AO: The Patriot
QIC: Jenner
THE PAX: Two Percent, Major Payne, Sourdough, JAG, Deflator, Apollo, Lucious, Hightower, Tea Party, and DRPAX The Duke from Davidson, NC.
10 PAX joined YHC for a hot morning in the gloom and were not quite sure what they were getting into when they saw the Q sweating already before the start. A show of hands meant that only 3 or 4 had participated in a vaunted Spartan Race. Alright, this is going to be interesting.
THE WARM UP: SSH; LB Arm Circles; Windmills; Intro to the “rest” or AMRAP exercises; Fellowship Lap;
THE THANG:
A Spartan race, specifically a Spartan Sprint, is a short race filled with obstacles like walls, rope climbs, water jug carry, bear crawls, and stadium stairs. This F3 Spartan beatdown will be similar, but instead of racing for time, we’re racing together and squeezing in AMRAP exercises during “rest” opportunities.
Here are the AMRAP exercises.
- Burpees x 5
- Reverse Burpees x 5 (perform a squat, fall back on hands, lift feet few inches off the ground, stand back up with a slight jump)
- Carolina dry docks with shoulder taps x 5
The Spartan Race:
- Medium wall climb and stand up with 10 seal claps
- We all line up on the end zone and get numbered 1 through 11
- The race starts. We run to the back wall, climb up, and perform 10 seal claps. Then we jump down and start our AMRAPs. A few seconds after the last one finishes, we get up and run over to pick up cinder blocks.
- Cinder block shoulder carry stadiums
- The even numbers run the stadium, bear crawl down the ramp, and sprint back. The odd numbers carry two cinder blocks on their shoulder and run half the stadium and back. Those who are back early get more AMRAPs knocked out. Then we switch and repeat.
- Sourdough finishes valiantly with just a scrape from the cinders. I somehow end up with random cuts on my arm and chest. This race is already making us feel like true Spartans. We carry the cinder blocks to the back grass hill behind the pull up bar.
- Sand Bucket Carry, Cinder Block Finger Pinch / Farmer’s Carry, and Hill Sprints
- #1 grabs the 75lb. bucket of sand and carries up and around the first cone.
- #2 and #3, #6 and #7, and #10 are sprinting up the hill around the high cones.
- #4 and #5, #8 and #9, and #11 are carrying two blocks by squeezing them up and around the low cones.
- Then we rotate. JAG is hustling and beating nearly everyone every time and knocking out more AMRAPS at the end of each rotation!
- After 11 rotations, we run over to the playground.
- Rope Climb and Tree Touches
- The odd numbers spot each other while each of them climbs up the rope. The even numbers grab a low lying tree limb on two other trees and perform 30 tree [toe] touches. Several finish early and getting in their AMRAPS. Our heart rates are pushing their limit.
- Then we switch and repeat. Tea Party executes the tree climb with great form, using the S hook technique.
- We then run over, grab the cinder blocks left at the bottom of the grass hill and return them. Time is running out, so we end with a Circle Of Trust.
- Extra credit: Dungeon Crawl
- When YHC asked for help to return the stadium bench used to set up the Dungeon Crawl, several took the chance to see what this quick obstacle was all about. Awesome, let’s go do it.
- Starting with the bear crawl, we crawled between the two benches until we got to the first spike (cone). Then, we performed the best flying push up we could to then bear crawl on the benches over the cone. Then, we drop back down to the ground to go underneath a barrier laid across the benches. Bear crawl to the 2nd and last cone and perform another flying push up to traverse over the cone. Then done. That’s it. Quick and easy-ish.
- Two Percent looks like a flying squirrel on Mars and easily flies up and over the spikes.
MARY:
Skipped. Spartans were born with ab muscles.
COT:
The Spartan site has several quotes of inspiration. They had Frank A. Wright on there who said, “If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” So for those obstacles that in your life, don’t avoid them. Don’t fear them. You have the strength to get over them.
F3 The Capital 