June 27, 2024 • 15 mins
#116 - Looking for a way to break the monotony of road races? Try DEKA races! It’s a game-changer for strength, conditioning, and mental toughness. Hybrid racing is revolutionizing the running world, and this episode promises to show you how.
Learn why DEKA races could be the key to unlocking your running potential through unique cross-training opportunities. I'll share personal anecdotes from back-to-back race weekends and reflect on how these hybrid races have become a key part of my training.
Topics Covered:
- Hear why I started running DEKA races
- Learn some of the key benefits of running DEKA races
- Listen to my recent race experiences in back-to-back race weekends
Resources:
- Inspire to Run on Instagram - @inspiretorunpodcast
- Free Guide - Kickstart your Fitness in 5 Steps
- 8 Week Fitness Coaching Program with Underdog Fitness
- Sign-up using code INSPIRE10 for 10% off
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, my friend, are you looking for options for
cross-training or maybe you'relooking for ways to enhance your
running abilities for your roadraces?
Well, today I'm gonna talk alittle bit about hybrid races,
my personal experience withthose races and how they've
helped me, and the five reasonswhy I think you need to consider
running Decker races as part ofyour overall running routine.
(00:22):
Hope you enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Welcome to Inspire to Run podcast.
Here you will find inspiration,whether you are looking to take
control of your health andfitness or you are a seasoned
runner looking for community andsome extra motivation.
You will hear inspiring storiesfrom amazing runners, along
with helpful tips from fitnessexperts.
Now here's your host, richardConnor.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Hi, my friend, I hope you're doing well and having a
great start to the summer.
If you're in the Northeast,we've had an interesting mix of
really hot weather or a lot ofrain or a little bit of both.
But I'm just coming off ofback-to-back race weekends and
fortunately I had really decentweather for all the races that I
did.
I did three races over the twoweekends, so excited about that
(01:11):
and excited that one of them wasindoors because it would have
been a little too hot to runoutdoors.
So I wanted to come on and justshare a little bit about the
recent races that I've run.
But in particular, I started tothink about, like, why am I
running Spartan Decker races?
I started thinking about, like,I have a lot of races this year
.
It's very demanding, and a bigpart of that are the hybrid
(01:33):
races or the Decker races thatI've been running.
So I started to reflect on youknow why I'm doing this, which
I'm excited to do and I'm happyto do.
But as I was thinking about it,I wanted to share this with you
.
As to you know why, is itbeneficial for maybe someone
like me, who runs road races asmy primary sport, to pick up an
(01:54):
alternate sport like a hybridrace like DECA, and I've talked
about this maybe a couple oftimes on the show and we had a
guest on to talk about like howto manage having different
sports and I want to talk aboutwhy pick a specific one like a
hybrid race like DECA.
So I'll just talk a little bitabout my experience for the past
couple of weekends and then getinto the top five reasons why I
(02:16):
enjoy running DECA races.
So it started with a couple ofweekends ago.
It was Father's Day weekend.
Coach Kevin at Underdog Fitnesshosted his DECA races.
It was a DECA Strong and DECAMile, which I typically go just
to volunteer, and knowing that Ihad a Father's Day five-miler
race the following day, I wasn'treally signed up to do either a
(02:39):
Strong or a Mile thatparticular weekend.
But fun surprise my runningmate Mickey had come up and
surprised me.
He came up to Connecticut torun the DECA race at Underdog
Fitness and he is my teammatefor the team's races that we're
doing this year, which I'll talka little bit about.
So since he came up, it was areally nice opportunity for us
(03:02):
to run the race together, sincewe can't train together
Obviously we don't live in thesame area, so it was a nice way
to do that.
So we ran the Deca Mile just askind of a trial run to see what
is it like to run a team's racewith each other.
And it was such a funexperience because when you run
by yourself, you're doing allthe runs, you're doing all the
(03:24):
stations, you're doing all theburpees and when you have teams,
you know.
When you run by yourself,you're doing all the runs,
you're doing all the stations,you're doing all the burpees and
when you have teams you couldreally break up the 10 stations
and the runs.
To a certain extent it dependson if you know the mile or the
fit, and that allows you to dowhat you're really good at and
allows your teammate to do whatthey're really good at, and it
just allows you to kind of giveeach other a little bit of break
(03:45):
and go hard on whatever is thestation or the run.
Get yourself a break, tag yourteammate and they come in for
the next station or run.
So I really have been enjoyingthe team's race, probably a
little bit more than theindividual, but it was a lot of
fun to see Mickey and just as ashout out to him.
He has an incredible journey,incredible transformation that
(04:08):
we talked about in the show,episode 54, you could take the
first step in yourtransformation and he talked
about how he lost 50 poundsthrough running and he got into
obstacle course races.
And that's actually how I methim, was at a Spartan race a few
years ago and was fortunateenough to have him on the show,
have him as a friend and arunning mate and in the DECA
(04:30):
races.
So so, yeah, so check it out,episode 54 Inspired to Run
podcast.
So we did the race and it wassuper helpful because then we're
able to see, based on what ourplan was, did it work and some
things we adjusted mid racerace,which worked out really well
and that helped us adjust ourplan for the following weekend,
which I'll talk about in amoment.
(04:50):
So, really excited about thatrace.
We put in a really good time,learned how to work with each
other during the race and learnwhat we need to work on for
future races.
So I'll come back to the nextrace that we did together, but
first I'll talk about theFather's Day race, which was the
very next day, and that was thefive miler.
And I was pretty hyped aboutthis one because I put on a
(05:14):
really good time last year andI've been training for a year
and I really felt like I couldimprove that time and I've seen
some pretty good improvements insome other races earlier this
year.
So I set out to run that race.
I think I prepared well, Ihydrated well, so I was ready to
go, you know, and it's a reallynice course.
It's such a beautiful course,you know, it's just as a start
(05:36):
of summer, you know good weather, you're running by the beach
for some parts of the course,it's a lot of great energy and
the organizers put on a reallyfun and exciting race.
So I did the race.
I feel good about being incontrol in terms of my breathing
and my form and my pacethroughout the race, but
unfortunately I didn't hit mymark.
(05:56):
I did probably about a minuteslower than I did last year,
which is quite unfortunate, butI'm still happy about the race.
I still feel like I ran a goodrace.
It's still a really good timeOverall.
It's just not, you know, the PRthat I was looking for, which I
know.
You know you're not going tohit that every single time.
So I just know, you know justneed to keep working at it and
know what I need to keep doingand just excited about doing
(06:18):
that race.
So those are the two races Idid back to back.
That was Father's Day weekendand then the following weekend I
flew to Charlotte for anotherDECA race and this one is a DECA
fit.
So if you're not familiar withDECA, it is 10 stations and
you're doing various thingsthrough these stations You're
(06:38):
doing the row, you're doingburpees, you're doing a bike,
you're doing farmer carries andfor the strong, you're doing
farmer carries and for thestrong, you're just doing the
stations.
For the decker mile, you'redoing the stations plus a one
mile run total through the race.
So you run increments throughin between each station and then
the decker fit very similar,you're running five kilometers
(07:00):
throughout the entire race.
So you do those increments inbetween the stations and a
couple of the stations are justa little bit different than the
Strong and the Mile.
So Mickey and I ran the fittogether.
So it was our second team'srace together, but the first
time we did the fit and I'mreally proud of how we did.
We didn't get exactly where wewanted to be in terms of place,
(07:21):
but in terms of target time.
We were super close and we didreally well.
And there were a couple oftimes that each of us kind of
needed to adjust during the raceand there was obviously things
that we could improve.
We kind of reviewed how we didduring the race in each of the
stations, but really excitedabout how we worked together,
how we performed and just theenergy behind doing the best we
(07:45):
could in that race.
We still have time and that'sthe exciting thing is we have a
couple more races that are goingto come up before World
Championships and we know whatwe need to do between now and
then to get to WorldChampionships at the end of the
year.
So that's just a little bitabout back-to-back race weekends
.
And now it's about strengthwork that I need to do some
(08:05):
conditioning.
I a little bit of pain in myknee that I need to take care of
and I need to do a bit of speedwork and there's a few things
that I need to work on on myside to do my part for us to be
successful in our next race.
So that's about it, for youknow the recent races that I've
done, the recent races that I'vedone and I'll talk a little bit
(08:28):
about like why did I get intoDECA and why I think it's great
for you know, a road runner orroad racer like me, like myself,
to do something like DECA.
So I'll tell you a little bitabout how I got into it and then
I'll give you the five thingsthat I think at least helped me.
And there's I'm sure there's alot of other reasons why you'd
want to get into a hybrid raceas a runner.
So why I got into it was reallythrough my coach.
(08:51):
So my coach became an affiliatefor DECA during COVID and I
wasn't running a lot of races atthat time.
I wasn't doing a lot oftraining, I was running.
I was running outdoors and,remember, gyms are closed and
there wasn't much you could do.
So I was running outdoors, butI wasn't much you could do.
So I was running outdoors but Iwasn't doing a lot of training
per se.
There's a lot of body weightstuff, which is good, and a lot
of running, and DECA was a wayfor me to kind of ease my way
(09:14):
back into races and, you know,kind of in a low key way.
So you know, a lot of the racesare hosted by affiliates, which
are local gyms.
There are not a lot of peopleat the gyms doing the races, so
it was a nice way to ease backin before getting into big
crowds.
(09:34):
Everybody knows what was goingon during that time.
That's how I got into it.
I started to reflect on well,what are the reasons why I think
it helps me or could help arunner?
Here are some of the reasonsthat I came up with.
So the first one is aroundcross training.
So for cross, it's alwaysrecommended that you have an
option for cross training, nomatter like what sport you have.
(09:54):
And for running, you know, Idon't swim, I don't cycle,
there's a lot of things that Idon't do, and I feel like DECA
is a nice way to get in thatcross, get in something for
cross training, and it helps youkind of incorporate different
aspects of fitness like strengthand agility and endurance, and
it really complements.
(10:15):
You know what I do as a runnerand of course I do strength
training.
So so of course I do that,admittedly not as much as I
should be, but yes, I doincorporate that.
But this is a different type ofcross training than incorporate
.
That, I think, helps me overall.
So so that's number one is ifyou don't have another option
for cross training that you like, you know training for hybrid
(10:37):
racing like with DECA, I think,is a good option for you.
Second is, you know, full bodyfitness.
So this is an opportunity forme to focus on you know other
things, other things than justrunning.
So I just kind of mentionedthis around strength and
flexibility and endurance andit's full body.
So you're not only running,you're doing the ski, you're
(10:59):
doing burpees, you're doing therow.
So if you've seen someone do it, if you've done it yourself,
you know that that engages manyparts of your body.
So for me, that's a really niceway of kind of mixing it up and
having a better kind ofholistic, you know, kind of
training plan.
And my hope is, you know, forthe first two that I've
(11:21):
mentioned, is that it helps mewith my road races.
My hope is, by doing the workthat I'm doing to train for DECA
, to run the DECA races,ultimately helps me when I get
(11:44):
back on the road for 5Ks, 4miles, 5 miles, half marathon
and then eventually my firstfull marathon, which is my goal
this year.
The next one is not necessarilyunique to DECA, but I think it
challenges you in a unique wayand that's around mental
toughness.
So of course you have to havemental toughness if you're
running any kind of race right,whether it's a one mile race
that you're running really hard,or a 5k race or maybe some of
the longer distance races whereyou just have to kind of keep
going.
You know you have that samechallenge when you're running
(12:07):
hybrid races, especially Deckerraces, because you may feel
really good when you're startingand remember you have to do 10
stations and then sometimes yourun in between each, depending
on which ones you do, and youmay feel really good about it.
So you may come out of the gatereally hot, just like a race,
like a 5K race.
You may come out of the gatereally hot and then you get into
(12:28):
the first station, you do yourlunges, you come out of your
lunges, you get into the nextstation.
By the time you get to thefifth station or the sixth
station, it is absolutely mindover matter, 100% mind over
matter.
So you know you really start tofeel it depending on how you
pace yourself.
So having that mental toughnessor developing that is really
(12:50):
really helpful.
And for me I'm not, I don'tconsider myself necessarily a
sprinter or really kind of highspeed runner.
So for me, doing this highintensity work and then having
the mental toughness to pushthrough it again, I'm hoping,
translates well when I get intomy road races to kind of keep
moving and perform in thoseraces.
(13:13):
The other item here number fouron my list is you know it gives
you a variety in training.
So you know if you're runningor you're doing strength
training, you know I have myroutine that I'm very
comfortable with and I don'tlike to really do anything else.
I like to just do my routine,whether it's running or whether
it's strength training.
And by doing DECA this reallyforces me to do what my coach
(13:37):
tells me to do and there'sdifferent types of training that
I need to do.
So that's super helpful becauseit helps like mentally, just
kind of gives you a break fromthe monotony of what you're
doing, but also for your body,right, and you're not doing the
same thing over and over againand doing something that's
repetitive, which is not alwaysgreat for your body.
So this is something that'ssuper helpful is to kind of have
(13:59):
that, you know, variety.
And then the last point here isnot necessarily unique to hybrid
racing and is not necessarilysaying that I don't get this
through road races, but it'scommunity and I would say for me
that it feels like I've beenable to expand my network and
(14:19):
who I know and the communitythat I know through hybrid
racing.
So not everybody who runs inhybrid races, even though
there's running, will run roadraces and, of course, vice versa
.
So it's really cool to havethis community of racers who do
road races, but it's also coolto meet a big community as well
(14:40):
who may only do hybrid races,and that's been super fun for me
.
A lot of folks have come on theshow over the last couple of
years and a lot of that isreally due to me getting into
hybrid races and kind of beingin that environment.
So really I feel fortunate thatI've been able to meet a lot of
folks through the road racesbut also through hybrid races.
(15:00):
So those are the top fivereasons why you know I enjoy
running DECA and why I wouldencourage you to consider
getting into hybrid racesyourself.
So hopefully this was helpfulfor you.
You know, send a message andlet me know if you enjoyed this
episode and if this was helpfulif you have any questions about
my experience with DECA andhybrid races and how that kind
(15:22):
of works with my road races, andI'm happy to answer any
questions that you have.
But thanks for tuning in today.
I really appreciate you beinghere and, with that, thanks
again.
Have a great day.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
That's it for this episode of Inspired to Run
Podcast.
We hope you are inspired totake control of your health and
fitness and take it to the nextlevel.
Be sure to click the subscribebutton to join our community and
also please rate and review.
Thanks for listening.
Hey, my friend, are you looking for options for
cross-training or maybe you'relooking for ways to enhance your
running abilities for your roadraces?
Well, today I'm gonna talk alittle bit about hybrid races,
my personal experience withthose races and how they've
helped me, and the five reasonswhy I think you need to consider
running Decker races as part ofyour overall running routine.
(00:22):
Hope you enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Welcome to Inspire to Run podcast.
Here you will find inspiration,whether you are looking to take
control of your health andfitness or you are a seasoned
runner looking for community andsome extra motivation.
You will hear inspiring storiesfrom amazing runners, along
with helpful tips from fitnessexperts.
Now here's your host, richardConnor.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Hi, my friend, I hope you're doing well and having a
great start to the summer.
If you're in the Northeast,we've had an interesting mix of
really hot weather or a lot ofrain or a little bit of both.
But I'm just coming off ofback-to-back race weekends and
fortunately I had really decentweather for all the races that I
did.
I did three races over the twoweekends, so excited about that
(01:11):
and excited that one of them wasindoors because it would have
been a little too hot to runoutdoors.
So I wanted to come on and justshare a little bit about the
recent races that I've run.
But in particular, I started tothink about, like, why am I
running Spartan Decker races?
I started thinking about, like,I have a lot of races this year
.
It's very demanding, and a bigpart of that are the hybrid
(01:33):
races or the Decker races thatI've been running.
So I started to reflect on youknow why I'm doing this, which
I'm excited to do and I'm happyto do.
But as I was thinking about it,I wanted to share this with you
.
As to you know why, is itbeneficial for maybe someone
like me, who runs road races asmy primary sport, to pick up an
(01:54):
alternate sport like a hybridrace like DECA, and I've talked
about this maybe a couple oftimes on the show and we had a
guest on to talk about like howto manage having different
sports and I want to talk aboutwhy pick a specific one like a
hybrid race like DECA.
So I'll just talk a little bitabout my experience for the past
couple of weekends and then getinto the top five reasons why I
(02:16):
enjoy running DECA races.
So it started with a couple ofweekends ago.
It was Father's Day weekend.
Coach Kevin at Underdog Fitnesshosted his DECA races.
It was a DECA Strong and DECAMile, which I typically go just
to volunteer, and knowing that Ihad a Father's Day five-miler
race the following day, I wasn'treally signed up to do either a
(02:39):
Strong or a Mile thatparticular weekend.
But fun surprise my runningmate Mickey had come up and
surprised me.
He came up to Connecticut torun the DECA race at Underdog
Fitness and he is my teammatefor the team's races that we're
doing this year, which I'll talka little bit about.
So since he came up, it was areally nice opportunity for us
(03:02):
to run the race together, sincewe can't train together
Obviously we don't live in thesame area, so it was a nice way
to do that.
So we ran the Deca Mile just askind of a trial run to see what
is it like to run a team's racewith each other.
And it was such a funexperience because when you run
by yourself, you're doing allthe runs, you're doing all the
(03:24):
stations, you're doing all theburpees and when you have teams,
you know.
When you run by yourself,you're doing all the runs,
you're doing all the stations,you're doing all the burpees and
when you have teams you couldreally break up the 10 stations
and the runs.
To a certain extent it dependson if you know the mile or the
fit, and that allows you to dowhat you're really good at and
allows your teammate to do whatthey're really good at, and it
just allows you to kind of giveeach other a little bit of break
(03:45):
and go hard on whatever is thestation or the run.
Get yourself a break, tag yourteammate and they come in for
the next station or run.
So I really have been enjoyingthe team's race, probably a
little bit more than theindividual, but it was a lot of
fun to see Mickey and just as ashout out to him.
He has an incredible journey,incredible transformation that
(04:08):
we talked about in the show,episode 54, you could take the
first step in yourtransformation and he talked
about how he lost 50 poundsthrough running and he got into
obstacle course races.
And that's actually how I methim, was at a Spartan race a few
years ago and was fortunateenough to have him on the show,
have him as a friend and arunning mate and in the DECA
(04:30):
races.
So so, yeah, so check it out,episode 54 Inspired to Run
podcast.
So we did the race and it wassuper helpful because then we're
able to see, based on what ourplan was, did it work and some
things we adjusted mid racerace,which worked out really well
and that helped us adjust ourplan for the following weekend,
which I'll talk about in amoment.
(04:50):
So, really excited about thatrace.
We put in a really good time,learned how to work with each
other during the race and learnwhat we need to work on for
future races.
So I'll come back to the nextrace that we did together, but
first I'll talk about theFather's Day race, which was the
very next day, and that was thefive miler.
And I was pretty hyped aboutthis one because I put on a
(05:14):
really good time last year andI've been training for a year
and I really felt like I couldimprove that time and I've seen
some pretty good improvements insome other races earlier this
year.
So I set out to run that race.
I think I prepared well, Ihydrated well, so I was ready to
go, you know, and it's a reallynice course.
It's such a beautiful course,you know, it's just as a start
(05:36):
of summer, you know good weather, you're running by the beach
for some parts of the course,it's a lot of great energy and
the organizers put on a reallyfun and exciting race.
So I did the race.
I feel good about being incontrol in terms of my breathing
and my form and my pacethroughout the race, but
unfortunately I didn't hit mymark.
(05:56):
I did probably about a minuteslower than I did last year,
which is quite unfortunate, butI'm still happy about the race.
I still feel like I ran a goodrace.
It's still a really good timeOverall.
It's just not, you know, the PRthat I was looking for, which I
know.
You know you're not going tohit that every single time.
So I just know, you know justneed to keep working at it and
know what I need to keep doingand just excited about doing
(06:18):
that race.
So those are the two races Idid back to back.
That was Father's Day weekendand then the following weekend I
flew to Charlotte for anotherDECA race and this one is a DECA
fit.
So if you're not familiar withDECA, it is 10 stations and
you're doing various thingsthrough these stations You're
(06:38):
doing the row, you're doingburpees, you're doing a bike,
you're doing farmer carries andfor the strong, you're doing
farmer carries and for thestrong, you're just doing the
stations.
For the decker mile, you'redoing the stations plus a one
mile run total through the race.
So you run increments throughin between each station and then
the decker fit very similar,you're running five kilometers
(07:00):
throughout the entire race.
So you do those increments inbetween the stations and a
couple of the stations are justa little bit different than the
Strong and the Mile.
So Mickey and I ran the fittogether.
So it was our second team'srace together, but the first
time we did the fit and I'mreally proud of how we did.
We didn't get exactly where wewanted to be in terms of place,
(07:21):
but in terms of target time.
We were super close and we didreally well.
And there were a couple oftimes that each of us kind of
needed to adjust during the raceand there was obviously things
that we could improve.
We kind of reviewed how we didduring the race in each of the
stations, but really excitedabout how we worked together,
how we performed and just theenergy behind doing the best we
(07:45):
could in that race.
We still have time and that'sthe exciting thing is we have a
couple more races that are goingto come up before World
Championships and we know whatwe need to do between now and
then to get to WorldChampionships at the end of the
year.
So that's just a little bitabout back-to-back race weekends
.
And now it's about strengthwork that I need to do some
(08:05):
conditioning.
I a little bit of pain in myknee that I need to take care of
and I need to do a bit of speedwork and there's a few things
that I need to work on on myside to do my part for us to be
successful in our next race.
So that's about it, for youknow the recent races that I've
done, the recent races that I'vedone and I'll talk a little bit
(08:28):
about like why did I get intoDECA and why I think it's great
for you know, a road runner orroad racer like me, like myself,
to do something like DECA.
So I'll tell you a little bitabout how I got into it and then
I'll give you the five thingsthat I think at least helped me.
And there's I'm sure there's alot of other reasons why you'd
want to get into a hybrid raceas a runner.
So why I got into it was reallythrough my coach.
(08:51):
So my coach became an affiliatefor DECA during COVID and I
wasn't running a lot of races atthat time.
I wasn't doing a lot oftraining, I was running.
I was running outdoors and,remember, gyms are closed and
there wasn't much you could do.
So I was running outdoors, butI wasn't much you could do.
So I was running outdoors but Iwasn't doing a lot of training
per se.
There's a lot of body weightstuff, which is good, and a lot
of running, and DECA was a wayfor me to kind of ease my way
(09:14):
back into races and, you know,kind of in a low key way.
So you know, a lot of the racesare hosted by affiliates, which
are local gyms.
There are not a lot of peopleat the gyms doing the races, so
it was a nice way to ease backin before getting into big
crowds.
(09:34):
Everybody knows what was goingon during that time.
That's how I got into it.
I started to reflect on well,what are the reasons why I think
it helps me or could help arunner?
Here are some of the reasonsthat I came up with.
So the first one is aroundcross training.
So for cross, it's alwaysrecommended that you have an
option for cross training, nomatter like what sport you have.
(09:54):
And for running, you know, Idon't swim, I don't cycle,
there's a lot of things that Idon't do, and I feel like DECA
is a nice way to get in thatcross, get in something for
cross training, and it helps youkind of incorporate different
aspects of fitness like strengthand agility and endurance, and
it really complements.
(10:15):
You know what I do as a runnerand of course I do strength
training.
So so of course I do that,admittedly not as much as I
should be, but yes, I doincorporate that.
But this is a different type ofcross training than incorporate
.
That, I think, helps me overall.
So so that's number one is ifyou don't have another option
for cross training that you like, you know training for hybrid
(10:37):
racing like with DECA, I think,is a good option for you.
Second is, you know, full bodyfitness.
So this is an opportunity forme to focus on you know other
things, other things than justrunning.
So I just kind of mentionedthis around strength and
flexibility and endurance andit's full body.
So you're not only running,you're doing the ski, you're
(10:59):
doing burpees, you're doing therow.
So if you've seen someone do it, if you've done it yourself,
you know that that engages manyparts of your body.
So for me, that's a really niceway of kind of mixing it up and
having a better kind ofholistic, you know, kind of
training plan.
And my hope is, you know, forthe first two that I've
(11:21):
mentioned, is that it helps mewith my road races.
My hope is, by doing the workthat I'm doing to train for DECA
, to run the DECA races,ultimately helps me when I get
(11:44):
back on the road for 5Ks, 4miles, 5 miles, half marathon
and then eventually my firstfull marathon, which is my goal
this year.
The next one is not necessarilyunique to DECA, but I think it
challenges you in a unique wayand that's around mental
toughness.
So of course you have to havemental toughness if you're
running any kind of race right,whether it's a one mile race
that you're running really hard,or a 5k race or maybe some of
the longer distance races whereyou just have to kind of keep
going.
You know you have that samechallenge when you're running
(12:07):
hybrid races, especially Deckerraces, because you may feel
really good when you're startingand remember you have to do 10
stations and then sometimes yourun in between each, depending
on which ones you do, and youmay feel really good about it.
So you may come out of the gatereally hot, just like a race,
like a 5K race.
You may come out of the gatereally hot and then you get into
(12:28):
the first station, you do yourlunges, you come out of your
lunges, you get into the nextstation.
By the time you get to thefifth station or the sixth
station, it is absolutely mindover matter, 100% mind over
matter.
So you know you really start tofeel it depending on how you
pace yourself.
So having that mental toughnessor developing that is really
(12:50):
really helpful.
And for me I'm not, I don'tconsider myself necessarily a
sprinter or really kind of highspeed runner.
So for me, doing this highintensity work and then having
the mental toughness to pushthrough it again, I'm hoping,
translates well when I get intomy road races to kind of keep
moving and perform in thoseraces.
(13:13):
The other item here number fouron my list is you know it gives
you a variety in training.
So you know if you're runningor you're doing strength
training, you know I have myroutine that I'm very
comfortable with and I don'tlike to really do anything else.
I like to just do my routine,whether it's running or whether
it's strength training.
And by doing DECA this reallyforces me to do what my coach
(13:37):
tells me to do and there'sdifferent types of training that
I need to do.
So that's super helpful becauseit helps like mentally, just
kind of gives you a break fromthe monotony of what you're
doing, but also for your body,right, and you're not doing the
same thing over and over againand doing something that's
repetitive, which is not alwaysgreat for your body.
So this is something that'ssuper helpful is to kind of have
(13:59):
that, you know, variety.
And then the last point here isnot necessarily unique to hybrid
racing and is not necessarilysaying that I don't get this
through road races, but it'scommunity and I would say for me
that it feels like I've beenable to expand my network and
(14:19):
who I know and the communitythat I know through hybrid
racing.
So not everybody who runs inhybrid races, even though
there's running, will run roadraces and, of course, vice versa
.
So it's really cool to havethis community of racers who do
road races, but it's also coolto meet a big community as well
(14:40):
who may only do hybrid races,and that's been super fun for me
.
A lot of folks have come on theshow over the last couple of
years and a lot of that isreally due to me getting into
hybrid races and kind of beingin that environment.
So really I feel fortunate thatI've been able to meet a lot of
folks through the road racesbut also through hybrid races.
(15:00):
So those are the top fivereasons why you know I enjoy
running DECA and why I wouldencourage you to consider
getting into hybrid racesyourself.
So hopefully this was helpfulfor you.
You know, send a message andlet me know if you enjoyed this
episode and if this was helpfulif you have any questions about
my experience with DECA andhybrid races and how that kind
(15:22):
of works with my road races, andI'm happy to answer any
questions that you have.
But thanks for tuning in today.
I really appreciate you beinghere and, with that, thanks
again.
Have a great day.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
That's it for this episode of Inspired to Run
Podcast.
We hope you are inspired totake control of your health and
fitness and take it to the nextlevel.
Be sure to click the subscribebutton to join our community and
also please rate and review.
Thanks for listening.
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