Prepping for Spartan

2012, it’s been a year composed of challenges, motivation, and obstacles. For several months a flyer sat in the window of my hometown gym. On this flyer, there was a date, June 2nd, followed by Tri-State Spartan Sprint. Never in a million years could I have envisioned myself crawling under barbed wire, jumping walls of fire, or blasting through gladiators. With each decision to take on a new challenge comes the prep work necessary to conquer the unknown. It just so happens training every day at the intensity of contest preparation was all I needed.

On top of one new obstacle, I was well in to preparing for my first bodybuilding competition three months away. The days were long and the nights were longer. 6am Cardio, one workout in the middle of the day, and posing at night. I had absolutely no intention of throwing a Spartan Race into the mix until a friend approached me about building a team to race. I’m not someone to say no. Turning down a challenge with the mentality I have just isn’t me. Team Evolution quickly came together and the race was set in stone two months away.

Each day I trained, there were two reasons to push myself to the breaking point. I would wake up knowing I was running my first race and that i was 12 weeks out from my first bodybuilding competition. This gave new meaning to the word determination. Eight meals a day, lifting heavy, sleeping eight hours a night, no drinking, no going out, and no distractions. I was determined to give hell to both of these obstacles. Each run was important and each lift was a necessity. 6 days a week, 3 hours a day and an hour on Sunday. A grand total of 28 hours and 30 minutes spent in the gym a week, give or take. I was in the best shape of my life and could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Not going to lie, I was going into this race completely blind. What obstacles were ahead, what the terrain looked like, who would be my competition and how was i going to hold up against it all? The three members of Team Evolution ran at 7am. My adrenaline was flowing. My body was pumped. As I stood at the starting line and listened to the sound of Spartans in the air, in came a team of Hurricane Heaters. I ran down the line as the smoke grenades went off slapping hands and hugging each person in front of me. They gave me hope, and lit the fire under me. Then there was just the mountain and myself.

It was only until 8:23 am June 2, that I realized how important all of the preparation I was doing had paid off. Each pull up, each push up, all the burpees, all the heavy lifting, and high intensity work outs made each obstacle leave a feeling of satisfaction afterwards. I pushed myself harder than I ever dreamed to be able to complete the course. No matter how difficult the path was, knowing I could do it meant anyone on the course had what it took to do what I’m doing. The Sand bag carry at the last mile was never ending. My legs were destroyed but my mind over came that. Seeing someone struggling as I pushed up the hill just led me to motivate them, “Keep Pushing, you can do it.” I said this not only for her but for myself as well. It made me push so much harder to get to the end.

Crossing the finish line bloody, tired, and muddy left the most incredible feeling of accomplishment. From that moment on, I knew there were more races in my future. My training was on point. Knowing there was no obstacle that could stand in my way from that point on meant what I did was right. There is no reason anyone should not be able to accomplish any obstacle. Determination will create an unbreakable desire to achieve your dream.

“I’ve never known anybody to achieve anything without overcoming adversity.”
—Lou Holtz

WOD 1: 3 Sets, 8 exercises. 2 body parts. 2 minute rest between sets. rep range 8-12.

1.  Incline Bench Press (Hammer Strength or Free Weight)
2. Flat Bench Dumbbell Press
3. Decline Dumbbell Press
4. Incline Dumbbell Flies
5. Cable Flies
6. Super Set – TRX Pushups & Dips (Weighted will be harder)
7. Rope Tricep Extension
8. Single Arm Tricep Pull Down Extension

Finish with 30 minutes of Cardio: 2 minute warm up, 30 second sprint, 30 second slow pace. Repeat till the 28 minute mark and finish with a 2 minute cool down. Mileage is not important.

Let Your Fire Burn Bright – Stay Motivated. Determined. & Inspired.