Another year of Spartan

About a year ago today, my husband and I committed to completing a Spartan Tri-Fecta in 2019. A Tri-fecta is completing a:

* Sprint race - 20 obstacles over a distance of 3.2 miles.

* Super race - 25 obstacles over a distance of 6.2 miles.

* Beast race - 30 obstacles over a distance of 13.2 miles.

***** If you miss an obstacle, you have to do 30 burpees!

Thousands and thousands of people participate in these races. Each heat has over 100+ racers and there are heats starting at 7:00 a.m. in the morning and run all the way through the afternoon, every 15 minutes. All levels are welcome to participate, too! Spartan races have different categories, depending on how competitive you want to be!

Well, here's our year:

#1 BEAST RACE

Our Beast was completed first in early May. We chose one of the most challenging courses, a Spartan Mountain Series Beast Race, near Glacier National Park. This half marathon, obstacle course race gains 5,000 feet in elevation. It definitely lived up to it's description. There were some sections so steep that we had to crawl on our hands and knees. But, we finished it! We completed one of the most challenging beast races that the US Spartan races put on.

I finished in the 20th percentile of my age/female . . . so, I'll take that!

#2 SPRINT RACE

Our Sprint was completed second, late June, near Minneapolis, MN. We figured it would be fun to participate in a race close to family {so they could watch}. We didn't really train hard for this race at all, kind of blowing this race off as a short run with a few obstacles . . . and, HOW HILLY and CHALLENGING can a course be in FLAT Minnesota????!?!?!?!! Right!?!?!

Well, we mis-judged this race. It was VERY challenging. First off, the humidity and hot summer sun was hard to get through. We're not used to training in humidity. That took a lot out of us. Secondly, though MN IS known to be flat, farmland. They chose to hold this race at a little ski resort, but made the course very challenging by having us run up and down the biggest hill at the resort like 8 times. Haha . . .

The BEST part about this race was having our family there . . . It meant the world to us!

I finished in the 8th percentile of my age/female group . . . so, again . . . I'll take that!

#3 SUPER RACE

Our Super was probably our most favorite race all season. It was held on a flatter course, in November, at a ranch in Sacramento, CA. This race was a big deal for me, as I made it further in some of the obstacles than I have in the last two years. I've always found the "monkey bar" obstacles challenging and this race I got further on them than I have in other races; the run felt easy; and I almost made that damn spear throw! Haha . . .

This race we embarked upon a new obstacle - the tire flip - Nate had to flip a 400 lb tire twice and I had to flip a 200 lb tire twice. This was a fun, new challenge.

And, once again, I finished in the 8th percentile of my age/female group in this race.

Looking back at all of these photos, reminds me of how amazing this last year has been. Not only to travel to all these amazing places, but also to train for goals and to push my physical and mental limits. I will never slow down . . . My promise to myself is to see how I can continue to grow; how I can continue to evolve "ME" into a better "ME"; and to continue living life to the fullest.

Not only has this been an amazing experience, personally, but it has been an amazing experience to share these moments with my husband, my best friend. We have created memories that will last us a lifetime!

Here's to 2020 . . . a BIG year! My new goal: To complete a Spartan Ultra. An Ultra is completing 60 obstacles within a 30 mile distance. I figure, you gotta do it . . . before you can't!

What's your goal for 2020?

The saying goes, "You die ONCE . . . but, you live everyday!" Are you truly LIVING? Or just surviving?

Heather Herbeck