Pennsylvania Super Spartan: The Time I Did Okay
By admin
I feel as it’s been forever and a day since I’ve chatted with you! It’s amazing, sometimes I want a break from blogging, yet when I get it, all I want to do is blog. This place is a part of my daily life and I missed it!
Okay, a quick catch up…
Our week in Devon, PA (near Philly) flew by far too quickly. Dan and I had a wonderful time with his parents, they always go out of their way to make our visits the best.
We shopped, we ate delicious food, we drink delicious wine…
I even got out of fitness clothes… a few times. An afternoon at the Chaddsford Winey was so nice! Great wine, and my first lobster roll. We split one since we were going to dinner, but oh man was it good!
And we got a few fitness adventures in too!
Valley forge is about a 10 minute drive away, so Dan and I did a shake out run Thursday along the trails. The humidity was low, and the views amazing. We knocked out about 5 miles and 100 push-ups along the trails!
As many of you know, one of the perks about our trip was that it overlapped with the Pennsylvania Spartan Super.
As soon as Dan and I realized that the race was just 90 minutes from his parents’, we signed up. A great opportunity to participate in a Spartan and have his parents see a bit of what we love to do.
The race, held at Blue Mountain Ski Lodge, was everything we thought it would be and more….
Going into this race, I had a few big goals:
- To come within 30 minutes of the elite finishers.
- To do less burpees than I did the previous Super. <— If you can’t complete an obstacle, you have to complete 30 burpees. The first Super I did, I ended up with 120. I did not want that to happen again! It is a time killer, and let’s face it… burpees suck.
- Beat Dan. Okay, not a real goal, but a fun one to have. Dan and I had been talking smack to each other for the past few weeks leading up the race day. A little spousal rivalry never hurt.
For those unfamiliar with Spartan races, there are 3 distances… Sprint (3-5 miles); Super (8-10 miles); and Beast (13ish miles).
It would be cool to do the others, but right now I really want to improve and feel confident with the Super.
So back to THIS race…
We arrived around 90 minutes early for our 9:15 am start time, as recommended. The parking lot was well marked, and after paying the $ 10 parking fee, we walked up to the check-in area. Which was simple and fast.
We had plenty of time to kill, so Dan and I walked the village, looking at the sponsors, the merchandise and then decided it was time to check our bag. For $ 5, our bag was safe, and we were officially ready for our race time to start.
The sun was shining bright, the air cool, and the humidity much lower than we’re used to. We chuckled as people around us were already complaining of the heat and “humidity”.
Right at 9:13 am, our heat was called to the starting line. We hugged Dan’s parents (his mom is to thank for all the pictures), shook out some nervous energy and waited for the horn to blow.
The Spartan Super
The horn blew and we were off.
Within seconds, we were climbing a rather large hill, which worked to separate the crowd. Within a minute, people were having to turn their run into a jog into a walk.
Luckily, Dan and I made it up the hill and I immediately thought, “that wasn’t so bad… if those are their inclines, this will be fine!”.
I as wrong. Really, really wrong.
Throughout the ENTIRE race, we were climbing up and down the ski mountains. In fact, we would summit, climb/slide down, then summit all over again.
I won’t lie… before the race, Dan and I had been quite cocky.
Having just hiked Mt. Mitchell with our 40 pound packs, and having the 50K race under our belt, we were sure that the inclines wouldn’t be a challenge for us.
I was wrong.
Both of us agree, I need to work on my incline training if I expect to become a competitor with trails and OCR.
Dan, being the mountain goat he is, wasn’t bothered much, however because we decided to stick together, he would climb and then wait for me. I never stopped (like several people around us), but I wasn’t able to keep the pace I wanted.
It was irritating!
You want to badly to move your legs faster, yet each step seems to take everything out of you. I welcomed each obstacle as a chance to shake my legs out!
So those obstacles…
They were amazing! Along with the views!
Each one gave me a new high and filled me with excitement. I don’t know what it is, but carrying a sandbag up down a huge hill, only to have to bring it up again is quite a rush.
We carried bags, logs, atlas balls, more logs, and buckets of pebbles.
We scaled walls and climbed up ropes.
We monkey barred and completed traverse walls.
We swam through the most refreshing lake and rolled under barbed wire for what felt like an eternity.
We were tested. And if I I do say so myself, I was very proud of my obstacle performance.
Of all the obstacles, I was more nervous about the:
- Monkey Bars (they were so fat and slippery the first Spartan)
- Traverse Wall
- Rope Climb
These were the obstacles that caused me to do burpees last year… along with the spear throw. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do them.
And guess what!?
I did!
In fact, I only did 60 burpees throughout the race:
- Spear Throw <— I expected this
- Rings <— One of the final events, and muddy. I just couldn’t hold my grip
In fact, while Dan dominated me on the hills, I out did him on the obstacles. He had a total of 90 burpees for the day: spear throw, rope climb and traverse wall.
As each mile seemed to take forever, we began to grow impatient and realized that my goal of being near the elite times wasn’t going to happen.
After more than 3 hours, we crossed the finish line.
I ended up 10th in my age group, which I was both proud and disappointed with. 34thout of 828 isn’t so bad either.
But it was bitter sweet. While I felt great with my strength, I felt weak with my running. And let’s face it, feeling weak is never fun.
But at least I had my handsome guy beside me.
Most people do these for fun. And while I LOVE doing them, I want to be a competitor. It was an experience that taught me a lot. Mostly… get my ass on some hills and strengthen my legs!
In case you’re curious… the winning female crossed with a time of 1.50.21.
Remember my friend Corrina? She placed 4th. She’s my inspiration, such a beast!
What’s Next?
Of course the first question we were asked by our family…
What’s on the agenda next?
We have a 15K race at Table Rock State Park… we love this trail and have been wanting to race it for some time. After that? Who knows!
There were several times throughout the course, I found myself chanting “She believed she could, so she did!” It’s become my mantra and helps power me when I feel like I’m running out of gas.
Then there is you… Thank you for all the support over the weekend. I’m blessed to have friends all over the place pushing me to do my best.
The Ups & Downs
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Spartan races. They are organized, hard, beautiful and fun.
There really isn’t a negative thing I can say about the race itself. Even the water stations were perfectly laid out. And I love the pictures… no extra fee for race pictures!
The only negative I have is with the $ $ …
What I do question is the add-on fees. This race is not cheap… expect to pay over $ 100 for an entry. So you pay the fee, then you have to pay $ 10 for parking? Shouldn’t that be included? And then you have to pay $ 5 for bag check?
Oh, and my in-laws came to support us… they had to pay the $ 10 parking fee PLUS $ 25/per person just to be a spectator.
From our family alone, the race ended up costing over $ 300.
That’s crazy, isn’t it? I think the entries should bring in enough money to not make the other parts so expensive. Maybe I’m wrong (please correct me if you know something) but I think the race fee is plenty steep enough as it to cover the parking and baggage check. Yes?
And the spectator fee? We felt terrible that they paid $ 60 to be at the race. Luckily the lift was open so they ere able to see some spectacular views.
I understand it’s about making money, but these prices are what keeps Dan and I from signing up for multiple races each year.
Okay, my only negative rant is over.