Tuxedo NY Spartan Sprint June 3, 2017

Well another race weekend has come and gone! It was awesome. Got to run the elite heat at 7:30AM and then the open at 11:45AM with my wife!

I ran into a few people I met via FB groups and picked up a few new friends on the trails. It is always great to meet new people on the trail! Breathing hard…. wanting to stop at times, but then conversation with a random person starts up and bamm you are back in the swing of things.  Crazy to think of how many people I have met over the years at races and still keep in touch with!

It was also a pleasure to run with my wife again. We did the same thing last year. I know the course was a bit shorter, but we both improved our times and I know she felt better prepared for it!

Lots of Pictures & Videos of the race below…. maybe I caught you on some of them? If so let me know with a comment below.

My Results:

I finished the Elite Heat in 1:15:36 and the Open in 2:32:14 as you can see below. I told myself going into this I wanted to finish top 5 in my age group “35-39”, but that didn't happen! I think there are a few reasons why and I'll list that below in my Takeaways from the race.

My Takeaways:

I don't know about you, but every race I always feel like there was more that I could have done. I know I am never going to win a race, that is just the truth of it, but I want to always be learning and getting better which I think I do most of the time. In the end it is all about getting out there and having fun right? I love doing these races and will continue until I can't.

Obstacles: My first round I passed everything except the TWISTER! I think I made it to about the 4th handle and dropped…. BUT on the 2nd heat with my wife I nailed it! I was actually surprised. That was the 4th time total I attempted the twister and I had always tried to keep my arms bent. This time I just had my arms extend and just went side to side and it was surprising easier! GRRRR….. I did miss the SPEAR on the 2nd heat… of course trying to show my wife how to do it 😉

It really is crazy the difference in the two heats. Pacing with my wife I felt like I could constantly blast up the mountain where running myself I was hurting pretty bad LOL.

WARMING UP: I am a bigger guy…. 6'3″ 225ish and in most races it usually takes a good 20-30 minutes into the race to really feel loose. The first run up the mountain is always bad for me! I start thinking… why am I doing this… why are my legs so tired already… why didn't I WARMUP more!!!

I feel this year I am in the best shape for hills, but on Saturday I just needed more of a warm up!

I have read pros will warmup for 30-40 minutes. My goal is always to get a solid warmup in, but you know how it is… you get there… do your thing.. warm up a bit, but so excited to get started and by the time  you line up you end up standing for 10 minutes.

My next race at Palmerton I really want to put in a solid 30 minute warmup at least! I want to feel good going into the first mile, not waiting for my legs to wake up!

How about you… what does your warmup ritual consist of?

Venue: I thought the race was ran great! Volunteers were awesome as usual! The course was fast, quick and fun! They switched up the place where they had the Bucket Brigrade last year and I think that was a good idea because I saw a lot of people slipping on the giant slab of rock!

It was also a lot less dusty. Glad there was a bit of rain the day before. I remember running with my shirt over my face last year!

Some Other TIPS:

Sometimes during a race you forget the basics. Running with my wife helps me remember a lot because this was only her second time and I needed to help her out with basic tips as we went along.

Some parts of the course were really technical! Very rocky… not to mention there was a lot of leaves still covering the rocks. I saw a lot of people turning ankles and slipping.

• When the course gets like that especially in the open when it is crowded you have to give yourself some space in front of you because you cannot see what is coming up next. If you are right on somebodies heels you are gonna get hurt!
• Plate Drag: This goes for the plate drag anywhere, but especially if it is rockier you gotta really look at which plate you choose. I saw a few that the path was so rocky and the plate got stuck so many times. People could not even budge it… they would have to run to the plate get it loose etc… No thanks! Another tip is if you can try and stand up to get a little lift on the front of the plate, so it does not dig into the dirt or rocks. Being tall helps with that 😉
• Walls, hurdles, cargo etc….. anything where you have to climb over it you need to make sure when you are going over you put your chest to the top of it. I saw a lot of people in the open get to top then have no clue how to transition… “what do I do…. what do I do…” put that chest to the top of the wall, hurdle etc… and lower your center of gravity, then transition down.

Well I know there are more, just wanted to toss out a few, but be sure to check out the Obstacle Tips section https://obstacleracingstuff.com/category/obstacle-tips/ as we add more.

Here are some pictures & videos I took from the race below. If you hear a crazy lady screaming things at me… that is my wife 😉 I took some pics and videos with my phone before the race and during the heat with my wife I used my old school Kodak 1080P Playsport camera. It held  up great and took a pretty nice video. Sound got lower towards the end… maybe mud in the mic lol. Anyways enjoy and maybe I caught a shot of you somewhere in there! Let me know if I did!

Tuxedo NY Spartan Sprint 2017 Videos

Some Pictures