[TSM330i]

Hi all,
I've done one Spartan Race so far (Palmerton Sprint), which is a signature event so the course is super tough designed by the founder of Spartan Races Joe De Sena.

I'm now training for a Super in September at Mountain Creek Resort in Vernon, NJ.

I trained pretty hard for the first one with advice from a friend that had a Trifecta last year. He underestimated how hard this even was and hence so did I. Not saying that I couldn't have cut about 30 minutes off my time since my brother-in-law and I really just took our time and wanted to have fun with it. We finished in 2:30, but like I said, really took our time.

The next race is going to be 8 - 10 miles and I've really stepped up my training in order to prepare. I have less than a month left and I'm really trying to cross-train from now on.

So my basis now is:
I'm 45, 6'0" and 175lbs.
Bench press - 185lbs for 6 reps (of course this is my 5th or 6th set that I pyramid up to this weight - same goes for most of the other exercises).
Squat - 225lbs for 12 - 15 reps (not really heavy at all, just trying to get my legs stronger for the different obstacles)
Pull-ups - body weight, but 3 sets of 12 - 15 reps.

Now I'm trying to concentrate cross-training. When I did the sprint, I essentially ran a 5k for cardio and left it at that once a week. My buddy said it wasn't that important. Boy was he wrong!
Right after I finished the Sprint, I started working on increasing my mileage so I'm used to moving longer and can build up my stamina. I instantly went up to 5-1/2 miles and the following week went up to over 7 miles and the week after I went to 9 miles (this is each time running, twice per week).

I also ran for 30 minutes while carrying a 50lbs sandbag on my back. It's not like the sandbag they use as this one the sand gets compacted and hard so it's more rough on your neck than anything else. This ended up being pretty easy for me.

Next week, I'm going to start training for the bucket brigade. Essentially a 5 gallon bucket with 75lbs of stone in it. NOT EASY! but I'm working on my technique and arm strength. Hopefully my stronger legs will help too.

Lastly, I've got to get to a local place to learn the technique of climbing the rope using my legs. I just couldn't get it right in the race. My brother-in-law tried to help me, but you're standing in 4 feet of water to start so I just couldn't get it.

Anyone else like Spartan Races?

I won't get the Trifecta this year since the Beasts are hard to come by and the closest event to me is South Carolina and I'm not going to be able to fly down for that in November. I'm going to have to get all the races in next year.

[TSM330i]

Finally able to follow-up on this thread.

Did my second Spartan race, this was a Super and it was 8.5 miles with 30 obstacles. It was the Tri-State New Jersey Super at Mountain Creek.

I trained much harder for this race knowing what to expect. This time my legs were conditioned properly, but I didn't hydrate enough and ended up with cramps at the end. Cost us about 15 minutes. We finished in 3:05 this time.
This race overall was much easier than the sprint at Blue Mountain. The bucket brigade was a joke compared to the first one. The sandbag carry was about 1/4 the length too. We had much more free running with the longer distance, so that was great.

All-in-all, it was a great experience again. Next year we'll get the Trifecta as we have all the races mapped out.

Here's one of the pics from the Spartan website.

[kprocivic]

Nice job on the progress. I did the socal sprint in january. Obstacles were a breeze, but the actual running killed me.