I have on my bucket list to “run” at least one more Spartan Race. I did one 7 years ago when I was almost 60 and survived it. Now I will be 67 when I “run” this one. I say “run” because in fact I will be walking most of it but when you say race people think you should be running it. Over the next several months I plan to update this blog with my progress to preparing for the race.
What is a Spartan Race?
For those that do not know what a Spartan Race is, I will try to describe what I experienced last time with the hope that it will be the same or at least similar this time.First, a little about the race. I will be doing the Spartan Sprint. OK, I won’t be sprinting but that is the name of this race. A sprint is about 3 to 3 ½ miles long with 20+ obstacles. We will be going up and down several hundred feet in elevation as part of this (see the picture from ocr_captain’s Instagram page, see the hill in the background, we are going up and down that!). Obstacles include things like bucket carry, sandbag carry, rope climb, climbing walls, etc. If you can’t complete an obstacle you are to do “burpees” instead. Sounds like fun, right???
What about the first one?
This is a timed event. On my first one I completed in about the middle of my age group, but I hope to do better this time. There were several obstacles I couldn’t complete last time so I had to do way too many burpees. I will also try to reduce the number of burpees this time.
What is my prep?
One of the first things I need to do is get back down to a weight that I will be able to lug up and down hills. I have added way too much weight over the last 7 years. I thought I could keep it off, but I went back into the same old eating habits. So, I put the same weight back on that I lost ahead of the last race.
So here is my plan:
- Again start recording what I eat – all of it.
- Make sure I am getting at least 10,000 steps every day.
- Add strength exercises to my plan.
So far I have kept the first two. In fact, I have increased the minimum number of steps to 12,000 this week. From previous experience, I know that 12,000 steps daily is my sweet spot – the point where I will trend down in weight. Now, those are the minimum number of steps. I am getting more like 14,000 to 16,000 daily.
Weight has started slowly coming off. I am down around 15 pounds over the last month. Only another 50 pounds to go! The issue is not returning to the old habits and eating like I am still 20 years old.
Next steps:
- Keep recording my weight. The old saying by Peter Drucker is, “You can’t change what you don’t measure?.”
- Start some kind of strength exercises.
- Keep up with my steps.
- Develop a plan to prepare for obstacle training.
Check back to see how I am doing!