Spartan Race help

Carneyje3

Hey everyone!

For a few years now I've been eyeing Spartan Races but always found excuses to not sign up and train. Now that I'm utilizing MFP and taking my fitness seriously again, I want to commit to a race in Boston about 6 months out from now. I was hoping that some of you may have ran a race before and could give me some insight into how to tackle training!

I've almost completed my C25k program and intend to jump right into another running program to work up to a 10k. On off days I'll likely do HIIT training and a lot of body weight workouts. I do best when I have a program to build around so I've been looking at starting Reddit's Body Weight Fitness recommended routine. Currently I'm weighing in at 215 and taking in a deficit at 1700 net cal. which should have me dropping 1.5 lbs p/wk.

https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommended_routine
https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/faq

The_Weaze

Which race are you doing? I did my first sprint in September.

Spartan has great training plans for the sprint, super or beast on their website.

Carneyje3

I was thinking of doing the Sprint to begin with. I couldn't track down the training plan on their site, I'll have to check again. How did your first Sprint go? I saw the mileage can range from 3-5 mi.

lhub2

I've done this particular race. It's actually in western Mass but they still call it the Boston race. It's a challenge but very doable, even for a beginner. My benchmark Spartan race is Killington, which I've done twice. I figure that if I can survive Killington, I can do anything. So by that standard, Boston was a piece of cake. This year's race was cold (about 45 degrees) and raining, and there was a dunk wall. There were serious hypothermia concerns. Most of the course is though the woods on narrow trails which makes passing people hard. Be prepared for mud.
The best advice I can offer for anyone preparing for a Spartan race is to work on upper body. There are a lot of obstacles that will require a strong upper body, which is always my own weak point. Crossfit is also a really good way to train for something like this. I've done lots OC races including several Spartans, and I never would have been able to get through them with the strength I've gained from Crossfit.
Good luck!

Carneyje3

Thank you for the insight! I've been thinking of doing Crossfit to help build the process a bit. I was looking at a May date so hopefully it wouldn't be quite so cold!

lhub2

You should seriously consider CrossFit. I love it, although I’m injured at the moment...ankle sprain. I can’t wait to get back to it.