Spartan Bag for The Beast

On the dawn of the monster, let’s take a look at what’s important for a Spartan Beast!

Essentials

Hydration Pack

Energy Gels

Protein Bar

Two pairs of socks

Arm sleeve of some kind to protect you

Sunscreen

Compression (shirt and shorts)

Distance running shoes

Waist belt

• The hydration pack, given the distance, is absolutely essential.  Because I’m running in such a sweltering and humidity-filled climate, dehydration, especially during the beast, will lead to a lot of problems on the course.  Yes, water stations will be scattered, but that won’t be good enough to defeat a course that’s 21km long. I bought one of these packs recently and I’m super excited to use it. Option: run with a bottle, but I totally wouldn’t recommend it.
• Energy gels made their debut when I first ran the Spartan in KL, a very memorable monster I had to defeat and befriended a Malaysian entrepreneur during the process.  In a 13km race, I probably took one around the 5-7km mark and maybe towards the end (not even needed).  In a sprint, it’s not needed at all.  However, the Beast is an entire new beast, and it’s absolutely needed for the beating your body will take.  I did a Tough Mudder three years ago, and that I didn’t have ANYTHING to help me through the entire course.  The climate wasn’t suffocating, though.  Coll temperatures (around 15 degrees celcius and maybe went up to about 20-25) made it the most enjoyable race (maybe not the best — Bali’s Tough Mudder was pure heaven). Thailand, on the other hand, isn’t like that.  Stack yourself with gels.
• Any form of food during the race will work.  Getting some food, protein, carbs or anything that has energy in you will significantly reduce all the negative effects that will take place during the race.  However, having a melted protein bar will do you no good, so stash a bar or two in the refrigerator (or even the freezer for an x amount of time) to have it nice and cold before race time.  1-2 hours in, it’s a edible bar.
• Doubling up on socks reduces the chances of having to take off your shoes over, and over, and over during the race, smacking it against the ground to get those imaginary (what it seems like during the race) and microscopic rocks out of your shoes.
• Arm sleeves and gloves are your best friend! Honestly, don’t be the big-tough-guy-bonehead that says “gloves are for __________.”  Carrying, dragging, holding buckets, etc will get increasingly difficult after the 10km mark, so please, don’t be the idiot.  Your arms will look like Freddy Kruger got a hold of you after the race.  Keep those arms looking gorgeous and protect yourself.
• The waist belt I bought a couple years ago is still durable and still works.  This has gone through about 3-4 Spartan races and plenty of city runs.  Having this enables me to carry my protein bars and gels; and even if I have to crawl, I can rotate it to the back so it doesn’t get ruined.  SMART!

One of the biggest problems I had with running shoes back in 2015 had to be the only pair I had at the time.  I bought a pair of under armour shoes that I KNEW wouldn’t survive during the race, but didn’t want to use the other ones (in the video down below) instead.  I decided to wear them and probably halfway through the race, I was limping because it was painful and I had a pinching sensation on the outer portion of my right knee.  Problematic to say the least.  Test your shoes, in the grit, and see if they hold up.