I have not posted in a while, mostly because I have not been walking very much. Instead, I am in the initial stages of training for...dun dun DUN...my first-ever obstacle course race! I have chosen a Spartan Stadium Sprint event in late June. No mud, which is a plus. Lots of stairs, which will be a plus once I get in "stair-climbing shape."
So how does a distance walker train for a Spartan race? I have been taking strength training VERY seriously. My goal is to increase my raw strength and power to levels I have not previously seen in myself. I can lift a LOT of weight at the moment, and I want to increase that further. Unfortunately, this is not entirely compatible with staying in half marathon shape, but that will come later. I plan to do the Des Moines Half Marathon again in October, so I will get back to long workouts in July.
Here are my Spartan Secrets:
1) Research. The Spartan race website is extremely secretive about what sorts of obstacles you will encounter, to a pathological and obnoxious degree, so I have been googling race reviews of previous stadium Spartan events to know what to expect. I have found out that rowing machines, stairs, and non-muddy climbing obstacles are very likely.
2) Development. Figure out my weaknesses and pick them off one by one. This will include, for me, grip strength; rowing (I am a great rower but not as great as they expect me to be); upper body strength; stairs; BURPEES (holy shit, the burpees are brutal, and if I can't pass an obstacle I have to do thirty of them); and doing all of this in the heat of a late June afternoon.
3) Burpee Development. It requires its own damn number. Last week I did a total of 60 Spartan burpees during a 40-minute workout (with weights training between every 5 burpees) and I legit almost fainted. I need to be able to do sets of 30, probably a solid 5 times, in late June heat. The level of cardiovascular conditioning this will require is extreme, folks. Also, one thing you may not realize is that many "hit the deck" burpees will fail your biceps pretty quickly. That is the muscle group most responsible for making sure you don't break your nose on the floor.
So wish me luck as I prepare for taking my walking and racing to a whole other level. Eeek. And once the weather finally warms up, I'll be back outside for my 6-mile jogging-stroller loop.
