Spartan | ~Happily Grim~

On March 8, 2014 my husband and I ran our first Spartan “Sprint” just outside of Atlanta, GA. My awesome soldier thought that this would be a great way to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary and we planned it a few months out. Unfortunately I did not really “train” and I sprained my left ankle just over 3 weeks before the race. I also would find out a short time later that I had undiagnosed Asthma. 4.5 Miles and 20+ obstacles later we finished, but it took us (me) just over 4 hours. I wanted to cry tears of joy for finishing and tears of sorrow that I was so unbelievably out of shape so I vowed to myself that I would NEVER feel that way again. As we left the after party I was thinking that it was a great experience, but I wasn’t sure i’d ever put myself through that again. I most definitely would not have finished if it hadn’t been for my husband’s help and cheerleading! At the time, I thought the Sprint was difficult. Boy, was I wrong!

By the end of the weekend though…something inside me snapped. I thought, if all of these people can earn the Trifecta medal (including wounded warriors) what makes me think that i’m any different?? If they can do it, so can I! Thus, my trifecta training commenced! For those who may not know, Spartan Racing Series has three different levels: Sprint (3-5 miles), Super (8-9 miles), and Beast (12+ miles). When you complete all three within one calendar year, you are awarded the coveted Trifecta Medal!

My sister introduced me to an amazing weight loss/health program called Omnitrition and I started almost immediately after the race and lost almost 20 lbs of fat in 3 weeks. Even with all of my training, I’ve put on a ton of muscle and stayed at the exact same weight as when I finished. Losing a good 20+ lbs of fat does wonders for your athleticism!

On August 16th, Ryan and I ran the Rugged Maniac back at the same spot that we first ran the Super in March. Even though this was “only a 5K” it had more obstacles (25) and I was nervous to see if I really was improved. We finished in just under 1 hr. 15 minutes and that was with a little waiting/helping at a few obstacles. I cut my time in fourths!!! Ryan kept telling everyone how proud he was of me and I felt great!!! Minus the bruises and scrapes, I recovered so much quicker than I had before.

The next weekend we drove to Virginia for the infamous Wintergreen Spartan Super. This one is part of the “Devil’s Trifecta” and is the hardest Super in the Spartan Race series. I was extremely nervous so I trained my tail off…and still managed to underestimate the level of difficulty. This was not a race, but an exorcism! I was really disappointed in my time on the race and was really down on myself…even though I had improved so much since March. I’m realizing that each race is designed to break you and teach you something else about yourself.

We have the Beast coming up on October 25th and i’m going to crush it!! I’m determined to beat my Super time with my Beast time and have a blast doing so! By the end of October, we’ll finally be a part of the 2014 Trifecta Tribe…and it will have only taken us 7 total months from our first race. 🙂

~SPARTAN Melissa AROO!