Before I launch into pictures, I want to talk about this race. FIRST-I can say it was the hardest thing I've ever done. It pushed me past where I thought I could go. It was physically draining. The hardest obstacle (deemed by others...) was the bucket carry-I can't find my pic of that-but I totally felt like a BOSS during that one. I do believe that carrying Four gave me good practice. I held the bucket like I hold him and just powered through. I even went back and helped my teammate with his bucket. Because that's what Spartans DO! For me personally, the hardest obstacle was the barbed wire. You had to army crawl, or roll, under barbed wire for what felt like at least a full mile. It was just grueling. I hated it. I still hate it. It's the one thing I'm LEAST looking forward to in the other two Spartan races I will do this year. Ugh. I did have to take some penalties, and it gave me a good gauge of what I need to work on for the upcoming races (pull-ups...lots and lots of pull-ups.) SECOND-a friend who has done these races for a couple years, and then someone random on the Spartan FB page had this message "No one is ever a Spartan alone." That message played true on the race course. I saw people, who were clearly in tip-top physical condition and capable of blowing through the obstacle, stopping to help someone they didn't know who was struggling. I was helped by strangers (and two Spartan volunteers.) My teammate helped me. I helped him. We helped others. Others helped us. It was such an encompassing experience to become part of this tribe of athletes. I'm humbled and honored. I AM SPARTAN. AROO. AROO. AROO.
Now, pictures!
My friend E and I, pre-race.
You had to swim under this wall, we chose the "limbo" method, although, you see my face is still pretty much covered in mud.
Post-Fire jump.
Here is the badass finisher medal that I earned. AND my SPRINT piece that fits the Trifecta medal.
And a post-race selfie with E.
Last photo. If you haven't heard of Jamberry, or if you're feeling skeptical about the idea...this is for you. These are Jamberry nail wraps on my fingers POST race (obvs.) I didn't lose a single wrap during the race. AND, I hadn't just applied them. They were 19 days old and STILL withstood a Spartan. If you want to check them out, click here: Jamberry I'm not a consultant, but that link will take you the page of a good friend of mine who is! I don't get a kick-back of any sort from promoting her or the product, I just really believe in them. Also, my nails still looked GREAT after I took the Jams off-because, hello, all that mud...they had to come off. Better than they have ever looked after an OCR (Obstacle Course Run.) Jamberry also lets you design nails, and I will be designing some Spartan themed wraps for my next 2 races now that I know how well they held up AND protected my natural nails. I won't race naked anymore.
