I DID IT!!!!
Let me back up. At Fitbloggin I met with a Reebok rep who gave me a fab tank top and my great new crossfit Reebok shoes that I love. She also slipped me a piece of paper and told me to contact this guy about getting a free entry to a Reebok Spartan Race. I shoved the paper in my bag and forgot all about it. When I was unpacking at home I found the paper. After changing my mind a few hundred times I finally emailed him and found out that I could get a free entry for myself and an entry for a reader if I would just blog about my experience. I became obsessed with watching Spartan videos. Could I really do that? What if I got hurt? What if I was last? What if.... Through a very long process of back-and-forth I finally committed to the race.
Driving down to the event was crazy emotional. WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I DOING? The fear of the unknown was overwhelming. My friend Julia and I drove separately, but texted each other (don't worry, the husbands were driving) often with "What ifs....". Our directions were wrong, but thanks to smartphones we figured it out and headed the right way. The drive down was two and a half hours. Lots of time to think. I thought a lot about that 356 pound girl who got winded walking up stairs. I thought about the girl who didn't like to sweat because it was gross.
Finally we arrive at the Washougal Motorcross track. It was about 45 minutes before our wave. I ate a banana with peanut butter.
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| Ready to go!!! |
I was so impressed with the set-up as soon as we got to the site. There were numbered signs everywhere so we knew exactly what to do. #1- Fill out waiver form (done!) #2 Turn in form #3 Get Registration packet #4 Put on timing chip and admittance bracelet #5 Put race number on arms #6 Go Potty (ok, I added number 6).
There was a huge port-a-potty section which is very important. No lines!
Reebok Spartan even had up maps to show spectators where to go to watch. The suggested times were way off for this racer, but the maps were still helpful. They suggested being at the 1st viewing point 20 minutes after the start- we got there like 1.5 hours after the start.
Our wave is lining up! They are giving us our "Go! Go! Go!" speech. The announcer says, "Who are you". The crowd responded "I am Spartan". I responded, but wasn't very convinced at this point. Oh no!!! I forgot my gloves. I leave the line up to find the husband. EEEEKKK! Can't find him. Thankfully he found me. :) Gloves on. Now we can go. Ready! Set! Go!!!!
We started with a run up a steep hill. By the middle of the hill I needed to walk it was not only steep, but super dusty. Normally I warm up before running and took off way to quick. At the top of the first hill we hit our first obstacle- 4 feet tall walls. Immediately I came down with a case of the "I can'ts". Thankfully Julia was there to give me a boost. I made it over the 1st wall and realized, "Oh yes I can!". There were 3 walls to climb and then we were back to running. The running sections of this course were insane. Pretty much all really steep up and down hills. We ran/walked to the 2nd obstacle.
Before getting to the 2nd obstacle we had to run down a REALLY steep hill. After falling a very nice lady on the course showed us how to angle our legs and feet so that the weight was in my butt. That way when I slipped I'd fall back instead of forward or slip. Unfortunately I had already fallen once on a huge rock. I'll spare you the pictures of my bruised booty, but trust me when I tell you that it's bruised.
More run/walking up and down steep hills. The next obstacle was a slightly larger wall (5 feet/6 feet) where we had to climb over one, under one, and through the next one (there was a hole in the middle). There were a total of 6 walls at this obstacle.
More running. The up was so steep that I had to bear crawl just to get up. It was hot. It was dusty. At the top of the hill was a 1 mile sign. I felt like I was going to throw up. This was not fun. I was D.O.N.E.
Frozen at the top of another hill I just stopped. I could not do this. It was too hard. I did not have 2 more miles in me. Julia to the rescue!!!! Some deep breathing, waiting in the shade, and I finally calmed down. These two super nice guys offered to help me down the hill, but I declined. I was going to do this. I just needed to regroup.
A few minutes later we were at the bottom of the hill where I saw my first puking person. I felt so bad for her because I knew exactly how she was feeling. More running up and down hills. At least now we were in the shade. On to our 3rd obstacle- tire flipping. It was SUPER easy. Julia accidentally did a boy tire so she worked a bit harder. That woman is a beast!!! We do tire flipping a lot at the gym so it was no big deal. 4 simple flips- 2 forward, 2 back and we were done.
Onward....at this point I told Julia that I had to walk. I knew that if I was going to complete this thing that it would have to be at my pace. My pace meant walking. I'm a pretty fast walker, so she jogged while I walked.
Next was the "tractor pull". I had to carry a big, but not heavy, log on my shoulder while dragging a heavy cinder block on a chain behind me for maybe 50 yards. This one was very difficult for me. I just couldn't get a good grip on the chain. I finished, but did have to stop in the middle and rest. Here are my legs the day after.... The huge gash on my right leg is from the cinder block bashing my shin as I tried to put it back in the bucket. Ouch!
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Still no burpees! Did I mention that if you don't finish an obstacle that you have to do 30 burpees?
Have I mentioned the hills??? More walking...
2nd water station. I don't even remember where the 1st one was, but there was one. :) The 2nd station had water, coconut water, and plain old salt to add to your water. I had all 3. Julia dumped water down my back. It felt amazing at this point.
Next we had to lift these bucket on a pulley in to the air and lower them back down. I think the guy said they were 30 lb buckets. Again, not too bad.
Just turned this blog into a Part 1. I can't possibly finish in one post!
Good news- I finished and survived to tell about it.
~Kari
