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Spartan race: Cause why not

Hey all,
Been a big guy all of my life. Even in high school and college playing soccer I was always the guy that didn't look like I belonged because of my belly. Fast forward a number of decades and I have a 6 and 4 year old with an out of shape dad who they just want to play with. I tend to be an all or nothing kind of guy so to motivate myself to make the healthy changes I need to be a good dad/husband/leader/servant I signed up for a Spartan race in August. Its a 5k race with 21 obstacles and for each obstacle you can't complete the penalty is 30 burpees. It's a long way for me to go because at this point, 6'1" and 300lbs, the furthest I run is to the bathroom or the kitchen from the living room.

Have any of you fine gents done something like this before or have any inspirational weight loss/life change stories? Posting mainly for accountability as the more people who know I plan on doing this more people will ask me about my training and progress. Also, anyone willing to be an accountability partner for me on this venture would be much appreciated. I'm wanting to get up and train in the morning at 5am PST and having someone to check in with right away would be a big help. If nothing else, wish me luck. Thanks gents!
 
Good for you man!! 🙌🏼
When I was 30 I started running. It was after the end of a relationship and I wasn’t doing so well. I started running in earnest because honestly, I had no idea what else to do. I had only been running for about 2 or 3 weeks and probably hadn’t run over 2 or 3 miles, when I decided to sign up for my first marathon. I completed that marathon a few months later. I ran only occasionally after that and took nearly a 10 year break. After a divorce, hitting my rock bottom, then getting sober, I decided to start running again. This past summer I got it in my head to do a 50k before I was 50 years old (45 now). The plan was to do a 30k this year and then properly train for a 50k next summer. Well, I decided to scrap that plan and just sign up. Completed the 50k this past October! We are capable of more than we think. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. The fact that you are on here searching for inspiration and accountability tells me that you can absolutely surpass your expectations!! 🙌🏼
 

martym

Unacceptably Lasering Chicken Giblets?
So 7am Central? If that is correct,
PM your cell # and information for the days you plan on getting yourself up at 5am.
I am awake way before that 7 days a week.
I will text you every morning.
marty
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Hey all.
@oc_in_fw - thanks for posting the video of a burpee.
@Stinkykid - rumor has it that they are called burpees because that is the sound you make right before you throw up from doing to many of them
@martym - thanks for being my early morning buddy.

For those of you still following along, I have been up every morning since Tuesday at 5am and doing 1/2 an hour on the elliptical. Sunday starts the actual Couch to Spartan Training plan that is 5 weeks long and will be the start to my journey. Also, my cell phone is kept in the kitchen at night as I like my bedroom to be a tech free sanctuary minus an alarm clock that is legitimately older than I am. So each morning when I text Marty that I am up and at 'em it's not from the comfort of my bed.

I'll keep posting my progress here for anyone interested and as a way to keep myself accountable to a large group of people I've never met. Cause, why not.
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
I am proud of you friend. I was born (probably) with a heart issue, and other weirdness in my thoracic cavity, and never planned to marry or reproduce. LOL, well God had other plans. When my son was just over 6 years old I had to have my mitral valve replaced. Let's just say I plan to meet Jesus face to face before I am ever filleted again.
But my wife made me promise to never say never, at least until he was out of hi skool. Since he was homeskooled, he ended up with a Kollege degree around the same time.
He became my reason to stick around on planet earth but he has just turned 22, and married, so now I'm basically "Waiting on God"...

But I am so glad he got to see me go to Kollege and become an RN. My wife could stay home. He is a real life taxpayer, has a wife who loves him...

I guess I'm trying to say these years have gone by SO QUICKLY.... My dad was orphaned at age 8, and he really never recovered from that until he was 70.

So keep on fighting the good fight. Not just your family needs you!

So good on you my friend. You kids deserve you, and not some memories.
 
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Oh man. So good. Up every morning at 5am, (thank you @martym) and nailing the training plan. Going to do week 1 of the plan again next week. Right now I'm getting through everything but it's still really difficult. Next week the difficulty goes up even more so going to rehash week 1.

Right now, outside of my general lack of fitness (read as obesity), the biggest issue I am having is with training gear. I have an old pair of Saucony trail shoes and some old mesh athletic shorts that I wearing for the time being. LOTH and I are going to sit down this weekend and review the budget to start setting some money aside each pay period for some new trail shoes and some training shorts that will last to and through the event. Of all the different sites and blogs I've read one of the consistent messages is don't buy cheap gear because it won't last and it will make the training and event miserable. I do tend to lean more towards saving for quality items to begin with anyway, but it's a little frustrating to read "don't buy cheap gear" on sites and blogs run by gear manufacturers or by people who are sponsored and get free gear whenever they need it.

Okay enough ranting about that. Ending on a positive note, I started changing my diet about 6 weeks ago and exercising daily a little over a week ago. In that time period I've gone from 319 down to 289 this morning.

Thanks for the encouragement gentlemen. It means a lot!
 
Congratulations, that’s great news! I’m happy for you, your wife, & your kids. I’ll keep checking in on you, not because I doubt you but because I believe in you!
 
@martym @dmshaver - Thank you gentlemen. Repeating week one of the training plan has been working well for me. At the end of the workouts I'm still feeling exhausted but I'm not feeling like I'm going to throw up or die. So improvement for sure. @martym has been a great help with daily accountability and encouragement. You all have been a great help with checking in here with me and encouraging me. Thank you all!
 
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