I survived the Super Spartan. I am so thrilled. I was one of the best experiences I have had with running. Pure simple fun. My only complaint was the weather. Mother Nature gave us the cold and chilly shoulder all day. I wish I took more pictures but I was too damn cold & wet.
I was in the 10 a.m. Crossfit heat as part of the Ignite team. We weren’t much of a team. I don’t know why I even bothered. Still it was fun to see some familiar faces like Becky, Tracy, Chris and Cheryl from the gym. I even met a Twitter pal, Tracy, who happens to be a sister of a girl at Ignite (whom I met for the first time yesterday).
Best part was catching up my old running pal, Ashley. He just moved to Edmonton with his family for a new job. I’m thrilled to have such a great running friend within driving distance. I see some runs in our future! Great to relive old 13 Mile and Higher Club days.
Jeff, my coworker, was also rocking the spartan with his wife, D. Jeff was helping D out with the burpees. When you’re on a team, you can share burpees. I should have switched heats. I know how much Jeff loves to do burpees!
I went into the race knowing full well there would be a lot of my burpees in my immediate future. If you fell of an obstacle or could not complete one, you were given a 30-burpee penalty. I’ve never climbed a rope before or seriously attempted in my life. I knew I would be doing burpees at this station (Yes, I probably should have tried before the race but spartan training wasn’t high on my list of priorities.).
My strategy was to run tempo so I wouldn’t put too much stress on my hurting hammie. I would take my time at the obstacles to give them a fair go before I hit the ground for the burpees. I felt pretty good throughout. I ignored the throbbing in my hammie and it seemed to have done the trick. (Great to see Tara & Cheryl volunteering at the obstacles!)
Final burpee count? 30+30+30+20 = 110. I was thrilled. For sure, I thought I would have to do at least 200. My biggest disappointment was missing the lateral wall bell by an inch. I jumped up to ring it and I lost my footing and fell. Bummer. I only did 20 burpees here. (No I am not giving back my medal!)
Great experience overall. I encourage you to try one. I can’t wait to try my best at one next year. This was a great first experience. Loved the Spartan community. Everyone was so friendly and encouraging. What are you waiting for? Sign up.
You seriously had to do burpees on the traverse just because you missed the bell??? You made it across the whole wall for crying out loud!!
Awesome job on the race. It's too bad Ignite didn't stick together. I had a great time and hope this race returns to Red Deer next year. I had no idea some of those trails were back there, I'd only ever been on the paved paths. Beautiful!
Sorry again that Melea and Ben took off at lunch. They said they would stick around a lot longer.