Now...on to the Super Spartan update!
The Super Spartan was advertised as an 8+ mile obstacle course. But, as those of us who do Spartan series races know, the pre-race estimations are pretty darn poor. All said and done, the official distance estimate was around, oh, 10.5 miles.
Considering my longest distance to that point had been 6.2 miles, I ended up in a bit of a hurt at the end.
I ran (or should I say, walked) the Spartan with my friend Shana. She and I did the Spartan Sprint together and the South Carolina USMC Mud Run together. Shana has had a bit of a rough summer with her lungs, so we both knew this race would be slower than we would have liked in general.
Little did we know just how slow it would be.
All Clean and Smiling Pre-Race
We were in the 9:30 wave on Saturday. We lined up at the back of the wave (I mean, really, who were we kidding if we lined up closer to the front) and started off at a leisurely pace. I was a spirit leader in high school, and I'm sure Shana figured out pretty quick why I was good at leading cheers. I'm just lucky she didn't bean me in the head.
We went through the first couple of obstacles - over and under barricades (some through barricades). Under some nets. No problem. The course was set up on an old horse steeplechase run, so we then ended up going up and down the obstacles that horse would have jump. Being all of 5'2" (and only used to running on 2 legs) I had a slight disadvantage compared to the average competitor on the course, but I did just fine anyways.
After the first set of horse obstacles, we came to a hill trail that we had to climb. We met up with some other racers while in this area who we thought would be running at our pace, so we all agreed to stick together and do the entire race. As Shana and I quickly learned, things are not always as they seem. While our compatriots were very nice, they were not as interested in running as we were. And so, as it turned out, we ended up walking, rather than running, most of the race.
Let's just say, lesson learned for the future, and move on from that, shall we?
More horse obstacles (over 3 dozen) and then we came to the barbed wire crawl. It must have been at least the length of a football field. And there were hills. I thought I came through pretty unscathed until a few nights later when the husband was scratching my head and found a definite scab on my scalp from a close-encounter with the barbed wire. Oops.
More running. Then the monkey bars around the 4th mile. At the Carolinas Sprint, I made the first rung, and that was it. I wiped my muddy hands off on the grass and started swinging. I made it halfway across, and then I hit a patch of mud on a rung and bam. It was 30 burpees for me.
There were more hills after that.My calves started giving me warning signs on those hills and I started popping Sports Beans, trying to keep my calves from mooing too loudly.
More obstacles. Wall climbing. The women had slats to help them out, and I got over with no issue.
Next big obstacle was the log balance. Stumps about 2.5 to 3 ft high were spaced across a patch of field, and we had to jump from one to another and cross the field. I had successfully completed this at Rugged Manic in May, so I wasn't too scared. I made it across with no problem. The guy next to me channeled Daniel LaRusso on the last stump and did the crane off of it.
Cargo nets followed. I love cargo nets. Honestly, I do. Up and down. Up and down. Big smile on my face.
Tractor flip was next, around mile 6. There were men's and women's tires. I came. I saw. I flipped. On to the next obstacle.
The next obstacle was the Hercules pull. Basically, pulling a weighted bucket using a rope and a pulley. I used a trick I learned on the Spartan Chicked Facebook page to conquer this one - using my hand to "tie off" the load as I pulled on it in order to make it less likely to slip through my fingers.
More running in the sort-of manner. I'm sure all of my "teammates" wanted to bean me as I encouraged them to run a little bit more.
Next was the sand-bag carry. Females had to carry a 20-lb sandbag (men had a heavier weight) up and over boulders, under trees, and across a trail. For a muddy mommy, it was a piece of cake. Unlike carrying a toddler, the sandbag rested nicely on my shoulder and did not kick or scream the whole time. Bonus: It did not pull my hair, either.
More pseudo-running. Then a lovely high cargo net. *aahhh*
The next obstacle was a new one. We had to put a rubber band around our legs and hop over obstacles. Having had two children, this was the obstacle that proved to be harder for my bladder control muscles than my leg muscles. Let's just say, I fought the law of gravity, and the law won.
Next up - climbing muddy hills followed by climbing a soaped-up incline wall. Not an easy feat, but one that I proudly accomplished without any help.
By this point, I was having to stretch out my poor calves after every obstacle. Cramps were constantly threatening me. I had shared more Sports Beans than I should have and my calves were not happy with me.
The cement block pull was next. Basically, we had to pull a cement cinder block around a field by a chain. I had a sneaking suspicion we were paying for the privilege of tilling someone's land for them.
From here, we walked/ran to the last high wall. The volunteer stationed there warned us that lots of people had cramped going over the wall. And we pretty much all got added to the illustrious list. As I was perched on top of the wall, I was not sure if my calves would cooperate enough for me to come down. But they did, and I came down safely without help. I have to say that at least 75% of the people going over that wall cramped on it, judged by the screams I heard.
Good times, people, good times.
Finally, we made it to the last few obstacles, all centered around the viewing area. First up, the horizontal traverse wall.
Hangin' Tough
At the Carolinas Sprint, I fell off of the Traverse Wall on the second hold. I was determined to do better at the Super. I carefully picked my way to the end and put my foot onto the last hold. A-ha! Victory at last. I held my hand out for the last hand hold and...
Wham! Down on the ground. Burpees for me.
So glad there were no children listening near by.
Next up was the spear throw. Yeah, who was I kidding. I knew there were burpees in my future.
Last major obstacle was the rope climb. Sure, I had accomplished it in the gym, but that had not been after covering over 10 miles. The bottom of the rope pit was filled with mud and water. I waded into the waist-high water and started my climb.
Starting to Climb
To tell the truth, I was exhausted. I gave it my all. I fought through as much as I could. And I climbed a whole lot of the rope. But I got to a point where my leg muscles all simply said: "Hellz no!"
On the Way Down
I made it between one-half to three-quarters of the way up before I knew I was not going to make it. Again, far better than I had done at the Carolinas Sprint in March, but not completion.
I did my burpees and prepared to rush the gladiators at the end. Bam! Through both of them! Got my medal, smiled, and then -
The calves called it quits.
I went down with painful cramps in my left calf. For 5 minutes, I sat in the t-shirt area, massaging my calf and willing myself to stand up. Volunteers were kind enough to bring me bananas and sports drinks, and I did finally stand up and walk out of the finishers area. My friend Laurie took pictures. We all smiled. Things were good.
And then my right calf said," Screw this!"
Bam! I went down again. The cramping was so bad, my right foot was pulled in towards my calf. Laurie was nice enough to help me work out the cramp, and after 15 minutes, I could stand up again.
So, I completed the race, which was my goal, even if it took a whole lot longer than I would have liked. I had a good time, but because I didn't push myself, honestly, I didn't feel a huge sense of accomplishment at the end.
I did learn some lessons, though, that I hope will help me as I prepare for the Carolinas Spartan Beast in October. First, I need to get some mileage on these legs! The Spartan Beast is advertised as between 10-12+ miles, which in Spartan Speak means probably 15 miles. I've started running again in preparation. Second, I need to fuel throughout the race better. I picked up some Cliff Shots Rox and used them on my 7-mile run last weekend - not bad! And three, I learned that unless I honestly push myself, completion won't feel all that sweet, because even if no one else knows it, I will know that I didn't try my hardest.
Now, if I could just get my calves on board...
