Anyone doing obstacle races?

[hondotbt]

I've decided to try a Spartan race. I'm doing this with my niece and nephew and have started learning about POSE running to avoid the typical injuries that I've experienced with running in the past. I want to just put it out there for any of the other seasoned folks to see if anyone's tried Spartan or GoRuck or ToughMudder..... Just something I want to do now that I'm getting into the best condition of my life. I'm still keeping principal focus on SS, as it's a hell of lot more rewarding to me than running, but, if I don't do anything to improve my running the race will much more likely lead to injury. Any feedback would be most appreciated.

[hollismb]

There's an ongoing thread about this in the Coaches Q&A. Basically, the consensus is that they're stupid. They're not even really races; they're paying to jog/walk from one location to another for the privilege of standing in line for the opportunity to participate in an adult version of something you'd find on a playground, only you get cold, wet, or electrocuted while doing it. You'd be better off going to Disneyland. If you want to complete in something for time or a personal record to see what you're capable of, you'd better off sticking with strictly-running events, where the crowd itself isn't an impediment to your progress (most of the time).

[MBasic]

There's an ongoing thread about this in the Coaches Q&A. Basically, the consensus is that they're stupid.

yes OP, that thread is a great read. esp SSD post . . .and the diarrhea part

[SteveL]

I really like longer trail races say half marathons to 25K races.

[old guy]

don't know about that but thinking about entering one of the wife carrying events.

[hondotbt]

Well, if I'd of read that thread first I might not have signed up, but I did sign up and I'm in it for some bonding time with family. The good news is that it's getting me out running again and I'm still doing keeping SS progression as my primary training, so all good. Once the event is past I will post... for better or for worse.

[Tim Lofton]

Grab your ruck sack and go run the Hardrock Hundred miler. At least it's a timed event and there are cutoff times to make to progress through the race.

[Joe Murphy]

I got them out of my system 30 years ago. I have heard that the GoRuck events, in particular, 'selection,' are pretty good and tough--and different than TM or Spartan runs. I've heard it from friends who have gone through real selection and also got it out of their system. I kinda get the appeal if you haven't been exposed to this type of thing. If you have been through the real deal, I doubt you'll see much appeal, though.

[Ken in VA]

Well, if I'd of read that thread first I might not have signed up, but I did sign up and I'm in it for some bonding time with family. The good news is that it's getting me out running again and I'm still doing keeping SS progression as my primary training, so all good. Once the event is past I will post... for better or for worse.

I am 48, did the same thing you did, my 18 year old gymnast daughter talked me into doing a Spartan. Not just a Spartan, but a super spartan. I had 9 months to get ready so I ran, lifted weights, lost 46 lbs and I still wasn't ready. I was almost the oldest guy there, probably the least physically fit too.

The race I did was at wintergreen ski resort. It was up and down each ski slope, either on the slope on in the woods and creeks next to the ski slope, so we climbed the mountain 8 times if I remember right. Strength wasn't a problem for me, stamina was.

I recommend if you are going to do a longer one in the summer that you get salt tabs and something like cliff shot blocks. My legs cramped up and I was done. Some medical types gave me a bottle of salty water and I was like new instantly. I had noticed the ground was littered with salt packs and glucose packs the previous runners had dropped on the trail. Those people had the right idea. Some cliff's shot blocks would have helped a lot.

Water was another issue. I would take a camel back if I did the super again.

It was an excellent bonding experience to do with family. I would consider doing it again.

It was by far the hardest, physically challenging thing I ever did but it was fun, except for climbing up the black diamond ski slope for over a mile.

[hondotbt]

Last Saturday was the Spartan Sprint that I'd signed up for months ago, one of the absolute best experiences of my life. Ran/walked as a team and felt pretty great to be helping others get over walls that I was able to scale with minimal assistance. All of the strength training helped a lot, but the course was designed such that grip was tested often.... a few changes to come in my training plan, but basic SS is still going the be the root of my strength training. The bonding with my niece and nephew was invaluable, and I'll be doing more of the Spartan races in the future. Thanks to all of the time under the bar I was able to handle the strength obstacles fairly easily. Not too many folks > 30 that I could tell, so it was a pretty good feeling to just be out there doing it. Getting muddy and busting my ass was just plain fun.