Chevaughn and I did the Spartan Sprint Race at the Mohegan Sun. We signed up for it late last year when I had yet to devote myself to swimming. Chevaughn has been going to the gym everyday. I have only been going to the pool. I kept hoping she would back out of the race, but no. So I ended up going along.
I do not like doing a race untrained. Last year I was obstacle course fit. This year I am swim fast fit. I told her I would do it, but would walk most of the course. I have a big swim meet tomorrow and need to save some strength for that.
The course was between 4.5 and 5 miles according to various reports. There was not alot of mud. This I think was due to the Mohegan Sun wanting people to gamble afterwards and not track a lot of mud into the building. Parking was free. It was easy to get to. The base was in a parking lot at Mohegan Sun.
I can't remember all the obstacles, so let me go right to the three I failed at.
The rope climb. No surprise here. I can't climb a rope and did nottry to hard for fear of injurying myself for tomorrow.
The one where you pull on a rope to hoist a 80 pound sandbag high into the air. I thought I would be able to do this one, but it was the next to last one and I only got it up half way. I am sure there is more tecnhique to it, but I was too tired to keep at it, so I let it down and took the panalty.
The transverse cross. I have done this successfully at other races, but this one was not very tall, there was not much space between the leg holds and the arm holds, so I would not hug the board, but was left to try to do it with my arms and legs extended out. I fell right away.
The penalty for failing an obstacle is thirty burpees. I did them, and I was pleased they let me do them the slow old man way I do them, walking my legs out and back instead of kicking.
So what did I succeed at -- all the others. I climb very well, and the swimming has also helped my grap and lift myself up over the high wall. I also nailed the javelin throw. Well, not exactly nailed. i almost missed the target but the spear stuck. Good for me.
Some of the other obstacles involved carrying a 90 pound ball, flipping a heavy tire, carrying a heavy sandbag up and down a hill, crawling under barbed wire. The barbed wire cross was on grass which made it way to easy. I buzzed right along just using my upper body to pull my legs along. No hard rocks to cut my legs.
The run parts were a lot of up and down with some beautiful views, much of the run was on wooded trails.
I guess overall, the race was a disappointment. I would have enjoyed it more if I was trained. It did somewhat whet my appetitie to do more. I do like the feeling of climbing up over the high walls.
At the finish, we got protein shakes, a protein bar, a banana and a teeshirt. We didn't stay for the beer
