Not Spartan Fit
Hitting the start line without hitting my goals.
I have a confession: I mostly stopped training the month leading up to my Spartan race.
After agonizing over this race for months, I let the stress and burnout get to me. I had been hitting my home gym three to four times a week, while also going to my obstacle gym three days a week (it happens to also be my martial arts dojo). Once Tough Mudder was over, so was most of my desire to train.
The feeling of never having time to relax and have time to myself was overwhelming and I latched onto any excuse I could find.
I’m recovering from Tough Mudder.
I don’t want to injure myself before this weekend of martial arts training.
It’s my anniversary.
And they were just that: excuses.
I just didn’t want to work out. So I stepped back, way back, and only went to my obstacle gym for my classes.
And then I let my diet go.
My only consolation was my race buddy wasn’t really training either.
By the time pre-race panic set in, it was too late to change much. I hit my start line with a sense of dread, but I still gave it my best shot.
My best shot had me questioning my sanity for doing a stadium race because there were so many stairs. Thousands of stairs. With and without carrying a sandbag. Most of our mileage was done on the stairs.
And all of the burpees in the world. Fifteen at a time. Including fifteen weighted ones at the end of the race.
But I made it to the end of the race and got my finisher medal.
I have mixed feelings about my race. I’m super proud of my sister and I for following through and cheering each other on throughout the race. That finish line was an amazing high.
On the other hand, I’m super pissed that I allowed myself to backtrack so hard before the race. I fell off of obstacles I had been getting at the gym (I’m looking at you, rope climb). I will forever wonder if I could’ve made it through more obstacles.
I plan on doing another Spartan next year, even thinking about going for the full Trifecta. That means getting my butt back in the gym and training like the athlete I want to be. I haven’t fully figured out what that training will consist of yet because I have a bunch of different goals and events that don’t seem to have much in common with each other, but I will let you know as soon as I do.
