Charities, Events, and Conditioning

Charities
One of the questions I hear time and again when it comes to running the Tough Mudder is, "how much of my registration fee goes to the Wounded Warrior Project?"  I wanted to take a look at this question in order to clear up what might be some of my own misconceptions.

To find an answer to that question, I went to Google, and in fairly short order found this discussion at the Mudder Nation web site (a link to this discussion is used as a citation on the Tough Mudder Wikipedia page).  Now, this is just a representative response, but many of the other responses I found (via Facebook and other sites) all indicate the same thing...none of your registration fee goes to directly to the WWP.

So, I think that the end result of my "investigation" is that while the Tough Mudder organization supports the Wounded Warrior Project, they appear to do so by donating to the charity as a company.  Also, when you register for an event, you're provided a link to a donation page that you can share via social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or whatever else you use) and that money goes to the Wounded Warrior Project.  I've done this for each of the Tough Mudder's I've run (5, as of this past June), and in two instances was able to raise over $600.  In fact, in one case, the first person to donate was one of my college roommates (we hadn't seen each other since 1991...we'd graduated in 1989) who was deployed in Iraq.

This Charity Investigator article regarding the Wounded Warrior Project should give you an idea of the charity itself, and how much of the money that they raise goes toward supporting our wounded heroes.  To be fair, I also found this Dec, 2013 Veteran's Today article that refers to the WWP as a "legal scam".  You'll notice that the two referenced articles are only about 5 months apart.

Spartan Race doesn't support a specific charity that I've been able to find, but (apparently as of this year) has added the ability for participants to set up their own fundraiser.  While I've seen the Operation Enduring Warrior team at the Spartan Race several times now, I haven't yet found anything that states definitively that the Spartan Race supports a particular charity.  The Spartan Race Wikipedia page states that in 2011, Spartan Race Inc "partnered with" Homes for Our Troops; however, I do not take such entries as "definitive" or completely credible, particularly when they're rife with misspellings.

Event Comparison
I've blogged about my view of how different OCR events differ, and I recently ran across Dylan's views of the differences between the Spartan Race and the Tough Mudder event that he ran.

Conditioning
I've blogged before about different conditioning routines I've used.  One of my favorites, particularly during the winter, is Pyramid workouts.  Last week, I did a Pyramid workout using burpees (x3), sprinter sit-ups (2 ct), and pullups (x1).  I repeated the top set, for a total of 330 burpees and 110 pullups.  Also, on the downside, I started doing sets of 10 sit-ups, rather than doing x1 at each level.  Yesterday's workout was another Pyramid, this one with pullups (x1), pushups (x3), lunges (x3), and sprinter situps, again just doing a set of 10 at each level.  I repeated the top set, which means I did a total of 20 sets, with 110 pullups, etc.

I came up with a variation I'm going to try...instead of starting at 1 rep, and working up to 10 reps and then coming back down, I'm going to start at 3 reps, and work up to 11 reps.  Begin something of a nerd, I wrote a small computer program to quickly show me what the variations in starting reps looks like.  For example, if I start at 1 rep and work up to 10, and come back down without repeating the top (10) set, I get a total of 100 repetitions of each exercise.  However, if I start at 3 reps and work up to 11 reps, I do fewer sets, but my reps go up to 115.  If I repeat the top set, then that puts me at 126 reps...yes, it's an odd number, but you know what...it's more than before and that's all that really matters.

Now, do you have to go so high in reps?  No, not at all.  If you're new to this sort of thing, start easy...start at 1 rep, work up to 5 reps, and return to 1 rep...for a total of 25 reps.  Repeat the top set, and you get 30.  Vary this by doing pullups x 1, pushups x 2, etc.

Something else I run into now and again is travel, and having neither time, space, nor equipment (pullup bar) will resort to different ways to work out.  Some call this sort of conditioning "prison workouts" or "convict conditioning" and I'm sure if you search around, you'll find different philosophies and workouts, and sometimes all you really need is some different workouts to try.

For some input and variation to these types of workouts, I recently ran across David Mace's blog, Maximum Potential Calisthenics.  He's got some great insight.  I've done circuit workouts (pushups w/ feet elevated, pullups under a desk, situps + flutter kicks, lunges), working up to 6 or 7 rounds, depending upon how much time and energy I have, and that works well for me.  However, now and again, it's good to have variations.  For example, let's say that based on time and other factors, I spend two evenings doing the circuit workout I described, but by the third day, I really need to do something different, and I can't get out to run.  Having variations keeps your mind interested, and keeps you from getting stuck and physical rut, as well.

There are other great sites out there, as well...for example, check out Muddy Melissa's blog.  She even includes recipes!

Speaking of recipes...something I ran across recently that I really enjoy is a healthy way to enjoy chocolate pudding (I'm a bit lactose intolerant).  Take one cup of vanilla Greek yogurt, add a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder, and sweetener to taste.  I use two packets of Equal, but you can use whatever you prefer.  Mix it all up...be careful when you get started, though, because if you're too enthusiastic, the cocoa will go everywhere!  Mix thoroughly, and enjoy.  Lots of protein, anti-oxidants, and great taste!