The end of a Series

If you have been following along all year with my blog posts and race calendar, you may have read my two posts about goals (2018 Definition and Quarter Review posts), you may have noticed that participating in the US National Series was not originally on my list of goals. That is because… it wasn’t on my personal list of goals! All of that changed at the season opener in San Jose when I finished in 3rd place for the Competitive Age Group (CAG) and I thought to myself, maybe I have a chance to actually place in the overall series! I skipped Seattle partially because of funds and partially out of strategy, since I had seen it on TV the year previous and the weather and conditions were not such that I could easily succeed. I was then locked into participating in Big Bear, Chicago, and Utah to complete the required 4 out of 5 events to participate in the series title. You can see and read all about those races in their own blog posts.

This post is to review the Utah Super (and Sprint on Sunday) that concluded the 5 race national series. Let me start by saying the venue and course were by far my favorite of the series. The mountain was just steep enough to be a challenge, the elevation added an extra detail to those who were not prepared for it, and the weather was hotter than most any other race this year. However, the brilliant idea and helpful snow blowers throughout the course made for a refreshing and technical running surprise every few miles.

Getting to the venue early to watch the elite women take off first (yes, you read that right. The ladies went first) allowed time for me to warm up with my new friend Daniel from the Arizona Stadium race last month) and to gauge times when those ladies made it back to the bottom of the hill. At the start line, I stood in row 2 like usual, waiting for the three AROO’s and the “lets race” shout from the Spartan MC.

We started off heading right into the rolling hills at the bottom of the mountain, hitting Over Walls and a sloppy, wet, and muddy barbwire crawl immediately in the first ¼ mile. This made things interesting since we would now be covered in mud for the duration of the race and if you didn’t have gloves, your hands were now wet and caked with mud, affecting all grip related things down the line.

As we zigzagged up the hill, we had a hay bail wall similar to the one in Chicago, invert wall and the first water station before the true climbing began. Already, there was a young man leading the group and it became my goal to try and catch him. I saw other familiar faces from my AG and by mile 1, they were all behind me. Only Stetson (18-24 AG dominator) and this bearded guy were ahead of me by the time we reached the Under wall (O.U.T. but without the O or T walls). We were now on the “Super” loop of the course and where the real climbing began. As I passed under the wall and rounded the corner, I saw my friend April and she cheered me on my way up the steep side of the mountain. For nearly a mile, there was nothing but climbing through a beautiful bike/ski trail averaging between a blue square and a green circle all the way to the top of the mountains sub-peak. I kept in view of the bearded leader although I could tell he was gaining inches on my as we went along. There was a water station at the highest point of the course and we both stopped, along with Stetson sill on my heels, to grab some E-blocks and water. The hardest part was now finished and it was a downhill battle for the most part now. We rounded the flat peak of the mountain and climbed up and over Stairway to Sparta. Redbeard was dismounting the back side as I reached the top; only about 5-7 seconds ahead. I thought I had a chance to catch him but I was about to learn what an effective downhill runner her was…

We began the gross downhill section of the course now and we cut zig-zags down the hill, passing many of the earlier starters as we kicked up dust. Not shown on the provided map was an extra 1 mile cruise through a forest like ski run that went 0.5mi one way and then turned right

around and came back. We crossed a stream, rock bed, tall grass, and it was relatively flat so it allowed me to open up my speed a little as I passed by 10’s of people. It also gave me an opportunity to see several of my friends since the turn around gave open views of all competitors in the area. Sandra and Jarred cheered me on as I passed and we approached the mile 3 marker. Now, as I said before, I was learning how good Redbeard was at downhill running. Throughout that mile of downhill and turnaround, I could hear him shouting “on your left” as he passed those I was soon to be doing the same, but I could use his voice as sonar ping and gauge my distance behind him. Now I could tell that he was gaining more distance from me but I kept pushing. We hit the 8ft wall next and by then my hands had dried from the muddy crawl and it wasn’t problem. I do remember that the view of the valley from the top of the wall was beautiful; but I only looked for a second. Another mile of downhill followed and with Redbeard long gone, my new goal was to keep Nono and Chris as far behind me as possible. I hadn’t seen or heard them since the start line, but that was ok with me.

At the bottom of the hill, we rounded back around and had the single steepest section of the mountain right in front of us. Nearly 4 miles into the race, I finally had to power hike. I was (and still am) very impressed with how well my legs were feeling and handling these climbs, but there is a point in every race that a hike is necessary and this was it. I passed my friend Sheena and asked her if she had seen Redbeard. Not surprisingly, she knew exactly who I was talking about but said he was a ways ahead and was still hauling. The climb continued to about half way back up the mountain where we met bender. I passed 2 people as we lobed ourselves over it and it was a gradual downhill back towards the first water station and monkey bars. Clearly these were not an issue for me since I

completed the whole section of bars before the photographer could even snap a photo of me! A short distance ahead was one of my favorites, Z-wall. I spent a few extra seconds picking a good wall since I realized my first pick was slanted downhill and that is not ideal. I ran around to a different wall, traversed, and hit the bell. Up the last hill was the last of the “super” exclusive obstacles; another wet, muddy and this time UPHILL barbwire crawl. This U-turn shaped path started difficult with the water spraying all over, the high incline angle, and the lower than normal barbs. I definitely got a few kisses and I tried to slither my way around people and up the hill. The way down though was a synch with my slick PastParallel compression pants. As I exited the crawl, I got my first sighting of Nono who was still hiking up the hill to enter it. I still had a good minute or so lead on him more than halfway through the race. I began verbally creating a mantra for myself; “Stay clean, stay ahead” which I repeated for the next 40 minutes or so.

After the second barbwire crawl, we headed to the base of the mountain for the second and final time. We passed some high grass, narrow tree passages, and wide open meadows. At the bottom, there was a short, relatively easy climb of a bucket brigade. Nono has told me in the past that he feels he gains the most ground on me during the heavy carries, but I had been working on them lately and I wanted to show him he couldn’t catch me, not today! I grabbed my choice bucket and began to power-walk with it up the incline. Halfway up the hill, I spotted him coming down to the bucket entrance. I picked up my pace JUST to mess with his head about how strong and fresh I may have looked. It worked because he told me later that night that he watched me most of the carry and was impressed. Leaving the mountain and crossing the street put us in an old abandoned golf course and at a mini gauntlet. After stopping for water, and assuming Nono did not, we were now only a few seconds apart as we approached the Army Reserve Rope Climb. I chose my rope and made it to the top using a new technique I learned from Veejay Jones but had to practice for the last few races before implementing. After hitting the bell and sliding down, Nono was there at my side and gave a verbal “here we go!” to encourage the competition between us. We headed right to the vert-cargo net and I was up and over and down faster than he was. I never looked back and ran a little harder into the Olympus. I have also been working on a new tactic for this obstacle, but it turns our most of the walls, including the one I was currently on, was not built in the right configuration and so I had to improvise my traversing method, but I made it across either way. I exited the area and ran right into the Sandbag carry. One of the volunteers knew me immediately and shouted my FULL name (if you read this, please tell me who it was! I didn’t recognize you and obviously didn’t have time to stop and say hi! I am sorry!) I picked my bag and began to run with it, passing about 4 people in the first few yards. We rounded a relatively

large lake, making it one of the longer sandbag carries I can remember at a national series race. I still didn’t see Nono behind me as I dropped off my bag, but I knew unless he failed Olympus, he wasn’t far behind.

We headed to the 6ft fall which was not a problem, and then we toured part of the golf course heading to the Multi-rig. The set up this race was 2 rings, bar, 4 rings. I was able to double swing the first AND second set of the rig and release high to connect with the bell and move on. Right about this time, I began thinking to myself “I haven’t seen Hurc Hoist yet… do we even have one?” I thought just too early. Coming around the par 5 course, I saw rising over the trees, the tall medal structure with its signature red ropes draping its fierce frame. I run up to it right next to Stetson (who stole my choice bag right in front of me) so I picked the one right next to him. Across the way, I saw Nono pick his bag and begin pulling. I made it to the top first and let it slide down gently through my grip to the ground. I ran off, passing the mile 7 marker; about a mile to go now. We followed a par 3 fairway and I actually spotted a golf ball long forgotten in the rough but didn’t stop to pick it up. Instead, I found a 90+ pound ball made of hardened concrete and carried it to a set of flags, 5 burpees, and carried it back. It was at this spot that Nono officially passed me for the first time in the race. “Stay clean, get ahead” I began to say instead of STAY ahead.

We ran away from the rocks and towards the final gauntlet. Jumping and hoisting myself over the 7ft wall, I was less than 1 second behind him as we made it to the Yokohama Tire Flip. It has been 4 races since my last successful tire flip but the conditions were better here and with Nono already one flip in, I dug deep, bent over, and flipped the first tire over. We flipped the second one at almost the same time and we were off once again neck and neck. Less than 100 yards later, we were at the spear throw. He picked his first and I went right next to him. He roped his in faster and began his standard practice throws. I grabbed mine, waited 1 second and threw…. STICK! I waited only half a second to see Nono throw and MISS WIDE RIGHT! As he headed to burpee box, I made my first mistake of the race… and the BIGGEST mistake of my racing career; I began to celebrate.

There was only one obstacle with burpee penalties left in the race and less than 0.25mi to go before the finish line. Twister was within view of the finish arch and I hadn’t failed this obstacle all year. I was still VERBALLY saying “I can’t believe I beat Nono. I finally beat him in a major race. This is amazing.” I grabbed my twister rung and began to swing. Volunteers and spectators watched as I passed by struggling participants and those already on the ground from falling. “look at this guy! He is flying! What a wing span! This guy is an eagle on the twister!” I made it ALL the way across the bars and dropped to the ground and began to run. However… I was stopped right away by the course official “Sir, you didn’t hit the bell! That’s 30 burpees!” I was devastated… I was celebrating so much in my head I had forgotten the most important part of the obstacle… hitting the bell. I ran to the box and new I needed to be on burpee 25 or more before I saw Nono or he was going to pass me and win. I counted out loud, to make SURE I didn’t add any additional time

penalties for skipping and on burpee 27, Nono mounted the twister. I finished 30 as he dismounted and we headed to the A-frame cargo net, him only seconds behind me. Next was rolling mud and I heard him splash behind me for the first 2 pits. Then was dunk wall, and I entered the water first, but slipped as I tried to get out and now we were as shoulder to shoulder as two people could physically be. We ran to the slip wall, and walked up using the roped and as we turned to walk down, we were still there side by side.

If the finish line has been straight ahead, I may have had a chance to keep the lead, but instead, it was a curve, and Nono was already at an advantage being on the inside corner. That was all it took. We both sprinted through, no over, but THROUGH the fire jump, taking no extra time to

pose or smile for the camera, but Nono had the victory. Less than 1 second apart at the finish, but with the additional second differential from the start line gave him a recorded 2 second victory over me. I had nearly a 2 minute lead heading into the last 200 yards and I blew it by getting into my own head and celebrating too early. It was a harsh reality, but luckily, it didn’t cost me a podium spot. Nono finished 2nd behind Redbeard who we later introduced ourselves to and learned his true name, Francis. He was extremely humble and friendly and we all posed for a podium photo together. He typically runs Elite and he proved why against two of the best CAG racers. I was satisfied but bummed with my bronze finish, knowing it could have easily been so much more. But pride comes before a fall and I learned it the hard way.

After the results were final, I ended the series in 3rd place overall based on the 5-race points, but if the worst race is dropped (method used in Elite Series) I will finish in 2nd behind Nono. It was an amazing year and with even MORE exciting races to come in the next few months, there is still time to hone skills, improve strength, and master techniques as we head into Regional and World Championships.

Sundays Sprint was fast and with far less climbing, giving the advantage to Chris and Nono who had an equally exciting finish for the AG victory, with Chris beating out Nono by less than 1 second. I wrapped up in 3rd again giving me a double podium and 4 metal weekend for the second time this year (Fort Carson in May).

A big thank you to Past Parallel for my performance compressions that continue to hold together against the absolute beating nature and myself have put them through. Thank you to II-VI Optical Systems for my MyFlex gloves and BearCat race goggles. And of course, a thank you to all of YOU who read, follow, cheer, support, and help keep me getting better week after week.

Until later in August, AROO and keep improving yourself!