Spartan Time

So what happened was…

I’ve been wanting to to sign up for a Spartan Sprint for ages.  I’ve read Joe De Sena’s book Spartan UP! (it’s great, go read it), I’ve done giveaways on the blog, and I’ve stalked their web site trying to figure out how the heck those people do all that.  But I haven’t signed up.  Why? Because of that thing where I am not bad ass.  Good reason if you ask me.

I haven’t been running until about a week ago and really the only workouts I’ve done in ages are Tae Kwon Do three days a week. So I signed up for the next Spartan Sprint in Tampa – in 2 weeks.  What? What changed? Absolutely nothing. And nothing was going to change.  Go big or go home, right?

Wish me luck. I am so going to need it.  And also a bit of motivation to get moving and ready.  And I found a great source, Spartan Up! The podcast.  Why is this so great?  A couple of reasons actually.

First of all, since it’s a podcast I can listen to it on Stitcher while I’m running.  If you have an Apple phone you can subscribe on iTunes. It’s hard not to run a little bit faster and a little bit longer while listening to people talking about how it’s done.

Second of all, each episode involves interviewing different people in different fields about different subjects. In other words, it’s not all about the same subject or even about racing in particular. So far I’ve listened to two episodes – Allen Lim Says It’s Ok to Eat Cookies and Angela Duckworth What is Grit and How Do You Learn It? Of course I started with the cookie episode.

Both episodes were really fun and motivating to listen to.  I like running and all but sometimes it’s nice to let your mind go other places while you are running. I found them especially cool because Joe De Sena (founder and CEO of Spartan Race) doesn’t necessarily agree with everything the people being interviewed are saying, and his mystification of how someone who is obviously well disciplined and in excellent shape would consider a croissant and coffee an acceptable breakfast was great. I love hearing two people who are both obviously doing things right talk about how they are taking different paths.

So go listen to the podcast, go get  motivated, and go sign up for something that you are totally not ready for.  Then get ready!  🙂