Spartan Race

[Do_Somethin]

Has anyone here ever done one? I just registered for the Toronto Spartan Beast 2013 and was wondering what if any experience some of you may have had for a Spartan.
It's a 20 kilometre (almost 13 miles) obstacle course.

[cowboybiker]

I'm prepping for this race. Its 12 miles.




It wasnt what I was planning. I was gonna do the mud run. Its only 5k.
One thing I do know. I'm not ready yet

[Do_Somethin]

I'm prepping for this race. Its 12 miles.




It wasnt what I was planning. I was gonna do the mud run. Its only 5k.
One thing I do know. I'm not ready yet

They seem like essentially the same thing more or less. I'm not ready either. Going to be effing TOUGH! I have a friend or two doing it too.
Won't even know the course route or any specific obstacles (but the fire jump, greased wall, barbed wire crawl and rope climb are always there).
Best of luck! I hope we live!

[cowboybiker]

They seem like essentially the same thing more or less. I'm not ready either. Going to be effing TOUGH! I have a friend or two doing it too.
Won't even know the course route or any specific obstacles (but the fire jump, greased wall, barbed wire crawl and rope climb are always there).
Best of luck! I hope we live!

I know several who have done the 5k mud run but no one that I know has done the tough mudder.
I'm doing it with a buddy of mine.
I'm not too concerned with most of the obstacles. Just the hay bail on the way down.

Good luck with your race

[jellodirt]

I signed up for a mudman (3.1 miles) this August as a parent/child team with my son and another father/son team. My kid said "you should maybe start running, Jason (the other dad) runs all the time." I said "I don't have to keep up with Jason, I just have to keep up with you, maybe Logan (the other boy) should start running." He said "yeah you're probably right."

[Flyboyjc]

I'm signed up for the Spartan Sprint NY June 2. I did Warrior Dash last year, which is 5k. Tons of fun!

Planning on the Super Spartan in September, which is 8 miles. Not sure if I can commit to the required cardio for a Spartan Beast or Tough Mudder... Good luck to all!

[itsagoodday]

LOL, I just posted something about this in another thread. My trainer wants me to work towards a Tough Mudder. He's either an incurable optimist or completely insane. The jury is out on which one it is.

[cowboybiker]

LOL, I just posted something about this in another thread. My trainer wants me to work towards a Tough Mudder. He's either an incurable optimist or completely insane. The jury is out on which one it is.

[Do_Somethin]

Both are necessary!

[brownfunds]

I did a Tough Mudder last year and am slated for another in April. Its loads of fun. Chances are, if you have been hitting the gym, you are in good enough shape for all the obstacles. There was nothing there that would be too taxing for anyone in good condition. Focus on the running if you aren't already but don't force yourself into training like a marathoner. The course is 12 miles or so but you won't be running the whole time. Mostly you run half a mile, wait to do an obstacle, run a half mile, wait for 15 minutes at an obstacle. The point being you will have time to catch your breath. I figure if you can handle 5 miles running - you will be fine.

Get gloves, light running shoes (they will be full of water and mud), ditch the cotton clothing for dri-gear and prepare to be cold. Its worth every minute.

[Get-n-fit]

I'm not sure if it's the same for spartan, but at tough mudder, time is not even considered, there's no timers at the beginning of the course or end, no time chip. The main focus is team work and completing the event. With that said, the majority of people make it to the end. Don't let the distance get the better of you. Like brownfunds said, you run a very short distance and then stand around for a long time. Best of luck.

[ChickenPauk]

Has anyone here ever done one? I just registered for the Toronto Spartan Beast 2013 and was wondering what if any experience some of you may have had for a Spartan.
It's a 20 kilometre (almost 13 miles) obstacle course.

Did Tough Mudder 12 miles September 2012. Really enjoyable experience - I recommend doing it with a bit of a group.

I know several who have done the 5k mud run but no one that I know has done the tough mudder.
I'm doing it with a buddy of mine.
I'm not too concerned with most of the obstacles. Just the hay bail on the way down.

Good luck with your race

hay bail is no big deal on the way down - you'll be fine. Tough Mudder seemed a bit more lower body oriented to me....not enough upper body - still, a very good time.

I'm signed up for the Spartan Sprint NY June 2. I did Warrior Dash last year, which is 5k. Tons of fun!

Planning on the Super Spartan in September, which is 8 miles. Not sure if I can commit to the required cardio for a Spartan Beast or Tough Mudder... Good luck to all!

I wouldn't sweat the distance. There is a lot of breaks when doing the run, there's a log carry that you can catch your breath during and a few obstacles back up to get a break. Most important thing is to be in the same condition as the rest of the team, so nobody is really waiting on anyone else.

LOL, I just posted something about this in another thread. My trainer wants me to work towards a Tough Mudder. He's either an incurable optimist or completely insane. The jury is out on which one it is.

Neither - don't over think this stuff. It's essentially like running around in the woods when you were a kid

I did a Tough Mudder last year and am slated for another in April. Its loads of fun. Chances are, if you have been hitting the gym, you are in good enough shape for all the obstacles. There was nothing there that would be too taxing for anyone in good condition. Focus on the running if you aren't already but don't force yourself into training like a marathoner. The course is 12 miles or so but you won't be running the whole time. Mostly you run half a mile, wait to do an obstacle, run a half mile, wait for 15 minutes at an obstacle. The point being you will have time to catch your breath. I figure if you can handle 5 miles running - you will be fine.

Get gloves, light running shoes (they will be full of water and mud), ditch the cotton clothing for dri-gear and prepare to be cold. Its worth every minute.

^^ This, All of this is true ^^

I'd add in if you are going with a group or team to do some group training so you all are at the same conditioning level and nobody is waiting on anyone else. Email back and forth for some fun to build up to the event. Plan a night out for some wings and beers to coordinate your trip and get ready. Plan a 'mini-mudder' at one of your homes and hose down the garden, crawl through it, run a 1/2 mile, do some lunges, pushups, burpees, another 1/2 mile crawl through much or hose down, another 1/2 mile help each other crawl over the kids swingset....pullups, etc, etc.

Finish with a cooler of beer and a grill full of chicken. Plan an after party to celebrate your completion. Make it a fun thing and keep it fun. I had anxiety over a few things, but in the end - felt like the tough mudder could have been tougher. I'm no road runner and I could have kept going if I needed to.

[K0HD33]

If you have not yet, make Burpees a part of your workouts. Fail an obstacle in a spartan race and it's 30 burpees. Not a tough thing to do when you are fresh and full of energy but not so much fun when you've been running and tearing through obstacles for many miles. During runs, do 20-30 burpees every mile or 2 then quickly back to running. It has helped my cardio! I did a tough mudder in 2012 and I am signed up for 3 spartan races (including a hurricane heat) this month (in charlotte, nc) and 3 more throughout the year. They are addictive.

On the spartan race website, they have a free ebook you can download with training guides for the various distances (sprint, super, beast, ultra beast and death race). There is also a workout of the day that is created by those within spartan race and by their street team members.

I would not wear gloves, they just get cold, wet, muddy, and suck needed heat from your cold hands. Plus they loose grip when covered in mud. To each his/her own, though.

Good luck on your race!

[mal1ce]

I've done a Jailbreak race before, it's a 5k mud run/obstacle course. It was a lot of fun but I kinda wished there were more obstacles, I'm not a runner and was able to finish in 43 minutes.

For the really hard core among you, check out http://www.youmaydie.com

[cowboybiker]

Tuff mudder was cancelled for June.

There will be another in San Diego this November

more time to train

[Drufeus]

Signed up with the wife and neighbors for the June Tough Mudder in Virginia Beach. Can't wait. Going to sign up for the Spartan Sprint in August too. My goal is to finish a Death Race. Looks like fun.