Spartan Race NSV

I ran a Spartan Beast as part of a 6 person team running in 3 man relays yesterday. We ran in pairs for camaraderie and motivation. I was the first leg of the relay. Just over 4 miles and 8 obstacles. I passed on the timing chip to our second leg team member and thought to myself. I have more in me. I can do more then this. I looked at my running partner and said, "What do you think? Run the 3rd leg too?" She said looked at me and said, "Hell ya! Let's do this!" Our motivation carried over to all of our other team mates who decided instead of doing just one, 4 mile leg, all six of us would finish the race together.

What did we end up with? 8+ miles of hills, mud pits, barbed wire, 8-10 ft walls, mud, carrying buckets of rocks, more mud, shooting targets, throwing spears, climbing ropes, climbing cargo nets, plus more obstacles and more mud all in 90+ heat... It was awesome to push my physical limits and equally fantastic to be apart of a team, a small group of friends to share the blood, sweat and joy of finishing a Spartan Race. I wore my HRM through the whole thing to assess the difference between perceived effort and actual physical effort. My average HR was 178 bpm with a max of 238. My portion of the racing was completed in 3h:30m and according to my HRM I burned nearly 3500 calories.

Everybody who completed this race is a winner. What did we win? These cuts, bruises, blisters and sore muscles along with the feeling of accomplishment. This is our reward. Enjoy every moment because we earned it. I can't wait till next year!