The Mighty Spartan Sprint

On June 30th I had the pleasure of running the Spartan Sprint in Edmonton.  The day prior to the race I received a warning that the hills were a bitch.  I believed her to a certain point.  It wasn't until we arrived on site that I began to fully comprehend what she meant.  They were announcing the start of the 930 heat.  We watched as some runners sprinted off the start and others had much more humble beginnings.

We decided to jump in on the 10am heat.  As we lined up in the corral, we cheered on people who were completing their final obstacle.  We listened to the DJ start to play some music, trying to amp up the racers...after a few minutes the horn blew and we were off to the races...straight up the steepest hill I have ever encountered this side of the rockies.  Please tell me who in the f*ck decided that this would be a great starting obstacle?  And then kindly tell me who starts a race with a groin injury that is angry about any uphill motion.

Each hill made me dig deep.  My husband thought about sending me back down the hill.  And in fact there were times that I wanted to go back down the hill.  So I started to tell myself that I would just go up the hill and then quit at the bottom if I felt I couldn't go up the next hill.  Lucky for me I had an amazing team who would not let me quit.

My husband, Chris and great friend, Trish went with me.  We made a deal that we would look at the Spartan Sprint like a team challenge.  That we would finish together.  That we would lean on the strengths of those in our team, encourage and motivate each other and most importantly...finish together.  We would not allow a race time to be put before a team finish.  I am very grateful that we agreed on this.  As they could have easily left me behind.

Speaking of leaving behind...as we came to our second obstacle I noticed that one woman was seeming to struggle with the race.  She looked far from happy.  I said hello in passing and then carried on to the next obstacle.  As I was waiting for my team to make it over the wall, I noticed that she was having a hard time coming over the other side.  I helped to guide her feet to the narrow board and then when she dropped to the ground I peppered her with questions.  Her responses were a tad surprising

Are you running alone? Well I am now.
 Have you done this before?  Never.
Did you train?  I ran on a treadmill at the gym.
What made you want to sign up for this?  My brother needed a spare person for his work team.  He told me it was a 5 km run.  No big deal.  This is all very overwhelming.
Where is your team now?  Probably in the beer gardens.  They wanted to be competitive so they left me before the top of the first hill.
Is it meeting your expectations?  It is my first and quite possibly my last obstacle race....

She joined our team after that.  And we all finished together.  I can tell you that her joining our team was a blessing.  She didn't realize it but her needing encouragement helped me to finish the race.  Because I knew how badly she wanted to finish...she just didn't know that she had the skills to do so.  As I told her over and over that we could do this, we got this, just keep moving one foot in front of the other...it helped to reinforce it in my mind.  We can do it, we got this, we are doing it right now.  I also got to benefit from her gratitude each every time we helped her do burpees.  Let me tell you that 30 burpees are much easier when they are split up between four people.

We all finished that race within steps of one another.  Each one of us collecting a finishers medal.  There is no better way to finish off the first half of 2013.

The Spartan Sprint reminded me of many valuable lessons....

1) I can do anything I set my mind to.
2) With a strong, solid team you can jump farther, reach higher and make it through a set of monkey bars.
3) Life is sweeter when shared with those you love.
4) Always keep in mind what matters most.  I will choose my team over time - every time.
5) Sometimes the journey to the top gets dirty.  But the view from the top is worth it.
6) You only fail if you don't get back up.

The Spartan was tough.  The Super Spartan will be harder...but I tell you what...I am going to do it anyway...

If you are interested in joining my team...drop me a line: Lisa@ DreamItAchieveIt.ca

Challenge yourself to push past your limits.  I promise you that it will be worth it.

Lead Life Joyfully

Much Love,

Lisa