Spartan Sprint L.A.

After the disappointment of the Socal Sprint #2 I recommitted to my training.  Went back to speed work and going to MROC once a week.

The course was 5 miles of hilly trails and 23 obstacles out at Castaic Lake, north of L.A.  The first half was mostly up hill and the second mostly down hill.  The obstacles were definitely backloaded.  I would say 16 were after the halfway point and 8 were in the last half mile.  I ran my best race to date and won my age group, 2nd in the Masters Div, 27th in Elite Men, and 28th over all.  I don't know the final points, but somewhere in the neighborhood of 220.  That's one goal checked off for the year (top three Masters) and a good start on the Spartan 300.

2016 Season Preview

My goals for this season are 1. Make the Spartan 300 2. Place top 3 in Masters Division of a Spartan Race 3.  Run sub 5 min mile 4. Qualify for Spartan World Championships

Races I am scheduled to run:
Oceanside Turkey Trot
Spartan Sprint L.A.
Spartan Sprint SoCal
San Diego Half-Marathon 5K
Spartan Super Las Vegas
Spartan sprint SoCal #2
Spartan Beast Tahoe World Championships

Races I may run
Gladiator Rock n' Run Orange County
Pendleton MudRun

The Year in Review 2015

My racing season runs parallel to the Spartan Points Series.  So, more or less October-September of the following year.

I had several goals this year 1. Score more than 200 pts in a Spartan Elite race 2.  Get my Spartan Elite Trifecta 3. Make the Spartan 300 (top 150 men in the elite points standings) 4. Place top 3 in the Masters Division of a Spartan Elite race 5. Run sub 17 min 5K 6.  Run sub 5 min mile

I would say it was a mixed bag, but overall a let down.
I sprained my ankle 2 weeks before the my first Spartan Race of the season (2014 Malibu) so I started in a hole for the season standings.  I bounced back at the SoCal Beast and Sprint in January, but still failed to get 200+ points.  I reached my first goal of 2016 when I ran 16:56 at the San Diego Half-Marathon 5K, but a week later failed in my pursuit of a sub 5 mile (5:11 Encinitas Mile) .  In April I achieved my second goal and got 203 points at he Las Vegas Super Spartan.  That's when the wheels fell off, I slacked on my training and got sick at the wrong time.  In the end I had a terrible race at the SoCal Sprint #2 and fell about 80 points shy of the Spartan 300.

Here's to a better 2016 season.