(Photo courtesy of Spartan)
While I wasn’t able to do the full Trifecta in Dallas last year, I intended to finish it in Houston this weekend.
After a fun Friday night at the Houston Rodeo, we all showed up at the Ranch for Saturday’s race (Sprint). I was surprised by the obstacles that were before the start line (including the short wall). I have never done a race where you “raced” before you started. But we made it over and started with the crowd.
As in Dallas, there were a few obstacles that I couldn’t do and had to take the penalty loop for. Most of these were the “grip” obstacles, which are slowly getting better even though they’re still a struggle.
One of the early obstacles that I really enjoyed was the “A-frame”. On the Tough Mudder side, this obstacle (Mudderhorn) uses ropes that connect at points. If you forget about this, and place your foot thinking it’s a square (full ropes) when it’s really a triangle (created by connections), you can have issues like I did in 2023. But this A frame was solid ropes that created squares throughout, so it was a lot easier. 🙂
Two obstacles that were new for me were the Atlas Stone and Spear Throw. While it took a bit to figure out the technique, I was finally able to carry the smaller one. On the Spear Throw, the resulting burpees from missing it drained me.
We made it through the course, ending at the fire jump. Going into the race, this was the obstacle I was the most worried about (jumping over fire). But the guide team helped me to successfully complete it, and we made it across the finish line.
After some R&R, we were back at the ranch for Day 2 (Super).
While there were many similarities from Saturday, there were also changes and additions. While I don’t remember all five additional obstacles, the one that sticks out is the 45 degree slanted bars. While I was able to get part ways up, I had to take the penalty lap. This was disappointing, as I had been able to complete a similar obstacle at ASR in January.
Doing consecutive races caught up with me a little. I know that the bucket carry and sandbag carry were a bit harder the second time. Also, the Spartan version of the Pyramid Scheme was definitely harder. On Saturday, I was able to get up and over on the first try; on Sunday, I fell while trying to make the transition from the slant part to the level part. As I slid down the rope, my hands got torn up a little from rope burn, and I just couldn’t make it back up.
While that was frustrating, the inverted wall was truly painful. On Saturday, I made it up and over fairly easily. On Sunday, my left leg seized as I was part way up. It took extra help and some fairly painted manoeuvring to get up and over, but it all worked out.
After another fire jump, we finished and completed the Trifecta!*
I learned two very important things from this weekend that will serve me well as I continue forward with OCR. One is the importance of nutrition even on the Sprint. The other is that knuckle gloves are worth their weight in gold. I believe I put them on before we went over the first wall, and I only took them off when going into the mud/water.
Thanks to all of those within Spartan who helped to make this weekend successful. And thanks to the entire guide team (Kate, Jonnie, Doug, and Jaime) for all of their help and support throughout the races!
- = While I completed the Trifecta (Sprint, Super, and Beast), Spartan does not have me completing a Trifecta yet. This is because you apparently have to do all three within a single year for them to count it.
