Spartan Race: Super Edition
It is amazing how far I’ve come personally. I started off just doing a Tough Mudder half 2 years ago. This year I have done a race almost every two weeks the past couple of months. I finally got to try my first Spartan at the Spartan Super outside Austin, Texas. There are lots of things to definitely discuss.
A Village of People
One of the things I wanted to mention and really make sure to emphasize (considering this is my first Spartan) was the “Spartan Village.” The Village was MASSIVE. I mean, I thought Tough Mudder’s villages were pretty massive, but Spartan takes the cake. To add to that, the crowds here were huge, and tons of people were just hanging out even after their races were finished. Most times, after a Tough Mudder I just leave, and here I wanted to stay longer but couldn’t due to other obligations (next time, I’ll make sure to not have any other plans if at all possible.) Add to all of this, groups like Lone Star Spartans, who accounted for a lot of the people there as well, and it really felt like a family all just hanging out.
Location is key,
and this key is Reveille Peak Ranch
Location. Location. Location. This is now the second time I’ve run at Reveille Peak Ranch ( https://rprtexas.com/), and it is by far one of my favorite locations to run at so far. The views you see as you’re running through the hills and countryside are just beautiful. I wish I would have taken my phone with me on the run, so I could have snapped some pictures on the course. I love how despite already running at Reveille Peak Ranch once for Green Beret, the course itself felt totally different.
Obstacles: So much to discuss
Now let’s talk about obstacles for a minute. I’ve learned based on Spartan and Toughest, I need to figure out the Rope Climb technique. I’d suggest if you’ve never done a Rope Climb since you’ve been in like High school, to catch up on the trick to being successful.
Grip Strength
On top of that, I highly recommend trying out this exercise (https://ocrbeast.co/gripbuilder101/ .) to help out with grip strength. So far, I’ve started to see improvements and I’ve only just started. For things like Olympus, Multi Rig and Twister, you need to have good grip. I probably could have completed Twister with where I am at, but I figured out the technique for it after I got about a half mile away and did the penalty.
BURPEES – OWWWW
Which leads me to burpees. OWWWW. Burpees are horrible and make it even worse when you have to do them and you’re already spent. I can’t wait to try these again in the future, and NOT have burpees. The only obstacle I would argue with for burpees – is spear throw. Obstacles like that feel more like luck than actual skill (or maybe I’m just reaaaaallly lacking skill, which is highly likely as well.)
People make the race
One other thing to mention, I loved the camaraderie on the course I saw. Between seeing the young gentleman who was out there with family and friends, pushing himself. Between seeing people start running when you gave them words of encouragement and said the simple words, “You got this!” and “Keep it up!” Between seeing people trying to push their limits themselves and pushing others. This was really just an all-around awesome course and attitude I saw.
Goals: It's part of why I do these
I had a personal goal for this race – I figured given my best time at Tough Mudder in Houston, I should have been able to finish this one in under 2 hours 30 minutes. Needless to say, I was able to do that, despite new obstacles I had never done, I was glad I have been doing the kind of training I have been doing and would encourage lots of people to do as much grip strength training as they can. It’s been changing how well I’ve been doing overall at many different races, and this one I could see the difference on despite the failures I had.
Ending Remarks
I really have to say, I was so very impressed with the Spartan race. The staff were awesome, the people and community were amazing. I mean, just thinking of the random people I ran with. Thinking of the Lone Star Spartans community, who basically welcomes anyone and everyone who joins them with welcome arms, brought donuts and water, sunglasses and many other things. The community around these races is just amazing and in their own way. The best part of doing a race out in Burnet, was then grabbing lunch at Bill’s Burgers. Eating that was a great way to end the race day before heading back to reality at home.
