After the beating we took at the Ohio Sprint both of us were
limping and hobbling around the house for a few days. We talked about doing
another race with a nervous laugh and both of us would find ourselves looking
at the upcoming race schedule. We discussed it with each other and the rest of
the family and decided to make a nice, fun weekend getaway to Asheville, NC for
the next level of race, the Super.
Spartan Race has 3 main races, Sprint, Super and Beast. We
did a Sprint in Ohio which was their “easiest” event. If you complete one of each race in a
calendar year, you have completed a trifecta. The generic guidelines for a Sprint
is 4+ miles. If you recall from the first post, the Ohio Sprint was 6 miles so
Spartan likes to take advantage of the + to the fullest extent. A Super is 8+ and a Beast is 12+ so we knew
we’d be in for a challenge. Adding to
the fun in Asheville is that it was one of the Spartan Race US Championship
locations counting towards the overall Championship for the Elite racers. You
know Spartan isn’t going to make it an easy race at all – oh my – what have we
done?!
We talked about what did and didn’t work at Ohio, mainly
shoes so we both got trail running shoes and broke them in before the race
weekend. We bought Camelbak hydration
packs and I wore the same shirt and shorts that I did in Ohio. My son trained a
lot more than I did but I did what I could – or so I thought.
The weekend arrived and we drove the 7 hours to Asheville
which is a nice city in a beautiful part of the US. It’s close to Smokey
Mountains National Park and is a sight to see. We drove down on Thursday and
went to Biltmore Estate on Friday. That place is incredible! We drove out to
the event site at Black Mountain and couldn’t see much of the course but at
least knew where to go. We carbo loaded with pasta at dinner and hit the sack
early for a busy day.
We arrived at the site and checked in. We saw some of the
elite racers finish which was very cool. Once it was time to load into the
corral we lined up and got ready. In what now seems to be a trend I again
struggled to get over the wall into the corral. So much for my training,
huh? LOL. We were in the same heat as NFL star Randy
Moss which was neat to know Spartan is an equalizer between someone like Randy
and the common man. We were off and my running helped as I was able to run
along with the group up to the creek crossing. I was feeling pretty good and
was thinking “I got this” AROO!
It didn’t take long before the tough obstacles and the
wicked entity that is Black Mountain kicked in. We were scrambling over boulders,
walking up dry (and wet) creek beds with plenty of obstacles along the way. I
saw what I learned were called “Adaptive Athletes” who have physical challenges
like amputees and others. Some were being helped by guys in full turn out
military gear. Impressive as anything I have seen and helped steel my mind to
finishing the race. Some were from OperationEnduring Warrior. These people are real heroes and me bitching about being
fat and these races being hard is nothing compared to their stories.
We finally reached a plateau of an old quarry where there
were more obstacles and what I assumed (LOL) was the top of the course. We had
a wicked bucket brigade up and down part of the mountain and it was brutal. I
soon realized that this was NOT the top of Black Mountain and surely we were
not going all the way up there. I ground my way to the top over what was a very
steep trail. It was tough, I was cramping in my legs even though I was hydrated
and I learned about the power of mustard. It helps with craps and I now race
with mustard as a precaution. (Weird, right?!) We started the way down Black
Mountain and it was a nice gentle slope and I was cruising thinking I am on Easy Street. Then we
turned into the woods and my descent into darkness began. We were going down
single track trails at 40 degree slopes for a LONG time. It felt like eternity
and we were stacked up to where you couldn’t move until the person in front of
you moved. We eventually made it down with my knees screaming and ankles sore
from the angle and met more obstacles. One that really sticks with me is the
vertical cargo net where I watched the Operation Enduring Warrior team help the
athlete climb over the net *with* his German Shepard. My hat’s off to those
guys – AROO!
I limped and gimped my way through the rest of the course
with TONs of burpees to be had. I failed
At the finish I felt the same mix of emotions and a great feeling
of accomplishment. I finished it, survived and pushed myself to a new level. As
Spartan CEO and founder Joe DeSena says – I set a new frame of reference.
*This* became my new gauge for how hard something is. Honestly, it still is 7
months later. We made our way back to
the hotel and got cleaned up. We ate
dinner with the family and neither of us had any issues falling asleep with the
satisfaction of a job well done.
The next day we went to breakfast and saw a lot of other
Spartans at Denny’s and then headed off for
Read My Spartan Story - Part 1 or continue to Part 3
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