I finish 2nd in my age group in last week’s Spartan Obstacle Course Race. I attribute much of this success to the fact that the elderly don’t seem too terribly interested in participating in these Spartan-type obstacle events. Only 18 of us over-50 age group athletes show up (among the 1,000 or so participants overall) -- a significant under-representation as a percentage of the larger population.
I continue to find this disconnect puzzling given that explosive movements and balance and strength are precisely the things that I’ve been told to work on and try to retain since turning 50, as I mentioned in my post last year when I entered my first obstacle race - an easy team sprint event. Yes, competing in a Spartan race may seem like an extreme way to go about maintaining a strength conditioning program – why not just be motivated enough to go to gym 3x a week and plow through a training circuit like every normal, middle-aged guy? In my case, after years of focusing my exercise effort around a year-long schedule of triathlons and running and cycling races, I overwhelmingly prioritize sessions that directly prepare me for an upcoming race - it creates so much more meaning and purpose.
Not that doing bench press reps was necessarily the most race-specific training for this particular event. Rather trail running ability was the single most useful skill-set on last week’s course (which was held at a ski resort and had us running up and down ski runs). In recent trail races in Vietnam and Hong Kong, I have lamented how poor I have fared when competing head-on with trail running specialists – technical descents have been simply embarrassing as I have to get out of the way of mountain-goat-type-runners dropping past me. Against the "gym rats" at Spartan I was at least holding my own as we descended the grassy ski runs.
I fared reasonably well on the obstacles themselves last week – slightly slower than many of the guys around me, but then I am so accustomed to doing strength work in the most deliberate and precise manner possible, and so hurrying through many of obstacles seemed unnatural. At least I was able to burst into a run reasonably quickly coming off the obstacles. I found the wall climbs, and vertical wall traverses to be such interesting challenges and a fun break from the pure cardio events. 
I was suffering a terrible cold going into the race. I say this only to note how much being in a race (the flood of adrenaline I presume) can block out the impact of an illness. Every endurance athlete has likely experienced this. As you can see in the adjacent picture, I don't look particularly chipper as the race starts. But at this event my cold symptoms shut off light a light bulb just as I hoisted myself over the first steep obstacle. I guess if you were caveman and the saber tooth tigers attacked you couldn’t just call it in sick – you need to be able to compete at near 100% for the duration of the event.
I had presumed this would be my last Spartan obstacle course race. The event registration is so expensive. And I hate to risk injury. And all the Spartan Warrior military crap is so hokey.
But after feeling increasingly strong toward the finish and receiving all the accolades for finishing 2nd in the age group, I find myself mulling over and over whether I could improve on Saturday’s effort – using better technique on certain obstacles like the plate pull and vertical wall, bringing more concentration and urgency on a couple obstacles like the bucket carry, getting off to faster start, running on a flatter course, wearing racing flats and competing on a day when I am not suffering from a cold?
