After racing pretty hard yesterday, I wasn’t sure how things would go today.
I got ahead of Claude, Spartan World Champion x2 and Olympic biathlete, on the first climb by running as much as I could – and by narrowly escaping a heart attack.
Good start.
She took back the lead heading down the other side of the mountain, but the terrain was neither steep nor technical, so I was able to stay with her. I saw her cross the balance beam to slack line combo I had failed twice to this point. Instead of slowing and carefully balancing, I took my husband’s advice and ran for the bell with all I had and thumped it with a triumphant “donk”.
Then I danced. Then I kept running.
I set up and launched my spear as I always do. But something different happened.
It went in.
The only two obstacles I’ve failed on this course behind me. Might this be my first race without penalty burpees?
After the hand hold traverse to long monkey bar combo, the course ran through the crowd of spectators before the big cargo and another big climb.
The crowd was absolutely thundering.
And the announcer said I was in first place.
Me?
Whoah. Really? Where’s Claude?
I had no idea she missed the bell on the end of the slack line and was 30 burpees back.
The crawl uphill was horrendous on the open wounds on my knees and hand from the fall yesterday but I managed to get through it.
I swore a bit but not nearly as much as I did when I landed that spear. And I pretty much always swear. I’m from Alberta.
I managed to hold Claude off up the final climb by running as much as I could. She was coming into the atlas carry (carry large stone, 5 burpees, carry back) as I was heading back down the mountain.
It didn’t take her long to overtake me on the technical and steep downhill section under the chair lift into the finish area. That lady flies on the gnarly decents.
But man, who cares… that was the best race ever.
