One of the reasons I got into doing different events was solely as a way to test how my own training was going. If you ever want to see how useful your training plan is then sign up for an event, any event, and see what kind of result you get. If the result is favorable then you’ve done well, but if not then it’s time to go back to the drawing board and reconfigure your training.

For many testing the effectiveness of their workouts is an uncomfortable position to be in because they have a lot invested in a particular style of training or the use of a specific tool. I can’t even count how many conversations I have had with people along the lines of, “Well, I didn’t have the best race, but if I just go back and do exactly the same thing that led to my poor performance this time, then I’m sure I’ll have a better result next time.” Madness.

Using a Spartan Race (and myself) as an example, let’s look to see what can be changed from my last race to ensure better performance next time around:

Factor #1: Overall Run Fitness

When you reduce an obstacle course race to its core elements, they are still running races. That means you need to run. While I had a decent running base courtesy of Ironman in March, I hadn’t actually spent near enough time running as I would have liked. When you add in that instead of performing my normal weekend long run, I was spending time making sure my clients entering the race were doing theirs I had nowhere near enough running in my legs.

People make the mistake of looking at the distances and number of obstacles in these races and saying something like, “Oh, 14km and twenty obstacles. That’s only 700m of running at a time.” Well, maybe. But in the 14km race I did recently there were some long stretches of running unbroken by any obstacles, and many of these stretches were uphill. I know many of my clients were starting to go dead in the legs in the final third of the race.

The basic formula for an event like this, based on a formula I found works well for triathlon, is that you need the amount of running for the race times a factor of 2.8 in your training week. So a 14km race means we need roughly 40km of running in training. This then gets broken into sevenths. I’ll explain:

We are going to use four runs per week. Two of these runs account for a seventh each of the total distance for the week. We will have a medium run, which accounts for two sevenths. And a long run that accounts for three sevenths.

So in our 40km plan that means we’ll have:

• 2 x 5.5-6km runs
• 1 x 11-11.5km run
• 1 x 17-18km run

Our plan would go something like this:

• Monday – off running
• Tuesday – short run of 5.5-6km
• Wednesday – off running
• Thursday – 11km run
• Friday – off running
• Saturday – 6km run
• Sunday – 18km run

One of the things about Spartan is that they use the terrain as another obstacle. The only difference is you don’t deal with it once and then leave it behind – it’s with you all the way to the finish. With that in mind, I would add more hill running into the mix with the above run template. I know many would go nuts about speed work and track intervals, but my feeling on speed work is that it’s like the icing on the cake. The problem is most people don’t have any cake, which in this case is a big enough aerobic base, to make the icing (speed work) worthwhile. Always go for the cake in training, not the icing.

Factor #2: Tackling Obstacles

One of the drawbacks to obstacle course racing is that at times there can be a bit of a wait for obstacles. I have to say that I thought the Spartan organizers did a great job and I can’t actually remember a time when I wished people would just get out of the way and hurry up except for when crawling under barbed wire. Crawling low isn’t easy for many. The thing that slows them down is being really tight through the abductors, which means their butt sticks way up in the air and they get snagged. The solution is easy – spend time stretching doing frog stretches, can openers, and Cossacks. Then just spend time crawling.

I know many people worry the most about the rope climb but the reality is rope climbing is easy and there are other obstacles that require more focus than that. The monkey bars seem to give a lot of women problems. The other main problem area was the higher walls that require a lot of upper body strength to get over. The solution to both of these is the same – more pull ups. Developing both pulling and grip strength will go a long way to helping people power over obstacles, as well as making other obstacles like carries, drags, and rope climbs easier.

Factor #3: Strength Training

One of the things about endurance racing is that any extra body weight quickly adds up. Even a couple of kilos of extra weight can mean having to deal with as much as 50,400kg extra on even a 7km course. (2kg x 3 as force per step x 1200 steps per km x 7km). So while you want to minimize body fat you also want to minimize body weight too. This means you need to be careful that your strength work doesn’t add too much muscle to your frame. Looking at the top obstacle course racers you’d be forgiven for thinking they are runners who got a bit big, but they are still far less bulky than your average CrossFitter.

The best way to accomplish as much strength as possible, while being as lean as possible is with a low frequency, low volume strength plan. Barry Ross has some great ideas on this and his plan for speedster Alyson Felix is KISS simple – 2 sets of deadlifts, followed by plyometrics, and a set of plyometric push ups.

I think for a pure runner that is a great start, however obstacle course racers will need a little more muscle than that, so we can add in a few sets of low rep pull ups too. At this point people will think they need to go all crazy and start busting out the WODs to get ready. But remember, it’s still a running race and if you have more energy, then add running to your schedule, not strength work. Given most obstacles are over in a short time frame – less than ten seconds for the vast majority – you don’t need much anaerobic WOD-type work, and given gains in that area come within four to six weeks I would wait until just prior to your race before instituting it.

Perform, Assess, Adapt

Performance, or improving it, is really simple. You make an educated guess as to what is needed for your event. You stick to that plan and see what happens. At the finish line you’ll know what worked and what didn’t. Insanity would be keeping the same training plan for the next event that led to a poor showing in the last event. My personal plan is to decrease some of my other points of focus, such as swimming and riding, and spend more time running before my next race. One of the good things about being in Australia versus the United States is that there is actually a decent gap between obstacle course events, so you have a long time to really get into the new plan. Having said that, it’s also a negative given that if the plan doesn’t work so well you’ll have dedicated considerable time to it before realizing it doesn’t deliver.

Don’t feel beholden to one plan, method, or system. Use what works and discard what doesn’t. Use the racing to assess your methodology. The final piece of advice is to not listen to what the couch dwellers tell you, either. The number one way to get messed up before an event is to listen to all the advice friends who don’t know anything about your endeavor will try to tell you. Trust yourself and what your race results tell you, and make a plan that fits.

Photos 1&2 by Senior Airman Jeremy Bowcock [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo 3 by Edwin Martinez from The Bronx (Spartan 2 336) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

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So you hit the sign-up button for an obstacle course race, but don’t know where to start? I hope the four-week plan I’ll be sharing here at Breaking Muscle gives you some help in getting ready for your event. But first, some information.

So you hit the sign-up button for an obstacle course race, but don’t know where to start? I hope the four-week plan I’ll be sharing here at Breaking Muscle gives you some help in getting ready for your event. But first, some information.

I’ve had to make some assumptions in my plan:

• Firstly, that you’re already running. These events are running events with obstacles, so if you’re not already in shape to run then you’re going to get a rude shock when you need to run anywhere from 5km to 21km on race day.
• Secondly, that you’ve already got a decent strength base. The focus in these last four weeks is on strength, power, and endurance. It’s assumed that you are already at a reasonable strength level. For instance, that you can perform sets of handstand push ups and pull ups, and that push ups are no trouble for you.

The plan is four days per week, with three of the days being double, split with extra running later in the day. It’s also imperative that you have a long run every weekend.

I’d suggest that if your event is up to 10km long that this long run should be around two hours, and that if your event goes to 21km then you will need more like three hours on these weekend runs. These extra long runs are not written in the plan but don’t neglect them, as they are the cornerstones of distance running.

Here is what the last four weeks should look like with regards to the long run:

• 4 weeks out – three hours
• 3 weeks out – two and a half hours
• 2 weeks out – two hours
• 1 week out – one hour

Most of the exercises are self-explanatory, but a few may leave you scratching your head. Here are the explanations for the few uncommon ones:

• Overhead face-the-wall squats – Stand facing a wall, toes right against the wall, feet straight ahead, with a reasonably narrow stance. Place hands against the wall with arms stretched out overhead. Squat as low as possible, keeping arms straight and hands the same distance apart (as if locked in place by a bar). Don’t turn your head to the side to try to get extra movement. Most of you will feel this in your mid back and many will barely be able to move more than a few inches. Keep at it as you need to get rid of that stiffness.
• Sled pull – This is done with a long rope attached to the sled and you pulling the sled hand over hand, as you would if you were climbing a rope without your legs. This is an excellent grip and arm strength builder to help you with actual rope climbing, while placing less stress on the elbow joints. The sled can have more or less weight added to it to change difficulty too making it a good starting point for getting people ready for rope climbing.
• Lateral apes – Crouch on the ground with both hands and feet on the ground. Place hands far out to one side and then hop sideways towards them. Make sure hips stay down – apes don’t move with their butts up in the air.
• Shrimp walk – Stand on one foot and grab the other ankle behind you with the same side hand. Bend forward and touch the ground. As you come up step forward with the foot you were holding and repeat the process with the other side. This is an excellent quad stretch as well as stability exercise.

The day three circuit is a mix between bodyweight and kettlebell exercises. All of the kettlebell exercises are designed to work your grip so that it is developed for monkey bars and rope climbing. If you need to substitute these exercises make sure to still include plenty of grip work in your training.

The majority of upper body strength work is done with body weight. The reason is simple – these races involve needing to move your body weight in all manner of ways so getting strong at it is vital.

Also, using heavy bars tends to make you hold onto body weight and unnecessary muscle mass is the enemy when it comes to fast running. The goal here is to be as light yet powerful as possible and body weight fits the bill perfectly here. If you can’t do handstand push ups, then use another variation of push ups or dips that limits you to only a few reps.

In week four there is an overall decrease in the amount of work being done. That is to allow you to freshen up so you can have the best race possible. Don’t freak out and do a normal length workout just because you’re feeling good – you’re supposed to be feeling good, but save it for race day.

Finally, on rope climbing – there is a definite art to it. The following video is good, although ignore the second half as it’s just set up to sell products (why do people need to fill instructional videos with sales pitches?)

In my experience this is the easiest way to get up and down a rope while sparing your energy as much as possible. You may want to wear long socks when you first do this, as you’ll probably get some rope burn when you start.

Work hard, eat well, and sleep a lot. In four weeks you’ll be Spartan ready AROO!

Spartan Race photos courtesy of Crs9740 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

The post Free 4-Week Training Plan to Get You Spartan Race Ready appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Athlete Journal: Andrew Read – Spartan Race Training, Entry 2

One of my endurance heroes, Chris McCormack, has a saying about embracing the suck. Basically, you just need to dig in and get the job done. And that’s where I’m at now. After Ironman I took a few weeks off running and let my Achilles problems settle down. Things were looking good when I signed up for this Beast and Ultra Beast double – I’d had a few runs and was pain free. These runs were all short. I’d do a short 2km warm up then run a bunch of intervals at better than race pace, then cool down and be done. The short distances of the intervals and decent rests were allowing me to run and not flair up the injury again.

But, feeling good I went out the door for my first unbroken run since Ironman, and 5km later I was sore again. It hasn’t been all bad because I’m learning so much about the nature of Achilles inflammation it’s bordering on ridiculous. For starters, there are two kinds of Achilles problems – tendon issues or problems with the sheath the tendon runs through. Both need to be treated differently, so step one is getting that diagnosed.

From that point what I’ve found out is that my particular issue is not inflammation at all, just some kind of weird feedback loop that makes me think my Achilles is inflamed. The treatment in my case is counterintuitive to what you’d think. I need to work the hell out of my calves to take the strain off the tendon. So rather than lay off them and take it easy I am doing daily calf work as well as stability training standing on one leg, which is more calf training. The therapists I’m working with, who are world leaders in these cases, have told me that as long as my pain isn’t getting worse then I’m clear to keep running too, so that’s good.

Interestingly on my way to the United States for my current training trip I bought a book called The Cool Impossible by Eric Orton, who coached the author of Born to Run from a never-was runner to an ultra-running stud after years of pain. The basis of his system is that we need to get stronger to run and it centers on some static calf work done on slant boards and stability discs. So I added them into my daily routine along with the calf work I was already doing.

The focus of this trip has been attending training courses. I’ve been to Dragon Door’s Progressive Calisthenics Certification and I’m attending Gym Jones’ Fundamentals course this weekend. The PCC course was fantastic. The high-powered strength movements shown can easily replace weight training without adding weight to my frame. I’m already on the big side as far as distance running goes so my weight is always at the front of my mind. The work with Gym Jones is proving useful just in terms of my mindset. The main focus has been on deliberately doing sessions designed to make me quit. That’s exactly as bad as it sounds, but at some point during an ultra endurance event things will go bad and you’ll want to just chuck it all in. Learning to hang tough in the gym has a great carryover to all sports, but particularly to events where embracing the suck is so vital.

One of the things that has really stood out for me on this trip is how easy it really is to stay in shape while traveling. Between my TP Therapy Calf Roller, my dog ball and my new Mobility WOD toys from Rogue (the Gemini and the Super Nova) I’ve got all I need to help me stay supple. On top of that I bridge, Brettzel, and stretch every day. I’ve also been able to get in eight training session in fourteen days, along with three runs – two treadmill and one on the beach at Santa Monica – and all this while still keeping my deadlines and working remotely.

I hit a GNC as soon as I could on this trip and bought some protein powder and a shaker. (And what the hell is up with GNC prices? Holy cow are they ridiculous.) Between that, some fruit daily, and some almonds I bought, my diet has been the best it’s ever been on a trip to the U.S., because finding good food here is difficult. I have had a few burgers since being here – because Americans really get how to make some tasty burgers – but mostly I’ve been able to eat well thanks to some planning.

So I’m going to keep embracing the suck this week and get in a few more sessions with Gym Jones plus a couple of recovery runs on a treadmill. Hopefully a few more weeks of running on the soft surface of a treadmill and doing my rehab work will clear up the Achilles issues. Until then it’s just grit my teeth and keep doing what I’ve been told to do.

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Athlete Journal: Andrew Read – Spartan Race Training, Entry 1

Ironman was a great experience. I can honestly say that I enjoyed every minute of the day and never once felt like I wasn’t going to make it. What that really means is that I need to get a lot fitter so I can put myself under more pressure the next time.

Part of the plan entails becoming a better runner. Much better. With only four months of uninterrupted running leading up to the race I never was going to have enough miles in my legs to deal with a marathon after riding 180km.

To help fix this I’ve gone all crash test dummy again and decided that the best way to address this is to run more. So I entered a marathon. The only thing is that it’s not exactly a normal marathon. It’s a Spartan Ultra Beast – a 42km obstacle course race. To really make sure I get stuck into running I’m warming up the day before with the Beast race – a 21km race. That’ll be 63km of running and obstacles over a two-day period. That should take care of that.

The problem is that these obstacle races are really quite new still and finding solid information on training for them is quite difficult. Finding information on this kamikaze approach to them is even harder.

After Ironman the first thing I did was take some time off. I went for a swim the next day, but not really to swim. I put my fins on and cruised a very easy 500m. Cold water has a great anti-inflammatory effect and that combined with my trusty 2XU compression gear and a massage on the Wednesday meant I was pain free when I woke up Thursday. That’s not bad for an old fella.

The only thing that was still nagging was my Achilles pain. Taking time off running has helped enormously and the pain has largely subsided. However with just a few very short runs it has returned a little. I’m determined to nip this in the bud and am actually off to see a foot/lower leg specialist later today to see if we can actually find a treatment strategy beyond avoiding running.

The rest of my training has been going well. I’ve been focusing on bodyweight work, in particular that old favorite fitness buzzword, my core. The core is clearly important for running – being able to maintain a neutral spine for a long period of time is essential as without it you are putting yourself at risk every single step. Incidentally, I think this is a huge area of neglect for ultra endurance athletes as going from the hunched position of riding after the swim, where extra strain is placed on the back from sighting, to running makes me realize why so many endurance athletes have bad backs.

With most of my training sessions focusing on various gymnastics skills nearly my entire training ends up being either a variation of a plank or hollow position. My training weeks therefore consist of about eight hours of core work along with all the rest of the work I am doing. I have three base exercises that get done daily, in a grease the groove fashion – single leg deadlifts, ring dips and pull-ups. On top of these are handstands, various kettlebell exercises, sled work and other leg assistance work.

Each session begins with fifteen to twenty minutes of Primal Move drills, focusing on crawling and rolling. I then do about thirty minutes of stretching before doing all my strength work. My second session of the day is some form of cardio training. This is often something like sets of ten of double kettlebell ballistics like the snatch or clean along with sled sprints. For the first time in years I’ve been doing burpees too. I alternate these sessions with form-based runs.

The basic plan is to be strong and fit, but not actually stick to any super set plan when it comes to the conditioning element. Like with Ironman my plan is to be as light as I can be. The main difference is that I need more strength for the Spartan Beast as there weren’t too many rope climbs in the middle of Ironman.

At this point I can see my athletic best swiftly disappearing in the mirror as I speed into the second half of my life. Having done Ironman I know I can complete all these events barring injury and I want to make sure when I hang my boots up for good that I feel like I’ve satisfied my inner crash test dummy. There’s lots of training sessions lined up with Gym Jones, the Spartan coaching team, and even some surprises back home, so stick around.

The post Athlete Journal: Andrew Read – Spartan Race Training, Entry 1 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The two additional Andrew-related reasons I now have to visit Australia are: 1) When I told him my personality tends toward the, um, sarcastic, and that my way of showing affection is to pretty much dump on the people I love, he told me, “Well, that just means you’re an honorary Australian.” 2) Perhaps I’d have the opportunity to get some instruction directly from Andrew, in which case the experience could be developed into a coaching article titled How to Show Patience Toward a Mouthy Yank with an Immature Squat.

I had the opportunity to chat with Andrew as he prepares for the Spartan Ultra Beast Race. This is an event described on its website as a “race against the clock as you climb ropes, throw spears, balance beams, jump fire, and traverse walls,” against the backdrop of rugged natural surroundings. I commented to Andrew that such an event sounded exactly like the kind of “go all day, outrun a zombie, live in an apocalyptic wasteland kind of fitness” he likes to pursue, as noted in his Breaking Muscle profile.

He agreed, and in describing his attraction to the event, he hypothesized that there is something primal about participating in group-based, multi-hour aerobic challenges because they both test our physical capabilities and uplift us internally. Andrew will certainly be uplifted if he sticks to his plan, which is to complete the “beast” (21km) and “ultra beast” (42km) versions of the race in Sydney on two consecutive days in November. He also likes the race aspect, as it enables him to measure improvements in performance.

Andrew’s ongoing preparation includes upcoming visits to Gym Jones in Salt Lake City, UT, known for their strength and endurance training. His goal in traveling there is twofold: to prepare for the race in November and to complete the Spartan Race’s coaching certification. The former is necessary for obvious reasons, and the latter will help him learn more about the Spartan events and how best to prepare himself and his clients for them.

The philosophy of the race is consistent with Andrew’s own return to simpler modes of training, and the personality of his own gym. The race reflects an ethos of humility and simplicity, a minimizing of equipment, and a reconnection with nature. Andrew cited as an example of this mindset the frequent refrain of trainer and author Dan John that we should all get outside. While we can get a good workout in a gym, there is no substitute for the rejuvenating powers of challenging ourselves physically in the outdoors.

And if that doesn’t convince you, maybe the possibility of seeing a wallaby will, as Andrew did during a recent race. Of course this is more likely to happen in Australia, but if you don’t see a wallaby, maybe you’ll see a capybara, a pronghorn, or even a yeti. (Unlikely? Maybe. But certain not to happen if you don’t get out there.) This point about connecting with nature really hit home with me, given that when Andrew asked me to recall the last time I had worked out outside, I had to admit I could not remember. I’ll have to fix this.

Though Andrew has been in the fitness field long enough to see numerous trends come and go, he cited fundamental and enduring needs in the domain of human performance: flexibility and range of motion, strength, and aerobic conditioning. For instance, if we can’t move well (e.g., we cannot touch our toes), our movement is by definition restricted. If we are not strong, we miss out on the myriad benefits of having strength.

Andrew also cited the importance of functional, compound movements rather than a focus on isolated muscle groups and body parts. We must be able to coordinate all of our moving parts to perform together, and isolated training does not accomplish this. Ultimately, most people need to learn to balance these fundamental needs of flexibility and range of motion, strength, and aerobic conditioning with appropriate proportions of work and recovery as well as a strong nutrition plan. This is true for everyone, but becomes more and more vital as we age. Andrew observed that the best thing for older adults would be to play the way six-year-olds do: running, jumping, learning to move while coordinating multiple muscle groups, and playing chasey (what we Americans call “tag.”).

Once Andrew has finished using these tactics in the race, he will go back to his normal training with little fanfare – nary even a cheat meal – probably until it’s time to prepare for the next challenge. If I play my cards right, like calling him some names so he knows I am his friend (and maybe even an Aussie who somehow got lost in the wilds of New Jersey decades ago), I’ll get to interview him then too. Meanwhile, I’m sure the whole Breaking Muscle family joins me in wishing Andrew the best of luck at the Spartan Ultra Beast Race. Is this Sparta? We will know soon enough.

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