The TriState Super Spartan Race in New Jersey on September 8, 2013
You’ll Know At The Finish Line
These words could not be more true and if you had asked me prior to my first Spartan Race on Sunday if I would feel that way I’d have said “no way, it’s just an obstacle course.” My mind has been changed, my body had been challenged. In a little under 3 hours I did to my body what I wasn’t sure I could do. I had been training for months in the gym doing weight lifting and adding more cardio each week as I got closer and closer to the race weekend. I knew that the obstacles would be tough, but I was pretty confident that I could handle those since most of my training since December has been on strength. I was actually very excited to put that to use and see how much I really did grow and gain in strength since I started to lift heavier. Cardio for me was my biggest fear since I did very little of it for the beginning half of the year. I was told to increase the cardio and to start adding lots of high incline exercise to my gym visits and boy did that pay off! The TriState Super Spartan did not disappoint in either the strength or endurance challenges.
Ever since I have been young I have been overly competitive. Whether it was a track and field meet, a cheerleading competition, a spelling bee – you name it I had to try to be first or win all the time. Maybe that’s the downfall of being an Aries (fire sign) we can’t seem to handle defeat or failure. The Super Spartan was 8.2 miles of uphill and downhill mountain terrain at Mt. Vernon’s Mountain Creek ski slopes. There were 20 obstacles. Our heat started at noon and we had gotten there about an hour ahead of time to register, sigh our waivers, get our gear on and then stretch and prepare. We had a team of about 80 people and a group of about 15 from my company. We had all been prepping and getting excited for week’s leading up to the event so together we were ready to dominate the course.
Everyone receives a bib # with bib to put on your shirt, a headband with your bib #, a time clock bracelet that monitors your time and also helps to keep track of photos they take of you throughout the course.
What did I wear for the Spartan Race?
- New Balance cross training shoes that I didn’t care if I destroyed (I wound up throwing them out after)
- Knee High dry fit compression socks
- Dry fit running shorts with attached spandex shorts underneath
- Dry Fit Sports bra
- Wife beater/tank top in black (form fitting so it didn’t catch on anything or hang)
- Headband to keep hair out of my eyes (I also wore the bib # headband too)
- Sunscreen since you are out in the sun all day
- A water bottle to take with me along the course (thank god I did, there were only 4 water stations)
What I learned during my first Super Spartan Race
1. If you want to break ahead of the pack you have to do it early. If you go slow and steady in the beginning it’s very hard to catch up and pass people. I spent the first 2 minutes killing myself up the big hill (HUGE HILL!) but it gave us a good 15 minutes ahead of a lot of our group in the end.
2. Don’t be afraid to take a break to catch your breathe. We would do this every once in awhile just to stretch our legs and get back on track. It was hard to do on the hills but was needed.
3. Bring a water bottle with you along the race. Even if it gets annoying you can always toss it away, but for me I had to keep hydrating because I get dizzy in the heat. It was great to fill up at the water stations and then drench myself with cold water when needed. During the race I tucked it in my sports bra or held it in my hand. You can also toss it over walls to your partners or roll it around obstacles.
4. bring a protein bar or some energy gels, chews with you for halfway through. They don’t supply any food along the race route and it really does help boost your energy 2 hours in.
5. Wear knee pads – I didn’t do this but next time I would. During the mud crawl area you really are crawling on rocks and sticks and I cut my knees up pretty bad there. I had wished my socks were over the knee.
6. If you are afraid of heights or a certain obstacle go first out of your group and just get it over with. I was nervous to do the rope climb so I went first so that I didn’t have time to psych myself out. It was much easier that way.
7. Stay with a team of 3-4 people. My team mates were what kept me going. If I didn’t have other people to keep up with I surely wouldn’t have went as fast as I did or run as much as I did. They kept me moving the whole time and we really encouraged one another. You’ll also need them for some obstacles.
8. Leave your personal belongings at home. All I took on the course with me was my water bottle and protein bar. I bag checked my phone, a sweatshirt, my ID, some cash and car keys. The less you bring the day of the race the better.
9. Go slow on the downhills. So many people, myself included, fall on these steep hills and if you don’t catch yourself you can get hurt pretty badly.
10. Start drinking BCAA or amino complexes after the race. No matter how good you are you will cramp up. Make sure to put the aminos back into your body.
Now that I have done one race I know what to expect for future ones. I really loved doing this race and can’t wait for the next one! Here is a video of the actual race I did and it shows the obstacles along the way:
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