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"None of us had ever done a Spartan Race before, and without knowing it, we were about to attempt one of their hardest courses!"
It started as a humid, foggy, and rainy August morning. Cars were piling into the muddy field that was used as a parking lot. We went across the field, got into a bus, and drove for about 15 minutes up to the top of a mountain. At the top we could see the Start and Finish lines! My three friends and I were at the 2014 Spartan Race Super in Wintergreen, VA!
None of us had ever done a Spartan Race before, and without knowing it, we were about to attempt one of their hardest courses! When we got to the starting line, the crowd roared the traditional AROO! AROO! as we pumped ourselves up for our doom. Then suddenly we were off! None of us had any idea what we were about to go through on the mountain.
We learned very quickly that hills were going to be an integral part of our torture . We had to accept them because we were going up and down extremely steep hills for most of the course. One of the obstacles was carrying a log up and down the mountain on wet grass and mud. There were literal calls of "TIMBER" or "WATCH OUT" as logs would go flying past you and on down the hill because someone couldn't hold on. Fortunately no one was run over!
I was able to make it through the strength obstacles like the Hercules Hoist, Atlas Carry, and the Tire Drag because my workouts focused on strength at that time. My lack of endurance training is what left me fried. The course had a killer up-hill Barbwire Crawl that was very steep and slick. My forearms and knees were left bruised and bloody from the rocks hidden in the mud. The Spear Throw was the only obstacle that I missed and payed the 30-burpee penalty for. I stood there trying to focus but I couldn't and ended up over thinking my throw; missing completely.
It's was all worth it though. When you get to the fire jump and you do a crazy pose for the camera. When you cross the finish line and have your shiny medal clinking around your neck. When you feel so much excitement over a banana and water. When you get your finisher shirt that you'll wear for months afterwards. When you feel such a awesome sense of accomplishment for conquering the obstacles and the course. When you drive back with your friends and talk about how hard the course was. When you stop on the way home and eat a massive feast. When you wake up the next day feeling like you got hit by a truck, but want to do it all over again! It's all worth it.
Since then I've done 25 races with several top placements. OCR is now a passion of mine and I train to win.