I'm a true spartan!

[SLB]

Did my first Spartan race this weekend - wooo!!!

It was so challenging, there was a lot of 50% gradient hills and it was much muddier than the event planners wanted it to be. I had every excuse not to do it (cold weather, 3hr drive there and back, nobody doing the race with me etc) but I did it!!! It felt amazing and I think it's obvious how much I enjoyed it from this pic

 

[Tateman]

Awesome!  I did the Malibu Spartan Sprint last December.  It was a blast!  Was harder then I thought it was going to be too.  It's a great feeling to finish.  I also like that I didn't fail every challenge, and did well on some of them too

 

Did this race make you want to do more in the future? 

[lizzig]

CONGRATS SLB! I also completed my first Spartan this weekend. It was an extremely rewarding experience. Thankfully I only ended up having to do burpees for two obstacles....I guess its time to work a lot harder on that rope climb. Hopefully like me, you are anxiously awaiting the next Spartan!!!

[Disil]

Hats off to you, with those conditions, it's gotta be extra sweet to accomplish something like that.

[SLB]

Thanks guys! and yes, disil, it was icing on the cake

 

I had to burpee my way through 3 obstacles. Two were rope-based so I feel your pain Lizzig, but one of them was the spear throw which we only got one chance for... not sure that was fair

 

Ummm, Tateman... I don't know... as soon as I finished I thought 'never again!'. But I think now that if it was under different circumstances (not as ridiculously hilly) I might be tempted. what about you?

I met people last weekend that did the Berlin and Munich one and they said the hills/mud/slipping situation made a really big difference. Maybe next year in one of the stadium ones... does that make me a pansy? haha

 

I LOVED the team atmosphere, because I was there on my own loads of people took me under their wing and would shout random encouragements at me and give me a helping hand - if I did a race again it would be for that feeling. I can definitely recommend it for anyone sitting on the fence

[Noname123]

Did my first Spartan race this weekend - wooo!!!

It was so challenging, there was a lot of 50% gradient hills and it was much muddier than the event planners wanted it to be. I had every excuse not to do it (cold weather, 3hr drive there and back, nobody doing the race with me etc) but I did it!!! It felt amazing and I think it's obvious how much I enjoyed it from this pic

 

Congrats! I have one in Philly this Sept. but there will be no mud as it's in a stadium ( , I actually LOVE mud runs)  

 

Any suggestions on training? I'm afraid I wont be able to complete the rope based obstacles as I've never been able to climb a rope!

[Tateman]

Thanks guys! and yes, disil, it was icing on the cake

 

I had to burpee my way through 3 obstacles. Two were rope-based so I feel your pain Lizzig, but one of them was the spear throw which we only got one chance for... not sure that was fair

 

Ummm, Tateman... I don't know... as soon as I finished I thought 'never again!'. But I think now that if it was under different circumstances (not as ridiculously hilly) I might be tempted. what about you?

I met people last weekend that did the Berlin and Munich one and they said the hills/mud/slipping situation made a really big difference. Maybe next year in one of the stadium ones... does that make me a pansy? haha

 

I LOVED the team atmosphere, because I was there on my own loads of people took me under their wing and would shout random encouragements at me and give me a helping hand - if I did a race again it would be for that feeling. I can definitely recommend it for anyone sitting on the fence

Well I had planned on running that first one, then going for trifecta this year.  Then after the sprint, i knew I just was not close to ready in completing the other lengths.  I did feel pretty awesome finishing it.  I had the help of a couple of people too.  I actually felt like a little kid running through bushes.  So overall I really enjoyed it.  

 

This year, I will just run the one Stadium series in San Francisco.  So probably no mud, but lots of burpees, and other things I bet.  Plus I am sure there will be heavy sandbags and running up and down the stadium.

 

I think it is something I would like to do more of though.  Like Tough Mudder I want to run.  So maybe next year I will be ready enough to try to tackle them all.

[SLB]

Congrats! I have one in Philly this Sept. but there will be no mud as it's in a stadium ( , I actually LOVE mud runs)  

 

Any suggestions on training? I'm afraid I wont be able to complete the rope based obstacles as I've never been able to climb a rope!

 

I've never done a stadium run but I'm sure they'll still make it fun despite the lack of mud!

 

Ummm, I don't have any big suggestions on training since I had trouble with a few obsacles so maybe I'm not the best example!

A lot of it ended up being mind over matter. I think if I was doing many of those obstacles in a 'training' environment with no pressure I wouldn't have done as well - but it was just a case of telling myself to go on.

 

I suppose the one thing I would recommend is to work on things which require grip; the pushing, pulling, lifting etc you can get help with on the day if you need it but  if you can't grab on to stuff HARD then no one can help you.

Also, a related one is getting some tough skin/callouses on your hands. I saw a lot of people with gloves which were pretty much useless after they got wet/muddy. Once they took the gloves off they sometimes found it difficult to perform tasks without them since their skin was so sensitive.

 

Tateman, let me know how the San Francisco one goes - good luck!

You would totally be my hero if you did a trifecta next year, that's much too much for me!

[lizzig]

Thanks guys! and yes, disil, it was icing on the cake

 

I had to burpee my way through 3 obstacles. Two were rope-based so I feel your pain Lizzig, but one of them was the spear throw which we only got one chance for... not sure that was fair

 

Ummm, Tateman... I don't know... as soon as I finished I thought 'never again!'. But I think now that if it was under different circumstances (not as ridiculously hilly) I might be tempted. what about you?

I met people last weekend that did the Berlin and Munich one and they said the hills/mud/slipping situation made a really big difference. Maybe next year in one of the stadium ones... does that make me a pansy? haha

 

I LOVED the team atmosphere, because I was there on my own loads of people took me under their wing and would shout random encouragements at me and give me a helping hand - if I did a race again it would be for that feeling. I can definitely recommend it for anyone sitting on the fence

I agree with you on the spear throw, i was way off. I spoke with someone that was on his 8th spartan, and he said you just have to practice a lot with a broomstick in your backyard. He was the only one of us that didn't have to do burpees, lucky. I did really enjoy it and how supportive everyone was, even people that were not on my team constantly helping and motivating me. It is an extremely rewarding experience. 

[Tehya]

I think it is something I would like to do more of though. Like Tough Mudder I want to run. So maybe next year I will be ready enough to try to tackle them all.

Tateman - you can do the tough Mudder!! I have faith in you. Go for it even if you don't feel like you are ready. I will give pointers after I do mine on the 19th.

Spartans scare me. I won't even try one until I know I'm ready for it. Props to you for doing it!

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