Well, a week ago one of my closest friends asked me to join him in an event that sounded fun. Another great friend of mine had committed to the race, but had to back out due to another more important commitment. So here was my opportunity. Robert asked me to join him in an event called the Spartan Beast. I knew that the Spartan was basically a cross country run with obstacles throughout the course. It’s kind of an equestrian for people, with mud, barbed wire, rope climbs, javelins, fire, mud, gladiators with sticks, sandbags, and did I mention mud? Sounds like fun huh?! My first two questions were: “How much”, and “How far”? The amount is minimal so I thought, ok, I could possibly do this. I was then told that the event is being held in 3 weeks. Not a lot of time to get my body in shape for an obstacle course. Then came the answer to my second question: 12 miles. I’m not a 100% sure that I didn’t curse, but I’m 90% sure that I wanted to. I was expecting to hear a distance of 3 miles (which I could do with some serious training). You see, I consider myself “active”, but let’s be honest, that consists of going to the gym for mid-intensity weight training for 3 days a week. There’s been absolutely zero cardio work. I’ve seen the couch to 5k training, and even that takes several weeks, if not months to prepare for. So here’s my dilemma, I now am training my body for a half marathon in a time frame of 3 weeks! Impossible? I don’t think so. I will admit that this is quite the undertaking to prepare the body for the mental and physical abuse it’s going to take, but I believe it’s more mental than physical.
So, I accepted the challenge, and I’m at the end of my first week of training. After tonight’s distance training, I will have logged around 22 miles, and approximately 4.5 miles of interval training (sprints w/cardio). Almost 27 miles logged in the first week! This is from someone who literally got his rump off of the couch, made a commitment, and is dedicated to complete this challenge with a longtime friend.
I’m looking forward to the challenge. It’s been quite demanding for the first week, and will continue throughout the course of the next couple of weeks. I have received great support from my wife (who’s first question was “is your life insurance policy up to date”), who’s been missing her hubby while I train, but understands why I’m training so hard. To you Sara, thank you for your support and I love you very much. I want to make you and Bells proud of me.
I will try and post my training experiences up till race day, and then a recap of the event when it’s completed. I can’t think of any better way to document this experience, so bear with me on this. Please note that I said completed. Failure is not an option. I want to thank you Robert for challenging me and having confidence that this couch potato can get in shape in 3 weeks for a half marathon / hell on earth event. Thanks bud!
