I am a Spartan!

Scott is fond of saying "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger". As an almost 40 year old, I don't often put myself into situations where I can actually put this into play - at least not in a physically challenging way. I don't enjoy sports. I don't love outdoor activities. I don't really exercise much. In fact, I don't tend to push my body since my hobbies and my schedule just don't call for it.  

So back in December, when my co-worker Leslie told us that she had signed several of us up to run the Utah 2015 Spartan Super race I was immediately against the idea. I mean, I did run in the Ogden Marathon once (back in 2002 where I ran the 5K at the end of the team relay race). But my sedentary lifestyle  has not prepared me for an "elite athletic event". We had plenty of time with the race not until June 27th. "The great thing about a team" Leslie said, "is we can train together! We'll go work out during lunch and get in shape. You will be fine!"

We had grand plans for kick boxing, barre workouts, cross fit training. Plans . . . June 27th arrived and, while we had not made time to do much preparation, we did have great looking outfits, gloves, our hydration packs, and plenty of "fuel" and I figure preparation is half the battle.

I had no idea what a challenge this would be. Coming out the other end, having FINISHED!, I feel a ridiculous amount of achievement. As I've thought about the race and the challenge over the past two weeks my mind has made so many parallels and connections to life. I need to sit down and write all of them down since I know these life lessons are going to make the very best talk or lesson one day! At the very least, I need to record these thoughts so when I get farther from the event, I can still remember these "Aha!" moments. 

Sam, Brian, Josh, Grady, Dustin, Brad, Yoko, Melissa, Leslie, TJ, Patrick

And so, here comes the brag fest where there will be a million pictures and me complaining about how hard it was mixed with my pride at accomplishing what to others was clearly less of a challenge. I will also say (with regard to the complaints) that I am fully aware that some actual preparation would have made a world of difference for me but, I didn't prepare, so there it is!

Unless you sign up with the elite group, you were given one of several slots in 15 minutes increments beginning at 11:30. Our team start time was not until 1:30. With the temperatures at, or maybe exceeding 100 that day, we were worried about that late of a start time. The nice thing was that I got to sleep in. With any early morning start, I always sleep fitfully with worry about sleeping through the alarm clock so getting up normally helped me to get some rest before hand.

Yoko, Leslie, Melissa

Got ourselves geared up and gathered at the start line "I AM A SPARTAN! AROO! AROO! AROO!" and we were off.

The starting bell (was there a bell?) immediately sent us over a wall, through two mud pits, over, under and through a few more walls, and then up into the hills. 10 minutes in, and I knew my back up plan (just do a few obstacles and if you have to then drop out) was not going to work. They sent us directly up the mountain with not much choice to either turn around and go back, or to take a short cut and skip ahead. For the first mile and a half in the hills I had serious doubts of whether or not I was going to be able to accomplish this. I drank lots and lots of water and had energy gummies frequently. I stopped A LOT to catch my breath and let my burning leg muscles rest. I'm sure my face was beet red. There was no relief from the sun and I'm not a sweat-er so I was very worried about overheating. The view at every break was beautiful but I felt badly that I was making my team wait for me. They being the kind souls that they are, waited anyway.

At mile marker two we were shocked that we'd only made it that far. And I was worried because I started to feel cold. I wasn't lightheaded or dizzy but I did figure that being cold in dry, 100 degree weather was probably not a good sign.

We gratefully found a tiny patch of shade under a scrub oak tree and Patrick literally gave me the shirt off his back  (he had a compression shirt on under his team shirt). They soaked it and draped it over my shoulders to help me cool off. Not too far from that area was a pipe above the ground with a spigot and rushing water. Not sure if was drinkable but I did soak my body, hair, clothes, everything twice and that kept me cool enough to move along to the obstacles that were next.

me top, left side

It was here that I accomplished my first obstacles by myself, but also where I did my first burpees. Burpees are a pushup and then a jump into the air, then back down to a push up. In the Spartan, in order to move past an obstacle if you can't complete it (or don't try it), you have to do 30 burpees. I did try everything as much as I could but some of them like the rope climb, I didn't have the upper-body strength to do and my team couldn't help me - so burpees. Another hard area was the javelin where you have to actually have the spear stick in the hay, or else -burpees.

What I loved the most was the team aspect of the Spartan. Sure, many people do it all on their own. They travel around the states and do these races all over and train like crazy. I, however, would have never finished without the help of my team. They lifted me up to cross the rings and the monkey bars. They boosted me up so I could climb over the 8, 10 and 15 foot walls. They helped me to carry my bucket of rocks up and back down a steep hill. They helped me flip tires and pull cement blocks and raise sandbags into the air and down. Mostly though, they waited for me when I needed to rest, they stood in front of me so I could sit in the shade of their very bodies, they encouraged me to keep putting one foot in front of the other, they didn't make fun of me using the bathroom in the woods, and they made me laugh even while I was weak and panting and slowing them down.

The advance team who went ahead towards the end

There are three levels of Spartan races. The Sprint is 3+ miles with 20+ obstacles, the Super is 8+ miles with 25+ obstacles, and the Beast is the killer at 13+ miles and 30+ obstacles. If you complete all three of these in one season, you complete the Trifecta. Utah only had a Super this year (last year it was a Beast! Crazy!!) and our race was over 8 1/2 miles with, by my count, 26 obstacles.

The majority of the obstacles are there in the valley so we did 2 or 3 in a row, then were sent back up into the hills to hike and gather miles. This meant steep climbs up and steep drops back down. Most of the time coming down it was dusty and loose and unstable so I came down sitting on my heels. Blessedly, we had about 2 hours of cloud cover between about mile 3 and 7 or so. When the sun did finally come back out, it was late enough in the day that it wasn't as oppressive as it had been before. Tender Mercies for poor, overheating prone me. 

Towards the end of the race (and towards the end of the evening) we were among the stragglers of the day and I admit, I started to worry - what if they clean up behind us and we don't get to finish? What if there is no fire to jump at the end and they don't have any medals for us. What if they drive up in their trucks and tell us to hop in, the race is over?!!

We had some great conversations with other teams as we all sat in small flat spots to rest. There were people of all shapes and sizes, some from far away coming to run the race. One gentleman was overweight and racing by himself. We asked if we could help him several times but his goal was to finish and accomplish it by himself. We leap-frogged him and others for some time and when we finished, he was behind us. I was so pleased to see him coming across the finish line, assuming he felt as big a sense of accomplishment as me - probably more so.

In the end, I understand the reason why people do these races. It was fun to get muddy and dirty. It was fun to be a part of a large group of people from all over. It is wonderful to have funny stories to tell with my co-workers for years to come. It was great to see the miraculous things my body can endure. Mostly, it was so rewarding to finish, to come home tired and filthy and sore and bruised but with a medal around my neck that is proof to myself that I can do hard things. 

As we drove home from Soldier Hollow I took a quick selfie and sent a text to Scott to (1) let him know I was still alive (it was almost 9:00 at night), and to (2) show him that I finished. I know that he was in support of me, but he also knows I have limits. He knows that after 30 minutes of mowing the back lawn my face takes 2 hours get get back to it's normal, non-red state. He knows I hate to exercise. He sent me out that morning with me giving a promise that I would quit when I needed to and not jeopardize my safety. I knew I was going to take one thing at a time and that I was going to do what I could do. I also knew my limits and always in the back of my mind was "I can always stop if I have to". So, my finishing was a nice surprise for us both.

It took me 6 hours and 27 grueling minutes but I am a spartan! And I wasn't last. There were several dozen people that had times longer than mine, not that it matters really. The next morning I could barely stand, my legs were like jelly. Throughout Sunday and Monday (we all stayed home from work) I kept finding more and more bruises on my legs, arms, sides, (bum)! But, as our bodies do, I repaired and was back to normal in a few days. So, two weeks later, a sore toe from hitting a rock and a bit of a tender knee from falling off the 15 foot wall are really the only things that physically remind me of the ordeal.

But I have a t-shirt that says "Finisher" on the back and a medal that sits proudly in my office I look at every day. When I see it, I am reminded that hard days are not insurmountable, and I have co-workers who have my back. I also have a huge sense of achievement and a great talk in the works.

The You-Tube video below is a great 6 minute Go-Pro camera capture of the whole race. Except the hills - it really does not accurately capture those blasted hiking miles. The only thing that kept me going in those moments was the thought "the pioneers could do it, so can I!" and singing over and over a song my mom taught me that she learned on pioneer trek:

If I had the strength of a pioneer,

Into the hills I would climb.

There to remain as a pioneer,

until the day that I die.

Oo la la, Oo la la, Oo la (repeat)

Oo la la, Oo la la la (again)

Oo la la, Oo la la, Oo la (once more)

Oo la la, Oo la la la 

The End.