A Trail To Victory

I ended 2016 in despair. I was sick most of the year and put on a lot of weight because I suddenly was not active anymore. When 2017 started, I had a plan. I would lose the weight by working out hard and running, like I used to do. 2017 would be very different than the past years, because I was no longer coaching cross country and had time on my hands. How would I fill the time, I wondered? I decided that I would sign up for my first Spartan Race. It was in June at a venue in Tuxedo, New York, a Sprint. I had been running and lifting consistently by that time and thought I was ready. My training up to that point included running 4 to 6 miles per day and lifting 3 to 4 times per week. I had already completed a few 5Ks for the year as well as my first obstacle course race, a Warrior Dash. I figured, how hard could it be? Well I was dead wrong about what I was about to encounter. It was amazing. I felt defeated by the end of it, but that is not what this story is all about. I did complete my first Spartan Race and with that completion I was challenged. I needed to not only do better in my next race, but I would take on an entire trifecta in my first season. I was hooked. I even have a tattoo to prove it, which took 3 stages to complete. My tattoo artist filled in each color after I completed each level of racing.

My training intensified. I knew that I needed to push my body harder than I ever have in the past. I went to a local trail and mountain as often as possible after work and ran up and down it, which totalled almost 8 miles each day. My next race was in July, another Sprint, and it was a lot easier and gave me confidence. I would take on a Super in Barre, Massachusetts in August that year. It was pouring rain that day and I had a blast. Barre is relatively a flat course, so it was a piece of cake to finish. By the time Barre came around, I was racing every Saturday in some sort of competition. Most of which were 5Ks, but I can see myself getting stronger and stronger. I finished my first trifecta in September of 2017 in Killington, Vermont. I was so proud of myself for setting out to complete the goal and then killing the course at Killington to get my third piece. I made one error that day, and that was I did not have enough nutrition, so after the race I was pretty wiped out to the point where I stared at the ground for quite a while before someone dragged me to get food. I had the biggest burger on the menu. By this time, I had lost 40 pounds working out and racing, that one burger did not matter much to me.

The 2017 season came to a close after a few more Sprints and I decided that the winter would be a great time to train even harder. So I did. I took on inclined training on a treadmill and hit the weights everyday as well. By this time, I never felt sore after any workouts anymore. I did however start to feel pains here and there. My shoulder mainly was the issue. So in February I went to a doctor and learned I have a spur as well as arthritis in my right shoulder. He prescribed me physical therapy for 5 weeks and I had to stop lifting during that time. The physical therapy sessions were at 5 am, so afterwards I would go to the gym and do my inclined training on the treadmill. I did this for the duration of my physical therapy. Afterwards I hit the gym again, but this time tried to take it a bit lighter so I did not aggravate my shoulder. Not that it mattered much because the pain never really went away. I also learned over the winter of the competitive level of Spartan Race, now called age group. In 2018, I signed up for all competitive heats. My first race of the season was in April, an Ultra Beast in Vernon, NJ at Mountain Creek, followed by the Beast the next day. Looking back at it, it was probably a crazy idea, but I went for it anyway.

The Ultra Beast started at 5 or 5:30am, not sure which, but needless to say, it was not enough time. Despite all of my training, I was taking on the challenge with a friend and I slowed my pace to match her. We did not finish the Ultra Beast that day, but got to 18 miles or so. I was disappointed because I felt fine after 18 miles of the race and knew I could have finished, but we missed the cut off time for the half-way point. I did complete the Ultra there a year later solo and at a lesser fitness level, but that is another story. The next day I would be taking on the Beast solo, so I knew I still had my chance to shine.

The wind blew as I approached the base of the mountain. I was a cool breeze, being April, and there was still snow from the ski season on the mountain. This was not my first time engaging in a race of this magnitude, yet I felt a nervous twinge in the base of my gut. It is a dangerous feeling. It feels like you are almost about to get sick, but not quite. More like you have tiny strings tied to individual muscles that are being tugged at by tiny fairies flying in different directions.

I look around me as I wait observing my competition. Wondering if they had the same feelings as I have about nerves. During this time, I always look at my competitor’s shoes. You can usually tell a newbie by two factors of their shoes. First, if his shoes are too clean and new. Second, if he is wearing running flats instead of trail shoes. Poor souls will regret the latter. Most of them will anyway. Another way to really tell a first timer is based on how hard he participates in the announcer’s banter in the beginning of the race to get the crowd riled up. All newbies chant the aroo’s, shake hands, clap each other on the back, and do silly warm-up routines led by the announcer. A veteran like myself, already warmed up and already hyped up on his own and just wants to get the race started, not wasting more time. Not long ago, it is true, I was in their shoes, but at this point I had over 10 obstacle course races under my belt or so. I lost count already. In fact I think it was a Tough Mudder, a Viking Race, Two Warrior Dashes, 4 or 5 Spartan Sprints, A Rugged Maniac, A Spartan Super, A Spartan Beast, and half an Ultra Beast. Anyway, I had enough experience to be over the banter and wanting to get out there. I was now on another level of competition and I knew it.

Still sore from the day before, I waited patiently for the race to start. I tried to ignore the general excitement of the people around me and focus on my task at hand. The soreness in my body would not stop me from my goal. The Beast was different from the day before. In the Ultra my goal was to complete the race, which I failed, but in the Beast I wanted to conquer all of my enemies. The men to my right, my left, in front of me and behind, my mind and the mountain. Nothing was going to stand in my way.

After 10 minutes of nonsense, the race was about to start. The announcer let us loose, finally! I had to now fight the crowd and choose a comfortable path. I laughed a little inside for the few who took off too fast. I was at a slow jog, which won’t last too long once I hit the steep incline ahead. I know this, and I am prepared. Once I got to the incline, my jog turned into a speed hike, using the sheer power of my legs and my will to propel myself past as many people as I could. The ones who started out quickly were now panting with exhaustion, struggling to get up the same hill. I was now passing them all with ease.

The uphill climb was about 1.5 miles until the lake. On the way up, we encountered several hurdles, which are basically 6 foot high wooden horses, with smooth polished wooden logs that you need to climb over. Sporadically, there are several other climbing obstacles on the way up to the lake, all of which are meant to be part of your warm-up in the race.

Once reaching the top, they made us jump into about chest deep ice cold water and trek across it for about 60 yards or so. This is where salt tabs or mustard come into play. Your leg muscles are almost guaranteed to cramp up without them. I knew this, so I was prepared. The course is designed to weed out the weak. I wondered how many people behind me would quit after getting through this part. There were not many people around me when I made my way through the water, which was a good thing. It is awfully annoying when you get stuck behind someone slower than you or hesitating, holding up anyone behind them.

Upon exiting the lake, we turned a corner to be tested once again. That time a wet and muddy traverse rope was the obstacle. Basically the goal is to scale the rope from one end to the other without your feet touching the ground. The best way to do this is to go headfirst, upside-down and pull yourself across using your arms, with your legs wrapped around in such a way that you don’t get rope burn. It is easier than it sounds. The bell at the end clunking the whole way is probably the worst part of the obstacle.

After clearing that obstacle, to summarize a good portion of the 18 mile course, I went back down part of the mountain and then back up again, for miles. I don’t recall the exact order of all of the obstacles of the race, but the goal of this is to challenge you. To tire your legs out. To break your will. They somehow find ways to hide the fact that you will have to go up even further, once you reach what you thought was a peak of the mountain. The downhills are your friend. A tip is to use gravity of the downhills to run down them, as quickly as possible without face-planting, to make up time lost trudging up the hills. In fact, any down hill or flat area should be run for this reason.

Once your legs are good and tired and burning, they set up 6 foot, 7 foot and 8 foot walls for you to jump over. The race is designed to torture you a bit, testing you. Your entire body is put to the test during a Spartan Race as well as your mind. So jumping over walls, climbing over other obstacles, maybe monkey bars and perhaps a heavy carry is thrown into the mix for quite a while before they push you to the limit once again. Not that any of this is really easy. I never heard anyone say that the Olympus wall is easy or carrying a huge stone made of concrete for 10 yards, doing burpees, and returning 10 yards is a walk in the park. Nor is dragging a sled with wet sand-filled bags up a hill that simple, but those are the easy parts per se.

You run uphill, you run downhill, you jump into muddy and gross water under a wall, you climb another slanted wall, covered in mud and water with nothing but a rope to grip on right after that. You then continue up a giant hill, just to go back down again to be tested further. Once you finish a few more miles of this routine, you come to the heavy carries. The fun begins with a bucket of rocks that must be carried up a giant hill for about 50 yards or so and then back down again. By this time your legs are pretty beat up and your upper body is weary, but the carries are designed to break your upper body.

At this point in the race, I am still running strong, unlike many of my counterparts. I have been passing people from my race and probably races that started a half hour or so ahead of me quite frequently by this time. It is fun to carry a bucket full of rocks past people on your way up the hill. Part of the goal is to help the Spartan Race break men’s minds by doing this. After returning the bucket, the course designers like to throw in something like the Spear Throw, which is known as “the burpee maker” due to the fact that most people fail it 50% of the time during the season. I nail the spear throw and with excitement take off down the next hill, which brings me to another carry. This one is a wet, disgusting sand-bag which weighs probably 60 or 70 pounds. Again the goal is to carry this thing up the side of the mountain and back down again. The carry courses are usually in a loop. Some have other ridiculousness to them, like through a rooted path in the woods or something, which luckily this day it was not.

Completing the two big carries usually takes a lot out of a person. It can be quite exhausting. This time, I was done and made my way up another hill and continued for a few more miles of various obstacles. I was nearly done with the race, the last three miles were left and so far, a perfect race. A perfect race is defined by zero obstacle failures, which means zero penalty burpees.

The next major issue I came across is something that as I lost weight, became increasingly more difficult. The Herc Hoist, they call it. It is a pulley with a rope, one end being tied to a railing, where you have to pull up a 150 lb sandbag, well probably more because inevitably in every race it rains at least once or twice prior to race day or on race day. This makes the sand wet and therefore heavier. The Herc Hoist is the nail in the coffin for your arms and back if they are still intact. Once I finished this obstacle, if my memory serves correctly, there were only 4 obstacles left. The Twister, The Multi-Rig, The Rope Climb, and the Fire Jump. Mind you by this time, I was pretty beat.

The Twister has to be one of the hardest obstacles the Spartan has to offer. Basically it is sideways bar grips on a rotating metal rod that you have to traverse across using only your arms. It is a skill obstacle, not just strength. The first time I tried it, I did not make it far. The second time I tried it, I learned how to do it and beat it at Vermont my first season. I would do the same in the 2018 Beast, I took it like a champ.

Onward to the Multi-Rig. The rig gets harder as you increase in the level of the Spartan Race. In the Sprint, the rig mainly is just rings the whole way across. The Super, it is usually rings as well as maybe some other grip along the way. The Beast is rings, rope grips, a traversed bar to climb across, back to rings and then finally the bell. Roughly in that order. It changes from time to time. The Multi-Rig is usually not too difficult, but on this day, my body was spent and I lost it half-way through the obstacle. So I had to do the thirty burpees. Strangely enough, this was the first time that I had an official in my face, counting my burpees and filming me to make sure they were done right. The official even yelled at me once or twice about my form. I learned later that this was because I was one of the top racers that day and that I was being marked penalties for improper burpee form. I will get to that part later.

After completing my burpees, I had the rope climb to do. The first time I climbed a rope, I thought it was impossible. I had a friend tell me how to do it and cheer me on the whole way. This time, I flew up the rope like I was climbing a staircase. Easy. Despite my body being tired, the rope climb is all about form. You can do it in several ways. I prefer pinching the rope with my feet and basically using it as a push-off point. I hold myself up with my feet and pull up with my arms until I reach the bell. I had no troubles finishing the obstacle and moved onto the fire jump, which is basically for show. All you have to do is jump over the fire and run through the finish line. I had another friend hurt himself by landing wrong after it though, so don’t take it lightly.

I had finished the race, got my banana, got my finishing medal, and my finisher’s shirt and went onto the changing area. I felt good, despite being beat up for two days in a row by the race. After I cooled off a bit and got my bag to change, I checked the standings. I couldn’t believe it! I had placed 18th out of hundreds of racers in my age group. The top 20 move onto the Obstacle Course Racing World Championships. Needless to say, I was excited and proud of this accomplishment. The standings were not finalized however, until the officials could review the tapes, and adjust the scores after time penalties were applied.

I would learn over the next few hours that my poor formed burpees would cost me a minute and a half worth of penalties. I was shocked and frustrated by this fact, because a minute and a half is a lot of time to lose in a race like this. By the end of the day, I was bumped down to 20th place. I was still happy with my placement though. It was fair and I still qualified for the OCRWC in England that day. I was psyched.

In one year’s time I went from overweight to a world championship qualifier. It has been about three years since that event. I had raced quite a bit of races in 2018 and 2019, one of which was that Ultra Beast in 2019, but my fitness level declined slowly over time for reasons I care not to mention. I did complete my trifecta every year, in fact two times trifecta in 2018, the last race being back in Vernon was a miserable adventure in the cold, pouring rain.

I bought a season’s pass for 2020, which basically is now a 2021 season’s pass. Being that it is my last season in my 30s, I am in training hard for the Spartan Race again. This time my goal is to lose weight that I put on during covid quarantine and since for other reasons. I hope that my experiences and eagerness will push me to the level I was at in 2018. There are now less than 50 days until I revisit the Spartan Sprint in New York, but at a different location. I am repeating my 2017 season in a way. This is my year to bounce back. The setbacks and other life obstacles that have gotten in my way over the past 3 years are a thing of the past. I got past them. I got through them. This year is my year to shine again.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I have been writing for a lot of years. I have several stories in the works, and lots of poems. I found Vocal Media in March 2021 and since then have been revising, editing, and creating more poems and stories. I absolutely love writing anything from poems and short stories to history. If you want to reach out to me and learn more you can find me @theodore_dembowski on social media.

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Thank You For Reading!

~Theodore