Spartan Sprint 2013

A few weeks ago I completed the Spartan Sprint, a 4.7 mile trail run with frequent obstacles.  It was a lot of fun and I’m glad I did it, but there were some aspects I didn’t enjoy as much as the 8.5 mile Super Spartan that I did last year.   Most of my frustration stem from the fact that they changed the location.

The new location was in the Fort McDowell Regional Park, which I agree was a much prettier and more challenging terrain.  Last year’s event was on wide open flat land.  This made the run MUCH easier.  I’m not necessarily looking for easy, but at the time I had never run 8 miles before and that alone sounded unpleasant, so I wasn’t disappointed by the flat terrain.  The other advantage of flat terrain was ample space for on-sight parking.  This year the new location had no parking.  After paying to park you then had to wait 20 minutes for a shuttle bus and then a 20 minute bus ride to the actual site.  And it was cold.  Not bad if you’re dry and bundled up, but if you’re wet and muddy, those 20 minutes of waiting were agony.  I also thought it was uncool of them to change the location just weeks prior to the event, though I believe they offered credits to anyone who was unable to run due to the change in location; and extend the race distance from 3 miles to 4.7 miles with only days notice.

On the other hand, there were a few of things about this event that were easier than last year’s Super Spartan, and that may be just due to the fact that it was a Spartan Sprint instead of a Super Spartan.

1. There wasn’t nearly as much mud and water.  Last year we got muddy early and often, and probably waded through a mile of canal.  This year we really didn’t hit much water until the very end.  Given the windchill, I suppose I didn’t mind this, but it took away some of the feel.
2. The rope climb was easier because the knots in the ropes seemed much closer together, making it easier to reach the next knot.
3. The sand bags were lighter, easier to carry, and they weren’t asking men to carry two bags instead of one.  Likewise with the tractor pull, last year they expected men to pull two concrete blocks instead of one.  In both cases I could have taken it upon myself to do more than expected, but it’s hard to rationalize that when you’re already hurting from fatigue and nobody else is doing it.  But at the same time, I felt like it lost something.

 But don’t get me wrong, it was fun, and I was fairly pleased with my time, 1:17, for an overall ranking in the top 13%.  This is much improved from my ranking last year in the top 32%, but maybe that’s just because the athletes who sign up for the Super Spartan are a little more hardcore than the Spartan Sprint?  I didn’t feel any more prepared to run the event this year than last year.  And our team (NI Eagles) rocked this year, finishing in the top 10%.  (team photos)

Immediately after completing the race I raced home as fast as I could to attend a birthday for Hannah and myself that was already in full swing.  Becca assured me they wouldn’t do the cake without me so I could sing Happy Birthday to Hannah too.  However, I knew a quick shower would not suffice so for the most part I thoroughly enjoyed the party looking exactly as I did in this picture, minus the wet shoes and socks.

Also fun that NBC nightly news did a prime time news story on the Phoenix Spartan race.  My dad called me to tell me he thought he saw me on TV.  J  The only thing I didn’t like about this news story is that they refer to us as weekend warriors.  I think Spartan Race and many obstacle racers would be offended by this statement because Spartan’s objective (besides making money) is try to make Americans healthier by motivating people to get off the couch and do something physical on a daily basis.  Fact of the matter is I couldn’t do what I did if I only worked out on the weekend or on occasion.  Doing this safely requires daily discipline with lots of sweat and soreness.  But it was a good news story: http://dailynightly.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/16/17340709-pushing-limits-through-extreme-fitness

A big thanks to Ryan Griffin, Chris Holt, and Doug Kunz for helping push me to be better before, during, and after the event!  Next year, Tough Mudder!

Nate-icus

Other pics and video clips:

http://www.spartanrace.com/spartan-race-results-2013.php#raceid=218999&gender=A&page=1&courseid=302986&term=Moehring&entryid=137317554

http://spartanrace.onthefleye.com/#/reel/20555