Spartan Sprint DC

I have come to the realization that I possess more of a competitive nature than I admit to.  I wanted to run this past weekend’s Spartan race with my team, but I also wanted to run it alone, because I wanted to be able to just flat out go for it.  Not that I was expecting to get a podium spot or anywhere close, but I wanted to push myself to do the best I could.  I seem to always want to have the proverbial rabbit to chase, which may be why I run faster when I’m with others and not so much when I run alone. Self discovery!

The race was good though. Very tough. More hilly terrain than I was expecting but I was able to at least jog half of the 4.6 miles of the course. The obstacles were spaced out well, though the beginning, they came fast and furious. The O-U-T, 7′ wall, incline wall, Tire pull, barbed wire crawl, big cargo net and herculean hoist all one right after the other in quick succession. And the mud! Hah! In the morning heat I ran, the mud was the consistency of melted ice cream. Soupy and thick. Later in the day when I volunteered, it was like thick glue, the water having been “carried” down the course progressively throughout the day by the participants.

I felt like I ran out of fuel during the race, and I wonder if I simply screwed up on my pre-race breakfast. On other races I had a peanut butter sandwich and two or three hard-boiled eggs, but this time I made a smoothie with banana, chia seeds and protein powder,etc and it filled me up to the point where I didn’t want to eat anything else. So by the time the actual race time came around, I was operating on a smoothie that I’d had three hours previous, a single egg and two bites of a peanut butter sandwich. Oh, and a couple energy gummies as well, woo hoo!  Last time I make the mistake of not eating solid, genuine food before a race. Live and learn.

I enjoyed the race very much, and would definitely do it again. So many new OCR people though, I don’t think they knew what they were in for. Granted, I’ve only done 5 or 6 OCRs and three Spartans, but there were folks who should’ve started with something easier like Warrior Dash. Spartan race requires some genuine prowess.

Volunteering was definitely interesting. I was assigned to the cargo net, shepherding folks down the correct direction and making sure everyone was alright as they progressed. I had a couple folks go down with injuries which was unfortunate for them but I think they were alright in the long run. Helped disassemble the barbed-wire and the 7′ & 8′ obstacles with several other volunteers including this really cute curly-haired girl..who I thought was teenager at first, but apparently she’s closer to my age, though I never asked.  In any case, it was very long day and I was happy to roll into a Five Guys on the way home and get a burger. There was a hole in my stomach after running around all afternoon as well as the race in the morning.

Good weekend all around! Got some new battle damage on my legs and a wicked sunburn from standing in the sun all afternoon. (WTF, sunscreen, SPF 30 my ass) WINTERGREEN is next!