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.