After all the usual Spartan start-line grand-standing, the wave got under way, and I shuffled onto the trail around beautiful Lac Raynaud. I let every last person pass me, briskly walking the course and getting a feel for my hip. I finally got caught up by the medical volunteer on her bike, and I think she mistook me for someone without the stamina required to complete a ~12km run, haha. So to give her some confidence, I started shuffling a bit faster, and eventually got into a comfortable light jog. I started passing some walkers pretty soon. Once around the lake, we got sent straight up a wonderful single-track snowshoe trail on Mont Onontio. Suddenly everyone was walking except me. I just hopped at the same easy pace all the way to the top. The elevation change is somewhere between 120m and 160m depending on which topo map you ask.
A quick run around the top of this absolutely gorgeous little mountain, and we found ourselves plummeting back down another single-track trail, this time very muddy and rocky and highly technical. Another huge advantage for a fleet-footed trail runner like me, and I skillfully worked my way among the hazards and past a great many more cautious racers. Still not racing anyone, but taking the opportunity to observe their skill and confidence level, and taking very specific opportunities to pass safely but aggressively - I might as well keep my trail racing skills up while I have the chance!
Back at the bottom, we got taken on a series of very long and tiring mud runs. As with the rocky downhills, you had to be fast and precise in your decisions about where to put your feet, this time not to get stuck and lose a shoe - and there certainly were a few victims along the way. I was nearly flawless here too, but got stuck once along the course up to my knees, haha. There were a few weenie obstacles thrown in out here, but nothing of great concern: pressing a light wood log, carrying a cinder block a short way up a hill, running a maze with a sandbag, jumping a low wooden wall, hopping a few tires. But the mud runs seemed endless - I think because I was "just having fun" it didn't get to me as much as to the others.
I had taken one gel at 45mins, and intended to wash another one down with the water in my Camelbak at 1:30, but I finally saw a real obstacle down trail and decided against it - mistake!
Ahead was at least 100m of muddy, rocky barbed wire crawl. This is my favourite obstacle, but it's usually clogged up with cautious, inexperienced racers, too afraid of getting bruised knees or losing their shorts on the wire. I decided to just go in at full speed and slither my way in between everyone else, refusing to get slowed down by them. I must have passed about 50 people here, and no one passed me.
After my great success on the mountain and under the wire, I was feeling amazing. Still refusing to race, just going at my own manageable speed - which just happened to be faster than the entire rear-guard of this wave. I got right into the next challenge, which was walking on top of some two-by-sixes standing on edge - ahead of crossing a small river on some soft barrels. I was dizzy now, and fell off the planks a couple of times. Punishment burpees for me. I got through about 10 and started to feel a cramp above my ankle, I got up to 15 and had to quit. The pain was unbearable, and I ended up sitting there for 20 minutes, massaging, stretching, and watching aaaaaaall those people go past me again. Who's pathetic and inexperienced now? haha.
Once I'd satisfied the lifeguard there that the cramp was gone, and having downed that forgotten electrolyte-laden gel, I swam the river and kept going; it was 2:05 into the race. A few short minutes later, the other ankle muscle went! Another 5 minutes to try to get rid of it. But we were now well on our way to the actual obstacle course near the finish area, so I knew I could finish, I just had to be extra cautious about my ankles, not just my butt, which was performing admirably, LOL.
Obstacle Course section:
- Sandbag on a pulley: fine
- Rope ladder: my fear of heights and my anxiety about the cramps kicking in at the top both got the better of me, and I quit about halfway up - burpees for me.
- Rope climb: my one automatic nemesis - more burpees.
- Cargo net: fine, but my foot got a crampy twinge in the arch as I stepped on the netting! Good call on the rope ladder.
- Spear throw into hay bale: I'd managed this last year, but no luck today - more burpees. At least I got to keep practising my French with the volunteers. "Combien de foix???" "Vingt." "Trente." "Kazilliente..."
- Run up a 12-15ft rock with a rope: no problem
- Another barbed-wire crawl (short): this had a huuuuge line-up just to start. Once I got my chance, I crawled between and over anyone I could to get through fast.
- Hay tunnel crawl: fast
- Wheelbarrow pull: fine. But the cramps returned after this, so I stopped under a tree and massaged some more.
- Wall climb: about 7ft, but girls got these two thin blocks to use on the way up, so no problem for me, and I love jumping off the top!
- Plastic tube crawl: pulled myself on my side with one arm so that my slimy body would just slide through.
- Cargo net: no problem up, but the foot cramp came back on the other side. Now I could hear ES and MK yelling my name from below, so I stretched out my foot and kept going down.
- Rowing machines: quinze foix pour les femmes, no problem
- Another super-short wire crawl: awesome
- Run up two inclines: totally cool, until you realize it's a sheer drop-off on the other side! Apparently the look on my face was priceless, haha.
- Run up one huge slippery incline with a rope: got a bit stuck at the top, and my foot was totally cramped again, but this was the last thing before the:
- Guys with the jousting sticks giving you a beating before the finish line!
I crossed the line straight into the crushing hug of my buddy MK, and a huge smile from ES. Of course while they were concerned about my condition out on the course, I was most interested in whether MK had managed to beat ES this time - no chance, she's still faster than him, yay!
--Distance: ~14km
--Duration: ~2:45 (unofficial)
This was a very unexpected course: essentially a long-ass trail run ahead of the obstacle course at the very end. ES was really disappointed, even though she's a talented trail runner and medallist. But she had come out for obstacles. For me, the course worked to my advantage because even though I took it easy, I did much better on the trail than the others in my wave who are mostly gym-rats and not experienced runners. Mostly though, as I was hopping along on that breath-taking mountain trail, I realized how much I'd missed being able to do trail runs. It was pure bliss for me. I could have stayed out there all day.
Next up was the Sprint course, and with the "light warm-up" we got on what was actually a 14km Super course, we were much better prepared to tackle the Sprint like pros.
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