Hey Crew,
This Saturday, The Bootcamp Effect takes on Tough Mudder with our 47 person team *3rd biggest at Tough Mudder Vancouver.
Here are your 20 need to knows for the weekend.

- Saturday June 23rd 10am bootcamp class is cancelled (because all trainers are attending tough mudder)
- Start time for tough mudder is 1:30pm on Saturday
- Make sure you print out, fill out, and bring your participant waiver: http://toughmudder.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/06/ Participant-Waiver.pdf - If you are spectating, printout and bring this form: http://toughmudder.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/06/ Spectator-Waiver.pdf - Everyone will need to bring 2 pieces of id. Don’t worry about holding it, we have a few team spectators who will have bags to hold your ids and keys.
- Meeting place 11:30am – there are free shuttles leaving from Whistler Village Parking Lot 4 to Whistler Olympic park (where the tough mudder is) all day. Don’t try to park at the event it is $10 and limited parking. Park in this parking lot or in your hotel parking lot. We will meet (and should probably get on the shuttle) at the Whistler village parking lot 4 at 11:30am.
- Here is a map of the meeting place (Lot 4) http://ww1.whistlerblackcomb.
com/maps/parking.asp - Remember 15000 people are taking part in this, so highway 99 will probably be slower than usual. So plan accordingly. We would love to have everyone together as a group before the race for a team photo, cheer, etc
- Speaking of team photo… Most of us will be wearing our Bootcamp Effect Tough Mudder shirts.You can pick those up from me on Tuesday/Wednesday between 6:30-8:30pm or 9:30-11am this week. Shirts are only available to those of you who pre-ordered them with me.
- Now onto The Mudder.. The forecast sucks. It’s winter conditions where the event is being held. Max 10 degrees with rain. See more here: http://www.
whistlerolympicpark.com/ weather/forecast - Dress accordingly. Wear shoes that you plan on throwing away after.
- Remember it’s better to be warm rather than cold. It might be a good idea to wear some compression pants from under armor or nike. Some people are adverse to cotton getting wet, I have never prescribed to that line of thinking and don’t suggest going out and buying something purely for the event.
- Here’s what I am wearing: Old pair of nike’s (wear something that you have worked out in before and know you can log some miles with – forget anything vibram or flat soled). High socks (that can be pulled down or up). Compression core shorts (for pulled groins). Board shorts – so if they get wet and muddy they are still light. 2 long sleeved thermal layers from under armour and mountain co-op…Hey, it’s what I had in my closet, and for myself personally, warmth is more important than anything. Neither of these are cotton and should not hold onto the water too much. 1 cotton Bootcamp Effect muscle shirt (sporting our limited edition tough mudder shirt). Bandana – the way only Josh can rock it (3rd person reference ohh no)!
- Pre race exercise plan: Light cardio on Thursday – a little sweat and stretch…It’s what you should be doing if you are on a 5 day routine at bootcamp anyway. Friday – rest day. Do not workout. You want to make sure the body is properly recovered from the last workout and that the body is so well fueled that what is consumed before the workout is not a major factor.
- Pre race nutrition Friday night: 4-6oz. of lean protein with 5-8oz. of good carbohydrates. Lean protein consists of chicken breast, fish, bison, or turkey. Carbohydrates consists of yams, whole wheat pasta, or 1 cup of brown rice. Plus Veggies!!! (unlimited). Generally, 4 oz for females and 6 oz for males for protein. 5 oz. for females and 8 oz. for males for carbohydrates. Before bed: Protein shake with water and 1/2 cup of nuts or 2 tbsp of almond/nut butter mixed into your shake.
- Saturday breakfast – 7-8am – eat a complete breakfast with eggs, veggies, fruit and whole wheat/flourless/rye bread.
- Pre race nutrition – 10am – eat a pre-race meal of about 200-400 calories at least three hours before exercise. For example…a bagel and yogurt. Focus on complex carbs, starches, and a little protein for your pre-race meal. Avoid high fiber, simple sugars, and high fat. If you get hungry about five minutes before exercise eat fruit or have an energy gel from hammer, vega, or powerbar. Being hungry will not affect your performance. Having food that your body needs to digest will! Do not consume protein within 3 hours before the event. Eating too much protein before long, intense exercise will likely result in muscle cramping since protein requires more fluid to be metabolized than carbs or fat, and cramping occurs when the body is not properly hydrated. Also protein is not what you want to have your body burning as fuel. Protein is for building muscle, not fueling it. When protein is consumed in place of carbs immediately before exercise and therefore burned as fuel, it burns dirty meaning that toxins are created from its metabolism. The production and elimination of toxins are a stress on the body and cause a stress response which ultimately leads to a decline in endurance. The most important factor in a pre-exercise snack is digestability. If the food eaten before requires too much energy – it will leave the body with less energy and that is the last thing you want before exercise. Food that is difficult to break down requires more blood to come to the stomach to aid in the digestion procress. When blood isn’t in the stomach, it cant be elsewhere delivering oxygen and removing waste products, tasks that must be carried out in order for you to achieve optimal physical performance.
- There are 5 hydration stations over the course, this should be enough times for you to drink water. If you do not feel like it is, bring some water. You will want to be drinking water (10-12 ounces) every 30 minutes after your last meal 3 hours prior to the event.
- That’s it. Don’t get stressed out about this or anything like that. I can barely walk right now, and do not plan on running one step and probably should not attempt any obstacles. You are not injured though, so I highly recommend you step out of that comfort zone and finish the entire thing. It’s what you signed up for.
- I will be there to help you.
P.s. You need to get to the half way point by 4pm. (5 miles). A walking pace is 3mph which equals 6 miles in 2 hours (on flat terrain).