TOTR: Novelty Races

It's Tuesday, we've had a solid 2 days of no rain, and next week will be the midpoint of the fall semester. No complaints from me.

Today's topic for Tuesday's on the Run is a fun one--novelty races! At this point, I feel like I've done just about all of them--color runs, glow runs, zombie runs...but my favorite? Obstacle course races, specifically Spartan Races.

I've talked Spartan before but until you do one, you have NO idea just how seriously awesome they really are. I went in to my first Spartan race last March thinking that it was just another race. And I was totally wrong.

Spartan is its own community of runner's and it's... the best. There's no other way to put it. Everyone is so encouraging, so helpful, so BADASS--literally everyone has that mindset of "go big or go home", which makes me love it even more.

And if that's not enough, the races are HARD. I've done several of the other big time OCR races and not one compares to a Spartan. Spartan races challenge you physically, mentally, emotionally--by the time you are done, you're absolutely exhausted in every form and fashion. But the sense of accomplishment is like no other. I'm assuming that's probably how I'll feel after my marathon next month. I hope!

I've been thinking a lot about my next goal after the marathon and as soon as I ran the Virginia Super a couple of months ago, I knew IMMEDIATELY my next goal was the Spartan Trifecta. In order to get the Trifecta, you have to a sprint (shortest), Super (middle), and Beast (longest) in one calendar year. And on top of that, I've decided that I want to do the absolute hardest ones out there. I'm still debating on which Sprint but I've got my eyes on the Virginia Super for a second year in a row and  the Vermont Beast--the best of the best.

So if you get nothing else out of this post, the point is that you should go do a Spartan race... immediately. You won't regret it and I promise, no matter how bruised and banged up you are when you finish, you'll want to do it again.

You'll "know" at the finish line.

Sarah

TOTR: You'll know at the finish line.

This could quite possibly be one of the hardest race recaps I've ever had to write. Not because it was a bad race but because there were so many things that made Saturday special that I'm not even sure where to begin! 

I'm going to talk about my volunteer experience in another post (hint: it was AWESOME) but today, I'm linking up for Tuesday's on the Run!

So... where to start. 

The Wintergreen Spartan race is no joke. It's a super (middle distance) but I've heard from NUMEROUS people that it's harder than many... well, almost all... the Beasts. For those of you who don't know, Wintergreen is a ski resort. So, you can only imagine why people would say it's so tough. ;) 

For some perspective, this is a shot from my volunteer spot. Notice that I'm looking dead even with the tops of several mountains. And this was only MID WAY up the "death" march, which I'll talk about later. 

So, of course, being typical Sarah, I totally disregarded all of this and basically went into this race thinking I wouldn't need fuel (wrong), wouldn't need long socks (wrong), and would be okay testing out my brand new trail shoes (wrong). ha. Basically, I broke every major running rule there is on Saturday. 

In addition, I woke up on Saturday at 3:30am, left Peter's parents house by 4, got to Wintergreen by 5:30, volunteered until 1:30 and then raced at 2. 

Again, do as I say, not as I do. 

Anyway, so once my volunteer shift was over, I headed back down the mountain and QUICKLY got ready for the start of the race. I downed some Spark, popped O2 Gold, changed clothes, switched out my shoes, and made it to the starting corral with about 5 minutes to spare. Luckily I was in such a rush/panic to make it that I didn't have time to notice how completely exhausted I already was. 

There are several reasons why I love Spartan races so much but mostly it's because the community is incredible. Saturday was my first Super and my first time racing alone and I have to be honest, I was pretty apprehensive about it for a long time. But as soon as I hopped over the wall into the corral, I immediately remembered why when I originally thought of this plan I knew it would work. Fellow Spartans are AWESOME and it's such a community atmosphere that if I needed any help along the course, I could count on them to get me through. 

Once the announcer got done pumping us up (he's the BEST), it was go time. My legs were a little tired from the get go but let's be honest.. it was only going to get worse from here so I sucked it up and went with it. 

There's absolutely no way possible I could go into every single detail about this course or the race. So instead, I thought I'd break it down into a few simple bullet points of various thoughts and feelings I have about it. 

1. It was the most challenging race I've ever ran in my entire life. No doubt about it. I'm not sure that I ever fully ran a mile the entire course. I literally scaled mountains for 4, almost 5, hours. The "death" march that I alluded to earlier consisted of starting at the base of a black diamond slope and ending at the VERY top. It was brutal. I'm in good shape and even I was struggling at various points on the course. 

2. Emotionally, this race was almost just as challenging. When you start pushing your body to the limit for long periods of time, you start questioning EVERYTHING. Your commitment, your abilities, YOUR LIFE. ha. I can't even begin to tell you all of the random thoughts going through my head. I even shed a few tears going up the mountain--not because I couldn't do it but because I was thinking about my husband and how much I missed him. Lol (Literally saw him right before I went to bed the night before). I have to think that this is what will be happening during my marathon in November. 

3. I'm the strongest I've ever been. There were several obstacles I've struggled with in the past and had no problems with on Saturday. There were only two that I couldn't do--one of them I think I probably could have done had my hands not been so slippery/I had gloves and the other is the rope climb out of the water. I need to work on that. I know I'm strong enough to do it but I need to figure out a better technique. 

4. I should have been more prepared in regards to fuel. Around mile 5, I started crashing out. Luckily mile 6 provided shot blocks but I could definitely tell I was struggling at various points. Next time, I know I need to wear my spibelt. 

5. Note to self: never, EVER wear brand new shoes to an endurance race. Again, I very much underestimated how tough this course was going to be. I have blisters on my heels to prove my stupidity. 

6. I should have spent more time getting my bag together before the race. I brought compression sleeves with me and of course, totally left them back at Peter's parents house. I have some pretty nasty rope burns from the Tyrolean Traverse that could have been prevented. On the bright side, it makes me feel tough. 

7. I have never felt more accomplished than I did when I crossed the finish line on Saturday. Blood, sweat, and tears LITERALLY went into this race and the feeling of finally finishing after almost 5 hours was one of the greatest feelings in the world. I hope this is how I feel after my marathon because there's nothing like it. Every time I look at my medal, I smile. 

This race was one of the best experiences of my life and even though it would have been fun doing this with a big group, I'm glad I tackled it alone. I needed it. I needed to get out of my comfort zone for a few hours and have to rely on myself and strangers to get through. I learned a LOT about myself during that time--mostly that I'm capable of some impressive stuff. And oddly enough, I feel much more confident about my marathon in November after Saturday. 

My advice to you? Go do something that scares you. It's so worth it. 

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Sarah 

AROO!

Happy Tuesday!

After a long trip home yesterday, I'm back from my Spartan weekend in Atlanta. And it was INCREDIBLE! This was my second Spartan Sprint and certainly not my last. It was brutal, inspiring, fun, crazy, hectic, challenging... pretty much any adjective you can think of. Spartan has definitely stepped up their game this year.

We didn't race until 2:30pm on Saturday so by that point, weather was pretty good. Not TERRIBLY chilly thankfully--lower 60's and sunny. We ate lunch at Panera before hand and it was CLUTCH. I went into this year's race thinking it wouldn't be "too" bad since I never remembered feeling super tired after Charlotte last year... yeah. I was wrong.

The race was held at a horse park right outside of Atlanta and it was a killer course. Super hilly--more so than I expected. By the time we got out of the gate, I was pumped and ready to go. I ended up running the entire thing with my co-worker and we killed it. We had a great pace going and only stopped when there was a backlog at some of the obstacles. I won't go into too much detail just because words can't do this race justice. At least not mine. ;) I will say that we literally climbed a cliff (seriously) and that probably the most grueling obstacle of the day was one where you filled a bucket up with gravel and walked straight up this GIGANTIC hill and then back down and around. It was one of those obstacles where you feel pretty darn proud that you made it.


I have to say that I'm super proud of myself and all of the progress I've made in a year's time. I thought I was strong and in good shape last year but I still  had trouble with some of the strength obstacles, specifically pulling myself up a wall. This year, you better believe I was hauling butt over those things. And it felt GOOD.

We ended up finishing in around 1:40 which at first, I was a little disappointed with because it was slower than my time last year but then I realized a) this course was a LOT harder than Charlotte and b) there was a bit of a log jam towards the end so we lost some time there.

Out of all the mud / obstacle runs I've done, Spartan is BY FAR my favorite. It's in my opinion the most challenging--it REALLY pushes you to your limits. And not only that, the Spartan community is AWESOME. I can't tell you how many incredible people I met this weekend!

On Sunday, our group volunteered from 6am-7pm (!) and all I can say is that I definitely earned my race entry. It was HARD work--but so very rewarding. I got a chance to motivate and help other racers on the course and it was AWESOME to see people overcoming their fears and accomplishing things they weren't sure they could do. Not only that, the teamwork I saw was incredible.

It's safe to say that I'm hooked and already planning my Trifecta this year.

I know this is kind of a lame race recap but when I say there are no words that can accurately describe my experience, I mean it. It was truly a life changing weekend. I'm sure that sounds corny but when you get with a group of people who share the same passion that you do, it motivates and inspires you to push your limits beyond what you thought was possible. It was the kick in the butt I needed right now. I've felt like I was kind of in a "slump" as of late and just following the same old routine day after day without really "living". I feel alive again and let me tell you--it's a wonderful feeling.

Have you ever done a Spartan or mud/obstacle race?

Sarah

Snow Day #8: Is it Spring yet?

You read that right. I'm currently in the midst of snow day #8 and as much as I'm trying to stay optimistic about the fact the sun is currently shining, I just read that we're under a winter storm watch / advisory for tonight with another 4-6 inches on the way. Yeah.

So with that in mind, I decided to stay positive today and make a list of all the things I'm looking forward to about spring/summer/warm weather/no snow.... you get the idea.

• OUTDOOR RUNNING. This is a big one. I've been stuck indoors for far too long this winter. I can't wait to lace up my shoes and hit the pavement instead of the treadmill. Don't get me wrong, I have no issues with a treadmill, clearly, but I miss getting outside. 
• SPARTAN RACE!!! I'm helping chaperone a school trip to Atlanta for the Spartan Sprint (did I mention my job can be pretty awesome?). I absolutely LOVE the  Spartan series and am bound and determined to get the Trifecta this year. Anyone else a Spartan fan? Anyone gotten the Trifecta?
• Girls weekend in Asheville! Hotel has been booked, plans are being made... so exciting! My best friends and I live in different parts of VA / North Carolina so we make it a point to get together every 2-3 months or so--some good stories and lots of detoxing are always needed after we're done. :) (hey, you can't be healthy ALL the time)
• Racing! This kind of goes along with outdoor running but I'm making it it's own bullet point because, well, I can. I always get withdrawals starting around February 1st. I love competing, I love the atmosphere, and I love just hanging out with fellow runners. I miss my crew! Not to mention I'm really looking forward to running the Kentucky Derby Half. I've heard a lot of awesome things about this race--any else doing this one?
• The end of the school year. I don't mean this in a bad way whatsoever but I always love the excitement of graduation/the end of the year. After spring break, things get insane and as stressful as it can be, I love every minute of it. This year will be a little different as I'm not directly working with students but I'm still looking to it!
• Easter Candy. DUH. Mini Cadbury Eggs are MONEY.
• More sunlight! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I'm going to be when I get done teaching my Thursday night Insanity class and it will be LIGHT OUTSIDE.
• Florida in May! My boss & I just got approved to travel to a fitness conference in Orlando in early May and I'm so stoked! I'm not sure that we'll get to go to any amusement parks but who cares. It's freaking Florida. 
• Marathon Training! Enough said. :) I'm so beyond stoked to run my first 26.2. Is anyone else doing Richmond in November?

Okay, I feel better already. Bring it on snow!

What are you looking forward to?!

Sarah