Cactus, Dead Fish, & One Of The Easier Spartan Races

I hate making excuses, but I honestly had a quite a few things working against me.  My training had been going great for the Dallas Sprint so far.  I had previously done a few beasts, so I was looking forward to a shorter race.  Focusing on my speed, grip, and strength-endurance I was on my way to a great race.  This was the first elite heat I had signed up for this year.  Not really knowing what to expect I was hoping for a top 50 finish.

The weekend before the race I went to Tennessee for a family wedding.  Needless to say, my diet was completely off track, sleep was a mess, and I got one short run in while I was there.  No problem though, I had put in the time in previous weeks so it wasn’t too much of a big deal.  I get back to San Diego to finish up my last week of prep for the race and get sick on Wednesday.

Each day getting worse.  Friday I was in bed by 8pm exhausted.  Couldn’t breathe, getting achy, and just overall feeling like crap.  Luckily, on Saturday things were feeling better.  I was on the mend and got on a flight with my wife for Dallas.  After a pleasant evening, without the kids, we get back to the hotel and get settled for an early night before the race.  I normally have no issues falling asleep, but the night before a race is always a challenge.

I manage to finally doze off, to be awoken at 1 am by our neighbor’s kid screaming, running, and jumping all over.  Having two kids, I did my best to not get upset.  They probably just got back from someplace fun and were still excited.  Unfortunately it didn’t quiet down and around 2am we had to switch rooms.  Finally, we got to bed for a good 2 hours and woke to drive to the race.

I do have to admit I was feeling much better.  Still congested, but I wasn’t coughing and my body felt much better.  We got to the venue in the pitch black, got checked in, and warmed up.

It was music to my ears to hear them announce at the start the total elevation gain of 360ft.  I knew I would be ok.

Now in the title I say one of the easier races I have ever done.  I do want to be clear that this was still a challenge of course.  It is a Spartan race.   But I had seen a trend of every race I signed up for getting harder and harder.  Until this one.  The lack of hills was very noticeable, and the lack of carrying obstacles was a surprise.  Not good or bad, just different from what I had been experiencing.

The first mile of this race felt like it was in water.   It alternated between light trail running and shallow or deep water traverses.  The weather was perfect for racing so there was not issue there with the water.  We had heard the day before how fishes were jumping all over and making friends with you as you climbed through.  Unfortunately, the day we races they were all dead floating in the water or on the shore.  Luckily after the first mile we were clear of water obstacles, although you could still smell the fish later on.

When more of the running started, I could feel my sickness effecting me more.  It was a struggle to keep my normal pace so I had to stay in the middle of the pack.  As we got to the monkey bars, I saw a surprising amount of racers doing burpees.  This obstacle is never an issue so I reached up and grabbed the bar.  To my surprise they were just dripping in water.  It hadn’t been that long since they water so everyone’s hands were still soaking wet.  I grabbed dirt and dried my hands the best I could, but I honestly think this was one of the toughest obstacles.

Making it safely through the monkey bars, I got a burst of energy knowing a passed a number of racers.  A few obstacles later was the spear.  I have yet to miss the spear in 5 races so far in 2016, but every time I get nervous.  I could see even more racers in the burpee zone, so I knew I could make up more time here.  With my throw I hit the center of the target the saw the handle drop straight down towards the floor.  My heart dropped, but luckily the spear did not.  It stayed stuck in drooping down.  I didn’t stay long to see what happened.  I figured as long as I got out of there, I would be safe.  Luckily I never heard anyone yell for me to come back.

It is funny how hitting the spear throw makes all of your pain and discomfort go away.

At this point I was along.  I couldn’t see anyone in front or behind me.  This was strange for a Spartan Race, but I did enjoy the peacefulness of watching the sunrise over the Texas landscape.  As I get out from a small trail, I see an open field to run through through.  There was no main path, but I could see the white and red streamers leading the way.  I decided to just take the shortest path to get across.  Unfortunately I jumped over a few bushes right into a cactus.  I had a seen a few on the course, but they had been plowed down so I never really paid attention.  From then, I would.  I would have to wait until after the race to take the pins out.

After my run in with the cactus, we luckily had only a few obstacles left.  They were the standards of the Z wall, 8 ft wall, sled pull, rig, dunk wall, hoist, and slip wall.  I may be missing one or two, but no bucket or sandbag carry.  The only carrying obstacle was a very short farmers carry with logs.  I usually struggle with the Z wall for some reason.  My feet kept slipping, but again I was able to hold on and pull through.

So despite my set backs leading up to the race I finished in 46th overall, and 40th male.  I came in the top 50 which was my ultimate goal.  I do wish I could have been a little closer to 100% but I will take it.  So in 5 races in 2016 I am burpee free and going strong with 2 more races left.

My biggest take away is still to master the obstacles.  I am not the fast runner and probably never will be.  Running is my least favorite obstacle to train.  I still do train for it, but probably not as much as I should.  I know that if I avoid obstacles I will pass a large number of racers, even if they are faster than me.  Burpees just take time to do, and wear you out.

Even if this was an easier course I would expect another like this.  I will still focus on the big things to get through the race:

• Train hills more than you want to.  And then add more.
• Improve your carrying strength.
• Improve your hanging grip strength.
• Perfect throwing a spear so it is automatic.
• And make sure everything you do in your training is making you a better overall athlete.  If not get rid of it.

I hope this overview helps you with your next race.

Keep Training Hard. Aroo!

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS, SGX

Spartan Underground