Race Review - Spartan Beast

This is the longest of the trifecta we are going for.  There is the Beast, the Super, and the Sprint.  The beast is 13 miles with over 30 obstacles and burpee penalties if you don't do the obstacle.  We prepared for this one.  We had our hydration packs, our nutrition chews, some candy for sugar replenishing and salt tablets.

Matt and I stayed together for this race and even though we heard horror stories about the hills and so forth, it honestly wasn't that bad,  We gave ourselves a nice and easy 8 hour time frame to get through the obstacles and conquer the hills.  We were in no hurry.  We jogged here and there but really just took our time and enjoyed one another's company.
 
I conquered a couple obstacles that I haven't before - one was the 8 foot wall and the other was a 4 foot wall leading to an A-frame.  I got to the top of the slip wall and had my grip on the top of it but my footing left me and there was no one to grab me and help.  So I hung there for a minute then slid back down.  Cherried my knee pretty good, haha.

Anything that I have to carry or pull, I am a pro.  I can't say that about much but I am a beast when it comes to that.  Bucket Brigade, Atlas carry, sled pull, hercules hoist = piece of cake.   Rope climb....forget it.  I will conquer that one of these days.  My upper body sucks - I can do monkey bars at a park but in a race, I get like two rungs and down I go.  I will get it though.  On a positive note, I hit my spear throw but it didn't stick.  Grrrrr.

So, we finished - yahoo!  And we didn't die - double yahoo!  And we finished in under 6 hours! This is #1 for our trifecta.  We knocked the biggest out first.

Next weekend we have a triple header - 3 races in 2 days.  Lord, help me.

So the review of the event Spartan Ohio Beast:
Terrain - hills, mud, trails, obstacles, grass
Organization - pretty flawless
Cost - $149
Time of the race - 10am
Overall - tough but doable, felt safe on all the obstacles, plenty of water stations, good volunteers
Swag - a medal plus a piece that will go with the other 2 once we get there, shirt, headband
My Time - 5 hours and 43 minutes
Race #9(68 total to date)

Race Review - Nashville Mud Run 10K

Why yes, we did drive 6 hours to do a mud run!

It had been awhile since we have raced. This year is a little different.  While I enjoy road races, we are doing fewer of them this year.  We are focusing on challenging ourselves and getting our Spartan Trifecta and doing races that push our limits.

We haven't ran in awhile.  We took an amazing vacation to Aruba and once we got back it has just been tough getting back in the groove.  Seriously....I was like a machine before I left and here it is a month later and am still struggling. What is the friggin' deal?  I will get back on track but it seems to be taking longer than usual.

We did a mud run in Nashville.  It is nice to get away for a couple days and just relax.  The race was decent.  It wasn't really that "muddy" or hilly.  There were obstacles but nothing to really brag about.  A couple of them I bypassed because they didn't seem safe to me.  I am the type of person if I don't feel safe, I am not going to do it.  Period.

Overall it was a decent race.  Is it one I would do again?  Probably not.  I mean I would if it was convenient but to drive that distance it wasn't worth it.  If I were local, then yea it was a good race!

So the review of the event Nashville Mud Run 10K:
Terrain - small hills, dirt, grass, some mud
Organization - it was okay
Cost - $75 if you waited until the last minute!
Time of the race - 10am
Overall - would be good if I was local, overall a decent race that wasn't too challenging
Swag - a medal made of wood and a teeshirt
My Time - not worried about time
Race #8(67 total to date)

As you can see - not too dirty....