Race Recap: Spartan Beast - Utah

Race: Reebok Spartan Beast

Location: Soldier's Hollow, UT

Race Date: Saturday, June 29, 2013

A little late than never...Well, first off, I survived...that's good isn't it? lol! This was a killer race so here we go with the recap...

Day 1 - Travel Day - Thursday, June 27, 2013

Jeff, my race traveling companion, and I left home at about 5:30am while the hubs stayed with the K9s. The drive which was supposed to be 13 hours turned out to be 14 or so hours due to massive construction on the roads that we were traveling. We went up through Albuquerque, Farmington, thru Canyonlands National Park, Provo, Utah and finally to our final destination, Heber City, UT. The town is small and cute but there's not a whole lot to do here. Once we arrived, we unpacked and headed out for dinner since we had arrived at about 8pm. The first place we ended up at stopped taking patrons for seating at 8:30pm...it was 8:31pm. We ended up just going back to the motel (Swiss Alps Inn...nice place, older furniture but great owner and just nice overall. They do have pet friendly rooms (we were in one) and they don't smell and from what I can tell the rooms are all fairly large. We ended up ordering Domino's and then watched some TV and/or played on the  computers before bed.

Day 2 - Free Day - Friday, June 28, 2013

I woke up early and Jeff slept in so since I wasn't able to get my mile in yesterday for my run streak I had to start over and went to the local high school track to get my mile in. Afterwards I decided to drive up to the venue just to check it out. OMG! Was my first thought was, "It's all f*cking hills and mountains!" Here's some exapmles of the area...

Yup, we were knee deep in that sh*t. See the mountain on the left?
Yeah, we climbed the trail to the top.That was a b*tch

We were on mostly single track trails through this area.

Parking area, view 1.

Parking area, view 2.

We ate breakfast at a bakery/deli called Kneaders, great food! We've had breakfast there 2 days and are planning to go back today (Sunday) for more! We then headed up to Salt Lake City and visited Temple Square which houses the first Latter Day Saints buildings and which is the oldest area of the city.

The Temple from the west entrance.

Jeff in front of the Temple from the west entrance.

As much of the Temple that I could get in one shot.
Granite was quarried from 20 miles away by ox and cart
and took 4 days to transport until they built a railroad
which lowered the time to 4 hours.

Selfie in front of the Temple.

Assembly Hall, the oldest building and first building of worship.
Original pews are still being used.

Fountain in front of the Assembly Hall has plate murals
depicting the trek of the original settlers.

After the visit to Temple Square I made my first visit to a Lululemon store...just to say I've been in one!

We then headed to Gateway Center (shopping) to look around to kill some time. Jeff was looking for new mud shoes and I was trying not to spend any money. We then headed to REI where Jeff finally (we won't say how long this took!) found some shoes but they were out of his size so we waited for a friend of his from Clovis who now lives north of SLC who was going to join us for dinner and some impromptu shopping at the REI in Sandy, UT which had the shoes that Jeff was looking for.

We then headed out to Olive Garden, which luckily was pretty much around the corner and had dinner (I still have leftovers that are probably going in the trash). Megan, Jeff's friend, was a pleasant young lady who obviously had a great relationship with Jeff. After dinner we dropped Megan off at her truck at the SLC REI and headed back "home." We tried to turn in early so that we could be ready for the morning.

Race Day - Saturday, June 29, 2013

We were up by 7am and headed back to Kneaders for breakfast. We then headed out to the venue to get everything necessary for the race AKA packet pickup. We got everything together and found the small group of the Weeple Army that we were going to run with (more on that later). I didn't even think to take any pre-race pics of myself and Jeff but I did get some of the 10am heat at the starting line and of some of the Weeples as we waited in the corral for the 10:15 heat.

10am heat at the starting corral, 200 racers at a time.

Flags marking the start.

Bryce carrying the Weeple flag and wearing his GoPro.

Weeple people.

To the rear of the 10:15am heat.

Dave (our illustrious leader) and Bryce.

Weeple chicks.

Weeples preparing for the start.

To the front of the starting corral.

When the race started of course we were going up hill...and you know how much I love hills...NOT! (Yes,  I know I have to train for them for NWM 26.2!) It was this early point that I fell behind and rather than have them wait for me I just let them go and continued on  my own. I was able to do the race at my pace and asked for help from total strangers at obstacles that I needed it. I met several other women close to my age who I walked with for varying amounts of time  plus a young lady who was a tired of the crap we were dealing with and we were going to go through this together...until she got called to the medical tent for an emergency. So I trudged along and met a few other women and some men that I walked and chatted with throughout the race. One inspiring person was a young man named Lemoni (apparently a name from the Book of Mormon) who had lost a leg and had broken a spring so I let him use my phone (yes, I had it sealed in a ziplock bag) so he could contact his wife to meet him with a new part. I believe he had lost his leg in the war, but I'm not positive. The last time that I passed him, he had met his wife and was fixing the piece but also had to do some gerry rigging with athletic tape so that he could continue on. He passed me again and I saw him at the spear throw doing bupees with his prosthetic off...the man was a freakin' BEAST!! So as I continued on through some mud/water obstacles I worried that I should have taken my FitBit Flex off, but it handled the mud/water like a champ and is still working (only water resistant no proof). It was totally submerged several times for several minutes and it's going great today (Sunday). I also had bought a new waterproof, dustproof, shock proof camera that ended up totally covered in a thick layer of mud but is also working like a champ. Needless to say, I was unable to take any pics with it though.

I started the race at 10:15am and finished around 5:30pm, according to Jeff only about 30 minutes after the Weeples finished, if that's true I'm pretty proud of myself! That's a little over 7 hours for a killer race and we had finished a Super in just over 5 hours and that was an 8 mile or so race. I was so tired that I didn't even want to think about taking pics, just wanted to wash all the mud off and get into the pool at the motel! So when we got back to the motel we showered, rinsed out our clothes/shoes some more, sat in the pool and hot tub then went next door to Dairy Keen to have some burgers and a shake (Yummy, thick shakes). We then came back to the room and although we wanted to go to sleep early we ended up finally going to bed at 11pm or so. Ugh.

Day 4 - Travel Day - Sunday, June 30, 2013

Well, I was up at 4:30am so I'm going to have to stock up on some 5 Hour Energy before we leave. Jeff woke up for a few minutes at 5am but is now back asleep. I'm considering another shower or to lay back down in bed. We managed to get on the road around 11am after having been disappointed that Kneaders, our fave breakfast/bakery joint was closed. We ended up eating at a cafe across the street before beginning the 15+ hour drive home. The drive was uneventful other than more frequent stops to stretch, gas up and nature breaks but we did stop to eat 3 times adding on another hour or so to the trip. Note to self...don't have the patty melt at Whataburger, it just didn't sit well with me. We finally made it home at almost 2am exactly. Another Spartan race done. A week of soreness to look forward to!

The Aftermath:
Bruised on every body part except neck and face. Bruises ranged from 10" to variously sized spots. Sore for 5 days after...ran/walked 5K on July 4th and soreness went away the next day.

What I liked about this race...
I finished, it was a bruiser but it can be done by a not so in shape 48 year old female.

What I didn't like about this race...
Hills, steep hills, loose rock...the 100 yard barb wire crawl roll...usually one of my fave obstacles. Didn't like my normal disliked obstacles...traverse wall, monkey bars, rope climb...took burpees for all those.

Would I do this race again?
Yes, just because I am a glutton for punishment and it would give me a reason to eat a Kneaders and have a shake at Dairy Keen.

Recommendations in Heber City, UT (about 10 minutes from Soldier's Hollow venue):
Swiss Alps Inn - Clean, roomy motel w/ pool, hot tub and sauna.
Kneaders Bakery - Great baked goods and breakfasts.
Dairy Keen - Right next door to the Inn, great burgers and shakes.

Product Testing: Salomon Speed Cross 3 Trail Shoes

So, I've been running my Spartan races using some old MizunoWave Ascend 5's. They were doing fine, but there wasn't much grip on the inclined walls if they were muddy and wet, plus the shoes were a half size too small which has caused me to have chronic runner's toe on my first toes (next to the great toe) that just don't get a chance to heal up.

I had been watching for shoe discussions on a couple of different obstacle course racing (OCR) pages and found that Innov8 Rocklites, Mudclaws and X-Talons were very popular and highly recommended for the "stickiness" of the rubber to help keep you up on the muddy incline walls and getting out of the mud pits. The other shoe I found mentioned fairly often was the Salomon Speed Cross 3. Now I like to try shoes on before I purchase them online (much to the chagrin of the clerk). But since there were no dealers for Innov8 in New Mexico I happened to notice the Salomon SC3 at REI on our last trip to Albuquerque. I went ahead and tried them on making sure I went up another half size to allow room for my toes. The speed laces kind of confused me, but after trying the shoes a couple of times it was no problem. I ended up purchasing them that day after checking online for lower prices while I was trying the shoes on!

I took the shoes out for a short trial run/walk yesterday on the local ATV/horse trail. Although it had rained heavily a few nights before there was little in the form of mud. When I did find any semblance of mud I ran through expecting to slip but never slipping and feeling in control at all times. In the sandy areas it was the same, just felt like I was running on top of the sand rather than sinking into it.

As it stands right now, I'm expecting some good results with this shoe and it's fairly aggressive tread and stickiness. I am kind of worried about the shoe draining water as some people have complained of that, but I'm hoping it's a non-issue. After a few mud runs/OCRs, I'll report back especially after I see how they clean up post race. For now, here's some pic of the shoes.

Before the excess lacing is tucked away.

Clasp pulled down and excess lacing tucked into
pocket on the top part of the tongue.

Pretty aggressive lugs, not sure what the little
round bumps do but the stickiness of this rubber
you can feel even walking on concrete!

Another view of the lugs...
sorry for the bits of mud!

Heel view.

Inner arch view of shoe and a better view of the lugs.

Disclaimer: Salomon did NOT provide me with these shoes, purchased them myself. Nor am I getting any form of compensation for this review. All opinions are my own.

What do you mean it's not 2014 yet?

Well, here we are getting ready to head into June of 2013. I've had my race schedule set since the middle of 2012 and it's had many additions and deletions. In fact I still have 17 races to go ranging from half marathons to full marathons and OCRs (obstacle course races, Spartan and Tough Mudder). I also have a trip to Alaska to run a back to back marathon and 16 miler (also I get to visit one of my favorite couples). Most of these races are already paid for and I'll be SOL if I can't go to them for one reason or another like in 2012 when I went into a severe depression that caused me to not even get out of bed other than to use the bathroom and occasionally eat. I missed, or DNS'd, about 8-9 races that I had to suck up the loss of the registration fees. I did however get 2 of these races deferred but I won't be able to use one of them at all.

So, that brings me to 2014 I have a full schedule going on. Short races to full marathons and more Spartan Races (I think I'm a little addicted now). Anyway I counted my races for the year and they total 34!! The schedule includes at least one trip to Hawai'i because the back to back that I was going to do is no more because the half marathon I wanted to do changed their dates. Yeah, I'm a little irked at that. I wanted to get both my half marathon and full marathon in Hawai'i done in one trip to save money, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. The schedule also include two 5 day series of a mix of half marathon and full marathons. The nice thing is that there is no time limit so I don't have to stress about when I finish. One of the obstacle courses that I plan to do is the Mud Quest Run which is 13 miles and has 100 obstacles. They were rained on hard the day before the race this year so that made the mud that much better! It looked like everyone had fun even with all the muck. I also got myself into a 5 year legacy type situation with the Space Coast Marathon. Why did I do that? Because each year's medal represents the space program, namely the shuttle program and there's special bling at 5 years...2014 will be my 2nd year running. So much for not having to travel to Florida anymore!

Thirty four races in 2014! I can't believe it, then again it wouldn't be the first time. Of course things will likely change, but this schedule works on paper...literally.  Oh, by the way, yes...I have started on 2015's race schedule already! ;)

So, is your 2014 race schedule made now? If not, when will you start making it up?

Museum, Shopping, OCR: Oh My!

So yesterday the hubs and I went up to Albuquerque specifically to have lunch and see the Titanic exhibition at the New Mexico Natural History and Science Museum. Getting there and immediately heading to Pappadeaux's was no big deal, but during the drive I mentioned that I wanted to stop at REI just to look at hydration vests (I wanted an easier access one with hip pockets for when I do Spartan Beast in Utah so that I didn't have to take it off to get stuff out), trail shoes for mud runs (my current ones are too small and are causing black toenails, I ended up getting the Salomon Speed Cross 3) and some wicking under garments. I really didn't want to buy everything, I just wanted to look. By the time I looked I had picked up everything that I wanted and a tire repair kit for my bike. I kept hinting to the old man if he wanted to buy me any of these items, but he non-chalantly said no (or just downright didn't  answer) so it was all on me. Keep in mind I'm on disability through the VA and am no longer able to work due to that disability and get pad once a month. Sometimes that once a month can last for a very short time, especially if I'm feeling a little hypomanic which results in excess spending. I can't fault him though because he had bought me some new Saucony Rides and Zensah compression calf sleeves for Mother's Day.

REI and Heart & Sole Sports purchases.
Top left, clockwise: Salomon Speed Cross 3, Gregory Dipsea 6 Pack for Women
(70 oz bladder sold separately, I'm just pulling the one out of  my Nathan
 vest to use in both this and the Nathan...Saved $33 that way), Brooks Dyad 7,
 Xtrainer fingerless gloves with leather grips & iBungee Speed Laces
for  my Saucony Ride's.

Our next stop was the Titanic exhibit. Unfortunately, we were unable to take pictures at all as that was part of the agreement with the exhibitors. What was cool that they actually had an iceberg (real or mechanically made) that you could touch to see how cold the real one was...brrrr! The items for display were cool, but I really wish they had had more of them. One thing that really got me was that as you entered they gave you a random card with information about a real passenger. At the end of the exhibit, there were lists of those lost and those saved. You were to find your persons name to find out if they survived or not. My person was a little girl who survived but her father did not (see the identifying card below). There was no mention of a mother/wife or siblings). Also as you entered you got a photo take on the false front end of a ship (a la Jack and Rose in Titanic)and at the end of the exhibit in the gift shop you could see the picture and purchase it if you wanted. I saw ours and immediately headed for the exit...I hate how most of those pictures come out.

 

The next stop was Heart & Sole Sports. I really just wanted to go there to buy some #RunNow for Boston silicone wristbands but they were out. Instead I started trying on shoes, I know...bad idea, that included Hoka One Bondis which felt too strange to me, Brooks Dyad 7's (which I ended up getting), Brooks Ghost 6 which were my second choice and one other pair that I can't remember that I couldn't even put my foot in with my custom orthotics. So again I dropped hints to the husband and again he ignored them (can't say I didn't try)! So I ended up buying the Dyad's and some iBungee laces (have to find a different color to match my new Dyad's) for my Rides and we were done. They had sold out of the wristbands...the real reason I had decided to stop there! Ugh!

We stopped at Coronado Mall briefly to see if I could find a different cover for my Note 2, one that had a backside that you could open and store a couple of bucks or a couple of cards but it looks like the only way I'll be able to do that is to order through eBay. While we were there I had a craving for a drink and so we stopped at Keva Juice (similar to Jamba Juice) to get some smoothies.

Pier/deck block for dragging behind on a chain/rope,
I'm planning on pulling 2 at a time..

One last stop was Home Depot to see if they had any of the deck pier blocks that Spartan Race uses on one of their obstacles but with no luck. Every store I've been to has been out of them. I'll just have to keep hunting so that I can add that training to all the other OCR training goodies I have now. After this we headed home for the nearly four hour trip and arrive home around 10pm. I immediately started cleaning and doing laundry eventually falling asleep sitting up in bed with the laptop on my lap and my head bobbing up and down (I would guess). I woke up around 3am and started working on the laundry again and I have been awake since.

This trip was supposed to be a quick out and back trip but as you can see even the best laid plans don't always work...especially where running is involved! :)

I was supposed to be on the road on a run an hour ago but I'm postponing it until I eat so I don't bonk during an 8-10 run like I did on Thurdsay and I still need to wake up the old man so he can do his 6 mile run. So, with that said, I bid you adieu as I eat or procrastinate some more...whichever comes first!! LOL!

OCR Toys: Practice Spears & Tires

I, with just a little help from the hubs, made a new obstacle course race (OCR) training toy today and I'm so excited! Ya'll know that I started doing Spartan races this year, at first reluctantly but now I'm enjoying them...a lot. So much so that I've already planned 6 Spartan races for next year in hopes of earning 2 Trifectas (completing a Sprint, Super and Beast in one calendar year). But enough about that...back to my toys...

One of the obstacles that I have never succeeded at at a Spartan race is the spear throw ("Spearman"). In fact, when I did my first Spartan Sprint in Arizona my right leg cramped up so bad after throwing the spear that I couldn't even catch my balance and landed on my back screaming and cursing bloody murder. The poor volunteers at first didn't know what was going on and then they came and asked if I needed the medics and I was like, "NO! Cramp! Cramp! I just need to stretch my f*#$(@&g leg out!!"  I finally got most of the cramp out, did my 30 burpees (they weren't pretty) and hobbled along on my way. Needless to say that throw was an epic fail...I don't think it even got near the straw bales. At Super it was just a bad throw period...did my 30 burpees with the help of the Weeples and finished up. At Military Sprint I got the closest of all with the spear skimming too low on the bottom of the target. I'm hoping that with the ability to practice that I'll be able to nail the spear throw at Beast at the end of June!

So, here's the video that I followed but I'll also be putting step by step instructions in this post as well.

Let's talk price first. There are kits that you can purchase online that have everything that you need to make a spear. These run approximately $35. For my spears - yes, I made two - here are my costs:

One Time Use Items:
3/8" by 12" bridge nails - 2 each x 67¢
60" Rake handle with ferrule - 1 each x $14.99
60" Rake handle with ferrule - 1 each x $10.44

Multiple Use Items:
Mini Hacksaw - 1 each x $6.28
3/8" by 12" drill bit - $11.22
Liquid Nails - 1 10oz tube  x $2.27

We had to go to three different stores until we found the rake handles and I didn't realize that when we finally did get them that they were 2 different/types (the store we ended up had merged with another store thus the difference in price). So, for one spear (most expensive) the final cost of having to buy everything the first time was $34.50. The second spear (less expensive) came out to $11.11. Based on that price I may have my own little arsenal of OCR spears in the near future! lol!

So here's what I did:

1. Collected all the items and tools I needed. The battery for the drill was charging so that is missing.

2. Used the hacksaw to cut off the head of the nail. It helped having two of us to stabilize the nail but you could do it yourself with it clamped in a vice.

3. Used the drill and drill bit to deepen the hole at the lower end of the handle so that I could sink the cut end of the nail to the depth of the ferrule.

4. Removed the staples that were used as display hangers.

5. Insert some of the Liquid Nail putty into the drilled end of the handle and inserted the cut end of the nail.

6. Tap the end of the nail on the ground or use a hammer and repeat until you no longer get excess Liquid Nail putty coming out. Clean off the excess.

7. That's it! Just need to let the Liquid Nail to cure and they'll be ready to go! Now I just need to find some straw bales to put up as a target!! Woot!

All in all, the whole project for both spears only took about 20-25 minutes total. The hardest part was sawing off the nail heads but even then that only took about 5 minutes. If you were to use an electric reciprocating saw it would probably take half as long.

I'm adding these to my current OCR toys tires to flip, drag, push, whatever... Meet Momma (right, 95#) and Daddy (left, 113#)...

I'm hoping to add to the family of tires with Granddad (top, ~140#) and Great Grandad  (bottom, ~200#) this week...

Two new toys to play/practice with...easy peasy. Hopefully, 2 more free toys to play with too!! AROO! AROO! AROO! (Spartan battle cry...)

Race Recap: Spartan Military Sprint - Colorado

A little nod to my own military
aircraft maintenance background.
C/W = Complied With

Race Date: Saturday, May 4, 2013Race 

Location: Fort Carson Army Base, Colorado Springs, CO

Race Day -1: Travel Day

Thankfully, this was one of the closer races to home...only a mere 6½ hours away. I was able to drop my long haired fur kids off to be groomed (their daddy picked them up) and leave town mid-morning rather than before dawn. This was a route that I had taken many times in the past 20+ years so there was little chance of getting lost. Aside from getting caught behind a semi towing a double wide house on a two lane road that went up and down hills and had no way to pass which extended the trip by about 30 minutes just outside of Logan, New Mexico the trip was rather uneventful. There were more deer along the drive between Logan and Springer than I had ever seen in the past.

We (myself and my race partner, Jeff) arrived in Colorado Springs at about 4pm and found our way to the hotel. When we went to check in the clerk couldn't find my reservation and I ended up having to call their toll free number to find out what was going on. While I was on the phone the clerk did find my reservation, but I had made it for April rather than May...my bad! I first tried to call the USAF Academy to see if they had any temporary lodging facilities (TLF) open where we could have a full kitchen, but they didn't. Luckily the Super 8 where I thought I had made reservations had rooms open and the clerk gave it to us at the price I had made the original reservation for.

We drove around to find our way to the two entrances to Ft. Carson (somewhere I had been back in 1985 on our way to New York to drop our car off at Bayonne and fly out of JFK to our new duty station in England). Unfortunately my navigation program was no help to find the main gate and I knew that Gate 20 was a ways down the road. Listening to my navigation set to "Fort Carson Gate 1" ended us up at the Colorado Springs airport! I finally figured out how to get to the main gate and estimated the travel time needed to get there at 6am on a Saturday morning to be about 10 minutes.

Now that we knew where we were going we made a trip to the mall so I could get a warmer shirt for the race (Underarmor mock turtle neck long sleeve) and then headed to dinner at Famous Dave's. We just hung out in the room for the rest of the night since we needed to get up at 5am to go grab some breakfast and then head over to the venue to volunteer at 6am the next morning.

Race Day:

I woke up bright and early, even before my alarm and got ready to allow Jeff  time to sleep in a little before waking him up. I have to say that I wasn't quite sure of what to expect for this race as I hadn't even looked at the previous year's video, so I was just a tad nervous. I also didn't know what to expect for volunteering all I really knew was that I'd be racing for free for half a day of work. We headed to breakfast at a nearby Denny's where the chicks sitting in back of us were talking so loudly that I was able to discern that they were both exotic dancers, one had a kid, the other hated one of the dancers at the club for thinking she was better than everyone else, etc., etc., etc. I mean  really, the few people in the restaurant probably knew these girls life stories since they had been there before us! lol!

We made our way to the base and checked in at the volunteer tent. We ended up in our stations at the registration tents. I was going to bail a little early to go run with the Weeple Army at 10:30, but the Army ended up being spread out throughout the day so I just opted to finish my half day and run the last volunteer heat at 4pm instead. The weather was a bit cold in the early morning, but the job I had at the volunteer registration table was pretty low key and we were next to the gas area heater so that made life better.

Spartan Race volunteer t-shirt - Front.

Spartan Race volunteer t-shirt - Back

We finished our shift at 1:30 (I think) and left the venue to go grab some lunch and a nap prior to our 4pm heat. We planned on heading back to the venue at 3pm which ended up being a good thing because when we did return at 3:20pm we found out that the last heat was at 3:30 instead. Talk about not being psyched up!! We rushed to check our bags and get to the start. I forgot to take off my sunglasses and to grab my gloves out of my bag. We literally got to the start and had about 30 seconds before the heat took off! From here I'll go thru the race (~4 miles, 28 obstacles) obstacle by obstacle:

1. Moats - A series of 3 muddy pits one of which was wide enough to jump over (for those with legs longer than mine) and the other 2 pretty much requiring one to settle in and hopefully be able to climb out. A lot of people needed to help each other out of a couple of these moats, Jeff and I included. The water was cold and was pretty much a shocker at the beginning of the race. This obstacle took a toll really early on some of us. I heard later that a chick had broken her ankle trying to jump across the moats. If you're not positive that you can make it take the safe route and suck up the wetness and the mud...heck, that's why your doing a Spartan Race right? To get muddy?

2. U-O-U-O-U-O (Under-Over series): Simple obstacle to go under some hanging mesh and over a short 4' wall three times.

3. O-U-T (Over-Under-Thru): Go over a 6' wall (couldn't use the side braces for support), under a wall and through a square hole in a wall about 3' high.

4. Monkey Bars: This is always such an epic fail for me when I try by myself that I just opted to do the burpees right away when I found out that no partnering would be allowed. I regret that decision. I mean, I was already the last one in the heat so I may as well at least have tried. lol!

After this we had to slog our way under a wet, slimy, stale smelling underpass and a little mud...I was still in last place and was walking and talking with the elite runner who was doing the route to let the officials know as each obstacle was clear of racers.

5. Hobie Hop: This was a little different from the hay bale jumping at Super. This time you still had to put the narrow exercise band on both legs above the ankles and below the knes but instead of hay bales, we had to jump over wires or duck under them on an uphill mini course. This was quite a bit easier than the bales IMHO.

6. Weaver: Basically a tall A-frame ladder build with cross beams about 3' apart. Climb up, over and back down.

Back under that soggy overpass..

7. 6' Wall (if you're running alone and need help, don't be afraid to ask for it!)

8. 7' Wall

9. 8' Wall

10. Atlas Lift: Carry a concrete weight across to a marked point (maybe 50' away) do 5 burpees and return the weight back to the start.

11. Log Hop: Logs on end, spread out at varying widths/heights. Step over them without losing your balance from one end to the other. I've seen some fairly nasty falls on this and I have terrible balance...you bet I accepted a spotter when offered!

12. Barb Wire Crawl: This one was fairly low...keep your butt down!

13. Spearman: Yet again another epic fail, but probably the closest that I've gotten the spear to actually hitting the target so far.

14. Traverse Wall: A longitudinal climbing wall with wooden blocks instead of climbing holds. Always an epic fail for me, but I did at least try. The blocks were covered with piles of mud and footing (at least for me) was impossible. As usual, couldn't even get on the damned wall! 30 burpees for 60 total so far.

15. Trenches: Water filled trenches with the occasional netting above. Easy peasy.

16. Slip Wall: A frame wall with a slick, muddy uphill slant and ropes with knots and cross beams on the back side to climb down. OMG!! I swear I did not think I'd get over this. Luckily the volunteers were helping almost everyone. This was the slickest slip wall so far...and I thought the one at NV Super was bad! The mud at the base had to be about 6-8" deep of clay mud and even with bungee laces my shoes almost came off many times. A volunteer was kind enough to support the rope in such a way that with a lot of work and coaxing I could push myself up with my left leg then pull up until I could get my foot to the next knot. I really felt like giving up on this obstacle but stuck it out and eventually got over. By the time I got off this one, my feet were covered in that heavy mud making even walking difficult.

Start mile 2...

17. Herc Hoist: One of my favorite obstacles! Pull a concrete weight attached to a rope/pulley about 20' high and slowly lower it. Just dig in, plop your butt on the ground and pull. Easy peasy.

18. Tire Drag: Pull a tractor tire out to the end of a rope and then drag it back to the start. The tires were smaller than at Super where I couldn't even budge the stupid thing. Part of it may be because we didn't have the deep sand in Colorado and the surface dirt was fairly even but I was able to do this unassisted.

19. Tractor Pull: Pull a concrete weight (deck pier) on a chain up a steep hill and back down. This was also easier than Super because the terrain was fairly smooth (even on an uphill) compared to the rocky terrain in Nevada but it was a hell of a hill!

Start mile 3...

20. Sandbag Carry: Sand filled "pancake" to carry up the other side of the steep hill and back down. Again a hell of a hill. By this time I had passed several people and was no longer the last in the heat.

21. Tire Flip: Just what it says...flipping tractor tires. Only 2 flips required which surprised me because at Super it was 3 if alone or 6 if partnered up. The tires seemed smaller here as well and I didn't have any problem doing this myself.

22. Rucksack Carry: Pack a weighted ruck up a very steep hill and come back down. The downward trip was much easier. This just about killed my back as I didn't stop to take the time to adjust the ruck. My least favorite, but doable obstacle.

23. 5' Wall

Start mile 4...

24. Rolling Mud and Balance Beam: A long barb wire crawl with steep hills and areas that were really close to the ground. A lot of water involved including getting sprayed over and over with the fire hose. I ended up getting caught up a couple of times and ended up with a nice hole in my new $50  UA shirt...at least I was expecting that as a possibility when I bought it so no worries. At the end of this was a moat where you could either go over a balance beam or just slide in and climb out. I love the barb wire crawl, but this one was long and tiring. I can't roll for too long because I just get too dizzy, but that's the way to go especially when things get really low.

Here's mud in your eye!
Contacts & mud don't mix.
I'm bringing swim goggles to Beast!

25. Rope Climb: 20' rope climb with knots. I so suck at this and by the time I saw how muddy and slick the ropes were I decided just to go straight for the burpees. When I finished the race Jeff told me that most people had done the same. 30 burpee penalty = 90 burpees for the day.

26. Cargo Bridge: This is becoming one of my favorite obstacles. Climb up and down a 20' high cargo net on either end and cross another 20' net at the top. A crab crawl using the net to sit on and crawl sideways works for me.

27. Fire Jump: I was tired, but nowhere near as tired as when I did the Arizona Sprint.

28. Gladiator Pit to the Finish: I think they took it easy on us back of the packers. ;)

I didn't finish last...not that that would be a bad thing just as long as I finished. Got my medal and headed to the "showers" (just hoses on platforms with sprayers). The water was fiercely cold and it was already just a bit cool out as well but at least the changing tent was heated...yay! I ended up talking to another girl there who had moved to Colorado from Sacramento...talk about a small world (I'm originally a NorCal girl).

Considering that I wasn't quite ready to start the race so quickly after we arrived on site I'm pretty happy with my 2:28:55 time. After returning to the hotel and taking a real shower we ended up eating dinner and doing our laundry before turning in early (or at least trying to) for a full day of volunteering the next day.

Sorry, between the sun flare and wiping the lens
with a muddy finger this came out terrible.
The muddiest I've been after a Spartan Race.

Military Sprint - Fort Carson, CO medal mud and all!

Race Day + 1: Volunteering for a Free Race

Again we were up at the crack of dawn. No race to worry about on this day, but a full 12+ hour shift of volunteering instead. We had breakfast at the Village Inn before heading back to the base to check in. The weather was significantly colder and windier than it had been on Saturday. I ended up getting a Spartan Race hoodie (using a $50 gift card for volunteering a full day) and wearing that plus a thermal UA mock turtle neck, a volunteer t-shirt and occasionally a sweater that I had brought. The wind was blowing things around and I was glad that I was assigned to the spectators registration table right next to the table with the gas powered heater.

I really felt sorry for the folks that were running on Sunday. I mean, I thought it was cold at the Arizona Sprint, but I think this one actually got colder than that one. I had heard that there were people being pulled off the course or just not finishing due to hypothermia. We had many more participants stopping by our heater just to warm up than there had been the day before.

With the weather turning bad, it was a pleasant surprise to find out that we'd be getting off early. After packing up the registration area we were sent down to the volunteer area to help unload a truck and then we were cut loose. We ended up getting off at about 3pm instead of 6 or 7pm as we had anticipated. It had been so dusty out that we had to take another shower before heading out to On the Border for a late Mexican lunch to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. We got back to the room and just chilled and packed until it was time for a late dinner at Arby's. The plan was to leave by 10am for the drive back home.

Race Day + 2: Travel Day

No major problems after leaving Colorado Springs at about 10:30am after breakfast at Denny's. It was a smooth cruise home and the delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be. We managed to make it home by about 5pm and I was basically a vegetable the rest of the night.

All in all it was a good trip. When we started out I was feeling a bit travel weary and really wasn't "feeling" the trip but by the end I had had a good time and enjoyed the volunteer experience. I really recommend that if you can volunteer for a race in exchange for a free race to do it! I mean it literally saved me nearly $300 and I was able to race the Military Sprint and will be running the Utah Beast next month for a day and a half of volunteering.

What did I like about this race?

This is what most Spartans would consider a runner's race. Most of the obstacles were spaced fairly far apart with only a few exceptions...usually after obstacles that were expected to wear you out. The trails were pretty tame compared to the whole of the Arizona Sprint and some areas of the Nevada Super. The hills for the obstacles were the killers.

What did I not like about this race?

The race itself was fine. I was just a little concerned that our volunteer heat was at 3:30pm instead of the 4pm that had been noted on our volunteer emails. It would have sucked not to be able to do the Military Sprint because there is not another one close enough for us to do. Luckily we got back just in the nick of time!

Would I do this race again?

YES!! From what I've heard there were more obstacles last year including a grenade throw (fake grenades) and I think a shooting obstacle as well. I'd love to do those! Jeff wasn't able to purchase a Military Sprint shirt so we'll probably head up here again next year.