's got his microfiber towel in his bottle bath.
Speaker 3:He's fine do you know what you could do?
Speaker 2:you could use the toilet like a bead age, you know, normally as the pump you don't want to be doing that, you don't want to have blue stuff on you that running down your leg as you're going past me you know what I've been up to yeah, what mo have you done that?
Speaker 3:no, actually I haven't all right. Okay, I was just putting the question out there.
Speaker 2:That's gonna make me sound really guilty, but no, I'm pretty maybe we should have a episode where we go through um race, race stories, race confessions race confessions yeah, I've come back many times of one sock blistered foot one right blistered foot. Lauren are asking me why you only got one sock on. You know the reason Right. I think we covered that pretty good. I think that was a good bit of advice for the listeners out there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but always plan. Plan is the way to go.
Speaker 2:Train with it and you know what you should bring. If you don't train with it, overpack like me. Is that what we're going? With you can always buy a bigger bag Ships. To segue into our next subject, do you?
Speaker 1:want to let us know why is your name burnt too many matches? Oh, that is because of the race at Body Hub when I got too many matches. Well yeah, we raced hard, burnt a match, died at the end.
Speaker 2:That was a race of races, wasn't it there was? Why did you think you burnt too many matches? I don't think you did. I think you burnt enough.
Speaker 1:No, I just think I burnt it at the wrong time. But I mean I don't want to talk about it too much Because I've probably already talked about it In the future, which will be the past when this comes out. But I think, just because I burnt Too many matches Trying to escape People from behind that I know have good abilities For further on down the field. Cryptic, like it yeah but if you you know, you'll get all your information on Thursday, oh, and, who's like? You'll get it on Monday.
Speaker 3:It's about a month ago.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a month ago. You'll know why.
Speaker 2:Everyone will have already heard about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2:All right, so right. So moving on from that then. Okay because obviously that's already come out. People have already heard about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, people have got to listen to the other podcast someone.
Speaker 2:So 3K Series has concluded now on the 5th of October, I'm assuming, because all the time trials and the races are done that brought together loads of the training centres to showcase what they've got on offer. Yes, there is a lot of learnings, a lot of things to take from it, but we talked about it on one of our previous episodes, which might have been our last episode you never know. You never know when we publish these things, but we're thinking that training centers are the future of ocr. So that's, that's a statement and maybe we should follow follow that up with a little bit more context about our own opinions. Mo, you obviously you wasn't. You wasn't at the bodyhub race and you we've talked, spoken about this loads and you've been at Rumble since its inception, so you've seen Rumble grow.
Speaker 2:But around the UK there is training grounds popping up all over the place, not specifically OCR, but they can be adapted to be used for OCR, like the playground. I don't know if you guys have seen the one called the playground. It's very much done for functional fitness and kids clubs and it's not. It's not promoted to ocr, like I never see it spoken about in ocr context, but the playground is an awesome place we've got so many around with us as well. Mo don't know if you notice there's like fortitude fitness where scotty barker trains at yeah, even um vista hotel.
Speaker 3:That's definitely not advertised as an obstacle place and maybe it's not the most technical obstacles in the world, but they've got a course so?
Speaker 2:so we spoke in the last last episode about should we be going to these more, should we be showcasing them. But you thinking about the sport in general and the future of the sport, of how it's developing, do you think this is that is the place to focus on, rather than the races? Now for this, for the athlete, for the sports part of this sport, would you guys think?
Speaker 3:for the athlete yeah, yeah, I think it's going to grow the sport better by because it's just more accessible. So, basically, the races are getting too expensive. The races are really expensive now and training centres can put on things like well, this weekend, but it was a month ago that are just good quality events and they're not as expensive. I think if you look as well, the last, probably the best races in the last couple of years have been held at training centres Tartamoria one of the best races we've seen, I personally think, in the UK, the British 3K Championships. For those people that were there, they know how good that actually was Training.
Speaker 2:Centre that was at Strive.
Speaker 3:Not Strive. Yeah, what's it called Forders.
Speaker 2:Forders Gym, yeah, in Birmingham.
Speaker 1:And then this from the feedback I'm getting from the weekend again another training center putting on a great race yeah, you could even throw nuts 3k last year into that, because that was potentially actually pretty much the training center. Yeah, that was that side.
Speaker 3:It wasn't the whole nuts course, it was the, the training facility side and even if you go like back in time, you think just after lockdown we had the time trial, yeah, that was amazing and Scott is the final yeah, so good, yeah, even remember, that was it. Uh, what was it called the nuclear wild forest race? Was it surge or yeah? Something like that yeah, back in the day that again, that race was amazing robin, robin who robin?
Speaker 2:and brother andrew. They they knew what they had there, they knew that that was going to be it but sadly they didn't. I don't know what happened. They weren't able to continue promoting it or doing it again. But that's the sport there. You've done it.
Speaker 2:If we need a short course championship series that brings us to the centres, to promote the centres, to develop further, to bring in more athletes in the area that can, that can train regularly, because consistent training and being have access to these courses allows people to actually stay in the sport. So races like you're just seeing it promoted um wolf run, for instance, like they're great, that is the mass participation part of the sport. But for the athletes I feel like we need, we do need, we do need something that we own and is ours, like it's not tending wolf run and being the best at wolf run, it's attending um field fit and being having top score at his course there. Or having attending pt barn and having top score there. Or just circuit, having a circuit like formal one where we go around and have a series of short course racing. Short course racing, even though not everyone is a fan of the 3k format because it is. It's so high, intense and you need to train for it specifically, but for spectators it's perfect for recording.
Speaker 2:Do you know what? I've watched it back. The recording at bodyhub was was great. Maybe it was able to see everything. Yes, everything need everything needs tweaking to be better. But I'll tell you what. What we got. There was awesome people commenting, talking about it actually saw everything yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:The thing is, it's like if you take other sports, for example running, it's the best kind of version of this.
Speaker 3:All the runners come from the grassroots and they come from athletic clubs and training centers and things like. In milton kings we have the redway runners, which is like a running group. That's the start and that's where the sport grows. Not everyone races Diamond League track meets. The elites do, obviously, but that's a very niche group. So we don't need to be getting everyone to these kind of elite events. Everyone we want to try and get into training centers, try and get into kind of these little races or the smaller races that are a little bit cheaper and everyone can have a go at and almost make a park run kind of style for obstacle racing that people can just turn up to have a laugh, have fun and enjoy the sport yeah, but I disagree with you a little bit because the way that the training center should work, it should be your gateway into the competitive side of obstacle course racing, your gateway into the mass participation and just fun.
Speaker 2:one is tough mothers and wolf run and nuclear races. They still exist because of that, because you're going to have people spending £100 for a ticket once a year. So that's why the gateway into competitive racing the thing we want to tell competitors you're going to be spending your life doing this, so it needs to be sustainable for your wallet as well. So it needs to be making sure that you're not spending too much money I think eventually they don't necessarily have to be the gateway as well.
Speaker 3:You can have people that literally turn up to these 3k things and just give it a shot and that's their way in and then they realize, oh, this can be competitive and can be good. But I think training centers can are a great way of showcasing everything. It's like a local track meet. Like you go to a local track meet, there's different times, different waves, different. You don't just have the elite guys go off, you have different categories and run out through the day and you can just do the same at training centers yeah, you're right, but I wouldn't go to a track meet if I was doing couch to 5k.
Speaker 2:I'd sign up for the win, mk winter half and the mk, and that's, that's the two different directions, isn't it like if I'm just doing a couch to 5k, I'd sign up for wolf run if I was doing, if I surpassed couch 5k and I was already getting a very decent time. And I just want to take it a bit further. I'll turn up to a free k that training because you join you probably join.
Speaker 3:Normally, the progression I mean doesn't always look like this, but it would be a case of you've done your catch to 5k. You've then run your local 5k or a park run. You've then spoke to some people at the park run because you're keen. They've told you about oh look, there's this running club. You've then joined the running club. From the running club they've said, oh, we're holding this event on this day. You then do the event and then it just kind of snowballs and gradually you find yourself in this world of semi-competitive sport and even if it's just for enjoyment like someone like wendy who just comes she does competitive sport. It might not be at the highest level, but she still does competitive sport and that's how you can get people in and grow the sport as well. Yeah, ships.
Speaker 2:You're quiet. What do you think?
Speaker 1:I'll tell you one thing it does it makes the training better, because if you get all these things going on, no matter which direction you're going in, it means that you're always progressing. And if these things can build up, so you've got better training centers where you're training better with more competitive athletes, or you're just training to get yourself over your fun run that you're going to do at the weekend at a different event. Everyone is getting better. Get yourself over your fun run that you're going to do at the weekend at a different event everyone is getting better. And even people are making some money off it by having a business that's sustainable as well yeah, you're helping out the community.
Speaker 2:At the same time, you're not helping out a brand yeah yeah, but but the quality of it needs to be there as well, like yeah, I mean there's a lot of things that need to be done.
Speaker 1:I mean trying to get a lot of people over a certain course. It's not all of them. Some of them probably have the, the ability to have like quite large way. This is when you're talking about having a race on it, that some places are able to have a large wave, some places just aren't. So things like that need tweaking. So if you're going to do like a race at every event, is it always going to consistently be time trialed? If you're turning up just at the weekend, how is that time trial going to be?
Speaker 1:uh adjudicated correct yeah adjudicated correctly, things like that. But overall, you know, that's where the other options come in, like, yeah, we're going to keep the rules simple so you only need sort of one person looking around to see what's happening. You know you don't have to hit this, you don't have to touch that, you don't have to have different bloody holes and all that stuff. But then it's another option of like oh, the course is going to change. It does leave a lot open for more conversation on things that could go wrong, things that could go wrong, things that could change.
Speaker 1:But as a whole I mean, look how good that event was at the weekend. Yeah, and, as Mo said, we've had the best races this year we've had at training centres, training centres.
Speaker 2:Not races, it's so good.
Speaker 3:I think the main reason that is is because the people in charge of the events actually love the sport yeah, I think that's the other side of the coin is by giving them the power. They know what the races want, because either a lot of them are racers or they just speak to racers every single day. So they know what we're craving and what we're after. They definitely are the future not 100.
Speaker 1:But then also, what was I going to say? A minute ago, I had a valid point coming up. Hang on, bear with me. Uh, what was it bugger? No, go on, I forgot, I'll come back in and again you.
Speaker 2:They are only the future if they work together. What by themselves, I don't think they they can be together. I think they, um, they can be, because then they can build something that's that's like like the 3k series currently. Can you imagine if that was the overarching brand of all the training centers, or the overarching thing that glues them all together?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That would be nice.
Speaker 1:That's what everyone needs to do. We need to stop having a lot of this is this and that we're all meant to be in a community anyway and some people just aren't working together. But we all do need to work together, and with working together, people don't have the same opinion. It's all about compromise yeah just like compromise running, do you?
Speaker 2:know I, I would love I was thinking about the other days that I'd love it all to be even like a four-week period. Imagine like every weekend there's a 3k course at a training center and that is, and it concludes at the end of a month. That's a bit crazy to think, but that would be quite cool because then you it's like a tour, it's like a football tournament or like a football league, that every weekend you go to a training center.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean I would hate it, but I get what you're saying yeah, you obviously would all be hating, it would all be fatigued.
Speaker 2:But you could do it in a way that you can oh, I don't know, it'd be elitist, that that what I was thinking. You submit free athletes from each team and you can sub out athletes as you go through that month, so you would always put your freshest ones in that, but as a consumer of a sport, that's awesome yeah, yeah. So who's selected for this course? Like the um, if it was a yeah, you select your best athletes you'd create the best team, wouldn't you?
Speaker 3:it's almost like super league triathlon, but you have bigger teams that get selected yeah, exactly that could you dip people in and out per race?
Speaker 1:yeah, so you could have large team, but then, because it's over a short period of time, or it could be like so, if it was a particular race, like the strength one at Body Hub this week, because it's a strength one, you're dipping your strongest races to try and make more of an impact.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You can almost have everyone race. Do it like how kind of cross country style, so you have everyone race still, but you've selected you only select a few people that get points, so everyone still can get involved. Yeah Well, you don't select.
Speaker 2:You just say your top three get points, that's it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that would be to see over August. Summer nothing in August. You could go right first. Stop Tartan Warrior. Yeah, it's a long drive but we've got to do it.
Speaker 3:Hurrah, it's not for the Scots.
Speaker 2:Next stop Rumble. Next stop PT Bar. Next stop Body Hub. That's four already. You could go whoever wants to be in it. Field Fit could be in it. Obstacle Gym six that's field fit could be in it. Obstacle gym six that's six weeks. It's probably too long, but yeah, the tour. That that would be cool, wouldn't it? The 3k tour obstacle tour.
Speaker 1:No, you can't really call it tours trophy, can you?
Speaker 2:no, you can't, but you do. You know what some weekends you could do saturday and sunday. That'd be crazy, yeah free?
Speaker 1:yeah, because some of them are that close yeah, yeah, body hub and then pt barn right now you're not talking my language.
Speaker 3:Maybe we should do them every other week.
Speaker 1:My body is screaming at you guys, you don't have the time do you?
Speaker 2:no, it would be cool, though, isn't it something like that it would be and I know that's. That's what the free case tried to do, isn't it? But I just I am on the fence of the time trials being included.
Speaker 3:I'm a bit, I'd prefer just races yeah, no, but I like it because it gets people to train in venues and also it makes it more accessible. Yeah not a fan because it's designed for the training centres. So it gives the training, it gives you a reason to come back to the training centres yeah, but if the race is there, you're going to go there anyway to train, aren't you?
Speaker 1:I remembered the point I was going to say a minute ago.
Speaker 2:Oh, right, go on.
Speaker 1:I don't know if it fits with anything now, but also the training this is just a point on training centres. It helps you improve your obstacle ability.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's basically it. Yeah, but there's more to that.
Speaker 3:Training obstacles helps with your obstacle ability. I like that.
Speaker 1:But because every training centre's got their own unique style of build in a way. Like, say, for example, I want to use Russell's skills over Olympus at Body Hub. He obviously uses the same sort of skills at the one at Gavin's place, Really good at it. But you need to go to these training centers to develop these skills on these obstacles, to get proficient at it when you go to these major competitions. So that's why you need to go to training centers. Back to where we were where are we?
Speaker 2:we're preaching at um training centers being the future, but we just need to get more people to them. We they're the future of ocr, but they're not.
Speaker 1:But ocr isn't sustaining them, which is the most bizarre and confusing thing to me we had this conversation with leon, though, and bracken that even in the other countries there's not a lot of training centers. I know in norway they've got a training center that holds a really, really good race. I forget the name of it, I will tell you later. There's other training centers like, uh, toughest lab and things. They couldn't really hold a right race, but they're not even around anymore. Taura's trophy, where they hold, is it the? Which championships is that?
Speaker 2:swedish champs, isn't it?
Speaker 1:I was gonna say swedish champs, but I wasn't sure, so I was gonna let you get it wrong. If it was wrong, that's a training centre, but that's also where they hold the championship race of a thing.
Speaker 1:Certain training centres have the potential to be the place for things, and I think in other countries they're either helping the sport grow or there just isn't enough of them, and maybe a lot of people are just training in like your regular sort of CrossFit gym that's been adapted to have a few obstacles, or climbing gym with obstacles. So maybe maybe other countries aren't having the same boom of training centers that we're having.
Speaker 3:But you think of hang on, hang on, guys, training center, training center. They put on a great race, but it's a training centre. Yeah, but it makes sense. I mean I go back to the running example. I think, just because it's quite a close example, most tracks are what people train on, but they're also what hold track races.
Speaker 1:It's a similar sort of thing.
Speaker 3:Especially for shorter stuff, longer stuff.
Speaker 1:Obviously you need more space, but for the shorter races yeah, if they've just got a little bit of land, you can always just go in and out, cloverfield style, like it's always coming back to when you think of the Rumble Troop race.
Speaker 3:How much mileage you cover in that little square field yeah, it's true, and you can see everything on that well at the weekend he's got.
Speaker 2:He's definitely. He had a bit of trouble getting the space because there's a football tournament on, but he's definitely got enough space to do in and out laps as well. Pt Barn, we know he's got space to do a big race there. He just it would just be going around the outskirts of the field and back yeah tartan war has proved it. They did two races there well, they're constantly.
Speaker 1:They are constantly trying to put obstacle racing on a bloody track. You know the best like when we went to poland. On a track, you had a good stack of obstacles on in that area. You could even just go like, just imagine, further along the field you just had a stadium with all your obstacles in the middle where you usually throw your balls and your, your javelins and stuff, but then you ran around the track and did a different obstacle each time or something, or had them on the track and things. I, I don't know I'm throwing things out there. We're brainstorming again.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm here for it, though I would love the idea of an obstacle per lane. Yeah, and you like, spiral around to the middle. You finish in the middle, that would be awesome.
Speaker 1:That's what them bloody army assault courses are. Yeah, they are.
Speaker 2:That's own bloody army assault courses are yeah, they are. Yeah, that's where the sport jet it came from. Steeplechase yeah right, I think I think we've said, said enough that they're, they're the future. Get down to a training center, don't know where one is. Maybe in the future we should be like we we'll start going to more posting, more about about them, yeah, they're definitely.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think I think next year we should. I mean, you guys have been pretty good this year. I'm I've struggled because of my work, but I think we need to get some more. We should do a tour.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:We haven't been to enough.
Speaker 2:I know it's.
Speaker 1:Saturday, after the day after the weekend, and I was at Body High, I was thinking do you know what? We spend too much time, us three inspecifically. We're always down nuts or bloody rumble. We're hardly ever anywhere else.
Speaker 3:Well, rumble's convenient for me because it's ten minutes. That's my problem.
Speaker 2:Going back to our time episode, it is just easy once you've committed time mode to, to train the whole, like then, more than mornings or than days, you could, we could, go anywhere in the uk oh yeah, and you always actually, I find, have a better session when you like.
Speaker 3:I actually always have a better session at nuts because we commit to it. So it's not it's like I can't sack this in and then go home. In's not. It's like I can't sack this in and then go home in 10 minutes. It's like I've I've drove all this way.
Speaker 2:I have to get something out of this yeah, I think, I think we've we need to be accountable towards ourselves and actually put our, put our training where our mouth is right now and say we go, we go to all the training centers I know yeah, yeah, that's what we do. Call it the accountability corner.
Speaker 1:Ocr training ground tour it's a bit of a mouthful that is yeah ac on tour.
Speaker 3:That's the other one that's.
Speaker 2:That's that's european tour. Maybe maybe it's all the tour.
Speaker 3:We're just touring everywhere we could look at some European training centres as well. Why not?
Speaker 2:we could do yeah, there must be one in Gothenburg. When we're there, we've already been invited to.
Speaker 1:Some Lenny's invited us to one, that one that's in Belgium or wherever. It's one of the biggest training centres in Belgium. He said, yeah, you guys should come down and train. Was you trying to do his accent for a little bit then? I was going to attempt it, but then I knew how bad, my accents were Right there. Right there, lover. That's not Lenny, that you do, by the way.
Speaker 3:No, that's not.
Speaker 1:Lenny, we do by the way?
Speaker 2:no, that's not. Yeah, we, we do. We need to go to these places. Yeah, right, did you want to talk about anything else ships? You had training centers q a cost of ocr. I think we've touched upon that a little bit, saying that training centers are actually cost effective.
Speaker 3:So I think cost of ocr deserves its whole episode.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think we can go into a real breakdown. I think we've had a good discussion today of all different topics.
Speaker 1:Right, cue the music. We're waffling, goodbye, goodbye.
