I can't believe its been almost a year since my first OCR! I'd say time sure flies by, but that would make me sound old.....
With just over two weeks until my first Beast, I figured now was a good time to share about my first Spartan experience before I forget any more details.
For starters, I signed up for said race July 4th. That gave me four months to train, which, in hindsight, I didn't do a very god job at. I made a paper chain and on the inside of every link I had a motivational quote and what was on the schedule for my workout that day.
Pictured is half of my chain. I went through this, then tacked up the second half.
Every morning I would hit my alarm and lay there staring at it fighting with the part of me that kept whispering, "just stay in bed...." It hung just high enough from my bed that I had to stand up to tear one off, and by the time you're standing, you can much better convince yourself to go out in the cold for burpees, bear crawls, and box jumps,( i.e.....Death).
Fast forward four months......
Early the day before the race found me driving to the Airport Sacramento bound! I couldn't contain my excitement! I felt oddly tired, but pushed through. I was met by my sister-in-law and niece, and was so glad to get to hang out with them, despite the headache I felt coming on. Probably from dehydration, I thought, No biggie.
When my brother got home from work we chilled for a bit then headed to Walmart for diapers and Gatorade. You know.... the necessities of life. I started to feel a tiny bit queezy standing in line, but fought it off, afraid I was getting sick. I had waited to long for this! No way I was going to miss it!!!!
Our start time wasn't until 1:00 the next day, (Sunday), but we hit the sack somewhat early and I slept like the dead. We were up early to pack our gear, grab breakfast and head out since they like you to be there 1-2 hours before your start time, and I felt great! Ha. I knew I couldn't be getting sick.
That drive to the race venue felt like FOREVER!!! We pulled up and the first thing you see are people trudging up a big hill, people flipping tires, crossing monkey bars, with music cranked up in the festival area. To say I was excited at this point would be a gross understatement!
We checked in, then wandered for a bit. I heard them doing the Elite race winners and about had a heart attack when I heard Rose Wetzel's name called. I'm still bummed that I didn't get to meet her..... ;(
The weather was fairly decent, but a bit before our heat started the rain came. A nice drizzly rain that left you wishing it would either stop, or come down harder. I stood in line for almost an hour to get a hoodie only to find out they were out of my size. -_- My brother came over and told me our heat was getting ready to go so we hurried over there and started to warm up .
I was already starting to shiver in my shorts and short sleeve shirt. Whether it was from the cold, nerves, or both I'm not sure.
The guy at the starting line got us all pumped up and we were off!!!
The first obstacle was the OUT (over wall, under wall, through wall). A nice easy start to the next 5 miles. We were keeping a good pace, but were quickly slowing down due to the insane amounts of clay collecting on our shoes. It was like wearing moon boots.
We got to the 8ft wall where Chris pushed me over, and I waited for him to get over. Just so you know, the majority of the race went like this: Chris gets me where I need to be and I wait for him to do it all by himself. Lol. I'm so helpful
The order of the obstacles is super blurry in my head but I remember the dreaded bucket carry that was up a steep muddy hill, and down the other side of said steep muddy hill. My much weaker and tiny-er self hated that part. By the time I got to the end my forearms had seized up. Not fun.
I remember the A-frame cargo net where the guy climbing next to my started jumping around on the net. I jokingly glared at him and told him if he did that again I would not hesitate to push him off. He laughed and said, "Spartan women are the BEST!" We both made it safely to the other side and no pushing was necessary.
I remember the multi rig, and telling Katie that I WOULD make it across that thing!
I fell of the first bar.
It was so muddy, it felt like someone slathered it in grease. I paid my 30 burpees and moved on, determined to make it next time.
I remember the gray sludge pond that was so thick the tadpoles in there could barely move. I still remember the way it felt and smelled. You smelled it before you saw it.....
I remember the barbed wire crawl that went uphill in muddy clay and it shredded my knees. Once you got close to the top you would start to slide back down. There were finger marks in the mud that looked like something out of 'The Wolverine' Haha.
Luckily some nice guy took pity on me and pulled me to the top.
I remember the little 7ish foot incline that was so muddy we couldn't get up it. I got a running start thinking this would be easy peasy, and quickly slid backwards. I came to a stop halfway down thinking my foot had found a rock. I took a minute to get my bearings, and when I look behind me I realized I was standing on some random guys foot! with some pushing and prodding, a lot more sliding, and laughter we got up and helped each other haul our team members up. We must have looked utterly ridiculous..... :)
I remember walking up to the Hercules Hoist, (a sandbag on a pulley system that you raise 20 ft up), thinking, "Yeah, I got this". I grabbed that rope and pulled with all my might! It didn't budge. I literally hung from the rope and still nothing. It had been getting rained on all day long, and that wet sandbag wasn't going anywhere. It took Chris and myself together to get it up.
I remember hauling a tire up a muddy hill.
I remember a surprising amount of rolling hills. I didn't even know CA had hills!
I remember being so cold I couldn't run, but it was so muddy we couldn't have run anyway.
I remember wondering who's idea this was.
I remember carrying the "pancake" up a hill.
I remember wanting to nail my first Spear throw, and missing and having to join everyone else in what looked like a mud pit for my dose of death (aka: burpees)
I remember shivering at the water station while Chris took a breather and wanting get moving to warm up.
I remember being one mile out, waiting to go over a wall and a little boy who was watching pointed at me and said, "Look dad, that girl can't stop shivering" Haha! Yeah, it was bad....
i remember trying to hold onto the Z- Wall, but couldn't because of the mud so Chris held me on while I went across.
I remember sliding off the rope because of the darn mud.
I remember lots and lots of burpees. and mud.
And I remember seeing the finish line, with medals and bananas at the end, and thinking it was the most beautiful sight ever!!!
I remember being proud of what we just did together. Talk about quality sibling-bonding time!
I remember a few minutes after finishing discussing when we wanted to do our next one. Yeah, suckers for pain....
I remember trying to brush the dried clay off my legs before getting in the car but it was hopeless. We cranked up the heat in there and ooooohhh.....it was like heaven! I didn't bother to change and rode home in my muddy clothes, wrapped up in a warm towel.
(Katie, I'm still sorry you had to clean the tub out for me! Lol)
We showered, changed, then headed out for dinner at a Mongolian Grill. I loaded my bowl up with noodles and meat, and enjoyed every single bite.
Besides my cuts and bruises I felt great!
Until after going to bed that night..... -_- I woke up shortly after midnight feeling AWFFUL, and wanting to be home. I took my temperature and had a fever of 103. Yuck.
I stumbled around the kitchen in search of medicine, shivering like crazy, found it and crawled back into bed after donning my Spartan hoodie and 4 blankets. I stumbled out the next morning took more medicine, and my very considerate family members turned on the tv for me.
Psyche to the rescue!!! I flew out the next day so I did my best just to chill and get better before getting back on the germ tube (aka: airplane)
Luckily I was okay the next day, and arrived home well enough to tell of my latest adventure.
So, there you have it..... My very first OCR. The beginning of my crazy addiction. Some people think I'm insane and ask me why I like it. I smile, shrug, and tell them:
You'll know at the finish line.
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