Ultra Beast DNF

To get it out of the way, I didn’t finish the Ultra Beast. I know what you are thinking, what everyone has told me, is that I should be proud of what I did accomplish. It’s hard to explain I suppose. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the attempt to make me feel better nor is it that I am not proud of myself. It’s the fact that I did not do what I set out and trained to do. It’s like going all day thinking about eating a chocolate chip cookie. At the end of your work day you go to the store and buy the biggest one you can find. You drive all the way home, sit down with a big glass of milk and chop into it. Then you realize it’s an Oatmeal raisin cookie. Sure it’s tasty and you’ll eat it but it’s not what you have been longing for. I guess to conclude this analogy I will have to say that I just need to get back to the store and buy the right cookie. I think pregnant women or women that have been pregnant will appreciate that analogy most.

 

But here is the story anyways. I don’t much feel like telling I but I owe it to those that have supported and sponsored me. I drove out to Vermont Friday. After singing my heart out to 80s music I made it to Killington around 16:00.  I went straight to packet pick up. I met up with my running partner Andy to be and his lovely wife Trish. We grubbed on the overpriced meal offered there.  I had not eaten all day due to nerves so I forced as much chicken down my gullet as I could. After a little while of not hearing each other over the band we parted ways for the evening. I went to the camping grounds to set up camp and met up with a friend from AIT (Army job training) and his crew. We laughed over a campfire and I learned more than I needed to know about male medical exams. I went to bed around 22:00 and slept like a baby on a wood floor in the middle of a forest.

Race day started at 5:30. I would have slept longer but dreams of being late kept me up. I got ready and went on the first important journey. The quest for coffee. Once the nectar was secured I made my way to the mountain. I got all my gear ready and made my way to the grounds balancing my bin and coffee.  I met up with Andy and Trish to wait for the race to start. A little nervous but mostly excited to hit the mountain. Of course the race started about 10 minutes late just to let anxieties build. Then cue the smoke and release the hounds. Maybe a bit too much smoke, I got lost before I even left the pillars. Thankfully Andy yelled out to me and I could follow his voice to victory. By victory I mean the start line. Baby steps I guess.

The race is really a blur to me. I wish I could retell it like I did the New Jersey Super.  There are a lot of guesses as to what the course actually was. I’m going with the Ultra beast being 27.62miles, a change of 24,187 feet and 70 obstacles.  I’m going to note the obstacles I remember because I either failed or conquered when I previously couldn’t.

Monkey bars : 30 burpees here. There was one bar a bi higher than the others and well I failed.

Traverse wall: I owned this one. I had never seen this till the Super but I figured it out this time.

Rope climb #1: I failed the rope here, my arch nemesis as you know. I got less than half way and I just couldn’t muster the upper body to get higher. 30 burpees.

Tarzan swing after a nice 40 degree swim: 30 burpees. I didn’t see many people actually complete this.

Tyrolean traverse:  got on top of the rope, pulled my happy butt to over the water, someone got off the rope ahead of me and I fell in the water. 30 burpees. This one is a nemesis I found in basic training.

Rope climb #2: Made this rope mine!! There was no way I was going away without succeeding at the rope.

Spear throw: 30 more burpees for good measure.

45 degree wall:The excess amount of soap was a nice touch. Although the wall wasn’t a challenge The soap stayed with me for the next few hours. It was bubbling up in every water obstacle.

This marks the end of loop one and our twenty or so minute break at the bins. It took us 6:45. This is where the realization that we wouldn’t complete it set in. To make the mental battle tougher, as we sat at our bins, Andy and I saw people cleaned up and removing their bins. Many had decided one time was enough. When we were letting our piggies air out it was clear than no matter what we were going to push on as far as we could. So we redundantly changed our socks and headed back out. We were going to have to be taken off this mountain kicking and screaming. We pushed hard but I really had very little steam left in the tank. Andy was such a gentleman and stuck with me. This made me realize that I had weighed him down this whole time. I can’t help but feel he might have made it had he not needed to help and wait on me. One of my favorite moments happened here. I was hiking uphill and it was very slippery. I hear someone slip behind me and then a slew of traditional French Canadian swear words. I felt right at home. After a couple miles of climbing we got to the top and looked at the amazing view. I asked him to take a picture cause he was brave enough to bring his phone in a double ziplock. This point we were enjoying what was around us more than just the sneakers in front. 

Yep that's my pink head.

We did more obstacles and the volunteers were being pulled off the course right behind us. We did the barbed wire crawl and it took me a ridiculous amount of time. My elbows and knees didn’t want anything to do with it anymore. We continued until we got back downhill where the traverse wall was. My arms and legs were shaking and my it band was about to divorce me. The staff had started pulling off people so we just decided to head to the fire jump and get pummeled by the gladiators. I guess we had done about 18 miles. I looked at the ginormous glow in the dark Ultra Beast medal and faced it. I had failed. I did get a medal for the Beast and I did take it. I did more than those that had got a medal so I felt I deserved it. I think Brokk would have been mad if I didn’t bring a medal back for him to parade around in.

 I did spend a pleasant evening with my now friends Andy and Trish. I even crashed on their floor. I wasn’t going to refuse the offer since it was raining. I left the next morning at 06:00. I couldn’t sleep and was looking forward to being home. I spent 5 hours driving and going through various emotions.  This is what I settled on and is quoted on a Spartan Race Blog.

“I’ve been racing for a year now, both in road races and in five Spartan Races.  I have succeeded and suppressed my goals in every race I’ve tackled.  My goal for the UB was to simply complete it.  I did not meet that goal.  What was going to be a crowning achievement in maiden year of racing was a failure. I’m settled on redemption.  I feel this is a great lesson, not only for me but for my children.  I want to show them that when life challenges you, you don’t just curl up in a ball and give up.  You take your past experience and use it to train tougher than you ever did, fight harder and go get what you want.  I’ll be training everyday with my green wristband to remind me of this.”

I did have a great time racing, as I always do. I don’t care where I am next year I will be taking on the Ultra Beast again if they let me. I have so much fire in my belly to do this and I’m starting training tomorrow. Killington took a little bit of me that day and I will get it back.

2 days: Packed and Waiting

Went for a slow 4 mile run with the kids this morning. Keeping the body moving. The car is packed up and ready to hit the road. I'm so excited to take the Dart out on it's maiden long distance voyage. I'm still in the excited stage. I'm getting stressed out that I'm not stressed out. I know that makes no sense but it's a family trait.

4000 people will run the Beast this weekend, 382 will be Ultra Beasters running 2 laps, 64 of those will be women and one of them is me.

4 days: Packing List

Because preparing for an event like the Ultra Beast isn't stressful enough I have to add in buying a new car and other fun things. I finally got around to packing my bin and camelbak today. I also went and got a new camelbak. My penny pinching solution wasnt cutting it with the amount of stuff i wanted to bring. Since I have such awesome friends and family I have the available funds to do so. Also the new car will be a lot cheaper on gas and we are saving money on payments compared to our trade in. But I digest. O.o Here is the packing list. I'm open to suggestions too. The race is unsupported so I have to prepare for any eventuality. The bin will be place at the half way point and will only have access to it at that point.

 Camelbak 100oz/3L
-4 Powerbar gels
-2 cliff bars
-Almonds
-Gerber tool
-Baby wipes
-First aid tin with band aid and antiseptic wipes
-Sharpie
-Ibuprofen
-Medical Tape
-550 Cord
-Ziplock bag

Bin 19 gallon....wait a tick...I dont think i'm going to need that fat cat. Let's try this again.

 
Bin 19 gallons
- Socks
- Knee brace
- Gloves
-Almonds
- Shakeology (incase i cant stomach solids)
- 1 gallon of water
- Bag of refill items for Camelbak with Headlamp and Glowsticks
- Windbreaker, tights and a t-shirt.
- MRE (Chili yum!)
- Ziplocks for trash or whatever
-Apples
-Larabar
-Spare camelbak bladder
-Small bladder to make Gatoraid
-Gatoraid
-550 cord
-Extra glowsticks
-Duct tape
-Sharpie
-Hair tie
-Mole  Skin, Bandaids, gauze
-Neosporin
-Topical Benardryl
-Scissors
-Towel
-Sunscreen
-Visine

Finally the outfit. I plan on wearing long sleeves under the tank or the windbreaker depending on weather.

6 days: Part 2 Run and climb

I am a bit disappointed in myself. I set out to run 15 miles and only did 8 and at a 9:35 pace. I don't recall ever going out and doing less than I set up to do. My knees were sore and I just felt heavy. I didn't want to push and risk injury. It's way to close to the Ultra Beast for that! On the other hand Tom put my climbing rope up higher so i can get more distance to practice. I went up the bugger 4 times. This time Spartan I have no excuses. I will ring that bell!! Plan for tomrorow is to do laundry and clean my gear. Tuesday I will be packing my stuff up for the trip. I'll post probably on Tuesday if I have time....I'm also picking up our new car!

6 days: Part 1 Yesterday.

I am slacking with the posting!! I did a 3 mile race yesterday on post. I am rather happy with my time. When I run with the kids i'm usually slowed by 1-2 minutes a mile. The course was hilly but I still managed to finish the 3 miler in 24:10. I must admit I rather enjoyed passing guy or as i've learned it's called "chicked" a few guys. One was wearing a Spartan shirt. I came up to him, we talked about Spartan and I took off...all while going up hill. Well today I am planning my last longish run. About 15 miles. I really need to rest this week and hydrate. I've bee pretty exhausted so I dont want to burn out or injure myself before the big day :)

I'm on the right :)

8 days: One for yesterday

I didn't get around to posting yesterday but I did get a great workout in. I pushed the kids up and down Thompson park Hill 6 times. Then we had our traditional picnic and zoo visit. My plan is to run a small 5k tomorrow and do 15 miles on Sunday. After that I really don't know. Probably not much of anything but getting ready for the Ultra Beast. Today I don't plan on working out but I went grocery shopping and with a 2 and 3 year old that seems like it's more tiring than a Spartan Race.

For your enjoyments my pictures!

This one is my favorite :)

That's what it looks like to carry the man's weight on your shoulders.

Derp face.

To the ovaries!

 

11 days: Trifecta in my pocket

Hopefully I can stop napping long enough to crank this blog out. I’ve never written a blog about an event like this. I am still delirious from the racing high so it might get lengthy and detailed so please be forewarned.  The obstacles may not have been in the order I’m remembering them either.

The journey started with a 5 hour drive to the Super Spartan in New Jersey.  I met up with a Spartan Chicked, Wendy, in Ogdensburg to share a ride and expenses. You hear “It’s a small world” often but it rang truer and truer the more I got to know Wendy. Most surprising thing I learned is that we both worked at the same place during the same time. So after some crazy driving on Wendy’s part and terrible navigation on my part we got to our HOJO Express hotel in Parsipanny to retire for the evening.

Race morning started at 6am. I had breakfast at a cute little diner and then was off to the races.  My heat was at 09:00. While we were waiting to start they filled us with promises of black bears and a course that was 11 miles instead of 8 or 9. The MC tried to rile us up with a good “Who am I”, to which we were to reply “I am a Spartan”.  I think the general consensus was “I am up too early for this”. First leg of the race was pretty steep hill. Nice way to get the muscles going. I’m sure the snake I almost stepped on also thought it was a great warm up for his day. After some warm up obstacles we hit a longer stretch of trail. Relatively flat but fun. For some reason while running I felt like I was a gazelle. Probably the slower and fatter one at the end that gets eaten, but a gazelle none the less.  I also noticed I lost my bondiband here. It was my favourite too, it read; “Are my kids still chasing me?”. I'm going to have a moment of silence for it.

After some running, and hills I hit the sandbags. I was presented a cute pink 20lb bag for “women”. I went to grab the big red 40lb bag. The volunteer told me those were for men. I said I know and put over one shoulder and head up the hill. I passed a lot of people on the way up, most of which were sitting and taking a break. I kept moving, after all the bag weighs less than my 3 year old.  Once that was done we had to flip tractor tires 4 times. Again there were women tires and men tires and I of course grabbed a man’s tire. I was told by the volunteer that I didn’t need to flip that one. I didn’t say a word and just raised one eyebrow at her. She laughed and said “You get it girl!”. I flipped that thing like it was nothing. It was lighter than my tire at home!!!  I was off again to climb more hill and hit up another obstacle. It was the weight pulleys. I don’t know what it’s actually called but that works. Again I was presented with male and female weights. I asked how much the male weight was. The volunteer told me about 50lbs but no female, including herself, were able to complete it at that weight. Challenge accepted.  I pulled that thing with all my might, as I started slipping forward another Spartan Chick came and put her feet in front of mine so I wouldn’t slip too far. I kept moving back and pulling the rope and finally pulled that bad boy to the top. I got a lot of cheers and respect but no time to soak up the glory, there was a lot more to go!

More running, up hill, down hill, around the bend, and just short of grandma’s house. Climbed walls that were very tall with a little help of other chicks. It was great to see everyone help each other. In between the walls I hit the monkey bars and for the first time I nailed it!! I made it all the way.  I’m not sure if this part is in order but it was possibly the best part of the race.  About 5 miles in I ran into the water park. There was an 18 foot platform and 23 foot platform for which to jump off of and into water.  I did all the male obstacles up to here, I very well couldn’t do the shorter height. So I took off my camelback and headed to the 23 foot platform. I looked over the ledge, looked at the guy running the obstacle, looked at the guys behind me and told them to go first. Once that was out of the way. I looked over the ledge and thought I just need to go. I looked back again and told the guy in line that looked as hesitant as me to go. He insisted I went first so I sucked it up, walked to the edge and said to myself quit drawing it out just go. I think I was about half way down when I finished that though. Wooosh. About a gallon of water up the nose. Swam to shore and off again for more of the same running, climbing and obstacling. 

It was a clever move to put the adult size 100 foot slip and slide before the sucky end of race obstacles. Everyone looked like they were 5 again going down the white tarps. After that it was all downhill for me. Not literally but I didn’t do so well on the remainder of the obstacles.  The traverse rope across the creek must have given me basic training flashbacks. I let go half way and did 30 burpees.  When I got to the end of the race we had a gauntlet of obstacles. First was the spear throw. Well I got the spear to the target but didn’t stick. 30 more burpees. Up to 60 now if you are doing the math. Then I had to cross the traverse wall. I’ve never even seen this thing before. I wasn’t sure how to take it on. About half way neither did my feet and I fell off. 30 more burpees, 90 total. Now I was faced with my arch nemesis. The rope climb. I’ve been practicing and was ready for it, or so I thought. I am not use to knots and I should have ignored them. They were too far apart and I was not use to using them. I got about half way and I couldn’t go further. It was the most disappointing part of the day for me. I did 30 more burpees in shame. 120 total burpees. After it was time to crawl under some barbed wire. I use the word crawl loosely because it was just a pile of jagged rocks and water. I ended up rolling sideways uphill the whole way, only leaving a little knee flesh on the wire. Made a goofy face for the camera and headed to the fire jump. I wanted to something cute for the picture while jumping over the fire but I’m sure it ended up looking more like my pooping face. 

I kept running through the gladiators. The first guy didn’t spare me but the second guy gave me an “atta girl” tap on the butt with his pugil. I didn’t complain. I was DONE! AROO!! AROO!! Got my medal, t-shirt, and about 20 samples of free coloured water things. Official time was 3:55:25.  I also got my Trifecta medal and walked around the grounds feeling like quite the bad ass for a while. Although I was “done”, this was only round one.

 

I’ll spare the detail as much as I did for round one. I do have to tell a bit about how different round 2 went. When I hit the longer stretch of gazelle running I was hit by storms. I mean epic downpour. The forest turned really dark and the trail flooded to the point where you couldn’t see the rocks and details of the terrain.  There was a tornado warning. If it happened to come by I made plans in my head to find a tree I could wrap my arm and legs around, sit and pray to every deity possible.  Until such time I kept going. My husband and I were doing a True Blood Marathon the week prior so naturally when this starts happening my thoughts of gazelles and Lion King type happiness were gone and replaced by thoughts of vampires, werewolves and the theme song of doing bad things to you. Queue angry IT Band right here as well. Just because it wasn’t fun enough. The rest of the race was very slow for fear of breaking my face. The volunteers were pulled off the course and apparently so was all the water. This is why they said a camelbak was recommended as a Spartan is always prepared. Despite the absence of officials it was great to see the integrity of runners doing the obstacles. We did the sand bags, tires and pulleys. I did as many as the obstacles as I felt safe doing “at my own risk”. The cliff jump was close and I skipped the big walls. I completed the whole course and got the distance in. 

Although I couldn’t do all the obstacles I feel that the weather made for its own obstacle and my second race was just as big an accomplishment as the first. Official time on round 2 was 3:56:11. You can’t say I’m not consistent!  So ended day one. We had Outback steak then back to the hotel for a recap with Wendy and 5 hours of sleep. We were volunteering the next morning. No rest for the wicked! We headed back to the race site and signed in for volunteering at the registration tent. Well not even an hour in they asked us to help on the course instead. We were placed at the Hobbie Hop to hand out resistance bands. Simple enough…until people decided they were coming in waves of about 50. We only had about 50 bands and between the broken ones and people leaving with them we had even less. So the next 6 hour were spent running up and down that section of the mountain to grab resistance bands then tell people how to do the obstacle.  No small feat in flats and jeans. When it was all done Wendy and I abandoned our plans to take pictures at the race and just started the journey home. We were both wiped out! 

I am proud of my accomplishment but I also need to say how proud I am of my Spartan Chick Wendy. She is 50 years old, has had a slew of health issues including cancer but she still got out there, ran this race and finished it. Something 2/3 of those that tried could not do.  The book is closed on this adventure and now my eyes are on the Ultra Beast on September 22^nd. It should be 26.2 miles but knowing Spartan Races it will probably be more like 30. I feel ready and can’t wait to take on the Ultra Beast. Today I’m taking on something that is perhaps more grueling than any obstacle Spartan has to offer. I’m cleaning the house I left for the weekend with a husband, a 3 year old and almost 2 year old. If I don’t blog again by the end of the week, please send a search party.

My cheering section

15 days: Trifecta bound

What I expect when I come home.

It's Super Spartan Weekend!!!  I'm leaving my babies behind today for a weekend of mom time. I am leaving my baby girl overnight for the first time. Sure the kids will be with their father and be fine but I will miss them. I honestly need some time away. I love my babies but being a stay at home mom is a 24/7 job and anyone can crack under that kind of pressure. I dont know why I start these things all emotional like. So here is a smooth transition to the race information.

Transition.

So one more sleep until the Super Spartan. My Spartan Trifecta!!! I'll be meeting Wendy, a lady  I met on Facebook in the Spartan Chicked community, in Ogdensburg and we are going to have a girly road trip to the event. There we will lodge at the finest, read cheapest, Howard Johnson express. We seem to have a lot in common including our bowels having a dislike for gluten. Maybe we will have a Thelma and Louise moment. The plan is to run the course twice. It's 8-9 miles and features a 23 foot cliff jump. Although there isn't a font for so excited i'm about to poop myself, I assure that I am. Sunday morning we are volunteering until about noon at registration. After that it's back home.See you guys at the finish line!! AROO!

18 days: LIttle hilly

Not really much to say. I pushed through a hill run/power walk despite DOM pain in the thighs. Then again took the kids to the zoo and had a great picnic. The rest of my day was planning my packing list for the Super this weekend. I can't wait!! Promises of a 23 foot cliff jump and such. Looking forward to post race reports!

20 days: 18.12 in the books

The 18.12 challenge is now over. The run went surprisingly well and I am very happy with my performance. It started at 7am, i got up at 5 but my stomach wanted nothing to do with breakfast. So I drove out and started my Powerbar gel fueled journey. I was pleasently surprised at how well it went. I had a great, fun run. The race was very well organized. Water and Gatoraid ever 2 miles and port a potties every 4 miles. People along the route cheering really helped with motivation. I think I had a goofy grin the time. I'm feeling surprisingly ok for a long run. My left leg is sore and is receiving a RICE treatment. Tom is making dinner as I type! I'm very fortunate to have a supporting husband. Tomorrow I plan on taking it easy and tending to house chores unless my left leg is fine. Then I might do a little workout. 6 days until the Super Spartan in New Jersey. I need to get some hills in this week!!!

Official 18.12 Challenge results!

Time: 02:42:49.91
Overall 67 out of 183
4 out of 17 in my age group. (30-34 F)

Looks like my headband is off lol