Best Way to Train For a Race

Are you thinking of doing a race? Perhaps you want to dip your toes into a 5K, or a triathlon, or an OCR. As a personal trainer I get this question a lot: where do I start? How do I train? My answer is unconventional, but it really is the One Simple Trick that will help you more than any other advice you will ever get:

Do a race.

That's it. 

Sign up for something that you think is within your physical capabilities to finish (even just walking), then go do it. If you are able-bodied, you can finish a 5K. Or a Spartan Sprint. (The one exception is: do not do a triathlon if you cannot currently ride a bike or remain afloat. Learn, then do.) It might seem like doing the race is something you should do at the END of your training, but it's not. Do one to get it out of the way, because there is no better way to find out what you should do in your training.

I'll take the OCR example because it's the most complicated. With a road race, you'll either finish or you won't, and you'll learn a little something about pacing yourself regardless. With an OCR, training for it is a big job, or really a big number of small jobs. Grip strength. Brute strength. Power. Agility. Cardio endurance. Muscular endurance. Obstacle proficiency. Harsh terrain. There is no way to prepare yourself for all of these things before you have actually done a single event. You won't know what to train for. So sign up for a sprint distance event, maybe a stadium race if you don't like mud. By the time you finish, you'll know exactly what your strengths and weaknesses are. 

Let's take my first OCR as an example, the Lambeau Field Stadion. I did just enough research about Spartan races to know that burpees were involved, so I had practiced those in the months leading up, but that is it. Showed up and quickly realized a few things about myself.

1) My cardio endurance was predictably good. All the stairs were challenging, but I was not gasping for air or exhausted.

2) I did great on the strength obstacles - carries, hoists, etc.

3) My grip strength was totally nonexistent. I would need to work on this before attempting another OCR. 

4) All skill obstacles (walls, rope climb, spear throw) were way beyond my capability. I had no clue about techniques for any of them.

5) The most important factor was "do I enjoy this activity enough to work at it?" And the answer was a resounding YES. That race was so extremely fun, and my body felt great afterward. 

Those were all things I wouldn't have found out if I hadn't just taken a leap and signed up for this thing I knew little about. So don't try so hard to be wholly prepared for your first event. Pick a short one and go for it. Find out what you need to work on next. Build your OCR house one brick at a time.

Virtual Race Recaps - Spartan and Highlander Assault

With all the "excitement" going on with COVID-19, lots of us are trying to scratch the itch with virtual racing. There are a bunch of options out there but most of them are pretty much the same: cover a distance, do some calisthenics, poof you're done. I've been doing Spartan's virtual races since early April and got two Trifectas in 5 weeks, which I could never do in a non-corona world. I did Highlander Assault's Quarantine 5K Carry a couple days ago and that was also an adventure. Here I will review/recap my experiences with both race types. And I urge you all to do what you can to support the race companies of your choice, as this is a tough time right now. Doing virtual races and/or buying merchandise helps ensure that we will be able to race when the wholly-necessary COVID restrictions let up.

Spartan Virtual

Distances offered: Sprint (5K + 20 obstacles), Super (10K + 25 obstacles), Beast (half marathon + 30 obstacles). They also offer an Ultra (50K + 60 obstacles), but I didn't do that one.

Format: Dealer's choice of how to split up the running and obstacles, but you must complete them all. There are running alternatives such as biking, crawling, jump rope, etc which is nice for people who are/were truly quarantined at home. Obstacles consist mostly of sets of 10 calisthenic exercises (or 10-second isometric holds).

Pros: Virtual races by Spartan are free to participate and get a picture of a medal sent to you. Your time is ranked and shows up in your Athlinks profile. Spartan recently added a paid option to have a t-shirt, trifecta wedge, and sample box sent to you for $29 (can do full trifecta with additional wedge display for $99), plus $8 for shipping. The obstacles require no equipment and are easy to do.

Cons: Are the obstacles TOO easy? A 10-second wall sit, come on. My dead grandmother could do a 10-second wall sit. Also in these kind of things there tends to be way too much triceps work (it's the easiest upper-body muscle group to target with body weight), and this is no exception. We don't need dips, pushups, incline pushups, two kinds of burpees, all in one workout. This is part of the major issue, though, with virtual races in general - you are just not able to get the same experience without actual obstacles. This is why I only did the calisthenics when I did the Beasts. With the Sprints and Supers, I looped around my neighborhood and did my backyard obstacles instead.

Grade: B. It'll do. Glad they're adding the shirts and medals, because they're gonna be limited edition and will be a fun keepsake of the time I had to do tuck jump burpees in a deserted campground.

Highlander Assault Quarantine 5K Carry

Distance offered: 5K

Format: You complete 5K on foot while carrying an object weighing at least 25 lb. Simple, right? I used my 30-lb sandbag and had to switch positions a lot, but it was a good challenge.

Pros: You get a shirt and medal, which are limited edition (the mascot has a gas mask on!). Results will also be posted at the end of the race window. Like Spartan, they verify your time with GPS proof or pictures. Only $25 (about $30 with fees).

Cons: Requires "equipment" (i.e. something that weighs 25 lb, so maybe a particularly docile toddler?). I also wouldn't have minded a 10K option for us crazies.

Grade: A-. It's a straightforward challenge that isn't trying to claim it's a proper obstacle race. You just carry something heavy for a good while. Simple, yet genius.

Obstacle Data Extravaganza!

Since racing is kind of on hold at the moment, I've decided to make myself useful and work on obstacle proficiency this year. The ninja gym is closed, but I've taken this opportunity to enhance my backyard setup and add additional obstacles and training gizmos. In addition to a spear throw station, I can climb over the side of my deck (4' and 10'), work on low crawls on the grass, and use my bucket and sandbags for heavy carries. For grip, I have my thinner monkey bars, plus I have made additional grips in the last several weeks - a horizontal steel bar (like the Super multi-rig), a baseball, a softball, two rings, and four adjustable-height thicker monkey bars. This variety will help me prepare for almost all multi-rig attachments Spartan has, plus obstacles such as Beater and Twister. My next project is to make a bootleg Olympus out of pallets, cheap slabs of flooring (to mimic the new slippery surface), and the standard holds from that obstacle. If I use two pallets, the plan is to make it reversible - one side can be Olympus, the other can be an easier bouldering-type traverse wall which my son or I could both use.

But the main thing I've been doing is thinking. Pondering the obstacles I've cleared and how I've cleared them. Making a plan for how to train for obstacles I haven't cleared, or haven't cleared reliably in the past. To that end, I made a master list of all the races I've done, then gone through and figured out which obstacles in each race I needed assistance on (and why); which I failed (and why); and which I cleared for the first time ever. Such introspection could be very helpful to you guys in your training, so I will post my results here. Turns out there were patterns to my improvement!

Stadion Lambeau 6/2017

Needed assistance: 6’ wall, 7’ wall, 8’ wall (no technique/strength)

Failed: rope climb (no technique/strength), Sprint multi-rig (no grip strength), spear throw (no technique)

Sprint Ohio 6/2018

Needed assistance: 7’ wall

Failed: spear throw (no technique), Twister (no grip strength), rope climb (didn’t attempt), Olympus (no technique/strength)

First time cleared: Sprint multi-rig

Sprint Minnesota 6/2018 DNF (thunderstorms – cancelled at mile 3.5)

Needed assistance: 6’ wall (wet/no technique)

Failed: Olympus (no technique/strength), rope climb (no technique/strength), spear throw

Super Chicago 6/2018

Needed assistance: 7’ wall, 9’ wall, Bender, Stairway to Sparta, hurdles

Failed: monkey bars (got bumped/ran out of gas), Twister (no technique), Z-walls (mud), Olympus (didn’t attempt – mud), rope climb (didn’t attempt – mud), spear throw, Super multi-rig (tired)

First time cleared: 6’ wall (solo)

Stadion Busch 8/2018 2 Laps

Needed assistance: NONE

Failed: Stadion multi-rig both laps (sweaty hands), spear throw both laps, rope climb both laps (no technique)

First time cleared: 7’ wall, 8’ wall

Beast Chicago 9/2018

Needed assistance: 7’ wall, 9’ wall, 8’ wall, Stairway to Sparta

Failed: Olympus (wet/uncertain technique), monkey bars (wet), Super multi-rig (wet), Bender (wet/sandy), Tyro traverse (cramps), rope climb (hands went numb), Twister (wet)

First time cleared: spear throw

Super Chicago 6/2019 DNF (thunderstorms – cancelled at mile 2)

Needed assistance: 6’ wall (mud)

First time cleared: monkey bars

Beast Ohio 6/2019

Needed assistance: Stairway to Sparta Beast mode (no technique), 8’ wall (wet/muddy), vertical cargo 2.0

Failed: Beast multi-rig (failed at rope holds), Twister (got through 1^st of 3 sections, ran out of grip), The Box (no technique), spear throw, rope climb (mud), Tyro traverse (gave up quickly)

First time cleared: Olympus, Bender

Sprint Minnesota 6/2019

Needed assistance: NONE

Failed: spear throw, rope climb (no grip – hands felt too smooth)

Super Fort Carson 7/2019

Needed assistance: The Box

Failed: monkey bars (slipped)

First time cleared: Stairway to Sparta, Twister, rope climb, vertical cargo 2.0, Super multi-rig

Sprint Chicago 10/2019

Needed assistance: NONE

Failed: spear throw

Stadion Wrigley 11/2019 2 Laps

Needed assistance: NONE

Failed: spear throw lap one

FIRST CLEAN STADION lap two

Super Arizona 2/2020

Needed assistance: The Box (almost got it), vertical cargo 2.0 (needed only slight help)

Failed: spear throw, Olympus (new slippery material)

Sprint Arizona 2/2020

Needed assistance: NONE

Failed: NONE

FIRST CLEAN SPRINT

So in this timeline, over the course of nearly three years, I progressed in a fairly predictable way based on seeing my first-time clears especially. The first obstacles I cleared were very basic obstacles that had simple techniques which were easy to learn (tall walls, rings). Eventually I started clearing complex technique obstacles like spear, Olympus, and rope climb. After a solid two years of racing I was able to clear the tougher grip obstacles including Twister. This led to my first clean races, which are short distances and therefore have easier obstacles. I know what I'd need to do to run a clean Super: be able to do the new Olympus. I have to figure out a few more obstacles to run a clean Beast. But since I know what I need to work on, I can formulate a plan!

For additional information, I made a few lists. 

Obstacles I Have Both Failed (or required assistance) AND Cleared – why?

Z-wall – muddy 1x

Twister – poor conditioning/technique 4x (CLEARED: 2x streak)

Monkey Bars – accidental slip 2x, wet 1x (CLEARED: 9x, includes 5x streak)

Multi-rig (Stadion) – sweaty 2x
Multi-rig (Sprint) - poor conditioning/technique 1x (CLEARED: 7x streak)

Multi-rig (Super) – poor conditioning/technique 1x, wet 1x (CLEARED: 2x streak)

Bender – poor conditioning/technique 1x, wet/sandy 1x (CLEARED: 3x streak)

Olympus (Original) – poor conditioning/technique 4x (CLEARED: 2x streak before New Oly)

Vertical Cargo 2.0 – poor conditioning/technique 1x (CLEARED: 2x streak)

6’, 7’, 8’ Wall – poor conditioning/technique until August 2018

Spear Throw – poor technique/error 11x (HIT: 4x)

Rope Climb – poor conditioning/technique 8x, muddy 1x (CLEARED: 6x streak)

Stairway to Sparta (Super) – poor conditioning/technique 1x

Hurdles – muscle pull injury 1x

Obstacles I Have NEVER Failed (That Are Fail-able)

Herc Hoist

Beater

Slip Wall

Tire Flip

Plate Drag

Inverted Wall

Obstacles I Have NEVER Cleared (Solo/Unassisted) – why?

The Box – poor conditioning/technique 3x

Tyro Traverse – poor conditioning/technique 2x

Olympus (New) – poor technique/too slippery 1x

Multi-rig (Beast) – poor conditioning/technique on rope holds 1x

Stairway to Sparta (Beast) - poor conditioning/technique 2x

Obstacles I Have Never Attempted (Not seen yet in my races)

Helix

Irish Tables

With these four lists, things were able to really come into focus. It's important to look at WHY we fail, so that we can either practice in those conditions or minimize those factors whenever possible. But it's also important to recognize our strengths and see which obstacles we don't fail. Many times there are techniques with those obstacles that we can utilize and shore up the weaker ones. I'm awesome at Herc Hoist, so maybe I should use more of a pulling technique on Tyro Traverse rather than trying to climb the underside of the rope like I usually do (and fail). I'm bad at the new Olympus, but maybe I can think about how I've cleared extremely slick slip walls and try to bring that to it. If we use our heads, I think we can come out of this insane 2020 with better obstacle proficiency than ever. And avoid the burpee pits in 2021.