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ForEliteAtheletes toFunRunners
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RACE: CRAFT
become a better obstacle runner
25+ simple steps
Sam Winkworth – Race Director for The Dirty Rotten Scramble shares his top OCR racing tips.
In no particular order
although numbers 9 & 25 are really important.
But all combined together & you’ll be
a muddy OCR ninja!
1. Do plenty of cross country running that includes
mud, hills & rivers.
2. Take magnesium every day to help with recovery
(not magnesium oxide though as the body cannot
process it).
3. Get a qualified expert to write you a personalized
program. (Such as Sam)
4. Enter an OCR event EVERY month to help get you
sharp.
5. Run at least twice a week, no excuses!
6. Buy an elevation mask.
Just KIDDING.
Please don’t! You’ll get some extremely weird
looks and you’ll look like you’ve escaped
from some weird dungeon.
7. In the early stages of training,
enter races of a similar distance
and concentrate on doing well
at that distance until you can
build your distances up. Give
yourself 10 + weeks where you
specifically train for it.
8. Drink a greens drink daily to
help with energy & recovery.
10. When you come up against a
wall in OCR (whether it be hangover/8ft/10ft)
Make a MENTAL commitment to get over it.
11. Do strength training but don’t go too mad with it.
12. If you’re experiencing pain, take it as a warning
sign that something’s not quite right.
Get it checked out immediately.
DON’T ignore it.
13. Try and get a good full night sleep.
14. If you eat something healthy and filling before you
go food shopping, plan your weekly meals and
write a list before you shop, you’ll eat smart all
week.
If you don’t, well you won’t.
15. Don’t always be obsessed with pacing, timings
and Garmin’s, just go running and enjoy it.
16. Listen to your body. Sometimes it gets tired.
Don’t feel guilty about taking a day off.
17. The one thing that NEVER LIES about the work
YOU have done or HAVEN’T DONE... is your body
& fitness.
18. Coconut oil is GREAT for your immune system.
A healthy immune system = never get ill.
Never being ill = able to train with no set backs or
disruption.
19. Keep a training journal – generally your fitness
levels and running should be improving. If it’s
not, then that’s a problem.
20. Enjoy your OCR training but have a life also
(& don’t forget about your family!)
21. Dedicate one session a week to obstacles
(eg climbing, wall jumps, crawling, swinging etc)
22. NEVER GIVE UP.
23. There’s a direct correlation between the level of
time & effort you put in, and the level of results
that you’ll get in 10 week’s time.
You only put half the effort in, you only get
half the results. Simple
.
24. If it’s important then do
it every day, if it’s not
important then don’t do it all
26. Strive for progress,
not just perfection.
27. When you next run, assess
your posture. Focus on
keeping nice and upright
whilst relaxing your
shoulders & fingers.
28. If your struggling on rope climbs/rings/monkey
bars then it’s very likely that your grip strength
might be weak and you’ll need to improve it.
Practice hanging from a bar for as long as
possible. Build up to a minute, then 2 minutes,
then 3. Once you’re at 3 minutes, practice with
one arm & then switch.
Follow those tips and you will 100% improve
I guarantee it.
To be honest, even if you only followed half of those
tips then you’ll still be well on your way to improving
your OCR fitness
9. MAKE SURE YOUR
TRAINING PLAN IS BASED
UPON GETTING YOU FASTER.
25. DO CORE WORK &
s-t-r-e-t-c-h RELIGIOUSLY.
OK AND
THAT’S IT!
For more tips & advice on how to train & prepare for
your next OCR then visit
and download your FREE 10 WEEK OCR TRAINING GUIDE.
Sam
“releasing your
OCR warrior
within”
Winkworth
HAVE FUN
OUT THERE.
