One of Mrs. TOK’s current passions is Spartan races. These are outdoor obstacle course races of varying lengths that are held all over the country. While she does this for fun and not to compete, she does got to several a year. It’s a fun activity with her group of running buddies, and they tend to do a bit of drinking after (and sometimes during). The problem is the races are trending more expensive. And so Mrs. TOK convinced me to wake up at 3am one Saturday to drive 2 hours East to Fr. Wayne, IN to volunteer at one of Spartan’s new indoor events so we could earn discount codes for some of her upcoming races. Yes, I’m a great husband on top of everything else.
This event was held in Ft. Wayne’s big convention center. When we arrived at 6:30am they checked us in, gave us a free shirt, some coupons for snacks, and sent us into the arena. Mrs. TOK wanted to try the race so she signed up for a time slot around noon. We had signed up to man a tent in the festival area, but the guy in charge said “Nope, we need judges for a zone, and that’s where we’re putting you.” And so we were assigned to Zone 4, Med Ball Sit-up/Throw.
So what is this event? Spartan DEKA events have 10 “Zones”:
1. 30 RAM Alternating Reverse Lunges (lunges holding a weighted cylinder)
2. 500m Row
3. 20 Box Jump/Step Overs (on a 24″ box)
4. 25 Med Ball Sit-Up/Throw
5. 500m Ski
6. 100M Farmer’s Carry
7. 25 Calorie Air Bike
8. 20 Dead Ball Shoulder/Wall Over
9. 100m Sled Push/Pull
10. 20 RAM Burpees (burpees holding a weighted cylinder)
The various flavors of the events add more or less running between zones. For example, DEKA Strong is just the zones, completed for time. DEKA Mile adds 1/10 mile between zones, and this event, DEKA Fit, adds 500m of running between each zone for a total of 5k. DEKA Fit must be held in a large facility, but the other events can be held at smaller affiliate gyms (more on that later).
The setup was really nice. Along the outside was an oval track for running (2 laps = 500m). Inside the track were the ten zones, and the very interior was the “festival area” with the finish line, vendor tents, and an awards podium. Spectators could walk right up to each zone, following their racer and taking photos and videos, which many of them did.
While we waited for the first wave of racers, none other than Yancy Culp, the co-creator and senior director of Spartan DEKA, approached us. He’d heard that we were considering being an affiliate gym, and also wanted to talk to me about their adaptive program. He was a very approachable guy and he gave us a lot of good information. Affiliate gyms don’t have to pay anything, they just need to buy the required equipment, have space to host events, and provide volunteers. Spartan does all the marketing and sign-ups, and they give the gym a percentage of the entry fees. They keep affiliate gyms at least 50 miles apart so we would be the only on in Northwest Indiana. They also provide some free race codes, and class templates to help people train for the events. Thankfully we already have almost all the equipment we need, same brands and everything. We just need the sled, a 24″ box, and RAMs, about $2000 worth of stuff. We’re planning on becoming an affiliate within the next few months.
The adaptive program got my attention. Yancy showed me photos of a wheelchair athlete trying out some of the zones. They will have to modify or replace some of the zones, but they are rolling out their adaptive rule set during their world championship in December. So next year’s event in Fr. Wayne will be fully adaptive and I’ll be able to race. Having all the equipment at my gym will make it easy for me to train. I just have to get an appropriate wheelchair, and practice pushing myself around that track. All those laps will not be easy.
Mrs. TOK always tells me stories about her outdoor races, the friends she’s made and the encouragement she gives and gets on the course. That’s exactly how it went once the race started. My job was to count sit-ups, 25 per racer. There were racers of all ages and skills. Some were powering through for time and didn’t say a word. Some chatted a bit. Some ran really well, but struggled with the sit-ups, and some people crushed the zones and were miserable doing the laps. Some of the older ones were in better shape than I was.
A few hours later, the next wave started. This was the ruck division. Racers did the entire course with a 35 pound backpack for men, 20 pounds for women. They held the backpack for sit-ups instead of a med ball. I saw at least one person who had completed the course earlier come back for the ruck division. After this wave was the team division, in which teams of two split up the running and zones in any way they wanted. Finally, at the end of the day was the elite division. These were the “pros”, who completed the entire course in 33 minutes (most people were taking an hour or longer). The amount of athleticism, especially the running, was insane. The final wave happened the next day, this was the crazies one of all, “ultra”, which involved the whole course done five times. While we weren’t there to see it, our friend competed in the female elite division of the ultra, and came in second for women at 3 hours and 44 minutes.
Despite the early morning, it was a fun day, and I was impressed by the event. Everyone had a great time and it had a party atmosphere (there was even decent music). If you’re interested in learning more, this is the official web site: https://www.spartan.com/en/deka . There are only a few DEKA Fit’s, but lots of the other versions at gyms across the country. The races are pricey (I think this one was $160), but you get a 50% discount if you volunteer for a few hours like we did.
So is this my replacement for sled hockey? Maybe. I’m not retiring this year, but I have two close friends battling chronic injuries who are planning on quitting in the next one to three years. I can’t imagine playing without them, and I’d rather quit before I’m as injured as they are. Of the past ten seasons, I’ve spent at least five in physical therapy due to my own injuries. If I want to try something new, I’d rather do it while I’m healthy. But this does seem like a great fit. I’m currently awaiting the release of the adaptive rules, and I’m also working on getting a grant for a suitable wheelchair. If all does well, I should try my first one early next year, and I’ll be sure to write about it.
Do you believe in life after being First being First being First?
I erred.
I read the title as ‘Life After Sled Hookers’.
I was going to ask questions.
Somewhere, someone has made a movie with that title.
There’s nothing wrong with that.
30 RAM Alternating Reverse Lunges
Heh. Nice euphemisming.
Why is the Border Patrol there?
They paid for a table, maybe they were recruiting?
The adaptive program got my attention. Yancy showed me photos of a wheelchair athlete trying out some of the zones. They will have to modify or replace some of the zones, but they are rolling out their adaptive rule set during their world championship in December. So next year’s event in Fr. Wayne will be fully adaptive and I’ll be able to race. Having all the equipment at my gym will make it easy for me to train. I just have to get an appropriate wheelchair, and practice pushing myself around that track. All those laps will not be easy.
This sounds pretty neat!
Yes! I tried a simulated DEKA Mile. The laps around the building were the worst as I expected.
Looks like quite the challenge. I wonder if the ol’ knees could take that kind of action. Doubtful.
You’re a good man, TOK. I complain about everything and no one (including Mrs F) even pays any attention
I did my best Tom Sawyer impression at HH and the guests pushed me aside and I went to PR time. OTOH trying to keep a
a half dozen Glibs away from the food ’til eating time ain’t for the fainthearted.
Thanks for the update and making me feel bad.
I’m only 53 and I always considered myself fortunate that I have the body function that I have. Many are worse off.
Looks very cool. I did my first Tough Mudder this year down in Austin. Similar fitness/obstacle race, only outside with mud and water obstacles.
This was the course in 2024: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjrqWGElFko
Good for you! My wife is an addict. She did a Spartan weekend in Seattle, last weekend in Indiana, next weekend there’s the Midwest OCR in Illinois. You’ll stay healthy if you find some fun reason to stay in shape.
Very cool TOK. I didn’t know indoor races existed.
I know nothing about the finances of the organization but it reminds me of CrossFit. Just be careful and hire a lawyer before you sign anything.
We do have a lawyer, we can run it by him. This is like CrossFit, Also like Hyrox.
Way better than Oreo.
Hi-yo!
Kimmel staffers threaten to walk out if he apologizes.
What the guy said was objectively wrong and fucking retarded. These people aren’t standing on principle. It’s about team politics and not admitting they fucked up.
Well we should check the tape on that one…
Remember when late-night variety television was about getting away from the daily bullshit?
Yes, and I miss it.
Heeeeerrrrreeee’s. Johhhnnnnnyyy!!!
My ABC is showing some local news show I’ve never watched.
You lucky, lucky bastard.
See: Pregnant AWFL’s chugging Tylenol in protest of OMB. Welcome to crazy land.
Fuck Kimmel. Fuck his staffers. Fuck the dozens of boomers who watch him.
His remarks show that he’s a guy who loves the smell of his own farts. He’s spent the last week having every liberal in Hollywood inexplicably tell him he’s a hero for standing up to the fascist orange Hitler who tried to have him cancelled. Facts don’t matter. His ego has doubled in size because he’s an imbecile who got on TV and lied after a tragedy.
Americans weren’t waiting breathlessly for you to get back on the air and lead us, Jimmy. Out in the rest of the country we just think you are a talentless hack.
For The Hyperbole:
https://platedlizard.blogspot.com/2025/09/gift-horse.html
Sounds like madness to me.
That deserves a Laconic response.
Sounds like a real Marathon.
It requires an Olympian effort.
Suthen,
I saw your post about macadamias. You are somewhat fortunate to have them fail since the nuts are notoriously difficult to shell.
Just off hand I think your soil may not be what they thrive in. Out here the trees need full sunlight and to be upslope a bit so it stays out of the 80s. Plus acidic soil, typically volcanic soil with both varieties of iron.
I just happened to wake up a few minutes ago and came here to see your reply.
Hope you are well.
Glad to hear that and makes me think the poor things had no chance.
Our soil is all river sediment, mostly dense clay and we have very few days not in the 80’s.
It was worth a try and now they know…this is not macadamia country.
You live in hell. I’m so sorry.
Rhy, I consider 80’s mild weather. Mid summers hover around mid 90s/low 100s as does the humidity. When I was younger and stronger I spent many summers working in the woods when a rain would come along and the rain would hit the ground then immediately turn to mist – within minutes the sun would burn that off. I thought nothing of it. Now that I am old I see a forcast for the 80s and think “Thank god, I can get some of those outdoor chores done”
I walked to the pharmacy and back today – around 70 degrees with a light rain and a 100% humidity that is typical this time of year. I arrived home disgustingly sweaty and had to peel off all my clothes. I considered turning on the AC but just blasted a fan instead.
I am not suited to heat and humidity – at all.
For Ted S.:
https://platedlizard.blogspot.com/2025/09/cheer-up.html
I waked up unusually early to find that wife had left the tv on, she always does, but the channel was playing The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
I tried to go back to sleep but that show is so annoying I could not. I also could not make sense of what I was hearing. The host/guest interaction was a string of meaningless canned phrases “That was so great man! I know, I was really down with it! It’s fantastc! I cant wait!” but they were not specific enough for me to figure out exactly what they were talking about. A movie? Some particular performance? They never specified who ‘he’ or ‘they’ are. Their body movements were exaggerated and inappropriate. The audience reaction was exaggerated and obviously canned, far too well timed.
The whole thing had that bizarre uncanny valley feeling. It was all exaggerated visual appeal without any actual substance. Are the studios making entire TV shows now with AI? It would make sense. It’s far cheaper to make and their target audience so vapid that they probably would not notice.
Maybe I just half woke up but in any case it creeped me out.
Someone posted a news story recently where, even if the story is true, they had inserted some interviews that were without question fictions created by AI.
At what point does the electronic world go from a medium for recording what actually happens in the. real world to a complete simulation?
lol I suspect that pop culture is just becoming indistinguishable from AI. I know I can’t watch that garbage.
So, the other way about. Why didnt I think of that. I am not sure which one is more depressing.
This George Carlin AI slop has some good points, but whoever wrote it did themselves a disservice by not using their own voice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCaZpW2M8WQ
Has this movie been done? Guy goes to psychiatrist because he has been deemed delusional. He apparently thinks he is being tricked by ‘them’ and he is living in a simulation. As the psychiatrist earnestly tries to prove to the guy that he is in reality the psychiatrist slowly begins to realize that his patient is right, they are lving in a simulation.
I am sure it has…Dark City?…I dont fully remember the plot for that one.
Maybe a Twilight Zone episode.
For Suthenboy:
https://platedlizard.blogspot.com/2025/09/meta-humor.html
https://platedlizard.blogspot.com/2025/09/advice.html
The plot of the 4th Matrix movie is close to what you describe.
Meanwhile in the real world, I’m getting better at overhead welding as I reach the halfway point of the class. The instructor has been kind and helpful. I’m sure I’ll be able to make living as a welder.
I dunno man this all sounds unpleasantly like crossfit and any proper gym person hates crossfit
It is the end of september and 3am with very typical weather. This is the coolest it has been since yesterday morning…77 with 100% humidity. I find this very pleasant.
I just finished sterilizing and refilling all of the hummingbird feeders. This year we have about 40 of them trying to pack on fat for their costa rican vacation. 1.5 gallons yesterday and I have prepared about 2 gallons for today. This could be my favorite time of year. In a month they will be gone and until spring my efforts will be mulching leaves and preparing beds for planting.
Time for more coffee.
3am… 25C and humid…. sounds horrible
According to this person the great un-Trumpening has begun. She doesnt come right out and say it but Kirk’s murder was when the tide changed. Right thinkers must rise! Trump’s goose is cooked. The MAGA people are doomed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ2ZxeneQrk&t=73s
Evil people live amongst us.
Wow, the comments.
They really do live in a bubble.
The walls are closing in!
They are all lying to you.
“Crime is down everywhere. Thank a democrat.”
“Trump’s economy is killing you.”
🤬🤬🤬🤬
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H0NHHKBemg
🎶🎶
They are, as always, following the handbook of evil: Rules for Radicals.
Tik Tok is dumb.
People are dumb.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORtc_iuqLA8
🤷🏼♀️⚰️
Morning, Glibs.
sup’ fam
Woot, the long weekend (except for me) is over. It will be quiet in the house again.
Do you get (((another one))) next week?
Good morning, U, homey, Roat, Sean, Suthen, and Grumble, and good afternoon, Pie!
Morning.
I’ve made it to the office. It’s the big consolidation day where we take and merge a smaller environment into our main one. We’ve gone and tested all of the steps, so of course something will go wrong.
Good luck! 😬🤞
How are things with you?
Things are fine, except I’m running out of excuses to delay writing up this month’s Board meeting minutes. I compared the time on the Zoom recording with past months, and at just over 90 minutes, this is one of the longest in recent memory. And after that, I still have to write up the minutes of a quarterly financial meeting. 😒
😵
I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe take away the Board’s dinner outings whenever they run past time.
I’ll let you know how that works out for me. 😄
Upper managers are basically small children, or somewhat dimwitted dogs.
Morning all
Trump on a roll at the UN.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/trump-says-migration-and-climate-change-policies-are-destroying-western-nations-e7047e00?st=L9YNfa&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
“After the meeting, Trump indicated that he believed Ukraine could win the war. “After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form”
He gets some things very right and some very wrong…a mixed bag at best.
He tried nice. Now he is playing mean.
But I’m not happy about it.
Also he called out Europe for buying Russian energy.
Not that it changes their behavior.
The Europeans haven’t stopped buying Russian energy because they can’t, at least not for a price that wouldn’t ruin them, and he owns the continuation of a war that’s already lost.
Huh, about twice as much:
-Russian Pipeline Gas (2025 estimate): ~$6–8/MMBTU (20–27 €/MWh), depending on the buyer and route.
-LNG Imports (2025 estimate): ~$10–15/MMBTU (33–50 €/MWh), with U.S. LNG to Europe at the higher end.
https://pecosoperating.com/how-cheap-is-russian-natural-gas-via-pipeline-compared-to-lng-imports/
Pipelines are efficient compared to other transport options.
“The Europeans haven’t stopped buying Russian energy because they can’t, at least not for a price that wouldn’t ruin them, and he owns the continuation of a war that’s already lost.”
And let’s not forget our German “friends” shutting down their nuclear plants and pretend that they were “greeen” and in no way relied on Russian energy to keep up that facacde.
So what he’s saying is – they are working as intended.
““Immigration and the high cost of so-called green, renewable energy is destroying a large part of the free world and a large part of our planet,” he said. “Countries that cherish freedom are fading fast because of their policies on these two subjects. Both immigration and their suicidal energy ideas will be the death of Western Europe.”
Immigration in particular was ruining other nations, Trump insisted: “Your countries are going to hell.””
DAAAAMN! a=double++ on the harshness. I strongly approve.
What is it?, ‘Tell the truth and you never have to remember.”
On the bright side, we got some rain overnight.
More bear attacks in Japan:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20250923_13/
here ya go:
https://platedlizard.blogspot.com/2025/09/threes-crowd.html
https://platedlizard.blogspot.com/2025/09/norman-rockwell-ai-parodies.html
And now for something completely different:
https://platedlizard.blogspot.com/2025/09/not-cool-man.html
https://platedlizard.blogspot.com/2025/09/been-there-done-that.html
Mornin’
Good morning, DEG, Derpy, and Ted’S.!
Thanks. For you:
https://platedlizard.blogspot.com/2025/09/tough-crowd.html
Also because you(?) linked that Moby Dick Chicago blues song years ago:
https://platedlizard.blogspot.com/2025/09/the-usual-suspects.html
Burned all those birds for nothing
🎵🎵How can we tweet while our birds are burning?🎵🎵
I’m sorry I wasn’t able to comment on this live.
I’d love to watch one of your games. Please send me your schedule, and it might be a distinct possibility.