10 week True Grit Training Plan

Right now (at the time of writing) we have 11 weeks until one of South Australia’s best Obstacle Course Races – True Grit @ Caudo Vineyard – Time to get excited!

If you have been following my fitness journey over the last 3 years you will know that the sport of Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) has been a passion of mine. I’m a firm believer that the practices in training and running in these physically demanding events can translate into your everyday life – from teamwork to #GettingShitDone, these skills have been bolstered by my training regime and the amazing community that I train and run with.

One of my greatest joys in life now is to inspire others to take steps on the same journey that I have. I want people to know that I am nothing special; Everyone has the ability to forge their own futures, take control of their lives via good fitness and just be amazing human beings.

If you have never run an OCR before or are a relative beginner, and don’t know if you have what it takes to run in True grit, I say that you do! The great thing about OCR is that most events (True Grit included) cater to all fitness levels – Anyone can get through them with enough mental and physical grit, but still enough of a challenge for us crazies if we want to run them at full gas.

So without further delay I present the Team #BTY 10 week training plan, released just in time to study it for a week before you get stuck into it!

Download the PDF: 10 Week True Grit – Team BTY

Training Plan Details

You’ll need a couple of things before you kick off this training plan:

• Some decent trail running shoes – True Grit covers between 12-15km, so you’ll need something that you are comfortable in and has good traction on dirt, trails, sand and mud. Personally, I swear by my Icebugs #BackTheBug.
• Dedication to running – You’ll be running 3-4 times a week during this program. For beginners, True Grit can take up to 3 hours; You’ll want to be comfortable on your feet for this long. The weekday sessions should hopefully be under an hour or so, but the Sunday trail runs could be a couple of hours worth (especially if you pick some nice sandy or hilly trails, which you’ll want to be doing).
• Gym membership – Fridays and every other Tuesdays you will have scheduled some lifting and obstacle specific training sessions. If you are lucky enough to be living in South Australia, then you have access to a world class obstacle gym in SA Base Camp – Do yourself a favour and sign up for a membership. You’ll not only have access to obstacles such as monkey bars, ropes, walls, sandbags and hay bails to practice your technique on, but Base Camp also has a fully functional strength and conditioning area with free weights, barbell equipment, Ankorr harnesses and weighted sleds.

As you can see, you will be working 5/7 days a week. Perfect. Weekdays you will be doing your short(er) runs, with some weight training every second Tuesday. If you aren’t able to get to the Base Camp run lifting sessions then you’ll want to focus on compound and carrying movements: Squats, Pullups, Sandbags carries and Farmers Walks. Midweek runs should be at a relatively fast pace, the kind of speed you would like to run the actual event at. Friday evenings you will want to get yourself to the True Grit specific training at Base Camp. This will prepare you for race day with technique for getting yourself and your team mates through the obstacles. There’s no better way to practice than on obstacles themselves, I can’t stress how much easier it is with the confidence of training behind you.

Weekends are all about time on feet and hitting the trails. Saturdays should be an ‘easy’ recovery run, just to loosen up your legs for Sunday. Saturday should be done on flat land and at a pace slower than you would like to run True Grit at. Sunday’s, however, should be on hilly and/or sandy terrain. Pick some trails around the hills, or some sand dunes for repeats. Just spend a few hours running up and down some tricky terrain.

The most important part of all of this is to make sure you have fun! Don’t think of training as a grind, enjoy the process. That’s the key to forming long lasting and healthy habits. Keep your eye on your goal, smash it, then book another one!

Keep striving to be #BetterThanYesterday!