First! Let me just say that I'm very excited about the trolling potential of this thread. ST, don't let me down!

I'll get things rolling...

No matter how many of these you do, you'll still be 5'5"....

No matter what you do you'll still be guilty of thinking a 1:32 is a decent half marathon.

and no matter how hard you try...... you'll still be a dbag

[url=http://postimg.org/image/5qkdcenqh/][/url]

Haha. Nicely done. Seriously though, pull-ups and Spartan races on ST? Come on, dude.

Ever heard of cross training? Winter is 6 months long in MT, I have plenty of time to work on swimming and biking indoors, spartan race breaks up the monotony. Please don't reply unless you have something of value to add.

Cross training, you say? Go and have sex with a woman. It might help you lighten up a bit. You can tell by that photo I don't take myself too seriously at all. I'm thinking you're at the other end of the spectrum. Meet you in the middle?

I'm sure no one takes you seriously with those pencil legs. How about we meet at the gym for leg day?

What qualifies as a decent HM time in your book? 1:32 is usually top 5% at any given HM.

Gotta agree with this. Certainly there's a Spartan Race forum out there somewhere. Wrong crowd to ask this kind of advice for a variety of reasons (right, wrong, or indifferent)... the main reason is most folks on ST think crossfitters and Spartan Racers are d'bags. Pot calling the kettle black but nevertheless the prevailing thoughts here. :-)

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

I never said I did crossfit. Not sure why there's so much hate towards spartan races, maybe after you guys do one you'll change your mind. If asking for running advice on a Triathlon forum is the wrong place then oh well.

I'll chime in by saying you're probably going to get very few productive comments here, take what you can get.

Here's my nugget of advice: Search Matt Navokovich on Facebook and look at his last treadmill test. He set it at 40% and goes for 20 minutes or fail. That's the 'running' you need to do to be Spartan ready. Not a whole lot of regular running in there, get climbing strong.

Look for Spartan groups on Facebook , lots of good information there

Just know that 8 mile Spartan races means 8-10 miles

Watch YouTube videos and learn as much about the obstacles as possible

If you're not racing in the elite division then expect to have to wait in line at some of the obstacles

Burpees in the middle of a race really suck

I think you need to drop your bars a whole lot, your position pretty much makes you a human sail.

This has the makings of an awesome thread :-0

Having said that…..

I think you need to define what your "HIIT" workouts are.

Also doesn't look like you are tapering, IE Biggest week is the week of the race. Last hard set is 36 hours removed from your event (8X400 you could cut in half)

Ditch the 400's for something more specific IE trails at specific grade or longer intervals on specific terrain (Ditch the track and go have fun in the trails) I would suggest longer intervals.

Are you doing intervals on the treadmill? 1-3% is a low grade I would….again ditch that and go have fun on the trails, or ramp up the grade so you are getting something similar to what you will see on race day….not sure but it looks like you are training for a trail/obstacle race on the treadmill and the track.

Rest day before the race….if for logistical or mental reasons an athlete needs or wants a full day off I usually give it 2-3 days away….for mental more than physiological I think athletes need to do something light the day before the race, IE at IM we swim 10 minutes, ride 30 or so to check gearing etc and run 15 after dinner. For Marathon or HM a nice 15 easy am and 15 easy with a few strides Pm works well (my opinion)

I know zero about spartan races….but what is the spread between time running and time doing obstacles etc? From there where are the biggest time savings? Becoming a better runner or better obstacle guy? I have no idea, this leads to some of the other posts IE look up some of those links from the experts.

Maurice

I did a spartan race back in June. (Very fun race. Racing Sacramento again in November). Similar 10k time as you and same with pull-ups. I'm 6'2 and at the time I weighed 190. Honestly some of the strength obstacles are going to be harder then what you are probably expecting. Some of them are very heavy and no joke. I hope you are either signed up for elite or racing early in the morning. The open class is really not very competitive and people are going to be holding you up.

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Team Every Man Jack.

Just how Spartan will it be?

"their chief care was to make them good subjects, and to teach them to endure pain and conquer in battle. To this end, as they grew in years, their discipline was proportionately increased; their heads were close-clipped, they were accustomed to go barefoot, and for the most part to play naked."
Plutarch, Life of Lycurgus

I ran a 1:32 in Indianapolis. Didn't break top 100.

Try Cyclocross for "cross" training. ST will take you more serious.

Yeah, as a ~1:25 HM runner myself. I would put us in the "Good for a person, but not good for a runner" catagory.

Perfect. You can help me beef up, and I'll protect you from Gargamel

I've done 2 spartan races before in the open division so I know what to expect. Being a smaller guy I really had a hard time with the Hercules lift and sand bucket carry but I didn't fail any obstacles. I'm signed up for elite ths time so I dont' have to deal with so many people in the way.

I feel as though every time you mention one of the obstacles by name, you're somehow just making this whole thing worse for yourself.

Thanks for your feed back. My HIIT is a small group class. We do a lot of plyometrics, box jumps, pull ups, battle ropes etc, 45 seconds hard, 15 seconds rest or cardio in between for an hour. Like you and others have said I think I need take those wed and fri runs and convert those to trail running instead. I have lots of good places to run steep, technical trails close to me. So maybe 20min out and turnaround on those days? That will probably be around 6 miles. I'm not to worried about the obstacles I'm strength training for those in my HIIT class and I've done 2 spartan races in the past so I know what I need to do. The running and even speed hiking up the very steep stuff is the hardest.

You're winning this thread so far. If we're keeping score.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Those obstacles are actually called the Hercules Hoist and Bucket Brigade. So it's worse than what he typed.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One