BUDDY UP: Train and race with a partner. When you know someone else is suffering with you, you鈥檒l be less inclined to let them down鈥攁nd vice versa. It鈥檒l also help ease race-day worries. It鈥檚 a good format for success.
GET A TIRE:聽Go to a tire shop, get a free used tire, drill a hole in it, put a rope through the hole, then drag that thing everywhere. If you can slog out several miles 颅doing that, you鈥檒l be well prepared for the mental strains you鈥檒l experience in a race, because you鈥檒l be working for every step.
HIT THE HILLS:聽More and more of these races seem to take place on ski slopes, with serious elevation gain. Go find a big hill and run up and down it, perhaps with a weighted pack. Don鈥檛 do it every day鈥攜ou want to give your body time to repair itself. But you definitely want to simulate this race condition in training.
PROTECT YOUR ARMS:聽I鈥檝e been wearing OCR Gear鈥檚 ($30). They work really well when you鈥檙e 颅going 颅under barbed-wire-crawl sections. They protect your elbows from getting scratched. Get a dark color, so the mud doesn鈥檛 stain and you can reuse them.聽
TRACK YOUR PROGRESS:聽A GPS watch is immensely helpful for someone like me who feeds on information. It can tell you how far along you are, so you鈥檙e not wondering how much is left and you can give a strong finish. The Garmin ($250) is a good fit for obstacle racing. It鈥檚 rugged, it鈥檚 waterproof, and it gives you more info than you鈥檒l ever need.