Prepping for the 2015 Tri-State Spartan Sprint

Thousands of participants in yesterday and today's heats will have already completed the Tri-State Spartan Sprint by the time you read this. The Tri-State Spartan Sprint is the largest obstacle course racing event in the world! Here is some helpful information that I have learned over the last four years of racing that has made race day more enjoyable and less stressful for me.

This week you will be receiving email updates from Spartan Race to confirm your registration, start times and packet pick up procedures. Pay attention to them, print a copy out for reference and have it with you on race day. There is also options to hold this info on your smart phone but I wouldn't solely rely on that and you want to bring as little as possible with you once you leave your car and enter the event area. I will cover some tips on want to bring and what to expect on race day later but first I want to go over how you should approach this week.

1. Begin your hydration process now! Getting enough water in your body during this week will limit you exposure to dehydration and cramping on race day. There are only two (2) water stations on the course and they will feel like they are an eternity apart.

2. Stay on top of your nutrition. Just as you can feel the effects of one bad meal after you eat it your body will respond well to positive inputs rather quickly. Even if you haven't been on top of what you've been putting in your body the last few weeks, make that commitment to do so this week, you'll want to in order to perform optimally.

3. Get Familiar with you Apparel. If you have purchased new shoes, shorts or a shirt specifically for this event, train in it this week. You do not want to find out at mile 2 that your shoes are causing you a blister or your other apparel is uncomfortable or causing chaffing.

4. Deload! This is not the time to cram in a bunch of workouts and go 110% in training. If you have been using a training log, dial your effort down to around 50-60% of what you have been doing. This will give your nervous system time to recover and your body to rest. You'll be stronger and feel fresher on race day.

5. Be Boring. If you can try to make Saturday the most boring day of your life. Sit, relax, read a book. Do not decide to watch the entire Rocky series in an attempt to get "pumped up".  Your body has a limited reserve of adrenaline, save it for when you'll need it.

As far as race day is concerned here are some tips.

• Show up around 90 minutes before your start time. This will give you time to park, check in, get inside the event area. enjoy some of the activities going on at the event. There will also be some practice obstacles that may want to try. This should also be the last time you put any type of solid food into your stomach.
• Wear in only what you need to race in leave as much as possible in your car. If you must carry in items there is a bag check for a cost. There is a hose of station to freshen up after the race, leave your clean clothes in the car.
• Approximately 30 minutes before the start is  the time to start warming up. You should know where you have to be for the start of the race at this point, find a spot to go through your warm up and I would suggest running some moderate intervals to break a sweat and get the heart rate up, the first obstacle is a steep hill, if you hit that cold you will be hurting half way up.
• Some items you may want waiting for you in your car would be a towel, food, drinks, water to wash off with, a change of clothes and perhaps first aid supplies such as band aids, first aid spray and some aloe vera gel.

All you guys are ready to complete the course and do well following these suggestions will make your experience that much better! See you race day!