TRIFECTA - The Spartan Journey Completes

4 Days post-race... the Texas Beast, and still sore.

13.5 miles in the middle of nowhere. 13.5 GLORIOUS miles.

First: The Beast Itself

It was pretty much what I expected after the sneak preview I got on Sat. Long and rocky. A good course for a trail-runner for sure and a departure from the ski hills of my previous races. Easier? Yes and no. Yes because I'm good at running long distances on terrible surfaces. Kinda my thing these days. No because footing was rough and shredded the bottom of my feet + a few blisters that grew and popped during the race. Add in a TON of water and my shoes were constantly filled with rocks of various sizes and were constantly soaks from the 1st 1/4 mile on.

Suprises? Yep.

#1 a couple of obstacles with mandatory burpees. That's just not fair!

#2 Some of the rope climbs/pulls were simply impossible. Rope covered in mud and impossible to grip. This caused my only burpees of the day. Every other obstacle CRUSHED.

#3 calf cramp on the rope line traverse? HILARIOUS. #sarcasm

#4 footing on sandbag and bucket carry was treacherous but I didn't rest for 1 second and grinded though without rest. Bucket shredded the top of my shoulder though.

#5 two barbed wire craws a long way apart.

#6 monkey bars 20 feet from barbed wire mud crawl. EVIL. Made it though.

#7 brutal runs though dry river beds. BRUTAL.

#8 dangerous footing because of "widow-maker" catci.

#9 mental focus was 99% there and I never walked a moment except for steep climbs hence,

#10 3:39:01 only 9 minutes slower than my time at the Super. I hauled ass. 16min miles.

Now some pics:



Happy about the trifecta. It was a great journey from July until now. Can't wait to improve next year. From that first mental shock on the hill in PA until now I've improved physically but mentally I'm a different person and far more capable that back then. I have removed my self-imposed limitations and the doubt. I think of myself as a grinder now that can't be stopped in a race... and I cannot be broken by circumstance or length of race.

2013 will be about pushing further. Ultra races and pushing past even what I know of myself now. The Spartan Races this year were an amazing springboard for confronting the knowledge of myself and very empowering, and I will keep them in my 2013 plans as well. I want to slay the Beast in Vermont.