Anyone training for a Spartan (Or similar) Competition

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  • st1992uk
    st1992uk Posts: 2 Member
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    I completed the Spartan 5K Sprint late last year and it was great fun! My downfall was climbing ropes or basically anything that involves using upper body strength, as I really don't have any! So I would recommend building that up. As for stamina, you have to wait for a while to get past some of the obstacles, so you do get quite a few mini-breaks.

    I am signing up for Tough Mudder in October this year and maybe a few more Spartan Races, hoping to do better on the climbing so there is no dreaded 30 burpees!
  • sprocketfinn
    sprocketfinn Posts: 2
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    I have done the Spartan, Mud Hero and Badass Dash. Spartan was by far the most difficult but probably because it was 35 degrees out and only one water station available. Train for running hills is my only advice as the rest of it is straight forward strength and endurance training. Those hills are killer!
  • LvLite
    LvLite Posts: 102 Member
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    Question on the Super race.. does it (usually) have the cold water dip?
  • fattymcrunnerpants
    fattymcrunnerpants Posts: 311 Member
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    I did a Tough Mudder last year and a Warrior Dash the year before that. I basically just built on my running with a little bit of strength training twice a week. Lots of chin ups, push ups, upper body and core strength are a must! Also interval hill running was a big thing. But if you can run the distance without an issue you can get through the race.
  • kfitz85
    kfitz85 Posts: 19 Member
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    To answer your question.

    1. Do endless burpees until you can't move
    2. Do pull ups
    3. Run hills

    Anyone can finish it at any level of fitness, but if you really push yourself to do your best, attempt all the obstacles, and complete every penalty, you'll nearly vomit or pass out at several points.

    The burpees are killer though. Seriously practice burpees.
  • missmoreno000
    missmoreno000 Posts: 9 Member
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    Great advice, Im doing to Spartan in July. Super stoked but also super nervous!
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
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    By all means push yourself with these types of events as hard as you want and use them to challenge yourself...but also realize, there are going to be a LOT of people just walking, skipping obstacles, etc. Literally anyone can do any of these, including Tough Mudder...I've never been in one that was timed and you received any kind of award or anything. A lot of people just party their *kitten* off.
    So true, so true. Most of them are not geared for people who want to try to go for time and have a lot of people doing it casually for fun and to just get through. The number of walkers or people blocking up the obstacles can get annoying if you are trying to push for time and are in one of the later heats. I waited for 20 minutes to go down a slide at one.

    The Warrior Dash series has a competitive group in the beginning (not timed), although they recommended being under a 20:00 5K. I'm still a couple minutes off that pace, so I'm doing the heat right afterwards and hoping I can push for time (will self time) and be in front of the casual mudders.

    The Merrell Down and Dirty one is timed and they have a 10k division for those of us who want to push for a longer run, but I still expect plenty of people will be doing it casually.
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
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    To answer your question.

    1. Do endless burpees until you can't move
    2. Do pull ups
    3. Run hills

    Anyone can finish it at any level of fitness, but if you really push yourself to do your best, attempt all the obstacles, and complete every penalty, you'll nearly vomit or pass out at several points.

    The burpees are killer though. Seriously practice burpees.
    For #3, if your mud run is in a hilly area, dear god do this one. I trained by running on flat ground for my first and was doing 10k runs, figuring this would prepare me well for a 5k mudrun. The course was SUPER hilly with very steep hills, and I was dying.
  • fattymcrunnerpants
    fattymcrunnerpants Posts: 311 Member
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    By all means push yourself with these types of events as hard as you want and use them to challenge yourself...but also realize, there are going to be a LOT of people just walking, skipping obstacles, etc. Literally anyone can do any of these, including Tough Mudder...I've never been in one that was timed and you received any kind of award or anything. A lot of people just party their *kitten* off.
    So true, so true. Most of them are not geared for people who want to try to go for time and have a lot of people doing it casually for fun and to just get through. The number of walkers or people blocking up the obstacles can get annoying if you are trying to push for time and are in one of the later heats. I waited for 20 minutes to go down a slide at one.

    The Warrior Dash series has a competitive group in the beginning (not timed), although they recommended being under a 20:00 5K. I'm still a couple minutes off that pace, so I'm doing the heat right afterwards and hoping I can push for time (will self time) and be in front of the casual mudders.

    The Merrell Down and Dirty one is timed and they have a 10k division for those of us who want to push for a longer run, but I still expect plenty of people will be doing it casually.

    Tough Mudder isn't timed on purpose as it's supposed to foster teamwork and dedication. If you want to push for time on that one my advice is to bomb the first heat. It's not like they're keeping track of who is where for TM
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
    Options
    By all means push yourself with these types of events as hard as you want and use them to challenge yourself...but also realize, there are going to be a LOT of people just walking, skipping obstacles, etc. Literally anyone can do any of these, including Tough Mudder...I've never been in one that was timed and you received any kind of award or anything. A lot of people just party their *kitten* off.
    So true, so true. Most of them are not geared for people who want to try to go for time and have a lot of people doing it casually for fun and to just get through. The number of walkers or people blocking up the obstacles can get annoying if you are trying to push for time and are in one of the later heats. I waited for 20 minutes to go down a slide at one.

    The Warrior Dash series has a competitive group in the beginning (not timed), although they recommended being under a 20:00 5K. I'm still a couple minutes off that pace, so I'm doing the heat right afterwards and hoping I can push for time (will self time) and be in front of the casual mudders.

    The Merrell Down and Dirty one is timed and they have a 10k division for those of us who want to push for a longer run, but I still expect plenty of people will be doing it casually.

    Tough Mudder isn't timed on purpose as it's supposed to foster teamwork and dedication. If you want to push for time on that one my advice is to bomb the first heat. It's not like they're keeping track of who is where for TM
    I haven't done a TM, but I have heard the obstacles tend to require teamwork to complete. The mud runs I have done so far, I could complete every obstacle on my own and I wasn't on a team, so I bombed them as fast as I could go.
  • fattymcrunnerpants
    fattymcrunnerpants Posts: 311 Member
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    I haven't done a TM, but I have heard the obstacles tend to require teamwork to complete. The mud runs I have done so far, I could complete every obstacle on my own and I wasn't on a team, so I bombed them as fast as I could go.

    There's a couple that require teamwork. Mostly the half pipe and then the berlin walls. Most of the other ones don't require it but it's nice to have.
  • JayDavila
    JayDavila Posts: 146 Member
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    Great thanks
  • JayDavila
    JayDavila Posts: 146 Member
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    By all means push yourself with these types of events as hard as you want and use them to challenge yourself...but also realize, there are going to be a LOT of people just walking, skipping obstacles, etc. Literally anyone can do any of these, including Tough Mudder...I've never been in one that was timed and you received any kind of award or anything. A lot of people just party their *kitten* off.
    So true, so true. Most of them are not geared for people who want to try to go for time and have a lot of people doing it casually for fun and to just get through. The number of walkers or people blocking up the obstacles can get annoying if you are trying to push for time and are in one of the later heats. I waited for 20 minutes to go down a slide at one.

    The Warrior Dash series has a competitive group in the beginning (not timed), although they recommended being under a 20:00 5K. I'm still a couple minutes off that pace, so I'm doing the heat right afterwards and hoping I can push for time (will self time) and be in front of the casual mudders.

    The Merrell Down and Dirty one is timed and they have a 10k division for those of us who want to push for a longer run, but I still expect plenty of people will be doing it casually.

    Great advice, thanks guys
  • Joreanasaurous
    Joreanasaurous Posts: 1,384 Member
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    Welcome to the mud run world! They are addictive, but a great community of people.

    I am about to do a super and sprint back to back days. I might die. Haha.


    Hills and burpies are a must. Burpie yourself to death.

    Also, Spartan does free workout training events. Keep an eye out and see if one comes up in your area. The first one of the year is on the 19th on SoCal.
  • LvLite
    LvLite Posts: 102 Member
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    Great advice!! Thank you! I am praying 4 months is sufficient time so I can get my arm strength up and do rapid fire burpees!!!
  • JayDavila
    JayDavila Posts: 146 Member
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    Thank you for the support
  • Homemaker57
    Homemaker57 Posts: 106 Member
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    Hubby and I are looking forward to doing the Spartan Sprint at Fort Carson, CO in May. :) I have 15 weeks, 6 days to train!!

    My goals:

    - Complete the Couch to 5k (just finished W4D1 today, and finally had a few moments of, "I think I could actually be a runner!")
    - Be able to run 4 miles without walking, since the course is appx 4 miles long (even though I know that won't be continuous)
    - Be able to do AT LEAST ONE REGULAR PUSHUP. Geez. I do it from the knees and for some reason I can't go down very far; no where near the ground. I don't know if it's because it hurts or what but I seriously can't go further down.
    - Be able to do one chin up - is it possible? I dunno.
    - Lose almost 30 lbs, to get into the "normal" BMI category and out of "overweight". Blergh.


    I feel like if I can do those things, I'll be much MORE prepared for the race than I am right now. I won't be a super athlete, but I'll be *better*. If I reach any goals early, I'll raise the bar!!


    I always accept friend requests :) As a side note I also use a FitBit and adhere to paleo diet ideals. I don't always count all my calories since I think what you eat is more important than how much of it you eat, but I try to track it pretty well so I know a ballpark of where I am. I'm starting from about a 50% paleo, 50% junk diet, and no regular exercise at all. I've done really well since the beginning of the year though, so I'm really trying to reach my goals!

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