This year and last year the first warm-weather race of the east has been the Super Spartan; this year if anyone wanted they could have done Course Extrême the day before, on May 16.
I'd just been a little jittery in the days leading up to the Super because it's a smashing grand entrance - 15km of obstacles and rolling uphill terrain to kick things off. Where do I stand in my training? Did I slack off too much in the winter and not get on the ball quickly enough? I haven't run 15k yet in training! I've only run on trails a handful of times! The new shoes haven't been completely broken in yet! Blah, blah, blah.
May 16 I got to meet up with some Mudd Queens in Tremblant as we were staying the night. Some of their pre-race rituals are rubbing off on me, notably enjoying a beer with our superstar Jen Milligan (#jendurance); there's also bacon as part of my breakfast. By the way, this season marks the first that I'm doing everything as part of a team, a wonderful team at that, and much less lone wolf-ing.
I wasn't sure if I was going to get a season pass again but there are some perks involved, notably free parking. Sweet!
It is going to be a warm day, I can feel it. There's some excitement and tension in the air, everyone can't wait to start. Patrolling the start area with a giant Alpha Obstacle Training flag is none other than Jesse Bruce. I love saying hi to this guy at races, always get big bear hugs. OCR is an ever-growing family evidently, as Mudd Queens excitedly greet one another or say hi to new faces.
'Selfie King' Josh, Julie, myself, Genevieve, Patrice, and Linda happily photobombing
Off we go and the start is where last year's finish line was. The plan is to ease into the first hill climb as warm-up. We get to obstacles such as over-under-through walls, balance beam plus slackline (which I don't succeed and curse), a short tractor pull in spring snow..I like the way the tractor itself was set up, but way too much of a logjam and it wasn't even 10am. Were they hoping to get a lot done in an area that seemed to be the size of a postage stamp?
I figured I'd use the same hydration strategy as the Ottawa Beast - 500ml Platypus soft bottle with electrolytes, sip as I go, refill at water station and mix more electrolytes...&&& somehow lose the bottle (again! First Vermont, and now!?) and only realize it when I'm at the over-under-through walls. I'm not meant to have one of those bottles on me.......
I can't remember the order of the obstacles, but for the first little while I'm enjoying the trails. Sure there's some climbing but nothing too crazy yet, some wide flat trails going downhill, grassy slopes. The first major descent was pretty steep, surrounded by trees, and completely covered in fallen leaves. When it comes to that kind of setting I turn into a complete wimp - I'm so scared of where I put my foot! Not wanting to catch a tree root or hidden rock and bust an ankle.
Oldies but goodies for obstacles, including jerry can carry, tire pull (very short distance), barbed wire crawl - for the first time had some pillow-y soft wet grass instead of sharp rocks hidden under a thin layer of dirt. Spear throw - even though I'd been getting practice at trying to throw the spear in a relatively straight line, I over-rotate and the shaft of the spear smacks the target. More burpees.
New obstacle - grip traverse - hand over hand traverse except there are these wooden handholds. Turns out Mudd Queen Becky is the volunteer here! She grabs me for a selfie before I attempt the traverse. So close, but lose momentum and brain fart for a split second, fall at 2nd to last set of handholds. From another perspective, the handholds aren't that far apart.
Thanks Becky!
After more burpees the monkey bars are next, then the 2nd hill climb that leads into crawling under a net. At least there's no spring snow. The second descent was another tricky one; a guy in front of me slides on his bottom (understandably) at some steep parts, but does so while I'm behind him. Another obstacle to dodge.
At the bottom, Platinum Rig - which I don't get enough momentum at the start so I'm standing on the rope looking silly. A kind volunteer gives me a push, enough so I grab the next ring, I get in a mental block trying to figure out the traverse. More burpees. Then rope climb, Hercules Hoist, zigzag wall (that I fall off of), sandbag carry - uh-oh, feel a cramp in my quad. Slip ramp - uh-oh, cramp in my foot. Then uphill we go again..At this point I meet up with Patrice, recall I pretty much joined the Mudd Queens after I randomly started talking to her at the 2014 Ottawa Sprint.
At the start of the 3rd climb everyone's peeling off to the side with cramps. We dig out snacks from our packs, eat the most of the lot and start drinking water. The cramps subside for the most part as we zigzag our way up a dizzying, endless uphill. There are muttered curses everywhere, and a "Well played, Spartan..." from Patrice. Eventually we go downhill, and only find 1 obstacle (a light tire carry) on the way down, then finally to the fire jump and finish. Not a great ending, all that climbing for a photo finish..Also, the fire was on a slight downhill, so in many of the pictures racers weren't looking at the camera. Please don't let me faceplant!
There are other girls out there who are attempting their very first Super Spartan. I catch Kelly just as she's heading to the rope climb section. She's still in good spirits (as always), and knows what's transpiring: "We're going uphill again, aren't we?"
Waiting at the finish to hand a couple of medals to the girls makes me all antsy; I'm thinking of them on that 3rd hill and what kind of curse words they're uttering. When 3 of them (Kathy, Denise, JJ) are in view near the fire, I'm holding a medal and hollering at them: "Who wants this!??"
Because I'd promised her I'd be waiting at the finish, I also give Caroline her medal. Her reaction says it all - she hugs me and practically swings me in a circle. So proud of all the girls and their tenacity to see this race to the end!
They were smiling at the start...and still smiled at the end
Aftermath - the beauty with all these gadgets and technologies - FitBit, Nike Fuel, Garmins, Suuntos, apps, etc., we get a sense of how many calories we're possibly burning, as well as the elevation gains. The general consensus was 3000 calories burned post-race, so a series of posts highlighting what we've chowed down is staggering (chips, KitKats, chicken strips from DQ, pizza, bananas, poutine, lots of beer..) As for the elevations, I give credit to Tracy for posting this:
Yikes. Those running the Sprint for the first time are in for a nasty surprise..
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