Overcome and Run

This week, I spoke to Veejay Jones, Spartan's youngest pro-team member and a strong contender in their championship series.

We start with Veejay telling her all about the championship race in Chicago where Veejay placed second, conquering all the mud out there and beating out some top contenders. That leads us to discuss the different challenges of each of the races in Spartan's championship series, and Veejay tells me what he's expecting with Tahoe and how he plans to tackle it.

He also shares what has helped him climb the ranks over the past two years, and he talks about the importance of recovery and his methods for it.

I ask him about his plans for the next several years when it comes to OCR, and he tells me how he plans on maintaining his trajectory.

Veejay tells me about how he's got his eye set on the North American OCR Championship race, which leads us into a discussion about mandatory obstacle completion and penalty loops.

Lastly, he shares his goals for 2019, and talks about the lessons he's learned with nutrition and how he's changed it up to be better prepared for races.

Today Jay talked to Mark Batres about his new endeavor into coaching. Mark shares some great information about:

• The goal for miles to run in a week
• Using a bike to replace running during an injury or to reduce strain on joints
• Training to both aerobic and anaerobic capacity
• How to run more effeciently
• Training to be in the right mental space for a race

You can find Mark on Facebook and Instagram to get more information about hiring him as your coach!

Continuing our coverage from last weekend's Spartan race in Seattle, we were there on Sunday for the Sprint and spoke with some of the top competitors (and the course manager!) from the race that day, including:

-Veejay Jones

-Ian Hosek

-Alyssa Hawley

-Steve Hammond

- Allison Tai

We spoke about the Championship race the day before, the competition and the conditions at the Sprint, and more!

Last weekend, we were in Washington State for the second Super race in Spartan's National Championship series. We tackled the extremely wet and muddy course, and then spoke with some of the top competitors from the race, including:

-Ryan Kent

-Rea Kolbl

-Faye Morgan

-Robert Killian

-Glenn Racz

-Rose Wetzel-Sinnett

We also grabbed interviews from the Sunday's Sprint, so stay tuned for that episode coming out later this week!

This week, I brought Yancy Culp back on the podcast to talk all about TMX, training topics, and the top OCR competitors in the 2018 season.

We start by talking about the Sacramento Tough Mudder X competition, and Yancy gives me a breakdown of the event from his perspective, from the athletes, to the layout of the course in comparison to last year's invitational event, to the competition. He talks about the importance of running with this course in particular, and he shares his thoughts on what impact TMX may have on the sport of OCR as a whole.

That extends to a conversation about the impact that OCR is having on fitness and gyms in general, and I ask Yancy to tell me which sport truly has the fittest athletes on earth: Crossfit or OCR.

We also talk about the top athletes in OCR, and whether it's genetics, training, or a combination of both that gets them to that level.

From there we dive into training topics, such as finding a balance between running and strength training, finding your speciality (whether it's short course, long course, or somehwere in between), overtraining and how to avoid it, and the importance of proper running mechanics.

We end with discussing why the competitive field in OCR has gotten much deeper, and Yancy gives me his thoughts on the top competition to watch this year.

Last Sunday, the Overcome and Run team was in Sacramento for Tough Mudder X, Tough Mudder's 1-mile competitive race complete with both obstacles and functional fitness stations. This was the first TMX event since last summer's invitational TMX event, and is one of three events that Tough Mudder is hosting this year.

We grabbed tons of live footage while we there (all available to watch on our Facebook page), and when we weren't filming live, we were grabbing interviews!

Heather spoke with:

-Mack Roesch

-Ryan Kent

-David Tyson "Superman" Perry

-Isaiah Vidal

-Hunter McIntyre

-David Magida

-Jen Munro

-Alexandra Walker

-Corinna Coffin

-Michelle Ford

We talk about the strategy between preliminary and final waves, short courses, the competition, how this year's course compares to last year, training for this type of race, and so much more!

This week, the Overcome and Run podcast hits its 100th episode! We wanted to do something special, so we reached out to you, the listeners, for any and all questions you have for us about OCR, training, or our own personal OCR experience and goals.

We start with a discussion about whether or not we see OCR in the Olympics, and what that might look like if that does happen. We then discuss nutrition, training, and Jay and I share our most memorable race experiences, and the lessons we learned from them.

We also went live on our Facebook page while we recorded this episode, and fielded some last minute questions and comments!

If you are looking to get a wetsuit for your next Toughest Mudder, or are just preparing early for Worlds Toughest Mudder, check out Xterra Wetsuits!

You can get your Overcome and Run race jersey made by MudGear in our Gear Shop.

Make sure you are following everything we are doing by taking a look at our Instagram, Facebook and joining our mailing list!

Brian Gowiski, the first place elite male from last weekend's Greek Peak Spartan Race, joins me on the podcast this week to talk all about that Winter Sprint, World's Toughest Mudder, and all sorts of OCR topics from training, to strategy, to his goals for this year.

Brian starts by telling me all about how he got into OCR and how he focused on Battlefrog races when he began, as their emphasis on grip strength played into his proficiency at upper body obstacles.

We then talk about Greek Peak, and Brian tells gives me a recap of the race, from the competition, to the conditions, to how the obstacles were affected by the snow. This leads us to a discussion about training in the elements, from cold and snowy to hot and humid, and Brian shares what he prefers.

We then talk about World's Toughest Mudder 2017, where Brian and his team placed first in the relay category. We discuss how his team formed, and what their strategy was for tackling the relay format. We reminisce about the obstacles on the course, and speculate about this year's WTM race in Atlanta, and whether he will be running solo or in a team.

Lastly, we talk about his goals for this year, and chat about Savage Race, OCRWC, and what the competition will be like.

In this episode I talk to Nicole Kifer and Kristofer Raycraft about Platinum Personal Training. Nicole started Platinum Personal Training to help athletes love training like she did and has turned it into a 7 acre ranch outside San Diego with 40+ obstacles where some of the most

elite athletes from Southern California come to train. Kris is the strength and conditioning coach for Platinum Personal Training and an avid OCR competitor himself. This is an outstanding episode if you are looking for an awesome outdoors place to train!

If you are looking to get a wetsuit for your next Toughest Mudder, or are just preparing early for Worlds Toughest Mudder, check out Xterra Wetsuits!

You can get your Overcome and Run race jersey made by MudGear in our Gear Shop.

Make sure you are following everything we are doing by taking a look at our Instagram, Facebook and joining our mailing list!

David Hellard, host of the Bad Boy Running Podcast, joins me this week to discuss the OCR scene in Europe, the importance of OCRs finding a balance between accessibility and challenge as they grow, his recent win at the Somaliland Marathon, and the marathon mentality.

David starts by sharing how he got started in OCR and the creation of the British Military Fitness team, which leads us into a discussion about the evolution of OCR and the OCR scene in Europe and the UK. We discuss the importance of race brands finding a balance between accessibility for the general public and challenge for the competitive athletes, and how that affects the success of a race.

We then talk about this year's OCR World Championships, and how it's new location in the UK will affect the competition.

David also talks about his recent win at the Somaliland Marathon, and the difference between race mentality in marathons versus OCR. He shares why he prefers to run marathons, and we talk about the importance of having fun and enjoying yourself at races.

Lastly, we discuss The Bad Boy Running Podcast, and all the colorful terms born from it.