7/29/2019 Running Fitness Magazine article on Spartan Race
Training Uk
2/3
September2013| runningfitnessmag.co.uk 75
SPARTAN \ eNDUrANCe
74 running fitness |September2013
eNDUrANCe/SPARTAN
Anyone whos seen the film300 And fAncied t hemselvesAs A spArtAn
wArrior, mighthAve jumped At the chAnce.But for our intrepid
editor-At-lArge sArAh russell whod done neither it wAs
A cAse of throwing herselfinto the unknown. this is thespArtAn
trAining cAmp
ihv , i wld v - i pv hv wllly d p v whh qd wd hh z l d wh l yhld
w l. Hwv, l
pppd y lbx h rf d; i blv i w d . tl: spt cp. oh y sh wll b h,hd
lv d, d. Wh?! eid d h l h. i 41-y-ldh w. i l d yl; i dl wd hh ddy
l, lbv bl, w - b ld h h hll. i , ly,why wld y w d h?
Ive always been rather scathing of theseobstacle races, such as
Tough Guy, Tough
Mudder and Kamikazee etc. Especially the onesthat get you to
sign a death waiver in advance.Its what I call a manufactured
challenge andtheyre not my cup of tea. At al l.
Dontgetmewrong,Imallforachallenge,butIpreferit tobe
provided,naturally,eitherbythelengthof therace(whatswrong witha
niceultra?)orsome hillyterrain,like amountain,
forexample.Ivedonemountain ultraraces,long
distancetriathlonsandevenmuddy trailduathlonsbut Iveneverhada
desiretojumpthroughhoopsoffire,swimthroughalakeoficecubesorcrawlunderbarbedwireallinthe
nameof fun.
Soyoucanimaginemydisdain,nottomentionanxiety,whenIrealisedwhatI
hadbeenvolunteeredfor.A bitof
researchonlinerevealedthattheSpartanTrainingCampwouldgetme
Spartanreadyanddemandeveryounce ofmystrength,ingenuityand
animalinstinct.Rightthen.
I posted the link on my Facebook page andfriends comments were
along the lines ofOMG!, Should you be doing that at your age?,Wont
you get injured?and best of all Whyare the people on the website
not wearing anyclothes and covered in scars?. Dear God.
ComeTh The dAy,
ComeTh The
womANThedreadeddayarrivedandIdulysetoffforPippingfordParkinEastSussexonalovelywarmSundayafternoonwithmy
husbandand kidsintowforsupport.I saysupportbutsecretlythey
This is
sparTan
racing!
thoughtit wouldbean entertainingafternoonlaughingatme
andtakingphotos.Anyway,PippingfordParkis anarmy
traininggroundontheAshdownForest,inEast Sussex,whichhasallmanner
ofbeautifulviews,cold lakes,hillsandplentyofmud. Iwas
petrified.CunninglythoughIdsignedup
fortheBeginnerssession.Surelyitcouldntbe thathard?Couldit?
We pulled up to a welcoming signpost.Spartan. Are You Tough
Enough? Ermmwellsince you ask, no Im not, and am quite happyto
admit it. Can I go home now? But sadly thatwasnt to be. I was i
ntroduced to my fellowSpartans as a journalist writing a
feature.Damn: I was here to stay. And it looked like I hadto
actually take part too. The gang was i n greatspirits well they
were here voluntarily and
mostly had signed up for this camp learn someskills and get some
advance training beforetaking on the Spartan Race later in the
year.
We were introduced to Michael, head coachall things Spartan.
Walking around barefootcovered in mud and with twigs stuck to his
legs,he looked like a bit of a Bear Grylls characterand I half
expected him to dash off to skin a
rabbit or feast on some bugs. He introducedus to our new friend
a log. There was oneeach; I named mine Lenny, in the hope
thatgiving it a personality might make me feel moreaffectionate
towards it (four hours later, I canassure you it was a strategy
that didnt work).Hoisting it up on my shoulder it didnt seem
thatheavy. Ok maybe I could do this.
WARNINGItsNot
foRthefeINt-heARted
the WAteR WAs fReezING cold,ANd It WAs ImpossIble to feel
oR see - WhAt WAs uNdeRfootAt the bottom of the lAke
7/29/2019 Running Fitness Magazine article on Spartan Race
Training Uk
3/3
September2013| runningfitnessmag.co.uk 77
SPARTAN \ eNDUrANCe
76 running fitness |September2013
eNDUrANCe/SPARTAN
We gathered for our briefing from Michael. You areSpartans, he
yelled. You will work together. You will staywith your weakest
member and help them. Work as a teamand support each other. AROO!
And with that we setoff at a brisk pace into the undergrowth with
logs on ourshoulders. Just your typical Sunday afternoon then.
Michael leapt and jumped over trees roots, throughthe
undergrowth and across streams with amazing agilityand skill. We
followed, with somewhat less agility. By nowLenny was turning out
to be quite heavy after all, andreally making my shoulder hurt. But
not wanting to be
girly I just grimaced and carried on jogging along at
speed,regularly changing shoulders to try and ease the pain.
Finallywe arrivedata clearing,withwhatlookedlike
aclimbingframeapparatusmadeout ofwood.WestoppedandMichaelset
aboutexplaininghowwewere goingtotrainusingour naturalenvironment,to
buildskillswhichwouldhelpus notonlywith theSpartanRace,but
todevelopour ownnaturalfitness.He explainedhow weshouldlearnto
moveinmore naturalpatternsanddevelopstrengthand flexibility.We
shouldtryto adapttoourenvironmentas natureintended.It madea lotof
sense.
hAviNg
fuN?BynowIwasbeginningtoengageinthewholeprocessanddareIsayit,startedhavingfun
especiallysinceIdbeenabletoputLennydownonthefloor.Michaelthentaughtushowto
crawl,crabwalk andbearcrawl acrossthe woodlandfloor-
allskillsthatwouldpotentiallyhelpinaSpartanObstaclerace,butmore
importantlyto buildcorestrengthandflexibilityin
anentirelydifferentway.Clearlyit
lookedlikeIwashavingwaytoomuchfunas,my supportteam(aka
mytwoboysaged11 and13)askediftheycouldhaveagotoo.Theanswer
wasyesand theyspontaneouslyjoinedinwiththegroup, hanging,jumpingand
clamberingupmuddyslopes withmore technicalskilland confidencethan
mostoftheadults.I laterfoundoutthatthereisa Spartanraceforkidstoo-
IknowwhattheyllbedoinginAugustthen.
Crossingtheriverusingropes orinmy
case,failingmiserablyandfallingin-wasa
clearlessonthatIneededmoreupperbodystrengthwork. Ratherlikemost
runnersIshould imagine.Wefinishedoff withmore skilltrainingtohelpus
climband descendmuddyslopessafely,throwingourlogsoverhead(thatbit,I
washappytodo- justashameIhadto
pickitupagain)andthen,justaswethoughtitwasover,came thefinal
challenge.Slowlybutsurely Michaelwadeduptohis waistintoa
largecoldlakewithhislogonhisshoulder.We alllooked ateach
otherErarewemeanttofollowhim?Aroo!camethe reply.I thinkthat
meantyes.
Like a group of disciples following our leader into theunknown,
we went after him with our logs aloft. The waterwas freezing cold,
and it was impossible to feel or see -what was underfoot at the
bottom of the lake. The watercrept up to chest height and I started
to hyperventilate.Breathing deeply and thinking calm thoughts, I
focusedon the waterfall at the end, about 100m away, which waswhere
we had to climb out. One of my fellow Spartans wasstarting to
panic, but I was calm enough to turn aroundmake eye contact and
encourage her to slow her breathingand get control. It worked, she
managed to carry on and Iwas rather proud of my newly found Spartan
Team Skills.
Outofthelakeamazinglyaliveweluggedourlogsbackontoour
shouldersand ranthe finalmile backuphilltothehut wherewestarted.The
painwas searingthoughmyshoulders(bynow LennyandI
wereheadingfordivorce)andthegroup becamea strongteam,sharinglog
carrying,
lIke A GRoup of dIscIples folloWING ouR leAdeR INtothe uNkNoWN,
We WeNt AfteR hIm WIth ouR loGs Aloft
supportingeach otherandgrimacingas
wetookthosefinalagonisingsteps.Afterfour hoursofthe
mostdiverseandchallengingtrainingIveeverdone, wecollapsedon
thegrass,utterlyexhaustedbutwitha
newlyfoundsenseofachievementandself esteem.Iveneverbeenmore
gratefulforahotcupofteaandsomewarmdryclothes.
I must admit, I went into the camp expecting to hateevery
minute, and as I said at the beginning, I would neverhave willingly
signed up for it on my own. Ive been througha lot of medical
treatment over the last few years and itsreally knocked my
confidence, fitness and self-esteem.
However, Id go as far to say the Spartan Training campwas a life
changer for me that day. I came away buzzingwith a renewed
confidence in my own body and my ability.Id been taken way out of
my comfort zone, but I rose tothe challenges and achieved more than
I thought I evercould. I left feeling that I could tackle anything
not justphysically, but mentally too. I felt invincible. It was
oneof the most unexpected experiences of my life and justgoes to
show how sometimes you just have to open yourmindand trust your
editor.
I may even be tempted to do the Spartan Sprint race
inAugustwatch this space.
deTAilSSpartan Training Camps take place in PippingfordPark,
East Sussex throughout July, August,September and October and cost
42 for the4 hour session. You can do the camp even ifyoure not
signed up for the
race:http://spartanracetraininguk.wordpress.com/spartan-race-training-camps/
Spartan Obstacle Races take place throughoutthe UK (and around
the World) and range fromthe beginner friendly 5km Spartan
Sprint,culminating in the 21km Spartan Beast on 18thNovember 2013,
http://www.spartanrace.com.
Cansomeonegetmedownfromhere?
Sarahgetstogrip withnewplaymate,Lenny
ThisissoeasyIcandoitone-handed
