Running & OCR

I had a great conversation yesterday with an up and coming athlete in the sport of OCR. We’re talking someone who has the ability to compete with the top elites in our sport as long as he decides to consistently follow a strong running plan. I’m going to paint a very clear picture of the biggest difference in the top elites in our sport vs athletes who want to be a top elite. I’ll also paint a very clear picture of what will help athletes find themselves competing with the top elites will also help open category athletes greatly improve their ability out on course.
I’m going to use two basic running marks for this message today. The top performing athletes in our sport run sub 5min for the mile and 16:30 or better for the 5K and I’m using these marks as the slow end of the spectrum. Most can run significantly faster than 5:00 & 16:30. Let’s look at the first mile of a Spartan Sprint for an example. Let’s say your mile time is a very respectable 5:30 and you’re in the same wave as someone who runs a 4:40. He or she goes out at 5:20 pace for the first mile of a somewhat flat course without a lot of technical terrain at the start. We’ll say you go out at 6:10 pace. At the appx 1 mile mark you’ve been gapped by appx 40sec or more. This gap continues to grow as the race goes on and this gap will normally grow exponentially due to the fact they are able to approach obstacles faster, get through them faster, and recover back to their tempo pace quicker after completing the obstacle. Running is extremely important in our sport and when it improves, it immediately translates out on course. We’ve also found that it’s not about being an olympic caliber runner. I’ve seen many strong runners soul crush Olympic caliber runners out on course because they had a well balanced machine capable of conquering all obstacles while knocking down a strong pace between obstacles. Let’s look at Isaiah Vidal, Ryan Atkins, Hunter McIntyre, and Ryan Kent (all have seen a lot of time on the podium at elite competition races). None of these athletes are built like Olympic Caliber middle or long distance endurance athletes. They all look more like guys you’d see competing in the Decathlon. All of these guys run 4:40 or faster and 16:00 or faster.
As your running improves, you will continue closing the gap between you and the top elites in our sport. It’s as simple as that. Getting faster and building a strength/skill package that allows you to conquer all obstacles is the recipe we’re looking for. I’m asked all the time, “what do I need to do to run with the top elites in our sport?” You have to get faster and consistently completing training sessions that are designed to make you faster is important. We want to maximize our time and I’m confident the sessions you’re completing through Yancy Camp will help you get faster!
Let’s discuss how this relates to the open category athletes. You will actually see much more dramatic advances out on course when compared to the high level athletes who are looking to break in to the top level category. We used the 4:40 vs 5:30 miler above during the start of a race. Let’s say your mile PR right now is 9:00 and you get it down to 7:30 or your 5k time is 30min and you get it down to 25min. We’re talking about a huge chunk of time that you’ve erased out on course. I took a quick look at the recent Dallas Beast. The difference between 200th place & 700th place was 27min. The difference between 1000th place to 1500th place was 15min. The difference between 2000th place to 2500 place was only 15min. When you factor in your new mile ant 5k times, you’ll find yourself finishing dramatically farther up in the overall standings. And remember, a 5min improvement in your 5k is worth more than 5min over the course of a 5k distance out on course. You’re covering the ground between obstacles much faster, you’re getting through the obstacles faster, and you’re getting back in to your tempo pace faster after completing the obstacles. This all adds up you crushing it out there on course.
If your goal is to be a top level athlete in our sport, close the gap between you and the top level athletes, continue improving in the open category and eventually work your way to the top level waves, continue moving up in your age group rankings, or working toward completing your first OCR, improving your running times will help you. Thank you for choosing Yancy Camp as your OCR training world and please reach out to me with any questions you have. Now let’s get faster!