Playing in the Mud


The OCR Buddy Blog

Stretching Is Overrated

Stretching Is Overrated! Yep, you read that correctly. Stretching is overrated. In my opinion, at least. Let’s simply look at common situations: An athlete gets injured and says it is because he/she does not stretch enough. Another athlete who does stretch often, and perhaps does yoga, becomes injured. The injured athlete starts stretching only to

Resting Rarely Fixes Injuries

Have you ever experienced pain from training, decided to take a couple days or maybe even weeks off, just to have the pain return when you got back to training? If you are an athlete, your answer is likely YES. And if you answered YES, you are not alone. It is a common situation for

Overuse Injuries

Overuse. Is this really a thing? Have you ever experienced an injury somewhere and been told by a medical professional that it was due to overuse? Most likely, the answer is yes, because it is used as the cause way too often for anything that is a chronic-type onset. When that happens, you accept it

Stop Blaming Your Glutes

The glutes get blamed for so many things. “My therapist told me my glutes are weak,” “My doctor told me to strengthen my glutes,” “I think my knee pain is due to weak glutes.” I could go on and on about the things I hear on a daily basis. Because of that, you spend weeks
Ever wonder why there are so many running shoes at the store, all of which have different types and amounts of cushion, different technology to minimize pronation, and some have claims that they will reduce injury, and yet we still have 80% of runners injured every year? It is because the shoe you are wearing
ORORO, the company known for provided great pre/post-race heated apparel and keeping my pit crew warm as I run around for 24+ hours at time (watch the OCR Everest 10 minute documentary).  Besides  having heated scarfs, vests, socks, seat warmers and jackets, they also have heated gloves.  I picked up a pair of their Buffalo

Spot Treating Pain Never Works

Does this sounds like a familiar pattern for you: You feel pain…You massage, stretch, and ice the area…You may rest for a week or two…After some online searching, you decide to do some random strength exercise you saw…Months later your pain has not changed. Or maybe yours is more like this: You feel pain…You self
I race in the extremes.  Extreme hot (48 hours of Endure The Gauntlet), extreme cold (OCR America 2), extreme elevation (OCR Everest), extreme pain (OCRmill 24) and extreme distance (Ultra-OCR) .  When it comes to how I spend my time off the course or between laps, I try to maximize comfort.  This is where ORORO
Every year I do a self-created Ultra-Obstacle Course Racing (Ultra-OCR) charity event.  They often get progressively more questionable each year in the past have included things like 24 hours of treadmill OCR, 48 hour multi-lap, 8 day of 8 OCR marathons in the winter and 2022’s climb the height of Everest while doing obstacles.  When

The Truth About Flat Feet

“I have flat feet, so….” I often hear this said as a statement of fact, as if it is something that cannot be changed. And yet, when talking about any other issue with the body, it is never stated as if it something that cannot improve. (Yes, I do realize that a small percentage of
When injuries happen, we often think it is because an area is weak. While that is not necessarily wrong, that is not necessarily the only issue. If it were purely a strength issue, I don’t think we would see as many non-contact and ‘overuse’ injuries happen in professional sports as we do. So, what is
Your nagging injury and pain will not go away.  It has been months, perhaps years, and you have tried everything – physical therapy, chiropractor, ice, heat, stretching, strengthening, rest, injections, and maybe even surgery.  Nothing has helped.  You still are not able to train…or live your life for that matter.  You are frustrated to say
If you’ve been in the Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) world for more than a couple of months you probably have heard of BleggMits.  BleggMits are OCR gloves created by world champion OCR athlete and adventure racer Deanna Blegg.  To put simply, they are neoprene mittens that allow you to fold back the top exposing your

Fix Your Movement Patterns

I know you have seen that person at the gym…The one that can’t get their hips down in a squat so they lean forward with their torso to counterbalance and to feel like they are deeper in the squat than they are. And that person who has a ‘stripper butt’ when they deadlift, clean, or
When  injuries occur, the common treatments tend to be  rest, ice, pain meds, rolling, massage guns, stretching, and sometimes immobilization. Months later, rather than the issue being resolved, one of three scenarios has often resulted: 1) the same pain remains present, 2) the pain has gotten worse and you are no longer training, or 3)

Race Review: The Siege

Thanks to OCR Buddy, I’ve been finding hidden Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) gyms all over the USA.  Their app makes it easy to find races off the beaten path, which brings me to The Siege in Garden City, KS.  Located right in the middle of Kansas, I decided to venture out there to see what
It was decided years ago that pronation was bad and it needed to be controlled. As a result, orthotics have being prescribed to nearly everyone who walked into the door of a podiatrist. Along with that, shoes were created to stop us from pronating and the major shoe companies continue to “improve their technology” in

Causes Of Running Injuries

Running injuries are frustrating. Occasionally they are traumatic injuries from a fall or misstep, but most times they come on seemingly out of nowhere. One day you are training pain free and the next day you are not. It is confusing and frustrating. I’m here to clear a little of this up for you…or at
Do you know what your foot is doing while it is on the ground? Most people do not. I can honestly say I was guilty of this myself for a long time. I thought I knew what my foot was doing, but I realized how wrong I was. Your foot is a ‘tripod’ with the

Race Review: Rugged Maniac NJ

Rugged Maniac is a brand that has been around for a decade boasting the best party in Obstacle Course Racing (OCR).  I’ve been to their events all throughout the Midwest but I’ve never been to one of their events on the coast.  With a race near my extended family, I headed out to Englishtown, New
We are movement and exercise are great for us, physically and mentally, but eventually you develop pain in your joints, muscles, and/or tendons. When things get bad enough, your physician then tells you to stop your activities because they are bad for your joints. What gives? If exercise is so good for us, then why
Ever wonder why those around you seem to be making progress with their training, getting stronger and faster, while you feel like you are being left behind? Or why you have done mobility drills every single day for the past 6+ months without any apparent gains being made? It comes down to what I call
Frontline OCR  one of the absolute best races we have ever participated in, by far!! Tough As Funk!  30+ obstacles (I counted 40!) 6 miles, beautiful and tough terrain. Well run, like clockwork, incredibly organized and well planned. Day 1. We arrived a day early and checked out the newly laid course. Race Ready Obstacles,
How do you rate your resiliency on a scale of 1-10? Do you find yourself constantly injured, always nursing some ache or pain or training through pain? Or do you only experience an injury if you have a traumatic event occur? The more resilient you can make your body, the better athlete you will be.

Race Review: BONEFROG NJ

BONEFROG, the world’s only US Navy SEAL inspired Obstacle Course Race (OCR), has been around for years.  Despite being a mainstay of the industry they recently announced they were canceling all their 2022 events but two (Massachusetts and New Jersey).  Worried I might miss my only chance to run a BONEFROG, I booked a last
Since 2017, I’ve been recording podcasts on my show Strength & Speed OCR.  With over 200+ episodes I’ve had some great guests that have shared some amazing insights on training, mastering complex skills and competing.  Rather than let their lessons be buried amongst hours of other podcasts, I decided to pull out the lessons specific

OCR Everest: Lessons Learned

For this year’s charity event I decided I was going to climb the height of Everest, 29,032 feet and do obstacles to raise money for Infinite Hero Foundation (PLEASE DONATE HERE and watch the full 10 min professionally produced documentary here).  Mountain running is not my forte but Ultra-Obstacle Course Racing (ultra-OCR) is, so this presented
The article from the Wall Street Journal has caused a lot of conversation about Spartan’s future and what they can do to turn the tide. It also became about if the tide should be turned or not. We wont even start this debate. For me, I am a marketing nerd. I do it for a
On May 16th, the Wall Street Journal reported that Spartan Race faced a cash crunch.  The obstacle racing community was fired up on both sides of the Spartan fence.  Those that love Spartan tried to give a rationale as to why this is temporary, and Spartan will bounce back.  The anti-Spartan crowd had fodder to

OCR Everest Gear Choices

Recently I ran my 7th self created Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) charity event called OCR Everest (watch the full 10 minute professional produced documentary here).  The plan was simple, climb the height of Everest and do obstacles while at the venue of Tough Mudder New England in Stratton Vermont (same location as OCR World Championships 2021/2022). 

Race Recap: Gelt Gladiator

Brampton, Cumbria, UK is home to a small obstacle race called Gelt Gladiator. Being a seasoned OCR fun runner,  I was quite excited to try out a new race. The first obstacle was a muddy trench about 10 metres from the start! Then the mud just kept on coming. Cargo nets, walls broke this up.

Maximizing Your Workout Time

We often think we need to be training for hours a day in order to meet our goals. To some extent, that may be accurate, but many times that is not the case. If you are training for a marathon or longer endurance event, yes, you need to be training longer at times so your
June 5 will always be known as Stupid Sunday because what I did was stupid. How can I explain this better than to explain why? Since I was 13 years old, I have been playing in an “organized pickup” softball game in my hometown that runs from April to October. When I play, it is
This year, I decided to add another OCR race and join my family for the Terrain Race in Millville, NJ. We were hoping for a fun-filled day at the event since the social media of the event looked great. Unfortunately, we found the event to be very lackluster. The event was listed as a free
Mobility. Stability. We hear and read about both when injured, but many times aren’t sure what needs to be done…or why…or when. As a general, all areas of the body needs a balance of both. With that said, certain joints or areas of the body require more stability, and others require more mobility; these areas

Race Review: Filthy Monkey

I love local brands, so when I found out there was a race that I wasn’t tracking the same distance that I drive to work every day I was super excited.  I did there winter version, The Frozen Monkey back in December, but this was my first time running their summer event, The Filthy Monkey. 

10 Questions: Your First Mud Run

Your First Mud Run is an obstacle race in which the whole family, parents and children, run the course together.  This family-friendly event, featuring medals, shirts, free bag check, free parking, no spectator fee and more is the brainchild of Brad Vaccaro. Brad took some time to sit with us and be the next guest
You have a constant tightness that will not go away no matter how much stretching you do for it. You have done all the stretches and rolling that your physical therapist, chiropractor, massage therapist, friend, YouTube, and/or Dr. Google told you to do for it, but still aren’t back to training like you want to
James Burton is an elected Director of the United Kingdom Obstacle Sports Federation and a top obstacle racing athlete. He has competed around the world and is preparing to represent his country at next week’s European OCR Championships in Italy.  James was kind enough to join us as the next guest on “10 Questions with…”
Many running injuries happen annually. Depending on the research you look at, between 50-75% of runners get injured every year. Many of those are chronic injuries…and also what I call preventable injuries. Running in itself typically does not cause injuries (unless you trip over something and injure yourself) and yet many runners tend to end
For Global Running Day on June 1, 2022; the parent company of Rugged Maniac, Ventures Endurance, is partnering with Califonia-based non-profit Shoes that Fit to make a difference in low-income children’s lives. From Shoes That Fit: Shoes That Fit tackles one of the most visible signs of poverty by giving kids in need new athletic
May 14th, 2022 marked the third year that Highlander Assault held Dark Ages, a night race that includes overnight camping and the opportunity to create lasting memories around the bonfire with the racing community. They have continually built on the idea, adding new obstacles and new experiences every year. Last year they added the option
This past weekend, three OCR Buddy Ambassadors completed their first Spartan Ultra. While fresh in their mind, I thought it would be great to spend a little time with them and ask about their preparation and event. Let us introduce you to Greg Champion, Emma Bivens and Sherry Valenzuela as they are today’s guests on
It’s time again for my annual Ultra-Obstacle Course Racing (Ultra-OCR) self-created and painful charity event.  In 2022, the plan is to run the height of Everest (29,029 feet) while doing obstacles at the course of Tough Mudder New England the weekend of June 4-5th in Stratton, Vermont. While I’ve done self-created charity events every year
You’ve been forced to stop running for a few months due to an injury and you have now been cleared to resume running. You’re excited to get those shoes on and step out the door for your first run in months. You feel great and your body feels good. You end up running 3 miles;
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Evan Perperis is many things. Athlete, Author, Military. He is known as the Ultra OCR Man and just released a new book titled “On Endurance: A Practical Guide to Unlocking the Secrets of Super-Human Performance ” that is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold. He is the leader of the Mudgear-Battle of the
The first quarter of 2022 has seen the Mud Gear- Battle of the Lions Pro Team take to the course at American Ninja Warrior, Hyrox, and Spartan to start. They reflect on a successful first three months of 2022. OCR Buddy is a proud supporter of Mud Gear- Battle of the Lions Pro Team.  1)

Race Review: Bear Crawl OCR

On April 30, 2022,  I was presented a chance to run a local OCR Event in my home state of North Carolina.  The Bear Crawl OCR.  The Venue is located in Morganton, North Carolina. About Bear Crawl OCR –  The Bear Crawl OCR was created to replicate the obstacles and challenges we face in life. 

Train Smarter

Train smarter, not just harder!  Don’t get me wrong, as athletes we want to train hard and push ourselves. Personally, I train hard on a regular basis. But there is more to training than just continuing to push harder. We also need to train smarter when we are training. What does training smarter mean? It

10 Questions with Ian Adamson

Last week, it was announced that an obstacle discipline will most likely replace the equestrian discipline of the Modern Pentathlon.  OCR Buddy immediately reached out to Ian Adamson, President of World Obstacle, to answer “10 questions” regarding the news, what’s ahead and what this means for the sport of obstacle racing.  Here is the Modern
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