Athlete burnout is very common in the world of obstacle course racing. With events taking place year round, there is often not enough time to step away from the sport to decompress and refocus. As we begin the new year and a new race season, let's take a moment to look at the risk factors for burnout and develop a plan of action in the event you experience any of these symptoms.
Besides the elites, which I covered in last article, there are always stories of open wave competitors getting injured. The two “high profile” examples are the viral stories of that person that got some rare eye disease from one of the mud pits and the women that is suing the sponsors of Spartan for her falling off a volunteers shoulders, it naturally raises the question of how safe this sport is?
Amelia Boone, Claude Godbout, Corinna Coffin, Sarah Watson, Brenna Calvert and Nikki Call. No, I did not just name the top six elite females from a recent race. Besides being members of Pro Teams representing race companies (Spartan Race, BattleFrog Series, and Conquer The Gauntlet), these athletes have something else in common, they have had serious injuries requiring medical appointments (surgery and/or casts in some cases) and weeks of recovery. With so many injuries from so many high-level athletes, the question of safety comes to mind and if we are asking too much of our top level athletes.
I had back surgery in 1998 and this started the downward trajectory of my health and fitness. Once a HS basketball star, I quit taking care of my body and the scar tissue from surgery did the rest. At times I was confined to a wheelchair because of back spasms when I would walk. After finally reaching 220lbs, I decided to not let back pain hold me back any longer.
A few years ago, I had cause to look up "torn calf muscle" on Google, and was more than a little irked to read it described as "a common injury among middle-aged weekend warriors". Well, f*ck you too, Google. Talk about literally adding insult to injury...
