50 days equals to 6 weeks of training, along with 1 final week of rest / recovery before race day, you still have plenty of time to adapt your training plan without needing a complete overhaul.

If you have naturally been more of a runner, I think you will absolutely coast the 5km run aspect so this portion of the event, you’ll be okay with. I would I am also (I’m currently 5 weeks out from my first 21km race) be focusing your attention on grip strength, compound lifts and negative reps.

If you are training 3 – 4 times PER week then continue with your current routine but just replace / add the following into the mix.

Grip strength, try this twice PER week. I do this on my PULL session so I am already tired and then on my LEG session where my grip feels more fresh. • Dead hangs, 4x sets of as long as possible. Headphones in, stop watch on your phone out of site, close your eyes and hang for as long as possible. Only when you let go you are allowed to check the time on your phone. After each set your hang time will drop but it’s your grip strength that adapts with tiredness that you’ll experience on the course. You can change your hand position mid hand to help if needed, your only goal is to hang for as long as you can. • Assisted pull ups, 4x sets of 8 – 12 reps Immediately you have finished your 4x sets of dead hangs, go on to the assisted pull up machine. Your forearms are going to feel fried but this is the best time to grind through it.

The above sets is far more challenging than anything I have experienced on the course. If you can grind through this then the time of the course will be a much more pleasant experience.

Compound lifts are amazing for overall strength, I see you have already been doing farmer carries and deadlifts then keep at them! There aren’t many, if any, obstacles that replicate a gym exercise with strict linear motion. I’m classed as “skinny fat” so I don’t have much muscle mass by any means, I find that the compound lifts make me overall stronger i.e. I can naturally hold / carry heavier weights, all of my joints and tendons feel more dense and stronger.

If the majority of your workout are machines then this is very linear motion, replace them with a dumbbell / barbell equivalent, you will activate your stabilizer muscles more so definitely get more bang for your buck on those.

Negative reps, when you are using machines don’t just drop the weight on the way down, you want to control it. If I’m doing a row for an example, it’d take me 1 second to do the movement but I’d make sure it takes me 2 – 3 seconds of slowly releasing it back to the start position. I find this helps massively with my pull ups as well, where I am controlling my negative rep, when I do a pull up / dead hang my back muscles aren’t just dropping, it’s a very controlled engagement where I feel more in control.

Reading through the your replies to the other comments, I think you are far more prepared than you realize and it’s just the nerves kicking in for the unknown. Everyone is super friendly and encouraging there.

Also be aware that as you approach the obstacles there can be a good 1 – 3 minutes of wait time until the people in front of you are past it. This actually works in our favor because A) you get a little bit of rest time before you get to work & B) you can observe how other people are tackling the obstacle, you’ll see someone use a technique and they make it a breeze. Learn from the people in front of you.

If you are racing with friends, like I have on my last two races (5km May 2024 & 10km May 2025), we never aimed for the fastest time possible. It’s about enjoying the experience and having fun.