Same Results, Better Attitude

Out of all the Obstacle Course Races (OCRs) that I run, none is harder than the Spartan Beast at Mountain Creek, New Jersey. Not only do you go up and down… and up and down… and up and down the mountain, you also have 30+ obstacles to overcome. These obstacles are designed to challenge you both mentally and physically. When I fail an obstacle, I have to complete 30 penalty burpees. It is not fun, but I am not completing the OCRs for fun. I am doing them to challenge myself and to make myself better. My end goal each year is to beat my time from the previous year.

I ran the Spartan Beast at Mountain Creek this past Sunday (April 28th). It was a cold and rainy day, the course was muddy and slippery, and steep. I had a good start, but by the time I submerged myself in the freezing cold muddy water, the obstacle is known as the dunk tank, on a day that was already cold (41 °F) and wet, my good start was fading away. It took me a few miles to get my body heat back and I was slow during this stretch of the race. I finished the race one minute slower than the previous year. The race destroyed me, yet I was ok with the results.

Compared to my goal time, I was extremely slow. I put in the miles in training to complete the course, which laughably claimed to only be 12.9 miles long (more like 14.5). The ascensions were rough and my right knee ached on the descents. However, there was one big difference between the race last year and the race this year. Last year, I swore that I never wanted to do the race again. It took everything that I had inside me not to quit. This year, there was no feeling sorry for myself. There was no desire to quit. I knew that I wanted to give more, but that I mentally gave all that I had. Sometimes, it is the way that you persevere through the challenge that is more important than the actual time it takes to complete the challenge.

I want to run another Spartan Beast as soon as possible. I wish they occurred more frequently. I know that I have a lot of work to do to get to the time that I want, but I will study my training, make changes to my hydration, nutrition, and sleep, and I will get my target time… and I will do it with the right attitude.