Getting Started- Training for Spartan Race

Do burpees until you hate everything about life. Then do some more. After that you'll be all set. Good luck and have fun!

Thanks for the advice! Running is my weakness and the only Spartan Race coming near me is the Beast. Just my luck LOL

I don't want to discourage you, but doing a Beast as your first race is pretty daunting. Have you looked to see if there are other obstacle races in your area? There are a lot more besides just Spartan.

I'm training to do a Spartan Race. Haven't decided yet if it will be a super or the sprint that is near me a little sooner than that. My first suggestion would definitely be to sign up for the WOD and do as many challenges they put out as you can. For example, right now we're doing the 30 burpees for 30 days challenge (look it up on facebook). Feel free to PM me to talk!

I'm in the same boat. I'm working on getting my Spartan Trifecta this year starting with the Tampa Sprint, Miami Super, and then the SC Beast. I'm a new runner, so I'm using this as a goal, and I've never done a Spartan or an obstacle run in my life.

Sign-up for WOD, and feel free to modify it if it's too intense.

What I've heard, is If you are planning on running the Sprint, which is usually 3-4 miles, than you should train to run 6. nhradeuce is right, you can easily walk it if you want.

For the super, it's around 7-8 miles, so I've heard you should train to run 10. The beasts are 1/2 marathon's so they recommend being able to run 15 miles. You can always walk bits but it will be a long walk.

I've done some math on the Sprints, and judging by the distance and the number of obstacles in the race, you should encounter an obstacle every 1/4 mile. I do a distance run 1x a week (Just hit the 6 mile mark today for my sprint), and 3 days I typically sprint a 1/4 mile, then immediately do different strength training, then repeat till I hit 4 miles. Also train on monkey bars and try climbing up poles to practice for the rope climbs.

There are other mud runs. Have you looked at the warrior dash? Hit me up if you want to be training buddies.

I also had a group of friends who did the SC Beast. It was our fourth Spartan and the final race for our Trifecta medals. We normally train with Crossfit but add more running into our routines. After surviving the Virginia Super, barely, we decided to put more thought into our training for the Beast. We wanted to run more but without the boredom of just pounding the roads. We started doing interval training. We started 3 months out and increased our distance as we got closer to the race. We started with 4 mile intervals and two weeks before the Beast, finished with a 10 mile interval. We didn't pattern the distance intervals but set up mini WODs at each interval. We did repeat the WODs in sequences.

Example:
Run .75 mile
10 X Burpees/Pullups/Box Jumps
Run 1 mile
10 X Thrusters/Tire Flips/Double Unders
Run .50 mile
10 X Air Squats/Sit ups/Battle Rope

This is how the Spartans are set up. I'm no where near an elite athlete but, due to the training, the Beast was easier then our 10 miler. Some of the runs we did together and pulled each other along, others we turned into mini competitions. We have friends who'll be joining the Trifecta club in 2014 and will use these intervals at least once a week.

Good Luck and Train Hard!

oh yeah - for Spartan, practice burpees.

they penalize you when you cant finish an obstacle, unlike Tough Mudder.