2/3 of three Spartan Races complete.
After the Sprint in PA I was well aware of three things:
1- I need to work on my hill and trail running
2- I need to work on upper body strength
3- Technicque is half the battle on the spartan obstacles
So #TeamKASA went to it... tons of trails combined with trail and road races.
Every 2nd day arms and shoulders weights.
Suffice to say it paid off massively.
PA race was 5mil and I averaged 26min mile on the mountain. Total time 2:10
PA Super: 11miles and I averaged 19min mile on the mountain. Total time 3:30
That's a 27% increase in speed.
Also, ZERO burpees. That was huge for me. Last race I failed on: monkey bars, 10' walls, traverse wall, spear throw... and something else... = 150 burpees.
This race succeeded wildly at all of those obstacles. When I got the 10' foot walls about 3/4 through the race there were a group of people standing around trying to figure out the best plan. I walked up with no momentum, jumped, grabbed the top and just pulled myself up. Then did the next one the same.
That meant a lot to me and showed the training.
Same for the traverse wall and the monkey bars. I refused to accept failure.
It was a brutal course but fun too... 20ft cliff jump into water... tons of swimming.
Lots of trails too and I FLEW on then, passing dozens of people walking. I ran EVERY spot where I wasn't climbing for the whole race and felt great. Having the camelbak was an absolute godsend for sure. Just being able to sip regularly really held cramps off and people were dropping like flies the last 3 miles because of that issue. Also ate 2 gel packs at the hour marks. Maintaining constant fluids was key. It was 88F.
The big gains were because of the better specialized training for sure and improved strength.
Also the mental game. PA was really just shocking at points and I had no point of reference or experience to deal with climbing black diamonds multiple times and the mental game that plays with your head.
This race I knew was I was dealing with and I employed a very specific strategy on the hills: 75 steps, head down, rest 10 second. Repeat. No more long looks up at the seemingly endless hills and not pushing to 100 steps. 75 was just right to maintain a HR in a range that I could keep that pace for a mile at a time. I gained massive ground on people with this strategy.
When I got to the pancake carry I was really relieved. It was long, but not nearly as steep as PA... so I flew up and down while others struggled. Pancake on right shoulder, held onto with left hand crossing my chest. (I saw Hobie to it this way) and it was better. Back of the neck on the downhill.
Tires was even easier this time with my extra strength. Piece of cake.
Made the spear and took off before it could fall.
The barbed wire was UP HILL!!! and I was only slowed down by people in front of me who were still crawling. I couldn't roll with pace because of the incline, but the one-arm push rolls were awesome. all the plank work paid off for sure. I lost some time because I had to take my camelbak off... so run back to the beginning to get it when I was done. No biggie.
Traverse wall. I stepped on a peg and didn't like the feel or layout of the wall. Stepped off and found an open wall that looked and felt better. Not rushing pays off. Strategically I stayed as tight as I could.. and with my lead leg, almost did the splits to always reach two pegs ahead so I always had a free step. Long legs help and this did the trick. Mostly it was my willpower and grip as well. Felt so great when I run that bell.
Mental game; my best asset this time. I knew I would do it and employed good hill strategy. I even walked off the starting line for a minute just to let the morons run ahead. I passed them all later. Ha! It's so easy to get caught up in the excitement and the race was WAY too long to do that.
Was so grateful to have some trails and I felt unstoppable on them, flying... thanks to Mt. Joy, Cuckoo run and #TeamKASA!
During the race I reflected on the PA Sprint and remembered where I left time other than obstacles: sometimes allowing myself to walk on flat sections... not this time. I gained every second I could, even if it wasn't fast on uphill trails.
I was really proud of myself a the end. I didn't feel that way in PA... that was mostly relief. Now I know I can do any race, and I've already registered for the trifecta: The BEAST in Texas in December. I can't wait to get that green medal and make it to the wall of champions for calendar year trifecta.
There is simply no other race or training that will test you like these races. It tested all aspects of me and was unbelievably rewarding. Hopefully we'll have even more KASA members in them next year!
Pics to come as soon as they are posted.
PS... the brooks trail shoes were AWESOME... ok, swiming in shoes blows but they dropped the water pretty quickly.
No comments:
Post a Comment