I did it. Not that I didn't think I could, but it's official and felt great. I completed the South Carolina Spartan Beast this past Saturday - a 13.2 mile race in the middle of nowhere'sville South Carolina, giving me a trifecta of Spartan races for the year (completion of a Sprint, Super and Beast in one year). This was my 5th Spartan race for the 2012 race season - The PA Sprint, Virginia Super, NJ Super, and the Killington Beast. After the Vermont debacle 3 weeks ago, this really was redemption. And to top it all off, I did it on my 39th birthday followed by my 12 year anniversary on Sunday to my beautiful wife Gretchen.
The weekend started on Friday with a long 10+ hour drive from PA to South Carolina with my buddy Jason Moss and friend Heather Powell. Gretchen flew down with another friend of ours who is a flight attendant and had a buddy pass, then meeting us at the hotel. The 8am elite start on Saturday morning came quickly and we were off. The air was pretty chilly, but after a mile or so I was sweating as usual. I really loved this course. The up and down hills were short but steep, the terrain and obstacles were fast but challenging. Thinking back on it, I could have completed it faster, but I always think that after a race. The barbed wire crawls were pretty brutal - up hill and long. I did mess up on the traverse wall (a first for me) and had to do 30 burpees. It was pretty slick and freshly painted. The tyrollean traverse went well this time after having experienced it in two other races. All in all a great day. The photo above is very meaningful as well because it's the first time in all of my Spartan races that I nailed the spear throw. Not having to do 30 burpees at the end of the race was a welcome birthday present. Then it was over and time for the looooong 10+ hour ride home. Always a let down when its all done after thinking and prepping for a race for so long. It was great to see so many amazing people who travel from all over to compete in these races. Like a welcoming family. I'm still feeling the high from the weekend and look forward to seeing the action photos from Nuvision in a few days. Next up....Boston Fenway Sprint or Texas Beast?
