As I have done in the past, I will be splitting this AAR into two different posts. The first will be a review of what lead up to the Ultra including some nutrition problems and fears, the second will be a review of the entire race from start to finish and how I felt.
Leading up to race day I was stricken with a case of anxiety I have not felt for some time. Three weeks out, I was feeling prerace jitters, but it was way more than that. A few things came into play three weeks out that no racer should have to put up with. 1.) The fear of going back to Spartan racing after being out of the loop for the last 2 years. 2.) My teammate had to back out and was not going to go up on the day of the race. 3.) I felt so unprepared for a Spartan race, I knew I was going to die. I had a lot to tackle and it was only three weeks away from an Ultra, could I get my mind back in the game?
1.) The fear of going back to Spartan racing after a two year hiatus.
Spartan racing started for me roughly about 5 years ago. A friend of mine from high school was signing up for this weird ass races with obstacles and it was in the mud. It looked like fun and it was a great chance for me to catch up with an old friend. I signed up, showed up, and was initially blown away with how awesome, how creative, and how difficult this race was. Let me recap, I’m only a short distance runner and have barely started even running at this point. After that first year, I was hooked. I wanted so much more, I wanted it to be harder and to push me farther than before. I was always looking for the next big thing…and this…was….it! Four years later, NJ ultra-beast. I bit the bullet and jumped on board for the wildest ride of my life. THIS WAS IT! Ultra-Beast…damn that’s where it’s at. I followed that year of trying my first ultra-beast with an x4 trifecta, followed by a year of two ultra-beasts in one season; one in NJ again and one in Vermont. I was on cloud eleven! I knew I was going to push it farther next year!
Alas, it was not meant to be and I took from 16-18 off. Spartan racing was out and trail racing was in. 50k’s were my new taste of adventure and Spartan was a wild thing of the past. So, when my friend asked me to run this event with him, of course I said yes. I had run and completed the ultra twice before and loved the event. The venue is absolutely beautiful and I would consider the course a runners course. I loved it.
I charged up my IPOD and started hitting the gym and getting myself back in shape. All throughout the summer and into the school year and past January I pushed it hard. Even though I was pushing it, was my 50k pace and time going to be enough of a stamina boost for this race? I had my doubts, but I am not one from helping out a friend, so I mustered on. I started seeing new obstacles and trying to figure out how to do them; during race day I came across four new obstacles I had never seen nor practiced on. The fear of being thirty-six, haven’t run a Spartan in two years, and not feeling even 65% race day ready….I needed to breath and trust myself. I did what I do, I researched the obstacles I looked for Joe D’s advice and other OCR athletes on how to complete them. I did my due diligence and watched YouTube after YouTube. The itch in my head however still said, “Dude, it’s been two years, Spartan is going to throw some shit at you, that you can’t possibly dream of doing!” This caused me so much anxiety.
2.) My teammate had to back out and was not going to go up on the day of the race
I want to start this section with, my teammate is a good friend of mine. I can always count on him for a good fun race, or run, or just hanging and talking. I signed up for the race thinking I was going to have a buddy with me to help me fend off the mind games and talk about silly shit. I had it in my mind that we were going his pace, this was a race about him getting done, and I had a relative good base mold for how to run, I didn’t need to push myself so hard.
I think knowing that I was going to run with another person, which I never really do, I underestimated the brand that is Spartan. Shit, I didn’t need to lift heavy or run father than before I was just coming off a 50k that I did in less than 5 hours. A 30 mile Spartan, can’t be that bad. That was my first mistake; NEVER underestimate the mountain, never underestimate Spartan. I turned my back on a mountain that I knew had the potential for being really rough. Four years ago I almost had to be peeled off the mountain, three years my friend had to catch his breath and heart rate because it was out of control. All of that knowledge went right out the window. I thought I knew what I was doing.
Even though this happened, I knew I needed to continue on to the challenge and keep striving. I was going to let that stop me, I knew my mental game would have been stronger from start to finish had I had someone to talk to the entire time, but I assumed I would be able to find people to randomly talk to throughout the day.
3.) I felt so unprepared for a Spartan race, I knew I was going to die.
This last fear was a bit of a joke, with real feeling undertones. I didn’t think at any point of the race that I was literally going to die. Did I feel like death? Yes, oh yes of course, but I didn’t think I was literally going to die. As previously stated I had not trained as much for this race as I should have. I went in halfcocked and feeling like I had a chip on my shoulder because I had done three Ultras before. I didn’t need to train so hard because: 1.) I had just finished a 50k and ran faster than I ever had before, 2.) I was running with a teammate so we would be out there together, and 3.) I knew how to eat and when to eat, so if I just followed my 50K running nutrition guide I would be fine!
I was basically wrong on each account for something different, but it all leads back to one main focus, I was basically unprepared because I sure this mountain and race was not going to be a big deal. If you have never done a Spartan race you should know this, they listen to the races, and they work with every part of the mountain.