SPARTAN RACE Season 2013 - my Spartan prep workout (opinions welcome)

[Plenum n Heather]

I don't know if anyone here does Spartan/Tough Mudder/et al obstacle racing, but I really love it. The new season starts for me in early June so I have been augmenting my usual (hung ga) training with running (which I hate doing) and essential cardio in an effort to get ready for the mountain runs required for Spartan.

If anyone is into HIIT workouts or obstacle/cross training, I would love your opinions on this workout.

First, some background: I am 42 years old and weigh about 157ish lbs (also, about 5'7" when not slouching/tired)
A note on what I mean by laps:I live on the 7th floor of a moderately sized apartment building (100 units); there are 110 steps in our stairwell from roof to lobby, so one lap = 110 steps down/110 steps up
Lastly, this is not my only iteration of cardio, it's just the one I did this week; I usually swap exercises out for Stage I to keep it fresh/interesting

WORKOUT DURATION: 20 MINUTES
WORKOUT FREQUENCY: 2x/WEEK

STAGE I (10 minutes or less)
- 2x laps on stairs (220 descending/220 ascending total)
- 5 sets of:
10x jumping jacks
10x push ups
16x inside mountain climbers
- Jumping jacks until 10 minute mark is hit

30 second rest

STAGE II (5 minutes or less)
2x laps on stairs (440 descending/440 ascending total)
- Run in place (approx 1 minute)
- Box jumps (approx 1 minute)
- pogo jumps (1-legged with variations; approx 1 minute)
- 10x rapid jumps (stationary; as high as possible)
- Run in place until 5 minute mark is hit

30 second rest

STAGE III (5 minutes or less)
2x laps on stairs (660 descending/660 ascending total)
8x jump lunges
40 sit ups

[TheyCallMeVolume]

That sounds like death.

[Jamie]

Im doing a Spartan race in september. Don't really know anything about it, I think it is 3 miles long. I usually do 10k runs with my friend and for some reason he has signed us both up for the Spartan race. I suppose the important question is, how much am I going to hurt after it?  :)

Burpees might be worthwhile adding to your routine, they are always a killer.

[ToneMonkey]

A few guys from work have done Tough Mudders. They're all in their 40s and 50s and loved it. Although one did have to be rescued from the electric shocks (especially funny considering he works for the electric board).

[Jamie]

Electric Shocks?!  :o

[Plenum n Heather]

Im doing a Spartan race in september. Don't really know anything about it, I think it is 3 miles long. I usually do 10k runs with my friend and for some reason he has signed us both up for the Spartan race. I suppose the important question is, how much am I going to hurt after it?  :)

Upper body strength and coordination are key; you will be doing a lot of climbing; you should be able to do 10 pull ups clean, or you WILL have issues with certain obstacles.

Burpees might be worthwhile adding to your routine, they are always a killer.

I rotate sprawls and super sprawls in the routine.

My goal is to always shoot for a zero-fail run. I don't worry about the time. But, if you fail an obstacle, you're doing 10 burpees. Not only does this make it harder to succeed the next obstacle, but it also affects you psychologically; failure mixed with adversity, heat, and filthy water/conditions really messes with your mind!

[Plenum n Heather]

A few guys from work have done Tough Mudders. They're all in their 40s and 50s and loved it. Although one did have to be rescued from the electric shocks (especially funny considering he works for the electric board).

Tough Mudder is quite a bit different from Spartan.

[Philly Q]

Afghan Dave was doing a Tough Mudder, don't know how he got on.  Or maybe it hasn't happened yet?

Sounds like hard work.  I'm not terribly unfit, but anything involving climbing or throwing myself around the place HURTS - my back, my shoulders, my joints - a lot more than it used to.  I wouldn't fancy attempting what you guys are doing.

[Jamie]

Just had a look on the spartan race website. I assume I m doing the Yorkshire event on Sep 8th. I can't find what the obstacles will consist of. Is there a way to find out or are participants not allowed to know beforehand?

[Plenum n Heather]

That is the beauty and one of the fundamental differences between Spartan and other races or mud runs: the course is not made public and is different day to day even at the same location.

Not knowing the order or severity of the course is part of the puzzle solving aspects of the Spartan. The other is terrain, which is usually  NOT on any sort of path. There will be pre-race warnings if there is something you really need to know. For example, my local race is on a mountain north of the city. The terrain is very rough and rocky and nearly all vertical. They will post warnings about the terrain, but not the course itself.

The mystery is what makes it fun! =p

[Jamie]

The good thing is, I have a lot of time to prepare for it. My record for a 5K run is 18:21, would it be too ambitious to aim for a time of 40 mins? Upper body strength isn't too bad, I can usually do between 15 and 20 pull ups with good form.

[ToneMonkey]

The good thing is, I have a lot of time to prepare for it. My record for a 5K run is 18:21, would it be too ambitious to aim for a time of 40 mins? Upper body strength isn't too bad, I can usually do between 15 and 20 pull ups with good form.

Yeah, but I can smoke more fags.

[Plenum n Heather]

40 minutes  would put you with the top racers in the world. :) Google Hobe Call and his race results.

[Jamie]

The good thing is, I have a lot of time to prepare for it. My record for a 5K run is 18:21, would it be too ambitious to aim for a time of 40 mins? Upper body strength isn't too bad, I can usually do between 15 and 20 pull ups with good form.

Yeah, but I can smoke more fags.

Like a true Warrior!  8)
I probably couldn't get through 1 without coughing my lungs up.

40 minutes  would put you with the top racers in the world. :) Google Hobe Call and his race results.

Not too ambitious then?  :D
To be honest I will probably be lucky to finish by the look of it.
Call's site looks quite resourceful, thanks for that.

[Plenum n Heather]

Not too ambitious then?  :D

Nope; dare to dream big!

To be honest I will probably be lucky to finish by the look of it.

I don't think you will have any issues finishing it; a good goal is to shoot for zero failure on the obstacles. A couple of them might be up to pure chance, though.

Call's site looks quite resourceful, thanks for that.

His Youtube vids are great, too. The man is not human!