Austin Spartan Super 2017

Despite an hour traffic backup, 30 minute registration line and poor communication on the hail storm that came during our race, I had a blast.

The course was pretty tough due to the granite and rock everywhere.  The elite guys must have lots of training to run fast through the 8+ mile course.  I was not going to risk a slip, fall or ankle injury to jog through the rocks.  A lot of the super part of the course was a fast walk and jog because of the rocky terrain.

The most challenging obstacle was the barbed wire crawl.  You are thinking What?  Most are just a roll or army crawl for 50 yards, maybe even up hill but this one was different.  Up a slippery mud hill and all you can see is the wire.  Then, you get to the top and see you have to slide down under the wire and across to another slipper hill.  Many people did not have the strength to pull them self up the hill because there was no footings.  Each time you make it to the top thinking it is over but it was 4 times of up and down and back up.  Tore my legs up in the stickers, mud and some rocks.

The Twister was cool but I only made it through two of the sections before my grip gave out.  My wife and sister in law took turns and put the other on their shoulders and went across.  That was pretty good thinking.

The bender was scary but not too bad if you could pull your self up it.

I hate the high cargo net and walls that require you to step over the top down to a two inch board.  I just hate that transition due to the height.

The tunnel sucked.  Long, hot and slow going through that.

After that the I did not last long on the rings, so that was quick burpees

Coolest of all when you walk up you see the finish line and right there, the last obstacle.  My friend the Rope Climb.  In October, I had no idea how to do it. I got some help at our CF gym and practiced getting up several times.  Burnt my hands multiple times.  The Spartan planners love to place obstacles in locations that will bring doubt and fear.  After 8+ miles, covered in mud and tired, they make me do the rope climb.  I find a long rope, take a few deep breaths, and curse the rope a few times. 3,2,1 go.  Big jump, pull, grab the rope with my feet.  Push up.  Grab the rope with my feet, push up, and finally I feel like I can reach the bell.  I hit it.  I did it but crap, how do I get down without burning my hands.  I let down a few times, then slide and then, just fall to ground and then butt.  Luckily the rope was muddy and no finger prints were burnt off this time.

Finally with excitement and a smile, I jump the fire and let out an Aroooooo.

CrossFit Cindy

5 pullups
10 push ups
15 Air Squats

as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes.


I had not done Cindy yet.  With Murph coming up I wanted to try it.  I did use a weight assist pull up because I did not want to fry myself on the first try.

I did 19 rounds plus pullups and pushups.  I was kind of winded and I started feeling the push up but I had more in the tank.

I don't think I can do the pullups yet but I will try that and do it again next week.

How to become faster

After listing to Tim Ferris Pod Case with Ryan Flaherty, I found this arcticle.  Sometimes common sense is the best advice.  To get faster, increase your strength to weight ratio.  This makes total sense right?  If I can dead lift 400 lbs and weight 180, I am going to be faster than a guy who dead lifts 400 lbs but weight 200.  Technic and form has some to do with it but not as much as Force * Mass = Acceleration.

The hard part is how do you get stronger and not put on weight.  That is the tricky part and where a coach like Ryan Flaherty makes his money.

http://www.stack.com/a/how-your-deadlift-max-will-make-you-faster

How to lose 26 pounds in 3 months

Short answer, work your butt off.

Also, start out fatter than you have ever been.

You have to devote your mind and commit your every day to improving your fitness.  Fitness includes training and nutrition.  It is not exercise and a diet.  Not everyone is the same or doing the same activity.  This means you have to experiment and find what shows a trend of fat loss for you.

For me it was push my physical fitness to a new levels.  This was primarily CrossFit but running and tennis too.  You have to push your body to want to adapt to using your calories and growing muscle.  

My first two months were a slow trend down but the last month the weight and inches started falling off.  I went from 238 to 211.   More importantly I lost 3 inches off my waste and got stronger in many areas.

Some tips for things I did.

• Lowered my carb intake.  At first it was a few as possible and do CrossFit fasted at 5:30 but soon I found I did not have enough energy to sustain the heavier workouts.  
• I started eating more carbs in the morning and lunch.  This helped me workout harder and recover.  I would have a big shake for breakfast after my workouts.
• Then, I added intermittent fasting by not eating very much after lunch until the following morning.  This was not every day but any days I could.  No, I did not not always eat nothing but tried to make sure it was zero carbs for sure.
• I also started doing bullet proof coffee.  I think this helped with some of the fat burning but honestly, don't know for sure.
• Sleep as much as possible.  You can only recover to work out more, if you get enough good sleep
• No sugars at any time. They are a SIN and complete waste to your body.
• You have to look at food as the fuel for your body.  Would you put crappy gas in your sports car.  No, you would want it to run well.  My Camaro will actually lower its performance when you put non premium gas in it. It knows.   That is what your body does when you put in white carbs, sugars, fried foods or other things that your body can't process when you need it.
• Run on low carbs or fasted so your body gets used to using fats for fuel.  Early morning runs or spend a few minutes burning some fresh carbs with weights, sprints or even push ups.  
• Eat lots of salads.  The greens help with inflammation and they usually have healthy items in them.  Yes, I still like Ranch.

I did get sick and run down the end of month two but I still worked out and kept the calories and carbs down.  I wish I had not got sick because I think I could have gotten more fit in the short time.

I believe that since God gave us a body and he calls it a temple, we should be making it stronger, healthier and wiser everyday.  It is part of the journey for Christians.  What if Heaven is perfect but we have to live in it with the temples we create on Earth.  Would you be happy with yours for ever?