OK. I’ll admit it. I
may have underestimated the Spartan Race.
5K, I thought- no problem.
Burpees? Yah, I can do a lot of
those.
Army crawling in the mud? Sure, that’s lots of fun.
While those are definitely pieces of the Spartan Race…it does
not even begin to describe it.
The challenge comes in when you need to overcome your mind. Your brain keeps thinking- this seems dangerous, this seems dirty, this seems hard. And your mind reels about how uncomfortable you are- whether with the types of creatures or as Nicole says, “s-words” (snakes) that could be swimming around in the thigh deep murky, root and branch filled water
that your wading through. Or the heft of your mud soaked shirt that is stretching
out around you with the weight of mud and water as your trying to climb a 35%
incline hill carrying a 20lb sand bag. Or the pain in your hands as they blister while you pull a 40
pound cement piling on a metal chain. Burpees are a whole new challenge as sand
flies in your face. Or for me, when I got grass in my eye while doing them. I had to overcome it with my mind and for me, I
just thought how I was stronger than Tom Brady in this moment- I can get past grass in my eye
(kidding, Tom Brady, I love you). Anyway, the challenge is not to think of the "what
ifs", or the "this hurts", or the "this is uncomfortable" and just run on.
We are proud at inov-8 of our amazing sponsored athletes who took on the challenge of their first Spartan Race and rocked it! Ben Nephew (pictured below) placed 1st in the Open division and 4th overall and Lisa Mikkelsen (pictured in the tractor pull) placed first in her age division.
Besides being an awesome challenge, running in our inov-8s
was absolutely an advantage. All around
us people were slipping down hills, losing their shoes in the mud, or throwing
their shoes away after the race. My
F-Lite 230s didn’t budge from my feet as the mud tried to suction me into a
mucky black hole. They gripped as we went down a wet downhill rocky path, and
at the end of the race, after being unrecognizable with a solid coating of mud,
I stuck the hose in them, let the water drain out (it literally poured out
through the upper mesh), and they looked as good as new.
Oh and one more thing- the Spartan Race was an awesome team
building/bonding experience. We all laughed or cried (not literally, but almost) our way
through the obstacles together and gawked at the amount of mud down our shirts
(honestly, somehow even my underwear was covered in mud!). We had a blast together!
Now that I know what Spartan Races are all about- I am excited for the challenge of my next one.
