Lunch Ride

Afternoon Ride

Mothers Day ride with the wifey

Zwift - Volcano Climb in Watopia

And the Super is in the books! Two down... one more to go to complete the Trifecta!
https://www.spartan.com/en/race/detail/3343/results?profile=343997292

SO MUCH MUD!  And I thought the MN race was muddy! WOW! The course was relatively flat, especially compared to MN. It was a fantastic day as far as weather was concerned. However, the course was so soupy it is beyond explanation. At times I found myself joking with other athletes about how Eskimos have so many different names for snow and that by time we finished we would have an equal number of names for the different types of mud we encountered. It was by far the most challenging aspect of the race.

Some mud was so fluid it was hard to distinguish from water, some mud was clearly not water... but more like gravy. Other mud was like walking through pudding, and then there was mud that was like walking through thick oatmeal. And, rounding it off was mud that was more along the consistency of playdough. (and just about every variations feasible in between!) Even beyond that which wasn't "mud", any "firm ground" was still actually soft enough that it flexed/deformed as you walked over it.  And of course no compilation of mud would be complete without a multitude of color variations, smells, and various mixtures of sand and clay. (and when you hit the stuff with lots of clay you knew it because your shoes instantly became +5 pounds heavier from all the mud that stuck to them)

Speaking of sand... that did take its own toll on me. Trudging through so much mud, I was thankful that I was not among the so many unfortunate souls who lost their shoes in the mud. I did however get enough mud to find its way into my socks that it acted like sandpaper on the heel cups of my shoes. By the end of the race it was incredibly painful to walk much less run because my heels were so raw.

I wish the pain would have been limited to just my feet. However, one of the obstacles early in the race also dealt a heavy blow.... Twister. About half way through the third rotating pipe segment of that obstacle, I could feel the skin on my left hand peeling off. The damage was already done by that point... so, I pushed through it and finished so as to not do any burpees. My reward though was to have two large chunks of skin peeled off the palm of my hand. As this was within the first quarter of the race, all other obstacles that required any form of grip strength were made incredibly painful if not nearly impossible to complete.

But... enough of the bad... On the good side of things I had an awesome race partner. Kaila was fantastic at keeping me motivated and pushing me through the pain. We also worked together on some of the obstacles to avoid the dreaded burpee punishments. And, it's always nice to have someone to talk with just to help pass the time. I'm incredibly thankful to have had her as a race partner. I don't think it gets any better than doing events like these with friends and family.

The event overall... despite all the pain... was actually a blast. And, yes, I would do it again (with some modifications of course). Also, there were other athletes who had done this course multiple times and they said it's never the same twice. Aside from the course path and the obstacles being different each year, the other athletes indicated that last year the course was was so dry it was a pain because of how dusty the course was... so you never know what you are walking into. :)

Next up... The Beast!  And then the pie will be complete! :D

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Craig Haydock

Spartan Super - Richmond IL

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Lunch Ride

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Afternoon Ride

Mothers Day ride with the wifey

Zwift - Volcano Climb in Watopia

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