Mustard Is Amazing For Muscles & Spartan Race Recap
By admin
It happened. We came, we ran, we conquered, we had a blast!
This past Sunday, Dan and I crossed another item off our bucket list… to complete a Spartan Race.
Like we do every time we sign up for a race that’s over an hour away, we drove up the day before. Sure, some people may love waking up at 4am to get to a race, not us. We like to sleep in as much as possible, eat a good breakfast, and drink plenty of coffee in the comfort of a hotel room.
So that’s what we did. The race was in a very small town called Winnsboro, SC. There weren’t many hotel options so we choose one in the next town over, just 25 minutes away. It worked out perfectly.
So back to the Spartan…
My husband hates to run but loves the physical challenges of obstacle courses. For the past year he’s been going between doing a Spartan or a Tough Mudder. Since I hate the idea of ice chilled water and electricity (stupid), I supported the Spartan idea.
The Spartan Carolinas offers 3 different races during race weekend: a sprint, beast and what we did, the super.
We wanted something a bit longer than a sprint, but since Dan hasn’t been running much we didn’t want to do the 11+ mile Beast either.
So the 8(ish) Super was the natural choice.
The Carolinas Super
This was a long race and one I want to remember, so I’m going to divide it up into halves: The Strong Half and the Weak Half.
The weather was predicted to be absolutely amazing. Around 55 at start time and around 70 at our estimated end time. Couldn’t ask for better! A bit chilly while waiting, but luckily adrenaline was coursing through our bodies to help keep us warm.
Our start time was at 8:30 and we were there and ready to go by 7:45. Registration was fast, and we had plenty of time to sign-in, head to the porta potty and get all of our things back to the car so that we didn’t have to worry about checking a bag.
We passed time by talking with several guys about the course, and learning all the tips we could. I think I quickly realized by looking around was that the ladies were under represented. I didn’t mind, it actually fueled me more to show that I deserved to be there too!
I was amazed at the amount of people who had run the Beast just the day before and were back for the Super. Those guys are beasts for sure. Talking with them helped time pass quickly and before we knew it we were hearing the “3-2-1-GO!”
*The pictures I am including are from Spartan
We were off. Together.
Dan and I had already decided that we would do this race side by side.
A. To make sure we stayed safe.
B. We didn’t want it to be a competition.
After running on trails with some pretty significant climbs for about 15 minutes, we realized that this was going to be a lot more running than we had thought. Okay, yes we knew it was 8-miles. But we thought it would be 1/4 – 1/2 mile run and then an obstacle for the entire course.
Yea. NO. For the first 5 miles, it was about a mile between each event.
And the miles weren’t easy and flat.
There were climbs so steep that all I could do was beg my butt and calves to make it to the top. Luckily, I love trail running (so does Dan) so we tried to look at it as just that! Just jog out in the woods.
I won’t lie though, when an obstacle came, I was thankful for my running legs to catch a break!
For the first 3 miles, I was blown away by my husband’s athleticism out there. He was flying on the trails and making obstacles look easy. They weren’t hard at this point, but I wasn’t able to keep up with him, after each obstacle he would have to wait for me.
I kind of felt bad, but also knew we were making pretty good time regardless.
It always takes my legs a good 2 miles to warm up, and this wasn’t any different. Suddenly, at the 2 mile marker, my legs felt lighter and I felt my pace pick up. Dan told me to run behind him because he knows my bad habit… once I’m off, I’m off.
We agreed he would be the pacer.
1st Half Obstacles:
- Wall climb (5 ft wall)
- Barbwire Crawl Through Mud
- Tire Drag + Pull <— My favorite
- Atlas Ball Carry + 5 Burpees + Atlas Ball Carry (~40 lbs)
- Mud Walking
- Stake Walks (you had to step on one thick stake to the other without falling off)
- Balance Beam Bridge
If at any time you failed an obstacle, the price was 30 burpees. Luckily no burpees were done!
The first half went really well and before we knew it, we were approaching the Spartan Festival Area. This was the zone that held the start, several back to back events (that then led back out into the woods), and ultimately the finish.
The Weak Half
The back to back events included:
- Monkey Bars (super thick bars and extremely muddy) <— I did 30 burpees after I slipped off the 3rd rung.
- Vertical Wall (essentially a climbing wall sideways) <— 30 more burpees (me and Dan)
- Diagonal Wall
- Spear Throw (if it doesn’t stick and stay in the hay…) <— 30 burpees for me and everyone else around.
Nothing like 90 burpees practically back to back. I was pretty mad about the wall, I know I could have done it.
Then it was back into the woods.
This is where things started to go a bit sour. About a half mile in, Dan mentioned his leg was starting to cramp up. We had run about 6 miles at this point, so we knew there wasn’t much left. We kept pushing forward.
We were met with more events and more running. Our running slowed due to the cramp but we kept a pretty steady pace. My goal was just to keep up with the couple that had been with us from the start. What can I say, I’m competitive.
Until…
All of a sudden Dan stopped dead in his tracks and sat on the ground in pain. His calf tightened so much that his toes were curling. It was his first ever charlie horse (does anyone else find that weird that he’s 32 and never had one!?).
I can’t say enough for the other participants. Every time someone ran past they would stop and asked if he was okay. I felt awful because we had no fuel or electrolytes to help.
That’s when our savor ran up….
The Mustard Man
A young guy stopped asked if Dan wanted a mustard. Confused, I asked what it was and he answered back something to help cramping. Dan quickly said yes and thank you as the guy dug into his belt for a French’s Mustard Pack.
I thought he was talking about some fancy muscle thing and here he was giving us literally, a mustard packet.
Seriously? How I have never heard of this?
Dan sucked it down, massaged the calf and we went on our way. All of this happened of the course of probably 1-3 minutes. That single mustard packet led to lots of conversations to help keep Dan’s mind off his legs.
A few more events…
- Climbing wall
- Bucket Carry (gravel filled each bucket)
- Cold Water Swim
It was the cold water swim where the spasm really came back. The volunteer had salt available so Dan licked some down and expressed his fear of hitting the cold water. Would his leg cramp up immediately?
I loved the volunteer’s response: “Uh, yea, that’s going to cramp right back up when you hit that water. Better just do a belly flop.”
Luckily, it tightened but not as bad. We made it across, and started running again.
With Dan’s tight leg we were very stop and go. I felt terrible for him. At one point during one of the final events, we had to move through a big pond of mud. Of course legs would sink in. Dan cramped in the middle and spent a good 3 minutes stuck trying to punch the muscle loose. Guys offered to help but he was determined to finish on his own.
The final obstacles were finally in site:
- Weight Hoist
- Rope Climb <— Burpees for me due tired grip
- Stair Wall
- Water Walls (over under in water)
- Fire Jump
THE END!
8.something miles, 20+ obstacles and 120 burpees later, we made it!
We received pretty sweet medals, grabbed some water and headed to the cleaning stations all smiles.
We headed back to the car, changed and immediately headed home to rest with a glass of wine while watching X-files!
I can’t say enough about this race. We had a blast and it’s the smoothest running obstacle race I’ve done yet. No bottle necking, great volunteers, awesome energy and very awesome course.
Thanks Spartan! We will be back!
Mustard & Muscle Cramps
Yes, that is the actually mustard packet from the race.
After receiving the mustard, Dan and I became very intrigued about the benefits of mustard for muscles. I also wanted to know why hadn’t I head of this? Why haven’t I seen runners squeezing out packets during races?
Because I will say this, once we became aware of mustard, we saw dozens of empty, sucked out packets along the trails. So clearly this guy wasn’t just yanking our chain.
How does mustard help muscle cramping?
Two things:
1. Acetic Acid
2. Sodium
Cramping occurs from a deficiency in acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that stimulates the muscles to work. Mustard has acetic acid which helps the body to make more acetylcholine.
On the sodium front, one tablespoon of mustard has around 200mg of sodium, an important electrolyte to help with muscle cramping. That’s the same amount found in 8 oz of Gatorade, but without the added sugar and long list of ingredients.
It’s also believed that when consumed at night, mustard may help prevent sleep cramps, or charlie horses.
So to make s long story just a bit longer…
If you find yourself suffering from cramps, grab a mustard packet or two from a local fast food joint.
I will not make the mistake to not bring fuel again. I underestimated the race and distance. I already told Dan that the next time I’ll wear my CamelBack and keep some mustard and pickles (another muscle remedy) handy.