Training Zone

Getting Full-Body Fit

In 2014, Caledon, Ont. native Lindsay Webster shocked a field of elites by finishing fourth at the Spartan Race World Championships in her first ever obstacle course race ( ocr). The 23-kilometre contest, which featured, among other things, repeatedly climbing Killington Mountain in Vermont, which boasts the highest vertical in New England (930 m). Webster quickly fell in love with the sport, making it her primary focus in 2015 along with her full-time job at a marketing agency, as well as a full course load at Humber College. She won 14 races in 2015, including the ocr World Championships, Battle Frog Championships and placed second in the Spartan Race World Championships. In early 2016, she was named to the Battle Frog pro team, allowing her to train full-time as one of the few professional athletes in the young sport of ocr.

Webster grew up competing in a variety of endurance sports, focusing on cross-country skiing throughout high school. Inspired by her Olympian sister Brittany Webster, Lindsay was named to the 2007 Ontario crosscountry skiing development team, which she declined in order to attend the University of Guelph-Humber, which did not offer a cross-country ski team. This is when Webster began her focus on running by joining the cross-country running team, while continuing her interest in crosscountry skiing at a more recreational pace during the winter. She was the fastest member on the team during her time at the University of Guelph-Humber and more recently at Humber College.

Webster took up mountain biking in 2013, racing competitively the following year. With her national-level cross-country running and mountain bike seasons as base training and the encouragement of her fiancé, ocr superstar Ryan Atkins, Webster propelled herself onto the elite ocr scene by nearly making the podium at the 2014 Spartan Race World Championships with virtually zero upper body training.

Since then Webster has fallen in love with the evolving sport of ocr. Webster transformed herself into a world champion obstacle course racer in one year by integrating her past cross-country training with a strength program designed by Atkins. Running five times a week, her training includes three speed workouts, which generally consist of 5x1 mile repeats, hill repeats, a 5k time trial (17:35 PB) and a three- to fourhour bike ride (or cross-country ski in winter) as cross-training to fill in the days she does not run. In addition, Webster completes three strength workouts designed by Atkins, often resulting in four two-a-day workouts every week. These strength workouts rely heavily on grip strengthbuilding exercises (see sidebar).

Webster has ambitious goals in 2016, which include winning all t hree world championship events and t he 2 4-hour World ’s Toughest Mudder.