Spartan races are series of obstacle course races that are known for technical courses, hard core obstacles and getting you really, really muddy. Spartan races are what got Will back into running and he's done quite a few. I never thought I would do one but I decided earlier this summer to sign up to for a new local sprint race. You can read more about why I decided to sign up and what my training plan was in this post.
The Spartan sprint was their first attempt at a city Spartan. Usually, they have trail races or stadium races and this one was marketed as short of a hybrid. That was a pro in my book since the stadiums involve a lot less mud. It was held at Osceola Heritage Park. We drive by it on the way to Disney and they host rodeos, car shows and a lot of other events. It has a small footprint and, as you can see in the map below, they really wound the course in and out all over the property to get the 3.5ish miles. Some of the run was on pavement, some on grass and even a bit through a horse stable.
Will did a great job getting a team together to race together and we all agreed to meet up before the race. We got there early to check out the festival area before we met up with the team. The festival area was pretty small compared to some of the other Spartans Will has done but it was very nice for a first time event. I thought that the merch was a bit pricey and decided that if I ever did a second Spartan, I would consider buying some merch at that race. There was also a place for photos so we had to grab a prerace photo.
I planned on running in a low key running costume since there were no water obstacles. (The course map is posted a few days before the race.) Also, the lack of a dunk wall meant I could wear my glasses! I really don't know what other glasses wearers do but once the course map was up, I gave up on the idea of running "blind" without my glasses. I quickly changed my mind about the costume once we got to the race site. It was still crazy, midsummer hot so I stripped to my sports bra and shorts and put on some sunscreen.
Our team was mostly first timers which was great for me! Pretty soon it was time for our heat to start and we lined up to get ready to go.
Obstacles:
1. Overwalls
There are usually a set of short overwalls to get into the starting area. I totally flopped on my first try but the second go was good. It felt really cool to fling myself over the wall! Then they had a very enthusiastic race announcer who sent us off to a chorus of Aroos!
2. 6' wall
There was a decent section of running before the first on course obstacle. A couple of people were really excited and headed of fast but I knew that between the obstacles and the heat, I'd need to start slow. I didn't bring an interval timer so I just ran intervals by feel for the duration of the race. I was not able to mount the 6' wall myself so Will stopped to give me a boost. (Helping is totally ok in the noncompetitive heats.
3. Z wall
Next came the Z wall which is a zig zag shaped walls with hand and footholds made of 2x4s. My vibram fivefinger shoes made this a lot easier than my running shoes would have! I could really feel and grip the footholds and I made it all the way across. Woohoo!
4. Low crawl
We headed over to the low crawl area where they had strung up bungie cords for us to crawl under. I was really glad that this was not a barbed wire crawl because crawling that low was harder than I thought it would be! I was also super grateful not to run into any ants on this obstacle!
5. Monkey bars
Then came the monkey bars. I have never in my life been able to do monkey bars but I had been working on my grip strength all summer so I wanted to try. The first and second bars were super far apart and I couldn't even reach to the second bar so I earned my first set of burpees.
6. Low crawl 2I picked up quite a bit more dirt on the second low crawl. If I do another Spartan, I'm definitely putting crawling exercises on my plan!
7. Pipe lair
Next was the pipe lair which I was really excited about. Since I'm pretty short, it was a breeze to climb through the lair. This was definitely the most fun obstacle for me. It was like getting to play on an oversized playground.
8. Slam balls
Then we moved onto the slam ball station for 15 slams each. They definitely took a bit out of me but were totally do able. I think the ladies slam balls were 20lbs each.
9. Sandbag carry
The sandbag carry was the obstacle I was looking forward to the most. Will had gotten a sandbag from a Spartan training class he did earlier in the year and I had been practicing carrying it around the neighborhood. My neighbors probably think I'm weird now but I aced the sandbag carry. You can't tell from the map, but the carry path was in the shape of the Spartan helmet.
10. Atlas carryI was not looking forward to the Atlas carry but they recently took the 5 burpees out of the carry which helped out a lot. We also had weighted rubber balls (like giant slam balls) instead of the traditional stones. The first time I went to pick up the 70lb ball, I could tell I was using my back too much and I stopped immediately. Thankfully, the volunteer saw I was struggled and showed me how to safely pick up the ball. I was nervous about my ability to carry the weight but I made it to the turn around point and back without dropping it.
11. Overwalls 2
Our group started doing more walking at this point. The heat and the strength work was really taking it out of me and I was glad for the slower pace. The Spartan races are all timed but it's really hard to compare one to the other since terrain and obstacles always change. So we didn't worry about our time. Then we hit another set of short overwalls which we all successfully completed.
12. Multi rig
A bit after the overwalls was the multi rig. There can be a variety of different kinds of hand holds on a multi rig but this one was all rings. The rings were actually pretty grippy but I fell off on the second ring and earned another set of burpees. I definitely need to keep working on my grip strength!
Once a wall hits 7', there is an option step that the ladies can choose to use. I tried using the step but I still needed a boost. Once on top of the wall though, I had a moment of panic as to how I was going to get down! In the end, the only way to get off of the wall is to jump so I did. It hurt my feet a bit to land that hard in the dirt but I managed not to injure myself.
14. Jerry can carry
We then came upon another carry through a set of horse stalls. They had inflatable weights filled with water for us to carry-two for the men and one for the women. While I appreciated carrying half the weight, it was really awkward to carry just one jerry can. I ended up ignoring the handle and just carrying it like a ball in front of my stomach. It would have been much easier to do this farmer carry style if they had also had two smaller weights for the ladies.
15. Spear throw
Ah, the spear throw, the bane of everyone's race! Every person on our team missed the spear throw. It was something I had zero opportunity to train for plus we were all tired by this point. My spear made it a comically short way towards the target. Burpees all around!
16. Box jumps
The box jumps were another Crossfit style obstacle at this race. Like slam balls, I hadn't done any in a while but I managed to do my 15 without any trouble. This was a great obstacle to take a bit of a breather between jumps and while waiting for everyone to finish.
17. A-Frame cargo
I was also excited that there was a cargo net obstacle in this race. It sounded so fun! I managed to scale to the top pretty easily but climbing over the top to start the descent was a bit unnerving. Once I actually started down and felt more firm in my footing, I was totally fine. And it did end up being very fun.
18. Hercules hoist
Up next was the Hercules hoist which meant pulling a sandbag up to the top of a pully and then bringing it down slowly. I managed to pull the bag about half way up but then got really tired. My arms had already been through a lot that day! I tried for a bit longer but then decided to just lower the bag and do my burpees. If I had waited for Will, he could have given me some more technique tips and I might have been able to make it but live and learn.
19. Rope ClimbThe rope climb was immediately after the hoist and was another obstacle I had no way to practice for. Since I was lacking in both the upper body strength and technique plus my hands were tired from the hoist. I skipped this obstacle. We did have two team members make it to the top!
20 Weighted burpees
If we hadn't done enough burpees thus far, there were weighted burpees waiting for us at the end. We each had a weighted cylinder about the size of a foam roller that we had to lift over our heads for the standing portion of the burpee. For the ladies, it was 35 lbs. Like the rest of my burpees on course, I did sprawls (since it's really hard to do a burpee if you can't do a pushup) and it was rough. Definitely not a favorite!
21. Gauntlet
Last was running through the gauntlet! I was a bit nervous about breaking my glasses if I took one of the swinging bags in the face so I ran with my arms crossed in front of my face. I was a bit sad that there wasn't a fire to jump over at the end but the gauntlet was still a fun way to finish the race.
Right out of the gauntlet was the finish line where I got my medal! Woohoo! There was a nice spot to grab a photo before it was onto hydration and snacks. They had three beverage options-water, a Fitaid recovery beverage (which I knew I didn't like) and a Body Armor electrolyte beverage made from coconut water. Then there were bananas and granola bars. I usually bring post race nutrition with me to nonDisney races since I have been to races where I couldn't eat anything offered by the race so thankfully there were bananas!
Overall, I had a really fun time and I think the rest of the team did too. I am thinking about doing another sprint in December. While I did fail quite a few of the obstacles, I had a lot of fun and I definitely increase my upper body strength during my summer training period. I'm not sure how I would do with the intense strength training during my heavy running season but I'm open to doing more! If they do another race here next year, I would recommend it as a great beginner race.
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