San Jose Super (North American Championship Series Race #1)

Spartan Race season is now OFFICIALLY in its starting week. The North American Championship series is 5 races (4 Supers and 1 Beast) in which those who wish to compete for the North American title must race a minimum of 4 to be eligible. A top 10 finish in my age

group at any of these races would punch my ticket to World Championships in Lake Tahoe later this year. My first top 10 finish back in Chino earned my spot to compete in the NA Championship s finale in West Virginia. This weekend brought equal parts pressure and opportunity to push further into the rankings with a 1.5X multiplier for points due to the difficulty of the course, and the expected level of competition for all divisions.

I left home early Monday morning and headed North, picking up a new friend along the way for company. Andrew provided impeccable navigation, awesome music, and enlightening conversation all weekend. I was happy to have met him! Heading into the weekend, it had rained most of the week up in Diablo Grande, and expected showers were at 40% for Saturday morning; race day. However, tracking the weather very closely Friday night, it looked like there would be some relief of the wet conditions come morning. My roommate (and direct competitor) Arnaud, “Nono” for short, woke up to dry ground and cold temperatures; perfect for racing! We grabbed Spartan Pro Team member, Glenn Race, and Andrew on the way and headed for the venue. An easy 30 min drive and we were there. The sun had not yet made its way over the mountains, that we later would too be coming over, and the air was crisp and cool. We all went our separate ways to warm up, gear up, and pump up. Glenn went first with the Elite males at 7:30. I was able to watch his 3rd mile and cheer him on from the sidelines before my start.

Nono and I made our way to the front of the pack about 10 minutes before the start, saying hello to a few known friends/competitors as we tried to stay calm, relaxed, and warmed up. One guy was missing though… “Where is Troy?” He arrived with only a minute to spare wearing a bright red shirt (important for later). After a few teases, the start speech began.

“AROO AROO AROO Lets Race!”

Troy took off quick and lead the pack down the initial straight away. Nono and I held back a little but continued to pass less prepared athletes as we worked our way towards him. The trail was wide enough for 3 to run side by side so passing was easy. The first obstacle was Overwalls, two of them, and then immediately into Mud Misery. What they had dune was deeply tilled the dirt and had a water truck hosing it AND US down with frigid water as we ran passed. I went wide left to avoid most of the soaking but wet shoes and pants were inevitable since we had a water crossing only a few yards after. Then, the first of the massive hills…

Troy still lead the way up this first climb and I had passed Nono at the mud section, but we were all three easily a few yards apart. Troys red shirt made him easy to spot against the dark green grass that was in every direction. We power hiked up nearly 400ft running when we could at transition curves, but mostly, it was just a heavy trudge to the top of the first hill. A big dip and another 125ft or so climb and we were met with monkey bars. Troy waited a little too long and I caught up with him just as he started his mount, and it was a 2 bar lead in his favor by the time the bells were rung.

These hills continued with flats in between medium grade climbs for another half mile with 4 Hurdles placed in the mix. As we rounded a corner to what may have looked like the crest of the hill to an unsuspecting racer, we were met with what was dubbed “the sandbag carry from hell” last year (Red peak). A nearly ¼ loop, straight up (half the hill pictured), and straight down with a 75lb sandbag on you however you desired it to be. I threw around my neck to rest both shoulders and I slowly started to move forward. Tory, at about 6’-3” had a longer stride than I and began to pull away.

At the same time, Nono passed me. I tried walking backwards up the hill to utilize a different muscle group and it helped, but it also gave a beautiful view of the valley. Less than 2 miles in and we were at the highest point around; sun at our backs from the other side. Once I reached the summit of the carry, I picked up pace heading down. Troy was nearing the dump spot and Nono wasn’t far behind. I had some ground to make up after losing time and speed on that carry. By the time I reached the bottom of the carry, I could still see, albeit much dimmer, the red shirt striding out in front. A few more climbs and we were able to crawl through the first of 2 barb wire crawls.

More steep hills, but in a slightly downward trend sent us to a valley where the Bucket Brigade was waiting.

Back to back carries are unusual difficult and taxing on your body in multiple ways. You lose your cadence when carrying, your heart rate often increases despite the slower pace due to the added weight (nearly 50% extra for someone my size), muscles not yet used are put in the hot seat immediately like the lower back and shoulders. The carry was an uphill “L-shaped” loop with the middle section being a screaming assent to the turnaround (blue peak).

Unfortunately, the camera crew was positioned further down the loop so it can’t be seen, (part of the incline shown above), but I pointed it out on the elevation map. Just trust me on this one; it sucked. Troy was rounding the top corner as I came to the bottom start of it, Nono gaining on him still. But at least we were all three on the same obstacle; there were still lots of race left.

After dropping our rocks, we hit the 6ft wall. Again, the carry put me behind and I needed to pick up pace heading into the middle gantlet to catch them. In rapid fire succession, we had tire flip, drag-n-pull, Atlas Carry,

Olympus, Hurc-Hoist, Spear Throw, and Rope climb. This area was highly covered for

the NBC broadcast and so a good crowed had assembled to watch the athletes tackle this section.

When I arrived at the tire, I checked a few to see if they were wet or filled with water (heavier) and found one that looked dry inside and out. I took 3 seconds to glance down the course for the red shirt… nowhere in sight. I flipped my tire 2 while I heard a man in our group much “stronger looking” than myself ask the ref where he could do his burpees (personal moment of satisfaction there) and I headed for the drag-n-pull. Personal moment of humility here as that same guy finished pulling his plate back at the same time I did (either AMAZING burpees, skipped a few, or just that good at this pulling business, but anyway…) I picked my atlas stone and moved it to the flag, 5 burpess, and brought it back. This is one that continues to get easier and easier every race. I feel my training paying off there every time! I breezed through Olympus as usual hoping that I was closing the gap

between Troy and Nono. The spear was just one more obstacle ahead and I was hoping they were both missing it so I could pass them! I went to Hurc-Hoist and found the bag I had practiced with the night before at the Spartan Open House event and got it up and down with only being yelled at by the official once :) “One foot on the ground!” In my defense, my foot slipped from the mud and went over the fence after my first hoist and I had to jump up to get it back on the right side of the barricade… I wasn’t actually cheating in any way. He stood close by though to watch my completion… and gave me no trouble as I passed.

There was spear. Again, I went to the same spot I had practiced and been 100% the night before. I looked to the right again at the burpee box… No Troy or Nono… crap! I took a deep breath, focused, balance, heaved and missed. 2 inches too far left. The hail bail sprayed as the spike

went right through the corner. Burpees… Crap again! The only good news, everyone I recognized coming up to the spear behind me missed as well. This meant I dint loos any places, but I WAS losing the leader. After I finished my penalty, I ran towards the 7ft wall and rope climb, these were 2 of the last obstacles before the Super loop.

Approaching A-frame cargo net, Andrew was standing nearby and asked me why I wasn’t running! I quickly explained the missed spear, but then he was right… I needed to keep pushing. I climbed and flipped over the net and set out for the rolling hills section of the Super loop.

Z-wall was about mile 5 and it still is one of my favorites. Although rounding the second corner, my footing was lost and I knocked my knee pretty hard but I held on for dear life and managed to maintain control and ring the bell. I couldn’t feel any cuts or blood under my Past Parallel compression pants and the knee wasn’t tight, so I pressed on. I later found out, that Troy had failed Z-wall and lost the lead to Nono at that point. More on this in a minute…

At the top of the next hill was Twister,

the burpee maker for most people, but I made it through victorious and headed down the hill to the next one. Each hill presented an obstacle of either man made or natural. Bender was next and from the top of the metal frame, I saw it… The bright red shirt! It was at the log carry, about a quarter mile ahead. This gave me a huge boost of confidence. I wasn’t sure yet though if he had failed or if I was just catching up… But it didn’t matter. I picked it up. In fact, this is where my max heart weight was achieved (207bpm). I got to the farmers log carry, it was two large logs (about 45lb each) on chains like a purse almost, and two needed to be carried a distance of 10yrd and back. I found the smallest looking ones and went for it. Back and forth and done.

I pressed forward and was side by side with a gentlemen who I hadn’t previously taken no consideration of. We approached the “death hill” (black peak) together at mile 7. He tried hiking up it, but it was just too steep. I remembered how I climbed the second hill in Las Vagas and I began to crawl. He quickly caught on and was side by side again all the way up. We made small talk to help distract us from the pain of this climb. When we got to the top, I offered a statement of “sometimes going downhill is the worst part.” I did this to check his motives… I was right on the money! “Yeah I agree” was his response. With that, I took off down the hill and I never looked back, but I also never saw him again :)

Heading down the hill lead right to Stairway to Sparta. After that was the Vertical Cargo Plus net. My usual flip off the top saved a few seconds. Nearing the end of the Super loop was an uphill barbwire crawl.

It was difficult to look up while trying to stay low and avoid impaling your eyes or forehead on the spikes. By the time I crouched down to begin, I could see the red shirt standing up at the top. I finally knew it was Troy. I was gaining on him and now a few yards away from catching him with less than a mile to go! Right at the start of the final gauntlet, I was only 2-5 seconds behind Tory, but still no sign of Nono. But, I knew Troy was leading most of the time so if I could catch and pass him, I had an easy shot at the podium. Troy jumped into the mud first and under the dunk wall, but he took longer to wipe off his face and I took the inside corner and we were neck and neck.

We jumped over invert wall with him a single stride ahead of me. We both jumped up onto the stands for the final obstacle of the race; the multi-rig. This race, it was angled bar, quad ring, triple rope, and the bell. However, this was not like most rigs… We were soaking wet and covered in mud from the dunk wall just yards prior. I looked over at Troy, he shook his head at me and l smiled back. I knew he hated this rig, and he failed it before in Vegas.

I took some time to try and dry my hands on my hair, no use, on my pants, no use, on the muddy grass, no use. I DID find a secret (but I am keeping it that way…) After they were dry, I jumped onto the pole an started my way across the rig. I hit 2 of the rings and all three ropes, taking a conservative approach since failure here could cost me the podium. I hit the bell with a loud shot and turned around to see Troy heading to the burpee box!

I sprinted to the finish where Nono was standing there to greet me.

In the end, I finished 3rd for the age group, earning my 3rd podium in 4 races and my third 3rd place finish this season. I had a near clean race, only failing the spear. Finishing this Championship Series in the top 10 stamps my ticket to Worlds in Tahoe

I had a wonderful time in San Jose and I really felt my training come through on the hills. I still have some stiff competition and I know the things I need to focus on for the next few weeks before the next race. I met some awesome new friends like the staff at HealthIQ, (April and Erin) and of course Andrew to name a few, and despite the cold weather and the rain, it was an amazing weekend watching my training partner Glenn compete as well.

As an update to the rankings, Tory was able to dethrone me as the points leader since he had an awesome Sunday performance at the Sprint, taking 1st place. Nono is still 1 race away from his top 5 sum so he sits in 4th at the moment, but the next few weeks will get settled and it will be an all out battle for the top again!

A huge thank you as usual to Past Parallel for my racing compression, to II-VI OS for my financial support to run in these races. Next up for me is the SoCal Ragnar the first weekend in April and then Spartan Stadium series at Dodgers! Thank you to all my readers and followers.

AROO!