I signed up for the Spartan Race!

My first one ever. I’m beyond excited!

The event is for October 2021, and I signed up for the 5km sprint race. Yes, the beginner one, but we all start somewhere, am I right?

A year ago I would have never imagined I’d even consider signing up for it; a lot has changed, and even tough some of the race obstacles look impossible to handle now, there are more than 5 months to October, which means I can train an improve!

For those who might not be familiar with it…

Spartan Race is a series of obstacle races of varying distance and difficulty ranging from 3 miles to marathon distances. They are held in US and have been franchised to 30 countries including Canada, South Korea, Australia and several European countries. (Credits to Wikipedia)

On the race’s website you can have a look at the format, the concept, and understand why the Spartan Race is the global phenomenon that it is today.

In addition to the catchy name, what I love about Spartan Race is how open it is to many levels, and created a global community with the common goal of pushing their limits.

Pushing my limit is exactly what I want to achieve: my goal is to finish this race and complete every damn obstacle, doesn’t matter how long it will take.

With that said, I absolutely can’t wait for it. I know I will have to train hard for it, but go hard or go home, am I right?

The current status: I can probably run 3 km before I feel my lungs giving up on me, and to do this race not only I need to be able to run for 5 km without blinking an eye, I will also have to endure 20 strength, agility and endurance obstacles.

Yes, the struggle is real.

The obstacles I’m mostly worried about is this:

And this:

Namely, swinging from one bar to another, and from one ring to another.

Only once in my life I was able to finish a pull up, no more than 3 reps, and I was in my twenties, in the best shape I ever had. Right now, I have ZERO grip, and something like 15 kg more.

The plan is: drop at least 8 kg until October, start with pull up training as soon as the weather allows (spring in The Netherlands is a no-show so far) until I can easily do 15 pull ups, and run 3 times a week until I can run 5 km with relative ease.

It’s ambitious, but I’m all for it.

Have you ever attended a Spartan Race? If yes, let me know how your experience was!