Well kids, it has been some time since the last post. We have had adventures since then. I have tried to post them, but it wasn’t working out so I quit. I will do some flash back Friday posts to cover those.

On to now. Last year, on a whim, we decided to try our skill at the Spartan Super.

For those of you who don’t know what the Spartan races are, they are a series of obstacle course races of varying lengths:

Core Races (there are other harder races, we’re sticking to the core three)

1. Sprint (5+ KM, 20+ Obstacles)
2. Super (12+ KM, 24+ Obstacles)
3. Beast (20+ KM, 30+ Obstacles)

You can read more on their website!

We went into it TOTALLY unprepared and with no training, and let me tell you, it hurt. We packed two gels each (which is what I pack for a straight running 10k), no extra water, and no extra food in the car for after. We finished in 3:45 broken, beaten and really hungry. Based on that experience we decided that we clearly needed a re-do, and no friends, not just ONE race, we were going for the Trifecta (completing all three races in one calendar year).

Race Morning

We woke up nice an early for the drive to Brimacombe ski hill where the race was being held. Last year, it was a brutal 30 degrees (celsius for any American readers) and sunny. This year, not so much. 17 degrees and rain, c’est la vie!

Race day essentials – not shown, a bag of salted almonds!

Check-in is fairly straight forward, show up, show ID and barcode, get timing chip and Spartan head band (which includes your ID number). After that, we had some time to kill so we went back to the car, ate some breakfast and attempted a game plan.

Course map

Before the mud

Go Time

We got in to the 9:30 corral (which in my opinion, the earlier your start time, the better. The course gets VERY chewed up as the day goes on) and got ready to go.

This race was hard. But we felt much better this year than last year (I died more than once on the hills last year). One thing to note, if you skip or fail an obstacle, you have to do 30 burpees. By the end of this thing, I would say I did about 300. 

The obstacles vary from climbing tall things (I have a fear of heights that I need to get over. Given the option of climbing a cargo net on an A-frame – which you can see it in the photo above –  with 15 other people, or dropping and doing 30 burpees, bring on the burpees thank you very much), moving heavy objects (this is my jam), crawling through mud (which smelled awful by the way), ropes, rings, barbed wire, spears and fire! The hardest part of all of it, was definitely going up and down the ski hill 500 times (huge exaggeration, but that’s what it felt like).

The barbed wire crawl felt 100 times longer this year.

He clearly knew where the camera was.

Still smiling mid-race

Nailed it.

These got harder the more it rained.

Close, but not close enough.

They don’t call this the burpee maker for nothing.

We finished in a time of 4 hours flat, which at first was disappointing as we really felt like we had improved since last year. Turns out, this years course was 3km longer which meant, we actually shaved 2:45/km off of our overall time. Progress!

The fiery end!

Done and dirty.

Until next time!

The first of three!

Advice for aspiring Spartans

1. Be prepared. Our hydropacks were key as they provided us with water (there are water stations, but I like having extra), and a great way to carry our snacks.
2. BRING ENOUGH SNACKS – honestly, I can’t stress this enough. Bring a variety too, I ate one gel, my gummies, and the salted almonds (the salt was perfect as everything else is really sweet).
3. If you have room, pack a small first aid kit. Mine only had antiseptic wipes, band-aids and blister pads. I didn’t need any of them, but was really happy to help out a fellow Spartan when he had to stop due to blisters (pretty sure he was more happy than me that I had them though). Your feet get wet, blisters happen and they suck.
4. THANK THE VOLUNTEERS. Honestly, these races couldn’t happen without them. They are choosing to give their time to stand in the rain and hand out water to a bunch of sweaty, muddy people. They deserve a thank you at minimum.
5. Keep some food in your car for after the race. Last year, all we brought was a bag of chips, this year we packed pizza and it was glorious.
6. Help out your fellow Spartans along the race. If you see someone who needs a boost up a wall, or just words of encouragement – do it. It makes it a better day for everyone.
7. Don’t run up the first hill. Really. It sucks.
8. Don’t skip leg day.

Obligatory post-Spartan burgers and beer

And donuts, always donuts.

AROO!