Photos from The Mid-Atlantic Super Spartan 2012

My husband and I couldn't wait to see photos from our first-ever obstacle course race, the Spartan Mid-Atlantic Super held in Leesburg, VA a couple weeks ago.

None of ours were exactly epic or picked as promo photos for Spartan blog or Facebook use, but it was definitely cool to see ourselves doing the obstacles.

The balance logs were more a matter of concentration than difficulty. I made it across (after a slightly shaky start) no problem.

There I am under the barbed wire -- I rolled for most of it and passed a few dudes and another woman -- so yes, you can race when you're crawling/ rolling.

The mud pits felt great after a long section of running -- very cooling and a relief from the heat.

The dudes with the gladiator sticks or whatever they are were more funny than anything -- they are cushioned and don't hurt at all.

And I didn't feel like I was going to collapse afterward -- it was more a feeling of, "Oh, that's all? I could have run faster!"

I guess I'll need to prove that next time. 


 

Mid-Atlantic Super Spartan 2012: Done!

I completed my first obstacle course/ mud race on Saturday: the 10+ mile, 74-obstacle Super Spartan in Leesburg, VA. My time was two hours, 11 minutes, giving me the 13th place for women in my heat and 3rd in my age group.

 I did it!

It's hard to believe that only a few months ago I could barely run 1/3 mile without stopping to walk. I could only do one pushup, only one pullup at a time, and couldn't get off the ground when trying to climb a vertical rope with knots.

And on Saturday, I ran the race and completed nearly all the obstacles without a problem (the last two got me -- 30 burpees times two!) If I did it, you can too -- and by you, I mean anyone who wants to -- decides to -- and works for it.

I'm a mom of five, and my youngest was only six months old when I decided to run the Spartan obstacle course. I hadn't worked out consistently in years, and I was more than 20 pounds overweight. 

Once inspired, I started training in my yard, on the roads and in the woods. I did not join a gym or buy any fancy program or workout videos. I just used my own body weight and a few weights and homemade obstacles to get my body back in shape.

Apparently, it worked. I finished. And next year, I want to be on the podium for placing in the top three. This is my journey ... join me!