Spartan Super at Palmerton, PA (Blue Mountains)
So I just did the spartan super (~7 mi, 25 obstacles) at Palmerton, PA (~2 hour drive from NYC). This post is basically to review everything I did wrong planning and doing the race and the few things I may have gotten right.
I did this spartan super 8 years after my initial Spartan at the tri-state one in 2014. I remember that one being hard but do-able and not too bad.
Fast forward to this past Saturday and boy did I underestimate what I was about to do/achieve.
I didn’t train — maybe I went to the gym 3–4 times a month (at most) with the usual lifting. I didn’t start preparing for this race until the Wednesday before and that was bad. I figured I would use old sneakers and just wing it. But I found myself scrambling for supplies, athletic wear, and looking to see what I needed logistically for the race.
Lesson learned: Plan for the race at least 2 weeks in advance.
- This gives you time to order whatever energy gels, camelback, non-cotton socks, shorts, shirt, gripped sneakers you need for the race. Otherwise you’ll be scrambling to ship overnight/2-day on amazon prime or needing to trek to a store to buy gear.
- Start hydrating and eating carbs to stock up energy. Drink water those 1–2 weeks prior to the race.
Lesson learned: Look at the instructions at least 1 week before. The drive (would arrive 1.5 hours before your race), the parking (there was a line to get to the spot), what time to get there, what you will bring (on you during the race and what you’ll check in at the bag check). *Bag check is free and convenient.
What I did right: Clothing without cotton and sneakers with grip. I wore Saucony Peregrine 11 for $90 at JackRabbit Fleet Feet. Bringing energy gels was smart.
Next time: I think I would bring a camelback/hydration pack for next time. I was worried it would be covered with mud and be unsanitary but as long as you have a cap on it it’ll be OK. And plus you can carry it during the mud rolls and you can hand it to the person for the dunk wall. Other than that, it shouldn’t get dirty. You can also store the energy gels in there. I saw a lot of people carrying NELSON packs? Otherwise would want to try dolfinpack.
Next time: Bring gloves — I got blisters/burns from the rope climb. But everything is about grip and so I think it would have been better and easier to get through the obstacles with gloves. I could also put them in the pack if I don’t want to wear them.
You are definitely not jogging or running b/w obstacles. That is a joke unless you’re competing or super athletic. So I don’t think it was a lot of endurance training. But more on working on flexibility, upper body strength, grip strength, and stretching. My knees and quads and calves were dying post race. Maybe more calf raises and knee ROM exercises are warranted.
I want to thank my girlfriend and my pal for getting me through that race. I would not have been able to do the race without them.
Lesson: Do it with friends
