When I ran my first Spartan Race, the first section of the race was running up hill for about 1 mile. I ran hills before but not that long of a duration. As expected, my legs burnt out before I could reach the top and I was forced to walk the rest of the way. This was very dissapointing for me because I really wanted to have a competitive time. I did very well on a majority of the obstacles, but looked back at the beginning hill climb as my downfall.
But instead of sulking, I took it as motivation. The first thing I had to do was put some external pressure on myself, so I registered for 3 more Spartan Races in 2013. Now with the pressure on, I have to train harder. I have to train smarter. And one of the things I needed to do was build up my leg strength and endurance. Running stairs is a great way to do that. And even better it's free! Many people can go to their local high school and find a set of stadium stairs. Since I wanted to build up my endurance similiar to the one mile ascent up hill, I found a set of stairs in my neighborhood that's 176 stairs high!!! I'm telling you, just after 2 sets my legs were absolute toast. The goal is to be able to work up to 8 sets without stopping. And once I get to that level, I plan on adding weight with my weight vest.
I believe this will be a great compliment to your strength training, endurance runs, and practing getting better at the obstacles. Good Luck!
Caution: This is a very tough workout and it can be stressful on the knees. I know my knees were a little bit sore after I completed my reps.
