This past weekend, while many of us were taking on the Harbor Take Over, IA member Luis Barreno was taking on his own beast of an endurance workout in Killington, VT.
The Vermont Spartan Beast, a 12 + mile course consisting of 30+ obstacles designed to test everything you’re made of : strength, endurance, and resolve.
“My favorite is the twister (kind of new obstacle): it’s like a rotating monkey bar so you need both strength and balance. I also like the bucket carry and the sand carry.
My least favorite is the spear because I haven’t been able to master it ! it’s always 50/50 to me… and if/when you fail… 30 burpees !!!”
With each obstacle being a surprise and the terrain unpredictable, these races are meant to push you deep into your discomfort zone, and push you past your own self-imposed obstacles.
“It brings a feeling of accomplishment , the people you meet during the race, the way your body feels after 5-7 hours of running in a beautiful scenery, the benefit it does for your body ! Theses are all things you don’t find easily”
Luis has been doing OCR (Obstacle Course Racing) for 10 years now. His first race was in Montreal (Mount Tremblant specifically). He had heard about OCR races randomly, and it peaked his interest. So he set out, recruited a few friends, and signed up.
“It took that first one to get me hooked.”
Since then he has completed races in Quebec, Ottawa, D.C., New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Lake Tahoe, Atlanta, Asheville, and Hawaii! Luis cautions those looking to get into Spartan Races, not because they are hard… but because they are addicting.
” In total I think somewhere around 30 since I started.. but I lost count. “
Going into these races its highly advised that athletes train. In fact, throughout the Spartan website, there are multiple locations where athletes are encouraged to download a free Obstacle course training guide.
Luis has been doing Crossfit on & off since 2012. When asked if Crossfit has helped his training, Luis replied:
“Tremendously ! Most of the obstacles in these races require upper body strength and doing crossfit has increase my abilities a lot ! My favorite movements are gymnastics movements (can’t wait for that gymnastic seminar btw!) : pull ups, muscle ups, handstand pushups ! … I remember my first day doing crossfit I could barely do a pull up… and even without being very consistent, I can say that thanks to Crossfit I improved quite a lot !”
So once you’ve tackled the Beast, whats next?
“My general goal on these races have been to have fun, travel, keep active and share my passion with others. One specific goal I have is to complete an ultra beast eventually (basically a full marathon with more than 60 obstacles in a ski mountain!) “
