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
#2: The Nuts 3k 27th April - Accountability Corner Course Walk 3k Series
Step into the beating heart of British obstacle course racing with the Nuts Challenge 3K – a course that has defined the essence of OCR in the United Kingdom since 2010. Unlike any ordinary race, this woodland technical masterpiece delivers approximately 35 obstacles within just 3 kilometers, creating what seasoned racers describe as "relentless" – a perfect descriptor for this iconic event at Camelot Events.
What makes the Nuts 3K extraordinary is its remarkable balance of challenge and accessibility. The course winds through technical forest trails where you'll encounter everything from suspension obstacles and hanging rigs to water crossings and natural terrain challenges. Your heart rate will spike within minutes as you tackle the infamous Monty's hurdles, Valkyrie rings, and various technical rigs, with barely enough recovery time between obstacles to catch your breath.
Team Nuts member Khani, who has trained at this venue for eight years and earned numerous international podiums, reveals that success here doesn't necessarily come from outright speed. Rather, it rewards consistent energy management and technical efficiency – knowing when to conserve and when to push. The course's unique layout forces racers to utilize every OCR skill: upper body strength, agility, push strength, compromise running, and the mental fortitude to maintain focus when fatigue sets in.
For first-timers, the Nuts 3K offers a comprehensive introduction to what makes obstacle course racing special – the perfect venue to experience the sport's original spirit. For veterans, it's a technical playground that tests your ability to execute obstacles efficiently while managing your energy through varied terrain. Either way, you'll leave with muddy trainers, possibly bruised arms from chicken-winging through obstacles, and the satisfaction of conquering one of Britain's most authentic OCR experiences.
Don't miss this opportunity to race at the spiritual home of UK obstacle course racing on April 27th. Sign up now and discover why the Nuts Challenge continues to set the standard for technical obstacle racing excellence in the 3K Series.
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:Okay, it is episode two of accountability. Course walk can't be corner course walk, I don't. I don't even know what the official name is yet, but essentially this is our opportunity to walk around the course of each 3k race in the series to give our best advice possible to make you feel prepared, know the course, know what shoes to bring, know to bring spare clothes everything there is to know about a 3k series. So, but before I ask how ships and mo are, I'm going to introduce a guest, because we have a guest for this episode and someone with a lot of knowledge of of nuts, um 3k course, uh and carney, thank you so much for joining us. Hi, thank you for having me. It's okay, how are you?
Speaker 3:yeah, I'm fine, thank you. How are you all?
Speaker 2:really good really really good. Yeah, doing good, thank you. Is it called camelot events, or is it? Nuts what, how, how do they, how do they call this? What is this race called the 3k one chips? You would know this. You built some of the course right start like it's.
Speaker 1:Basically, it's just being held as nuts 3k course. It's getting held. What's the date for it to be held down? A couple of weeks time from when we were recording yes, two weeks it will be.
Speaker 2:It will actually be a month to to um, to the course, because this will come out after tartan warrior. So the course I believe I do have it up here is the april the 27th at camelot events. So, yeah, almost a month. So let's go. Let's go in khani, what's? Give us a bit of background of yourself and ocr. Well, how did you find it? And I guess because you're you're. You actually are a member of the team, team Nuts, aren't you?
Speaker 3:Yes, so I am a member of the Team Nuts. I started OCR probably nine years ago. I did Back to the Trenches. It's a race that is not there anymore used to be run in Redhill and I only did it for just to do a mud run and take it off my bucket list. And then, after I finished the race, I really, really, really enjoyed it and I was, oh, maybe I should do another one. And then I found Nats, because it's quite local to where I live, and I found the team and I kind of inquired. I got invited to join if I wanted to go and train with them, and I've been a team since then, so probably about eight years.
Speaker 1:Eight years and during that eight years you've actually had some fairly good success, especially within the last couple of couple of years. I mean, you've done really well at the European Championships, both with FISO and High Rollers. Just tell us a little bit about them.
Speaker 3:So I guess the last probably four or five years or four years since after Covid have been probably more when I had the most success in age group races. So in 2023, I went to the Belgian FISA World Championships and I got the double silver medal, one on the 3K and one on the 14K. That was quite nice on the 3k and one on the 14k, that was quite nice. Um, then last year I went to euros, to italy, and I got the bronze medal as well. Um, on that one on the 3k. On the 15k, I fell one obstacle too many, so I didn't keep my van. Unfortunately, no one in my age group uh, podium. So I was really kind of, um, yeah, I could have. I learned quite a bit on that one because, you know, I should have gone a bit slower, I think, in some of the obstacles and I could have done much better, but anyway, so I was happy just with the one medal.
Speaker 3:I do as well, as you mentioned, I like the strength part of it, especially as you know you age, and you know, after part of it, especially as you age and after 50, you need to be more on top of strength, I think. So I like doing hard-hooks workouts and taking part in the competition because it keeps me on top of the strength part of training. In 2023, when they did the hard-hooks world in Manchester, I qualified as a doubles and I ran with Tony, who used to do OCR as well, and we got silver medal on H Group on the women doubles. So it was quite nice as well. And then I have run quite a few kind of single races with High Rocks as well and I got a few podiums like first, second in my age group, which also, you know, it's nice and kind of uh, keep me motivated it's nice.
Speaker 1:Well, we're not gonna, we're not gonna ask you your age, because that's rude apparently. But uh, so is it mostly down at nuts that you've sort of acquired most of your skills in training and that and got to that sort of level?
Speaker 3:Yeah, a lot of it. In Nuts and especially before COVID, we used to go training at least once a week with the team. The team used to be much bigger and everyone was very proactive and was, you know, going training quite a lot. So we used to be there at least once a week and that's what I did most of the training. I also live quite close to obstacle play park so I go to OPP regularly as well, when I can, because Mark tends to have different obstacles, like he does quite a few obstacles that he passes or finds in the Spanish races. So it's quite nice, very training facility and then I like to go to when I can.
Speaker 3:I also go to like a nuclear or places like that. And also I guess I used to be, I used to go to the PT van quite a lot. I used to be part of the road school program, that van there. So I think I took part three years and that was quite a good program as well. So I like to try different training facilities so I can broaden the skills and try different obstacles and also it's more fun.
Speaker 1:So, um, no, we totally agree with that. But uh, this one, we're talking about nuts to get people prepared for that 3K, isn't that right, darren?
Speaker 2:Exactly, and you've got tons of experience. Then, carney, that's going to help the listeners, especially listeners that are not necessarily undertaking a 3K course or technical course, we call them, and it sounds like you've had lots of technical experience on courses and, well, you've had success in the 3K world, so definitely got that technical experience. And for how did you? How did you find um camelot events? How did you actually get down to nuts? Because I suppose, before we go into the details of the race especially people that aren't aware of nuts is being the nuts challenge is a race that's been going since like 2010, 2011. I did it back in 2012 as my first ever obstacle course race. How did you find it?
Speaker 3:Was it just because it was local, or yes, so it's quite local to me and you know, after I did that first mud run, I started researching other races around the area and then I found that one and I decided to go for the winter the next one that they were doing and I went for three laps, which is crazy. But you know, there's a lot of people who have to start with it Because when you look at it and you say 7K is nothing, really I need to do at least two laps. And then you say, well, if I do two, I might as well just do three. So I think you weren't allowed to do four if you run it for the first time in the past you can.
Speaker 1:You just got. You just got a message.
Speaker 3:You just got a message and trust me well, now you probably you have the contract, but, um, when I did it, you know three was the maximum that I could do. So I did and go for three laps, which and it was great, but after that I just like to do the sprint lap because 7k nuts not like 7k in all the courses.
Speaker 2:So that it's amazing. You've done that that distance, of course because we've said it in the past. We even said it on a in an international podcast. They asked us like, what is the bread and butter of like a proper UK obstacle course? And we say that nuts challenge has it all it has, that has the essence of uk obstacle course racing, and that's. I'm saying this because that we do actually have international listeners and I want them to know that as well. But what we are now talking about is that the uk, for the second year running, now has the 3k series, which is a series of races throughout the uk that are held by the training facilities, which is even better because they have they have the skills, they have the facilities and they have the understanding of how to put on a quality course.
Speaker 2:And nuts has really had experience of being the test, the guinea pig of races, because it tested out the 3k national series. It tested out a 3k series last year. It tested out, I think mark, we did um, mark dixon put on a race which was called kind of like a. He called it a gender neutral race, which I don't know we can't use that term maybe, because I think that don't know if everyone but, but I did like what it did.
Speaker 2:It was a head-to-head race based on your capabilities and the time that you put down were then placing you into a tiered system of a league that you then competed against your peers. That that gave you the ability of competition, even if you were against, like a, say, I think at one stage I was against that, yeah, people that are so much younger than you or older or even different genders, it just mattered it how quickly you got around the course. So how, how do you, how would you describe the nuts course and honey like? How would you describe, like, what people are putting themselves in for? For the free k?
Speaker 3:I think you know, as you mentioned, it's very well balanced.
Speaker 3:Some courses are very technical, some are quite kind of all like classic OCR I guess, like more like natural obstacles.
Speaker 3:But NADS has a good balance of, a good mix of everything. So you find some areas like technical area has really nice suspension obstacles and a bit more kind of technical ones, and others are not so technical, like, so you know, monkey bars, um one of these, like all this type of leather in one of the sides. So it's a bit of everything in terms of obstacles, like kind of man-made, and then natural ones as well. So it's quite a few um like some that, for example, has the the lake I haven't seen this week it will have that but you have to go through like rivers, so um, and it kind of slow down the the race quite a lot, and that's why not even though when you look at the distance you're seeing it might be like something you know much quicker than you actually do it once you've run it because you have to go through so much um, so many natural obstacles, as well as the technicals, the man-made ones.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's. The beauty of NUTS is that it's going to have a lot of man-made and natural obstacles to get through. The people haven't been there before. Nuts is a very big course and a very big land area. So you've got the lake area at the north of it and then the south. You've got the technical section, we call it, which is where, like, the training facility is and this course there's going to be. There's two races in the 3k series that are going to be hosted at nuts, so that means that they can take advantage of both of those areas of the land. So this one is going to focus. Correct me if I'm wrong. Ships. Is it focusing on the technical section of the course? So the forest area?
Speaker 1:yeah, I would like to say the forest area. So the forest section, the bit where camelot events is mainly based. So the area where you this year's winter nuts, where everyone had their coffees and things in the summer one. It's usually when you come out of the fields and you go into that. Well, yeah, yeah, the technical area with the main bulk of obstacles. So this will be probably the more technical side of the obstacle course. So for the 3K series, this particular one will be more technical.
Speaker 2:Mo explain the technical section of NUTS, because you've been through it a few times.
Speaker 4:Relentless is probably the best word to describe it. Uh, it just doesn't stop when you there's no real chance to get your legs going and running. There is in some parts afterwards and before, but normally the actual technical section. It's very obstacle dense and it's not just technical obstacles, they do throw quite a few like mandatory style obstacles in there as well. So you you just get sapped of energy very quickly and it depends on which way they because there's lots of different ways nuts can do this and it depends on how they kind of enter you into it. But especially if they enter you from like where Monty's is, you have a lot of sapping obstacles just to even get to the technical zone and then you have to try and do the more suspension based obstacles.
Speaker 1:So it's just yeah, relentless I think it's the best word.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we don't actually have the course layout at the moment, but being on this side of the course, you can only really do a certain amount of things to actually fit it in within 3k distance.
Speaker 1:So it does limit you for how far you can go out from that technical area. So it does give you the sort of broad spectrum of where you'll actually be racing and what sort of obstacles you will be tackling and the terrain that you'll be going over, because you can't really go out to where you got the commando traverse. That's probably just a little bit too far on the limit to throw into this 3k course. It might it might I might be wrong they might be able to squeeze it in there, but it is, in my opinion, too far to get out. So that's probably not in it, but the the bulk of it there is good. So where you've got the piccolo rig, where you've got the new carry, where you've got the balance beam, where you've got the low rig, high rig, the ladders, like and carly said earlier, so they're all, they all should be there and you've got the chance of going in and out of the river yeah, that's what I was going to say as well.
Speaker 2:That river, that's that ravine, that section is like really technical as well. So I think, because we're tartan warrior, would have happened now and the first k, the, the 3k british champion, will be crowned, but the 3k series champion, the it would have it is still up for grabs and still wouldn't have happened. So nuts is an opportunity to to really put yourself on the, on the league or, if you haven't raced already, or to actually give you some more points. So when we're talking about the course ships, I feel like all four of us on this, on this call, have gone through the course in probably the route that it will be placed, because the technical section is always essentially quite similar to how we did the 3k um nationals. Now I'd say it's going to be like the national um trials 3k, which should we? I think for listeners, let's probably describe that course, should we? And then and then really get into the depths of the obstacles and the terrain and and answer like start building our card for for people, what do?
Speaker 1:you think, I think so, and kind of. You had quite a good time at that, that race as well, didn't you I? I think you beat some pretty good people with your time, so you know quite well, don't you? Can you remember? Was it 2023?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was April 23. I was looking at that because I was thinking this has to be something similar to that one. So that was the April 23 3K time trials. I got the math questions oh have you.
Speaker 1:I'm more prepared than we are.
Speaker 3:I like to do a bit of homework, no, but on that one I finished second in age group across all age groups, so first in my age group, second overall and including elite, I was fifth overall. So that was quite nice. But I know the course quite well and it's not a random score, so I guess I'm not a good runner. So for me it's always played my advantage to have more obstacles and less running.
Speaker 3:But I reckon it's going to be very similar to that one, or at least they will have to play with that area, even if they change some part of it. But, um, that one, I think, would be a good one to kind of check back just to look for tips yeah.
Speaker 2:So the course it started out, um, started out as a field run. I'd say about 200, 300 meter run on a field. But if anyone listening think that, oh, it's going to start out quick, it's like it's not a, not really a runnable field, it's it. Would you, would you guys agree with it? It's it's kind of like rutted and like not right, not that fast well, some people like to try and go out of it fast they do it's.
Speaker 1:It's not a very, it's a very sapping uh field, if you like to say so. I've I've run around it in training a few times and it can become quite boggy. It's very. I think it holds the water exceptionally well. It's a bit on like a hill on that section, so it's very spongy, very muddy and very rutted. It doesn't get any animal on it. I think it's just sort of I don't know if Wayne has it for anything or the farmer uses it for anything it's just really sort of a field, isn't it?
Speaker 4:just always seems waterlogged every time, even in the summer. You go and run that field and it's never that dry. It's always got some sort of residue or like mud or yeah. It's just not nice running and, like you guys said, as soon as you try and get out quick, you're either going to sap yourself and you're probably not going to make a big enough gap anyway, because the obstacles come not too long after that yeah, like straight into it might yeah yeah, but actually the way we did it in that chance you went kind of round the bend and then you were straight into a tire drag, so you couldn't really make much time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, because, yeah, a lot of people tried getting out quite hot and then as soon straight into a tyre drag, so you couldn't really make much time. Yeah, no, because a lot of people tried getting out quite hot and then as soon as we got into the tyre it was all back together again, and I think that's pretty much similar in most of the other categories as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but then you go into a crawl and then you go into a net climb and then you go into the obstacle, which I think is the best obstacle ever, because it's so simple you just need a bit of wood but make the, make the hurdles chest height for most people and make the and make 12 of them in a row and it's the most sapping, horrible obstacle ever. So we've done three obstacles right. This we're still probably 500 meters in. We've done three obstacles right. We're still probably 500 meters in. We've done three obstacles that are very hot. They really spike your heart rate. So I think that we'd all agree. The strategy here is not to go out too hot, because you're going to get bunched up, your heart rate's going to spike very quickly and it's very hard on a 3K to get that back down.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:What's the next? And, carney, and you've got the map there. What's the next ones?
Speaker 3:I'm gonna test you now. I was gonna say from monty one thing for someone like me, that it's not super strong. Um, the technique can be just just use the corner of the hurdle and leave yourself in the corner and then just over the hurdle, then jump down and then use the corner to your advantage to lift yourself up, depending on how. I mean, I guess just in the beginning of the course you might not be very tired, but you might want to conserve some energy. So that's one of the techniques that I use sometimes just because it's much easier. It's such a long obstacle, it can get really tiring, but anyway, so two years ago, after that one, I think it's the tile wall. What's the actual name? Sorry, I'm trying to find it.
Speaker 2:Oh, the tile mangler. It's something like that, isn't it?
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's right, yes, and then from there you go to the right, to where the ladder is. Do you know that Ladder obstacles that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think, if anyone's listening, it's a. It's two pairs of ladders suspended where you've just got a monkey bar across them. So I I think a bit of advice there is that ladders are very, is it not that shit?
Speaker 1:no, it was uh. What in valkyrie? Did we go into valkyrie?
Speaker 2:oh, did we go straight into valkyrie? Oh yeah, I'm pretty.
Speaker 4:I think it was Valkyrie low rig first, so we went to.
Speaker 2:Valkyrie, which is, um, which is a pyramid obstacle, with with rings hanging from it, and you have to traverse to the top of the pyramid, then back down the pyramid using the rings, and then you have to put your foot over the line. Then you are literally like two meters later going into a low rig, which is actually quite a long low rig, so it's not a short obstacle. So and so, yeah, we, we've now probably hit the 800 meters. I don't feel like we're even a k into the race and we've done quite a lot of obstacles well, and we've hit every sort of aspect already.
Speaker 1:We've had a mandatory obstacle, a strength-based obstacle and a technical obstacle. Yeah, so already, in the very beginning of nuts, you've already hit your three kind of skill-based obstacles in the race, and then there's still a lot more to come.
Speaker 4:So it's yeah and they're all probably very sapping versions of that, so they're not even like easier versions of them. Style of obstacles like the mandatory obstacle is your montes, which for anyone that's done it before is very taxing, and then even the nets and the crawling it's getting down loads the floor, then getting back up. It just takes a lot out your legs and then you go straight into valkyrie, which is all upper body, and then from literally immediately back into a low rig which again depends on how they make the configuration. They can make it quite hard and they have made it quite hard before.
Speaker 3:The one thing for Valkyrie in that is that the bell is normally at the top and that's quite tricky sometimes for someone like me with not super upper body strength. So one thing that I tend to do is use the sticking wing and the last ring so then I can safely ring the bell. Because I've seen many people kind of slipping off, trying to hold up and ring the bell there. I don't know if they will do the same for the 3k or not, whether they will just put you know, they just up and down. But if the bell needs to be run at the top sometimes can be a bit tricky and I've seen quite a few people failing because even though they get to the top they just don't um secure like a you know the ring with one hand to be able to ring the bell with the other yeah, you, you're right.
Speaker 2:Um, that's probably going to go into our um skills to learn and because I'd as an obstacle course racer, I hate to call it a skill, but it is something maybe you should know just to have in your locker just in case all else fails. At the chicken wing, which because there's a lot, it's a, it's like marmite in obstacle course racing a lot of people hate it. That exists and a lot of people love it to get past obstacles. But essentially, listeners, chicken wing is, instead of using your, your hands to grab a ring or a monkey bar, you literally thread your arm through the ring and you hang from the where your, your, your elbow joint is so and literally, if you're hanging properly and you're, you're okay with a bit of pain, you're not going to fall down from there. And, yeah, sometimes that's that, that's you. I don't think. Ever in the rules they say you can't chicken wing, even though they say it's a hands-only obstacle. You're not using your hands I love chicken wings.
Speaker 1:Chicken wings a great obstacle.
Speaker 2:Not only is it good on the obstacle course, it's good in the fridge it's also good on a nuts course when it's muddy, so we'll go through that in a minute as well yeah, so let's move on.
Speaker 4:I'll go on, though I was gonna say that's one thing about nuts is that's when these kind of techniques become a bit more acceptable. Because the thing is, with nuts, even if it's dry, just because the sheer amount of mud that it can create obstacles can get slippy. We've had it even at summer nuts, where you're getting obstacles and they don't feel particularly like grippy just because of how muddy the course can get.
Speaker 2:And yeah, definitely. Maybe the next few sections of nuts is more mandatory obstacles, isn't it?
Speaker 1:yeah, it kind of goes into that sort of mandatory agility style section. Next, I reckon, because you go over that sort of big wall into a balance beam, you don't have the weaver anymore. That's uh, that's sadly been uh okay, so that's still gone. But then you go into a traverse wall and then you're over some logs and then over a few more walls and then the scaffold bar hurdles the over and unders. So it's quite a long section of mandatory.
Speaker 2:Or is it under-over?
Speaker 1:Over under under-over, but that section's really really sort of. It's not a I would call it a fast section for nuts because it is fast for nuts, but it's definitely not that fast.
Speaker 4:You still can't access running yet. No, you're still, I'd say, pacing wise. If you're trying to put a pace strategy together, I'd still be just trying to hold back at this point. If you want to use running as your weapon, if you're using obstacles as your weapon, then maybe this is where you need to use running as your weapon. If you're using obstacles as your weapon, then maybe this is where you need to go and move quick. But if you want to access your running, I would just be off pace here I like that mo.
Speaker 2:What pacing strategy and your strategy towards a race and using your attributes? If your obstacles are clearly your attribute and your best thing, you should be ahead. Or you should be not ahead but you should be further than you think at this stage because you want to be burning that match quite early. We always say we've learned it from running public about burning matches and everyone knows that term like how many matches do you have to burn in a 3K? You don't really have that many matches. You probably have three, but we've always said it ships that you want to pace a 3k so that you can make decisions later and quickly. That's how you should be pacing a 3k, but actually you're, you should be.
Speaker 4:If you're good at obstacles, you should be making a decision quite early on at nuts, because this would be the point to overreach if your obstacles are better than you're running and you need to make some space to allow yourself to not get core. This is where you overreach, and then you just try and survive after this well, you say that I mean some of the technical people.
Speaker 1:We're not so technical technical people. Some of the, quite the people who have quite a good skill set in those mandatory obstacles, I find just tend to pull away on this bit without even realising it.
Speaker 2:It's the compromise running, and this is where you're going to really, after the low rig, compromise running really comes into itself, because this is where the ability to crawl, crawl, to stand up, to jump and to keep a pace is is so important. Yeah, well, what's uh? What's next?
Speaker 4:oh now you get to use your legs.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now you get to open up a little bit a little bit and it's a little bit down here as well, but I mean so more than likely. If you come out of this section after you're going over those hurdles, you'll always be following. Well, unless they really spike us over that, that section goes downhill. So this is actually a downhill section yeah, you, yeah, it's quite.
Speaker 2:It's quite a bit, isn't it?
Speaker 1:it's probably 500 meters of running and then goes into a small ditch. And then you come out of a ditch but uh, now in the nuts course they've actually introduced a carry on this section. So around that area and kind of you did um nuts, uh winter this year, didn't you? And they've introduced the uh log carry on that section around there. And how long is that log carry?
Speaker 3:that's right, and it's super. Um, it was quite long, but it was super boggy as well. That area the ground doesn't dry much either. It's similar to that field at the beginning and I don't know how it's going to be in April. I mean, the winter night was the beginning of March, so I don't think it's going to be a huge difference. So potentially quite boggy and muddy. I don't know in terms of length how long it was, but it was quite long. It went around kind of a couple like you know, a couple of ups and downs, but yeah, it is quite a long one. The logs were quite dry, so they were quite light, but the underground is quite bogus, so that's something to consider yeah, I can imagine they would do 3k.
Speaker 1:They probably won't be able to give it that long of a one long of a carry, but I can imagine they will throw that carry in there because it is quite cool. And then, obviously, after that you go out of that and then down another sort of hill past the lake and then up a hill and then you come into a couple of new obstacles that are really talented scaffolder built go on ships, explain, explain your rig that you built for everyone at nuts in detail.
Speaker 2:That's what they want to hear right now so these are two new obstacles.
Speaker 1:They were tested out at the uh wind, at nuts. So you've got quite a long traverse it's 20 foot, with a gap in it, with a stop point in the middle if you need to. There's three lanes on it and it's just basically your, your, your parallel bar traverse. Nice, simple, old school obstacle. Uh, what skill would we call that? It's not a, not a technical obstacle, but it's a strength obstacle if it's a strength based obstacle, yeah, yeah well, what?
Speaker 2:what happened to the piccolo rig?
Speaker 1:so the piccolo rig got decommissioned? Oh no, we never. We never really celebrated it well, it got taken down, and then all the bits and pieces got moved over to the other area for summer nuts, and then it's all been taken apart, and every time I take it apart I can't remember how to put it back together the same way, so it ends up being something else okay, and I would say, after those two rigs, this is where, this is where someone like yourself mo, you love this bit yeah this.
Speaker 4:This is where you can like I say, if the course is similar, you can start to really run, because the running it's still nuts, so it's still boggy and it's still a bit there's some parts that won't be amazing underfoot, but you can really start to put the hammer down a little bit on your running. And also because it's 3k, you're probably about maybe halfway or just over at this stage. So you know you haven't got long left and you can really get to work, especially around that section, that kind of zigzags through the trees and where them kind of inverted walls are that section.
Speaker 4:You can make some time if you, if you're willing to risk a rolling ankle and just kind of go yeah, this, this section is, it's 1k and it's got probably a carry in it, a tire carry and it's and it's got.
Speaker 2:Maybe you'll jump into the water tiny bit, though I wouldn't say you'll be in the water for long and then you'll be up a ladder and then you'll do two mandatory obstacles. So in 1k you've just done a carry, some more little bit of water and two walls, and so yeah, like you say, mo, you can really open up here and the carry tends to be quite quick.
Speaker 4:If it's, it depends on how they're doing one tire yeah, it's not too bad sometimes if they, if you're picking up two tires, which was also also done in the past, that can be a little bit more challenging, but they're quite light. They're not the heaviest tires in the world and again, the running is. This is probably actually the one of the better sections of running.
Speaker 2:Depends on the weather, but normally it's a little bit easier, just to kind of run around the track yeah, no, it's a good and then you're coming back into your basically 1k of that run and then you're coming back into the technical portion of the course.
Speaker 2:But what I love I, I really love a little bit of that course, which is the road. So, listeners, you come out, you go for a field and then you go through some mandatory obstacles and then you come back onto like a like almost like a dirt road and it's kind of got a little bit of uphill but it's really straight and long. So if you, if you're racing and you're really pushing and you've got an opportunity or to see someone, to know how far you are away from them this is the opportunity you start to really see people. You really start to figure out OK, where am I at this course, where am I? What position I am, am I in? And this is the time where, if you've got any match left, anything you you burn it, because this is the bit where you're going to see you're going. You could throw strategy out the window and really just go for it. I don't know if you guys agree, but I definitely have done that in the past at this section.
Speaker 1:I think, again, it matters on what kind of racer you are. I think if you're a better runner, then yes, it is. But I think because it's not the end of obstacles, I think it's also a time just to recompose yourself and you might lose a bit of ground if you're a bit of a, let's say, not as fast runner as some of the others, and some people might catch you up a little bit, but it doesn't necessarily mean the game is over, because there's still quite a little bit to go. So that's just, that's my little opinion. Mo's a little bit different as well, and akane, I'm sure you, you probably pace it a little bit different.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah, not for me. I mean, running is not my strength probably. So probably I try to keep up. So if I got an advantage through any of the obstacle area before, I try not to lose it and just keep going. But yeah, it is nice to open up a little bit in that area, even if running is not my strength. So it's good to be able to little bit in that area. Uh, even if running is not my strength, so it's good to be able to kind of, you know, see that at least the distance is being covered, because that's the one thing you keep checking your watch and it's, you know, it doesn't kind of, uh, you haven't covered much distance. So it's nice to do like a bit, uh, a bit of stretch in one go, I guess. And you know that the final technical area is coming soon, so that's, that's always nice yeah, that's good, I didn't really say that.
Speaker 2:But yeah, like you say you can, there's a point in time where the your foot in the terrain is quite flat, that nothing's going to go wrong in terms of tripping up or anything like that. You get a moment to check your watch chips. You said compose yourself. You even get an opportunity to even look back if you really want to. I, I hate, I'd hate doing that, but if you really want to look back at any time, that's probably the time where you can as well, so you can see literally. It's your point where you can. You just see everything. You really can see the race unfold for yourself at that point, which is quite nice, because it tends to be at the 2k mark.
Speaker 4:I'd say probably 1k left to go yeah, 1k, or maybe just a bit less possibly yeah yeah, one point you made down as well, which I actually I think is quite a good point for nuts. We talked about, obviously on the build-up to tartan warrior, how good it is for spectators to kind of see the course because the course is open fields. The one thing I'd say about nuts as a racer, not a spectator but it's very you can get out of sight, out of mind, you don't always know where the other people are, because the course is quite um covered with trees and things and also there's a lot of like turns and things, so there's not much openings to see actually what's going on and how far people away. But this is the only point I'd say in the race, where you actually could probably get a bit more of an idea of where people are because it is so open.
Speaker 2:So if you need to know you're right, look around, see what's going on, because this is probably your only chance yeah, I think we didn't do it in our last episode with tartan warrior because I feel we talked about more logistics. So sometimes, like getting a ticket and things like that, we can we will touch upon that. But actually, as a racer, I think at the end of the end of this, we should also talk about our, our own personal strategies towards this race and how we would apply it. Because, yeah, that, like you just said there, my mind is going back to races I've done in the past, where those opportunities come up, where you you really have turned a 90 degree corner, you know someone's like 10, like two seconds away from you, but at that point I literally sprint and just to really really make like, really make them think I've gone when you haven't. But yeah, it really messes with the mind a little bit, but yeah, we can go on to that.
Speaker 2:Um, what is the next portion after this? This bit is it? Um, it's the traverse wall, isn't it?
Speaker 1:yeah, the one that's uh now undercover. So you go through a little, uh little paddling sort of well, not a paddling, it does look like a paddling pool, he's, he's, wayne's dug out a little trick. Well, I say trench dug out a bit of thing, covered it in a bitdling pool. Wayne's dug out a little. Trench dug out a bit of thing, covered it in a bit of tile.
Speaker 1:There's a bit of a water section, little knee high water section ankle deep gets the shoes a little bit wet and then you go on to the new traversal. It used to have climbing holes, now it's just got bits of wood that go straight across. You come down that and then you go around a bend and into the ladder monkey bars that we had.
Speaker 2:That we talked about a little bit before yeah, and what I was going to say ships on that. But this technique is, I would always go on the outside of those the the ladders rather than the inside the ladders, because it hurts your hands it hurts your hands.
Speaker 1:I I tend to find, if it is, if it's raining, a two-tap with the inside works a bit better. You can slide off a bit. But yeah, you've got quite a lot of options with the ladders.
Speaker 2:And Carney, how do you do them?
Speaker 3:I also use the sides. I think I can go faster as well because you don't have to lift the hands only when there's a midsection where there is some kind of ropes or chains, and then that's when you have to lift your hands. But otherwise you can just kind of go side to side quite quickly If it's not raining. If it is raining, then maybe I guess inside is more secure, but it can be very painful in the hands.
Speaker 1:It does hurt, doesn't it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then I guess we've only got like two rigs two obstacles left, haven't we? Or is it three, two or three?
Speaker 1:Yeah, two or three, because you come out of there, you go from sort of another little run section heading towards the mid, the Mark Dixon mid rig, the one that he built because he's the only person short enough to hang on it with his legs at a long distance, a long length ships that after that ladder rig actually mo, that's all.
Speaker 2:And ships you mo you'd agrees, but that's that's a bit where you can actually open up again, like it's actually quite a bit of a run. It's your last, it's your last chance to actually use your running ability. I'd say after that rig I think it is.
Speaker 4:But sometimes again, it depends on how nuts do the course. Watch out, because I know a few people that have gotten lost there because there is some points where you kind of end up going down different bits of track and if it's not kind of marshaled well because you did the way they did on the free care, you kind of marshalled well because you did the way they did it on the free care. You kind of turned around and then straight to the rig, the dixon rig. But if you I know of a couple people that kind of went wrong where they just kind of just veered off into the bushes a little bit or went straight, or so just be aware and then, then it is that rig the mid-rig, isn't it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, mid-rig.
Speaker 2:What are you laughing at?
Speaker 1:Sorry, I was just laughing why Skills at a podcast in there. Yeah, you go into the mid-rig, which can catch quite a few people out because you're very close to the ground without feeling like you're close to the ground. I think it's built particularly for that thing. It's not massively long, but it is. You are low, so you either have to. If you're quite a tall person well, if you're, if you're a normal heighted person any one of us, I think long arms you are touching the ground on that rig, so it requires quite a bit of you. Either have to keep upright or keep your legs upright. So either requires quite a bit of core strength or quite a bit of lock arm strength yeah, I think that's.
Speaker 2:That's a very this. That obstacle hasn't been seen that much in the uk in in the last well before nuts introduced it, and then we've seen it a lot in international races. So it's good that nuts introduced that. But a mid rig wasn't something we we knew as a term. We just knew a rig, that high rig and low rig, and then this mid, mid-level rig of using your core and just awkward, yeah then then it's to the um, the obstacles that have been there for since the beginning of time. God have they. I don't think they've ever changed that they they've slightly changed over the years.
Speaker 1:And, carly, I mean, can you remember back? How far back of nuts can you remember? I can remember all the way back to sort of like 2014 and rings for sure they've definitely still been there. I know the the beams, the other scaffold beam sections, had a few sort of alterations to it. I think haven't you helped jane do bits and pieces on it?
Speaker 3:yeah, I think before before they had that high rig with the with the wheels, they um used to be like an scaffold one that they built it for salmon nuts by the lake and then they moved it to the training area at some point and used to have different kind of combination before they brought the wheels. I remember Mark Dixon used to kind of do different kind of combinations on that one, but probably, yeah, I think they only brought it like a couple of years after I joined Initially. It was just the rings and in the other side with Valkyries used to be some tires that they were hanging from rocks.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I remember them.
Speaker 3:So that section has changed quite a bit since then. It used to be like a net that you went under, so there were the tires you were hanging from that long rope, then you went under a net and then it was a high wall, kind of two-meter high wall, yeah. But all that changed to what it is now and it's been probably like three or four years like that now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it hasn't changed much in the last few years. I mean, now it's got the rings. They did have a net that sort of connected the two. I think that's how we had it at the 3k, yeah, and there was a net that connected the two and you had to go between the two obstacles using the net to traverse and, after doing all them obstacles, that was really taxing. Uh, probably not going to do that this year, I can probably say so but oh sorry, ships go on as you say.
Speaker 2:So we've completed the hypothetical course as it would be. I can't see them changing the way it will run because that's like a perfect 3k. It was set out amazing. It was every single thing that you would require in an obstacle course race to be good. It was challenging, like thing that you would require in an obstacle course race to be good. Um, it was challenging.
Speaker 2:Like you said, in carne, it has everything. It has the terrain effect, it has the mud, it has the obstacles, it has it has some bits of water, it has carries, it literally has a great balance of obstacles. And also, if anyone's on the fence after tartan war and thinking, oh, I want to really want to rate, do another 3k, this was almost like the birthplace of obstacle course racing. It's like get down to nuts and get a race there, because, yes, tough guy was was the birthplace of ocr, but nuts is probably running longer now, and is I? I would say it is where it all came from, definitely. And Kani, what would your race strategy be for the 3K? I suppose let's go around the room and have an idea. How would you race it?
Speaker 3:For me, I guess, if it is, is three bans, like last time. I just need to make sure that the key obstacles I'm kind of getting through them carefully and then just try to open up this couple of sections that you mentioned. But because it's so kind of relentless like one obstacle after another, then sometimes it's not my chance. There's normally not many cues because the beginning kind of spread, spread out everyone, but, um, yeah, I guess, just focusing on the key obstacle, that might end up, you know, costing me, just make sure that I get through those okay, and then just the rest is kind of, um, probably take more chances. Um, on the ones that are not so kind of um, you know are the ones I guess I like that.
Speaker 2:So it's not. It's not about the whole the race as a whole. You're really breaking it down into key obstacles that, once you've got through them, they're going to give you confidence to then keep going throughout the course. Yeah, but different. But yeah that we definitely have different strategies, because I know ships, you would have a different one as well. Yours, yours is, yours is, uh, be the turtle, was it? Turtle?
Speaker 1:turtle, yeah, yeah it definitely would be. Yeah, but because nuts lends itself to being not the best runner, but not the best obstacle, but someone. If you can flow through the whole course very smoothly, I think it allows you to just push, pull away from people. So having a good base of that sort of like getting over things really smoothly, not overworking yourself the whole time, although you feel like you're overworking, you're kind of just maintaining that overworkness towards the end and I think that really lends itself to that course yeah mo, how would you do it?
Speaker 4:um, I think nuts is all about pacing early. But just, I would not go out too hot, but go out to stay near the front because I think also, especially in that first section, you want to be near the front because the lanes can get quite tight. So get near the front early, use my ability for the obstacles and mandatory obstacles and my agility to kind of keep moving at a pace that I can stay consistent with, but also not too quick that I'm going to burn myself out, and then just allow myself to open up on the runs, any opportunity you get to put the foot down and run, run and think to yourself this hurts now, but I'm gonna earn a lot of places here, or earn a chance to kind of really get either a gap or into the race yeah, I agree, I think I've learned myself that it's not a race.
Speaker 2:Yes, you want to be at the front at the beginning to get priority onto the obstacle, but once you're on it, it's not about rushing at that point, because if you start doing that, you're going to spike your heart rate. It's all about conserving energy until the right point. Nuts has a very, very big message to you and there's a portion of the race where you can actually start to push it. So for me, I would stay conservative until the big carry and then I would push from the carry. That's just my preference as a racer, because I feel like carries give me confidence, not the obstacles. So after I've done a carry, I know I've done it quick and then I'd push, and that's exactly what I did on the 3K.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, that's my poor, poor strategy. Um, let's go through. Let's go through tangible key points to make sure that we're really filling out this card for anyone that hasn't been there before, or if anyone really wants to know further details of of nuts and how to, how to race it or what to expect. So, from a terrain point of view, how would we all describe the terrain of nuts?
Speaker 4:I'd say it's quite technical. I'd say most of it is actually because even when you've not got mud and rutted ground, it's tree roots. So you're always kind of thinking about where you're putting your feet yeah, so not, so not, yeah, I agree it's not technical. It's not technical in the sense of like a mountain or like like some of the spartan, like whale spartan race, but it's technical in the fact that you can't, you don't really get a chance to switch off.
Speaker 1:You're always thinking about where to put your feet which makes it quite interesting if you're a or even someone who hasn't really sort of dipped their toes into a trail, a trail race scene. If they're more of like a road runner scene, it's quite a good opportunity to see what like a trail race is like as well, because it it's different from a road. It's not going to be a road run and it does.
Speaker 2:It is like running through the woods yeah, they would have just come from tartan warrior, which is totally different to this. That's all fields. This is like foresty trails boggy muddy ground.
Speaker 1:The best kind of trails, yeah yeah it.
Speaker 2:It really doesn't let you open up, apart from, obviously, the road we've talked about it. That road is like the perfect. It's like if you could picture a dirt road that you'd love to do 800 meter intervals on. That's the sort of road. It is um and carly. Would you agree with that? Any other technical terrain effects?
Speaker 3:yeah, no, I agree, I think. Um, yeah, you need to be um. Yeah, you won't be able to probably open up much, as you know mentioned earlier, but yeah, the event itself is just quite um, you need to watch out all the time because it's always something coming what, what she?
Speaker 2:what shoes do you run in at Nuts Ngani? I don't want to talk about shoes too much because I know Mo just gets too excited, but what ones would you choose for Nuts?
Speaker 3:For the 3K. Well, I always wear the VCS parts because I really like them, even for the sprint. I guess if I was going to do three laps I wouldn't choose those, but up to the sprint. I guess if I was going to do three laps I wouldn't choose those, but up to the sprint. I really like the VGS parts because they're very light, they're very grippy. I think they're very good on that kind of farmland, boggy terrain. They don't get like super some shoes, the mud gets stuck to them and they're horrible. I found this one. They, you know they clear the mat quite quickly. So they um yeah, those are my favorite which are and and the lugs are quite big. So I think they, you know they're good to manage the mat as well yeah, I totally agree with you there, yeah it's true?
Speaker 2:yeah, if it's. If you wasn't, if it didn't have a brand to it and you just described the shoe. That's exactly the type of shoe that you would tell someone to wear, um, something that you can fill the ground, fill the technical trail, have lugs enough to have some grip, but also have a bit of um, light enough to give you that opportunity to open up at times that I wouldn't say you would need a mud claw for this kind of course, because, well, april, I don't know no, there's not this section of the course I mean possibly if you was running over the other side, the north side and it was raining, you'd probably you'd probably definitely want to take a mud claw or some sort, but this side, because it's the woodland trails and that the lugs don't have to be overly, overly deep, because you're not going to be needing that much grip, because the forest kind of gives you a bit of grip.
Speaker 1:I mean, you are going to go through some mud, but it's very little that.
Speaker 2:It doesn't really give you that advantage that you need yeah, you could get away with like a like we have mo, we've got away with the terex, but the one, not even the 190, the 240s, which have like a two to three mil lug, like hardly anything to it, and it still feels good for this course.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean I'd probably choose the 190, maybe even a VJ Extreme, Just something that this. You're right, you want something between kind of a mud claw and a terex, something that sits in between. That, I think, is the perfect shoe, just so, you're, you're safe for the mud sections and also safe for the rain yeah, and you don't need too much protection on on the shoe either, like you're out for 3k.
Speaker 2:You don't need that, that sponge, that that stability as much as you you would need on like a um, a longer course. What about um? So strength components I feel like we talked through the strength components. There's a log carry, which I didn't actually know there was log carry, potentially a log carry. I'd like to caveat all of this potentially tire drag potentially, but I can guarantee 100 there'll be a tire carry, well, that that section will always be used well the area they might use it because obviously during the free care they use a rep bag.
Speaker 2:They changed it to oh yeah, it was a rep bag, yeah so but yeah, definitely that section will be a carry yeah. So none of those carries are are very heavy. I'd say that not there's. There is a strength component, but they're not.
Speaker 1:They're not overly heavy carries no, it's more that endurance strength, isn't it that one where you've got to be able to carry uh abnormal load for a certain distance?
Speaker 2:yeah, and the cat, the if, the if that tire carry is in it. That's actually quite a long carry for a 3k race. Yeah, it's a good majority. Yeah, and if it's a rep bag, it was actually quite long, because you come, it's like a circular carry and then you'd actually realize you've circled around past where you dropped the bag off, so you then you have to come back again, so it feels like you've been going on forever. Any other strength components, apart from carries that you can think of, anything that's strength based, I suppose, in kind of you mentioned to the montes, I'd say the way that you your technique getting over them, because you're not, probably not bound in the way that mo just literally skips over them. It that does turn into a strength obstacle, doesn't it?
Speaker 3:yeah, no, definitely, um, for me it's quite a bit of a trend, um. So, but yeah, I mean, if it's at the beginning I might just kind of get over each of the hurdles, like if it was like a low wall, but depends how much energy you want to save, then going over the corners it takes a bit more time but it saves energy. So it's kind of less trying something, I guess.
Speaker 2:How are you going to do it on the free K?
Speaker 3:If it is the same way as this one, I'll probably just try and go as fast as I can. The problem is after that, then you get valkyrie and then you need your. You need the strength for you know to do valkyrie and the lower rig. They're both quite um uh grip, um, you know strength obstacles, so I don't want probably to have my arms too tired. But I guess to get over monty didn't use the arms much, so that should be fine, just to go quickly, just kind of like if it was like low uh walls yeah, technique you've actually, you've actually made me realize we're a bit biased, I would say, when we talk about strength.
Speaker 2:But is there anything else on the course that you would consider a strength obstacle that we wouldn't necessarily always consider a strength obstacle?
Speaker 3:Probably nothing specific, just the course itself it takes a lot of energy because it's relentless and it's one thing after another. You probably need more strength for other courses, I guess. But yeah, I think Monty is one of the ones that kind of requires more strength from me. The rest, no, just kind of a.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, that's probably the main one, I guess and you probably sort of answered it that way, haven't you? The whole course itself is kind of like it's not it's not so much every obstacle, that's like the way it is it's the whole combination of everything put together that makes nuts the unique obstacle course that it is. And it is it's the whole combination of everything put together that makes nuts the unique obstacle course that it is. And it is kind of like all of the obstacles together they are like oh, it's a strength-based obstacle, or all of the obstacles together, it's all like a technical-based obstacle, it's all like an agility-based obstacle, but it's it's like all of those categories all roll into one, because it's all of them as well. Does that make sense?
Speaker 4:you see what I'm saying yeah, think about all the courses we see as well, like the main, if you're thinking about what things you can train in the gym, I think this is the first course, or one out of a few courses, in like the ocCR scene where you actually need a lot of push strength, like all the walls, all like Montes um, even now that it's got the dip bars in there as well. So you need tricep strength, you need chest strength, you need push strength because there's a lot of times where actually you're pushing most courses I think it's just a lot of pull, whereas this is there's a lot of times where you're going to try and be pushing yourself over things.
Speaker 1:What would you have me doing in the gym then to get ready for this race, Mo?
Speaker 4:I think things like tricep dips would be quite handy to have, have that strength, being able to push yourself up, and then also things a bit more explosive like bunny hops over a bar where you, where you, if you can get a bar set out somewhere and jumping up whilst pushing yourself down off the bar, things like that I like that yeah, it's a really good one, though, and actually something we haven't said, yeah, we haven't spoken about like gavin, when we came on tartan warrior that that course, um is, is predominantly fast and technical.
Speaker 2:This is like your nitty gritty, like strength ocr, uh, opportunity of like pushing yourself up over stuff and yeah, it's cool. I like like that. Um, you have everyone doing bunny hops now for the next four weeks, because this comes out four weeks before. So this is actually giving people the opportunity to actually adapt training for this course.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, if you're not good at that, push strength, then definitely something to to look at do you think you can almost take a little back seat on the run in a little bit to get prepared for this one? I mean, I might still run a fair bit, but I don't know if I'd run a lot of intervals getting prepared for this race. I think I'd know. I'd perhaps maybe do intervals, but with um kind of like an obstacle rather than doing like a fast run chips.
Speaker 4:My sorry, go on mate no, I was just gonna say something like a burpee run or even like we talk about push ramp, even like a push-up run, where you do like an interval and then you go into a set of either push-ups or burpees or something like that would be really handy instead of your generic interval training yeah, I was gonna say, um, obviously we're quite lucky, we've got rumble around the corner, um, but you've got the opportunity to be climbing over walls and then going for a run.
Speaker 2:I think wall walls and mandatory obstacles is what I'd predominantly be training for for nuts. Yes, I will have the. There is technical ability needed, but I would probably already have that based on the fact that I've done tartan warrior. So I would now be four weeks out.
Speaker 1:I'll be sharpening my compromise running and mandatory obstacle skills yeah, what like going in the woods just every time you get to a fence or something, instead of going around it go over the fence so a few times, yeah, do it a few times back and forth, just getting used to that, that sort of running, and then you can just try and find a bit more technical routes to find as well, and then maybe some mountain bike tracks run up and down, sort of then that'll give you the the style of terrain. I think that nutsuts is going to have.
Speaker 2:Do you know? It's not that I wouldn't necessarily need to sharpen towards it. I don't think anyone actually needs to sharpen four weeks before for this race and think they're going to get better at it. I think it's understanding what it does to your body you need to know. So you need to actually understand what does this compromised wall climbing bunny hopping do to my running and do to my body so that I can actually have the right strategy when I go into nuts and know if I'm burning a match too too many times on the course? Yeah, that that's what I would want to understand.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because you're going to sort of feel it funny, aren't you? Because you're going to go out for these sort of practice runs, you're going to be jumping over some, some fences and things, and then, if you're going to come back into your normal run run pace, you're already going to know that it's like, oh, hang on a minute, I'm, I'm, I'm running too hard. So that's going to actually allow yourself to just find the right pace to be running for this race obstacle course racing is confusing.
Speaker 2:So get rid, get the confusion in training and understand how to build a strategy towards that body confusion that obstacle course races does to you. Yeah, no. Well, what about number of obstacles? I feel like we always say it is probably the same as Gavin and Tartan Warrior, isn't it? It's 35 plus about 35. It's a lot.
Speaker 1:It's a lot.
Speaker 4:I think the difference as well with Nats is compared to Tartan. You probably found yourself especially guys that have just raced Tartan Warrior like you can make more of a checklist with Tartan Warrior because the obstacles are named and they're the obstacles. So there is a lot of obstacles, but you know what's coming with nuts. You have obviously your obstacles that are going to be in the rule book are named, but then you have like the random logs and trees and things are just in the way and they're not necessarily always put down on the paper but even just jumping over them can be really sapping.
Speaker 1:So you don't know, it's more than you think yeah, you go down there quite a lot, don't you and carnie. So you know, like wayne's always trying. Well, wayne and jane and they're always trying to clear trees out that are falling down and sometimes they just leave them where they are. So, even like we might go down there training one week, and then another week or two goes past and you go down there and there's a couple of trees falling down that have never been there before and they'll just still be there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, definitely, it's always something new there. And yeah, and as I said, you know they're practically as much thick, as you said, but sometimes it's just nice to find extra obstacles, so, but nature is put in there for them. So, um, yeah, it's always um, you know quite a few of those and carly.
Speaker 2:How would you because of that? How would you describe the speed of this course?
Speaker 3:yeah, it's definitely not a fast course. You normally call all the OCR courses fast. This one is definitely not one of those. I'd say this is kind of a consistent course. You just have to keep pushing and it's tricky, so it's not a long, long course. So you know, just as long as you keep moving, keep moving, that's the key thing. Don't slow down, because sometimes after you do quite a few of these mandatory ones and then you go through the river and then you climb up and then go down in the river again and then there's a net and then there's another wall and then you kind of you know, you're like kind of, maybe it's take a little breather, but just keep going that to breathe it, but just just keep going. That's the main thing. Just keep moving, because it is part of the. It's one of the obstacles of the course, I guess. Just to keep, you know, keep stopping you down, but um, yeah, it's just um, just keep going.
Speaker 2:I guess it's not a fast course I, I agree, the course will not allow you to go fast and it will slow you down if you let it. That's, that's nuts, it will. It will slow you down if you let it slow you down, but if you like, yeah, consistency, pacing. I think that's your key thing here for making this you having a good time. Good time and also in both ways.
Speaker 1:Yeah if you was, um, if you was just coming to this race for the first time, how would you guys, or and kind of how would you all sort of feel if you was a newbie to this race? But do you think it's like the like the kind of race that should people do this, the first race that they do? Because I think they should. I think this, this embodies everything about ocr. I think this is like people might hear this podcast and think, oh, this is quite a technical race, I'm never going to be able to do this, and I think it's completely the opposite. I think this is the kind of race that you want to be doing for your first ocr, because this is, this is the bread and butter of it, this is everything you want yeah.
Speaker 3:I agree. I think it's a lot of fun as well. A lot of things are sorry. No, no, you go you go yeah. So you know it's a few weeks, but the majority of the you know it's a lot of obstacles, a lot of fun, and you know most people can't do so. I think for the first course you want something that has a bit of obstacles, are a lot of fun and you know most people can do so. I think for the first course you want something that has a bit of everything.
Speaker 2:So, no, definitely good for beginners it's such a it's such a good course to experience everything. Ships, you're right. And also it's not. Now that we've got the the 3k, you don't have to. Well, I would advise you to go to nuts um uh 7k course and to do multiple laps. But if you really want to dip your toe into obstacle course racing and get a feel for terrain, mud, obstacles, carries, walls, um everything that that is obstacle course racing, this is the best course for you and you get to be outside in the woods exactly.
Speaker 1:I tell you what that's so, much better than I know you've done high rocks and things, and but being outside in the woods gives you such a better benefit than being indoors, away from nature. You know, you don't get that at high rocks, but you get that at High Rocks, but you get that at Nuts.
Speaker 2:Being outdoors. We need to talk about the weather because at Time, warrior weather is a big impact, but I know that we've had weather being a big impact at Nuts in the past with the mud. But because this is a 3K and in the technical section not much going through mud in general with your hands, I would actually say weather has zero to no impact on this course, although me and you Ships did fall off an obstacle.
Speaker 4:I was just going to say I think weather actually does have more of an impact than you think, especially on that, when the fatigue setting in on that back section where you used to fell off, I think last time well, the last in 2000,. What was, what was it? 2023? When he had that course, it was chaos. It like that whole if all the age groups men's elite with females elite there was so much chaos happening, especially in them back, like last few weeks, just because it was. It was getting to the point where it was sopping wet and one little mistake changed everything yeah, I do believe, though, that this 3k won't have that problem.
Speaker 1:I think that was just an an obstacle placement of a particular attachment that was that probably shouldn't have been used in that weather, and I don't think that's going to happen in this. So, anyone who's probably a bit fearful of things like that, I don't think we're going to have that problem.
Speaker 4:I think that's the other thing as well. Tartan War that we've just had Gavin said on the podcast, like you say, he's going to look at if it's raining in the morning and change attachments this nuts course. I can imagine, knowing the people that are probably going to be behind it, that when it's happening, whatever they've set the day before is probably going to be the attachments, even if it was sunny the day before. So it could also cause chaos.
Speaker 2:So I'm putting down in our card rain can impact the last 1K of the course.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because if everyone's listening doesn't know me and ships in the 3k national trials, ships was actually first place. I was gonna get a nice, nice, um, nice, third or second place, whoever knows mo, um, but definitely. But we in ships fell off the same attachment on the mid rig because of the rain and the metal and just slipped off of it because the fatigue set in and you're just rushing and you're racing I just couldn't believe how far ahead I was.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's it. Sabotaged himself because he's never been first and I probably never will be, yeah.
Speaker 3:And also did. I was thinking the mid-rig can get tricky. Oh sorry.
Speaker 4:No, no go.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the mid-rig can get tricky in the rain, and the high rig as well, with the big wheels and the bars. Those with gloves I tend to find them easier when it's wet, but yeah, those two are probably the more and the low rig as well. I looked in the winter the 3K champs, the low rig. Quite a few people fell in even more experienced racers because it was wet and it was raining. Quite a few people fell it, even you know more experienced races because it was wet and it was raining quite a bit as well would you say currently, then gloves would be a good idea for some of the options, probably for the majority actually.
Speaker 3:If it is raining, yeah, definitely anything that is a metal bar. I find it much easier with the gloves, the high rig, the mid rig, yeah, the only thing is just taking them off, probably for things that they might get muddy, because you get mud in the gloves then they're going to be slippery. So I normally put them in a plastic bag, in a belt, and then just take it out for the actual obstacle so they're nice and dry. They might get a bit wet, but at least they don't get mud it's quite a good tip.
Speaker 1:We don't usually uh we don't usually think about that because that's, I think all three of us don't really wear gloves, so it's quite good to have someone on that uses them, because we're quite inexperienced with gloves on this sort of course. That's's good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've used them once ships, and I should never have used them. I've used them at the free KD and I at the Euro, at the Euros in Hungary, and that's just silly. I just it gets into your head that you just feel like you can't grip anything because you start training on the equipment. But okay, so rain can impact the last 1k and so risks I've actually put a risk for this race is not knowing how your body reacts to high heart rate and and high heart rate and running, I don't know, I don't know how to describe it. Compromise, not knowing your compromised body. Mo mo, help me out. How would you describe?
Speaker 4:it's just your body's ability to like get almost heart rate rises really quickly when you're doing some of these walls it's also to be honest, I think part of it is learning how to breathe as well, because some people, when they're doing walls and things, they're trying so hard on the wall that they almost hold their breath a little bit because they're like really trying to push themselves up, which they might. That might actually benefit them when they're doing it. The problem is then you you go away from the obstacle with a little bit of oxygen depth because you've just been holding your breath and now you need to try and get all that oxygen back in and also then run. So then people almost feel like they've like can't breathe or they have an asthma attack because they've just tried to jump over some walls, held their breath for a second and they try to run again and their body's just struggling to get any kind of breath in I also.
Speaker 2:I also put rushing obstacles because I feel that this there's, so the obstacles are so condensed together that I find if you rush the obstacle at a free, at the nuts, uh course you, you jeopardize your running because you've rushed it, you've got a high heart rate now and you've got to go into the next one and you've got to go into the next one, you're going to go into the next one and if you've rushed in obstacles you're not going to have keeping that heart rate down low. So you can do it, can keep what you said in karni.
Speaker 4:You can't then have a consistent pace for the course I think that's the difference as well between this course and tartan warrior. We, like we spoke about tartan warrior before the race. You can, there is opportunities to take risks, I think, nuts, yes, there is opportunities to take risks, but I wouldn't bother, I think no yeah I think you just you go through the obstacles as safely and as efficiently as possible.
Speaker 4:Still, if you're efficient, it's not going to be slow, but you're going to come out of the obstacles feeling a bit fresher and also you'll get through the obstacle. Because we don't quite know also what the band system is going to be at this race yet. So depending on that might change a lot of the kind of tactics as well what about skills to learn?
Speaker 2:what about skills?
Speaker 1:to learn. I would say your foot hook, not not a foot hook, a heel hook, I think, down at nuts. That's a very good skill to have on the low rigs especially. I don't know, maybe that's too um, too in depth. What do you think that? And just being able to get in and out of ditches? So just being able to get up and down, but definitely if you want to look at your technical skills maybe a little toe hook.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean also things like learning multiple ways to do obstacles or traverse through even things like rings, not just relying on one skill, because, depending on the environment, it can change the way the obstacles are very quickly, so you almost need to have a couple of answers for each obstacle in your pocket so that you're not just trying what like the same thing. Um, rings are a great example of this. If you're usually kind of gorilla, swinging through and just swinging on one arm, on the rings, you actually, depending on how the race is and depends on how fatigued you are, you might have to just double tap and put both hands on each ring and if you've never done that before, that might be quite tough. Like we mentioned earlier as well, even things like chicken wings like just having that option. So that's there, even if it might not be your go-to yeah, I think a chicken wing is built out of desperation.
Speaker 2:But actually, if you're going to going to use it, learn it, and carly. Have you learned the chicken wing, or did you do out of desperation once and then realize how this works?
Speaker 3:um, probably I did out of desperation once, I think, especially at valkyrie. They're nuts. Um, I used it when, um, I think it was winter last year and it was raining. It was really, really wet and it was a mandatory one, so people were there like for 20, 30 minutes. Some people keep trying and I'm trying to do the chicken wing at the top here to see, and then it was fine, because the most scary thing, when the wings are very wet and your grip is going, then trying to let go of one hand to wing the bell, it sounds like it's not much, but it can be scary when you're at the top. So, yeah, I don't use it in any other things, I don't think, but that's the one obstacle that I tend to use when it's wet.
Speaker 2:I've used it plenty of times. Don't worry, we've all started somewhere. I used it around the whole course of the European Championships in Netherlands, when I didn't have a clue what I was doing. I came back with bruises all up my arm.
Speaker 1:And I always use it on gibbons Always. Really, yeah, it's a fail-safe always, it's just. It's just a yeah, it's a fail safe if you miss a gibbon. It. It's worse if you have to go back with a gibbon, but if you get through it first time, you're better off going through first time. So sometimes it's just better to go chicken wing.
Speaker 2:I would have words about that. Off air ships disappointed in you oh well what about what he got through so? What about the most important one spectator ability oh, it's even better now.
Speaker 1:Uh, wayne's actually built more of a spectatability area. I don't know if anyone saw some of the videos that I posted during the Nuts race, but Wayne has built coffee area. He's got more seating, he's got a new coffee bit. The course is really good because you can actually walk around that whole 3K quite easily and see whichever part you want. Mainly the obstacles in the obstacle area is where the action takes place and that's where you want. Uh, mainly the obstacles in the. The obstacle area is where the action takes place and that's where you can sort of see everything, didn't you?
Speaker 3:I think you agree in carly yeah, no, definitely, and I think that's the one thing that is really nice at nuts that technical area is just so uh, spectator friendly and you can go around and you can spend hours there watching people going through the obstacles and it is really nice. And then now with the coffee there next to the you know the main obstacles, you can just quickly go get your coffee come back. So the whole area is nice and, yeah, you can get also through some of the other sides, but just that area is so many obstacles in that, you know, in within I don't know 200 or 300 meters walk um. I think it's great for spectators yeah.
Speaker 2:So there's places to get coffee, there's places to take cover if it's raining. Um, I would say definitely if you're, if this is like your first race, or or you're you're taking a step into the 3k course and you want people to see you. This is where you bring your family along. I wish this existed before. I used up all of my family's um patience with obstacle course racing because they, because they would actually come watch this one, but now they don't come to any because I've used that up now. But if, if I was new to obstacle course racing, they would. They would love it. They would be absolutely see everything on a 3k course at nuts yeah, definitely I think we anything else you guys want to go through or what?
Speaker 2:what else can we help with listeners? So, like four weeks, four weeks to nuts, we want to say, suppose, sign up, get dabble in obstacle course racing, get your second race in the 3k series. Um, you may be confused with we're calling the nuts 3k when there's also camelot events. Just to clarify camelot events is the overarching company that then put on events, which is the challenge, which is also a race, which is usually september and march, but this is the nuts 3k, which is part of the 3k series lots of confusing at all.
Speaker 1:Yeah, not confusing one bit, and when you put in the yeah, don't, don't put nuts into. Oh, no, it does come up. No, no, nuts in.
Speaker 2:Yeah, nuts don't have an instagram account, which is bizarre to me as a marketeer, which is a bit wild, but they do have a facebook page. Um camelot events has an instagram page so you can follow those, but best bet is to follow the free k series um instagram page, which all the information goes on and the leaderboard will start going out on there as well and probably you might see things from us, who knows?
Speaker 2:oh, no they would have seen it already, but don't worry um anything else. Already, but there are no um anything else.
Speaker 3:I think people also can go and um can contact camelot to go and have a training day or like a training session there, so that might help people as well. If they want to, they're local or if they want to, you know, make a little trip there. It's always nice to have a feel for some of the obstacles that might be as part of the race. So, um, I think they can do that through the camelot events page yeah, I think, um, it's.
Speaker 1:If you get hold of wayne and jane, they are very accommodating to a lot of people and they will help out where they can. So, yeah, that's a really good idea yeah, it definitely.
Speaker 2:It's a pay and play situation. So definitely just get hold of them and go down there and give it a go. There weren't there? Most of these obstacles we've actually just spoken about are always there so you can start to. Actually it's not, you don't even need to just go out and do a burpee run. You can actually go down to camelot events and actually test out the uh, test out the course. So, yeah, go experience the high heart rate there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I feel like we've given people the opportunity to understand the course, understand what to expect. I suppose we've talked about what sort of terrain there's going to be, what trainers to wear, what to train for. We said it's more of a strength based obstacle course race with, with a variety of obstacles, with and you need to make sure that you've got that compromise running. There's techniques to learn. So you said that hill hook ships. I think it's a really good one. We take it for granted that we put our heel inside the ring to let to push our hips up to move forward on a low rig. Don't think many people actually practice or know that, so that's good for people to know. Um, yeah, there's, there's loads of loads of different things. There's loads of different techniques to learn with obstacle course racing, but reach out to us if you want any more questions or anything else we can help with as well yeah, and I think most of the train well, in fact, I don't know much.
Speaker 1:In fact, all the training facilities have all taken part in a nuts race in their time, so they all have huge amounts of experience of this course. So even if, like, you're going to your local training center, they will know how to get through this course. And if you just ask them like, scotty will know, dave will know, the guys down at Body Hub will know, yeah, obstacle Gym, they'll all have experience down here. So you're in good hands, knowing that someone's going to be able to help you out with the techniques that you need.
Speaker 2:It's quite funny because this course is actually most quite a lot of celebrities also done it as well, because it's that well known well, I've only done it a few times, but all right yeah mo anything else you want to say about free, free k no, I think we've covered most things.
Speaker 4:I think just prepared to suffer early and you'll be fine it's, it's not, it's not it's. It's a great day out, but it depends on how you want to race it. If you race too hard, you can hurt from really early on. So just bear that in mind with your pacing and you'll be absolutely fine and carly anything else before we move on to something else no, no, I don't think so.
Speaker 3:I think probably. Um, you know, main things have been covered, so yeah, just have fun oh yeah, we forgot to mention that also.
Speaker 2:Also have fun enjoy.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's not all about racing yeah it is about.
Speaker 2:It is about having fun and also racing with other people. So, yeah, like there's not, it's not just always going to be a 3k competitive series, you can actually turn up to the free case, also do them for fun. That is the nuts 3k accountability corner course walk, episode 2 done. We will be raced already, tartan warrior, and we're on to the next one, and then the one after nuts is right in front of me. I can remember what it's called. Oh, look at that, it's rumble fitness on may the 25th. So yeah, let's you gonna be down there.
Speaker 2:I, I will be down there. I think so.
Speaker 4:Have we actually said the nuts date? Yes we have.
Speaker 2:April the 27th at Camelot Events and I guess all information will be on their website and you'll be able to sign up. So get yourself signed up, get down there, have some fun. Let's talk about Rumble next.
Speaker 1:Well, and not only that, we'll also put the link in our show notes, because we're also good at doing that.
Speaker 2:I'm rubbish at putting links in our show notes, so yes, I'll do that.
Speaker 1:Hopefully it will be in our show notes.
Speaker 2:When have you started saying show notes? I'm trying to get better at this all right, okay, okay, all right, it'll be everything else will be in our show notes and carney where can we find you in carney?
Speaker 1:are you on social media?
Speaker 3:uh, yeah, I am really bad at posting though, but yeah, I do have a facebook page and carneycascales and the same as um, um instagram also, and carneycascales.
Speaker 1:I don't because I don't have time, but I, but that's, that's the best way to be sometimes.
Speaker 2:Right, I feel like that's it Done. See you at the Nuts Challenge Nuts.
Speaker 1:Challenge 3K, whatever it's called.
Speaker 2:We'll see you there. I think it needs a name. It needs a new name, right, see you later.
Speaker 1:See you later. See you later, people, goodbye.
