Spartan Sprint Chicago 10/6/19 Attica, IN
Weather: 60 degrees and sunny
Terrain: Off-road recreation park - sand/gravel, some forest
Distance: 4 miles, 20 obstacles
Garmin Data: 4.03 miles, 254.5 feet elevation gain, 277.5 feet elevation loss, minimum elevation 531.5 feet, maximum elevation 642.7 feet
Due to the Great Anemia Disaster of 2019 (see my last blog post), I decided to downgrade my planned return to the Attica Beast to a Sprint in an effort to, ya know, not die. This was ultimately the right decision because it caused me far less stress in getting ready for the event, although I think I could have finished the Beast with the hemoglobin-related progress I've made. But I arrived at the venue on Sunday ready to sprint my iron-deficient ass off with my college pal Wes, who ran Michigan without me and caught the Spartan bug. We wanted to get done as early as possible before our drives home, so we paid a five-burpee penalty to the start corral volunteer to get into the earliest possible Open wave.
We started out through a forested section that lasted about a mile. No obstacles in that mile! Just lovely forest trail. Finally we came out to one overwall, then another long distance before the next obstacle. Yowza, Spartan! One obstacle in a mile and a half. We knew there'd be way fewer breaks in our near future. Next was 6' wall which was easy, then the A-frame cargo and monkey bars. I was glad we were getting these out of the way because they always make me nervous, so I do a matching technique which is safer but takes forever. But I had good grip and plenty of strength to get through, as did Wes! Huzzah!
Now we were into the sandy part, which was where the fun truly began. Inverted wall, then up a hill to the rope climb. Wes failed this one (it's tough to climb a rope when you have nowhere to practice), and I started scooting up with my dollar store gloves. It was my easiest rope climb ever and I rang that bell! Loaned my gloves to another gal while I was waiting. After Wes's burpees, we continued to the bucket carry, which in grand Attica tradition was up and down a sand dune. I didn't need to rest. The next obstacle, though, was a barbed wire crawl up a sand dune. Uphill, with tons of sand and rocks digging into our knees and elbows, and the wires being occasionally high and occasionally low. It was pretty sick and twisted and awesome, and of course there was a photographer at the end to capture our joy. Miraculously my shirt remained spotless on this obstacle.
Z-walls, which were nice and dry, then Atlas Carry which is way easier without the burpees in the middle (new rule as of August). Then a plate drag through deep sand, followed by a sandbag carry which was, SURPRISE, up and down sand dunes! All the heavy carries on this course were really playing to my strengths, pun intended.
We walked through a giant puddle (which there weren't as many of this year as last year) and immediately scaled the slip wall with all the grace typical of middle-aged weekend warriors. At the top of another hill was the multi-rig, which was rings only as usual. Easy clear for me, and another first-time clear for Wes! High fives all around! Vertical cargo net was nice and tight so it was really easy to get over. Then under the dunk wall, which had no rolling mud beforehand and was lined with a tarp. It was gloriously clean. I felt like I wouldn't even need to hose myself off after this race.
Right afterward was a soaking wet and quite high Hurdle, which instead of the usual 5' was more like 5'8". That extra 8" makes a difference (THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID...which, incidentally, was the Phrase of the Day with me and Wes reverting to our college selves out there). I had to try a couple times to get up there, but I did it solo. [Bruised the hell out of my abs, but I wouldn't discover that until the following day.] We came out by the festival area and saw the spear throw. Wes nailed it. I...almost nailed it. Good accuracy, good power, but the ass of the spear plopped down at the last second. Thirty burpees right by the finish line, and they got my outfit filthy (I'd need the hose after all). Herc hoist went well, though, and we leapt triumphantly and ran across the finish line to glory.
Garmin Data: 4.03 miles, 254.5 feet elevation gain, 277.5 feet elevation loss, minimum elevation 531.5 feet, maximum elevation 642.7 feet
Garmin Forerunner 35 data
Course map
Due to the Great Anemia Disaster of 2019 (see my last blog post), I decided to downgrade my planned return to the Attica Beast to a Sprint in an effort to, ya know, not die. This was ultimately the right decision because it caused me far less stress in getting ready for the event, although I think I could have finished the Beast with the hemoglobin-related progress I've made. But I arrived at the venue on Sunday ready to sprint my iron-deficient ass off with my college pal Wes, who ran Michigan without me and caught the Spartan bug. We wanted to get done as early as possible before our drives home, so we paid a five-burpee penalty to the start corral volunteer to get into the earliest possible Open wave.
We started out through a forested section that lasted about a mile. No obstacles in that mile! Just lovely forest trail. Finally we came out to one overwall, then another long distance before the next obstacle. Yowza, Spartan! One obstacle in a mile and a half. We knew there'd be way fewer breaks in our near future. Next was 6' wall which was easy, then the A-frame cargo and monkey bars. I was glad we were getting these out of the way because they always make me nervous, so I do a matching technique which is safer but takes forever. But I had good grip and plenty of strength to get through, as did Wes! Huzzah!
Now we were into the sandy part, which was where the fun truly began. Inverted wall, then up a hill to the rope climb. Wes failed this one (it's tough to climb a rope when you have nowhere to practice), and I started scooting up with my dollar store gloves. It was my easiest rope climb ever and I rang that bell! Loaned my gloves to another gal while I was waiting. After Wes's burpees, we continued to the bucket carry, which in grand Attica tradition was up and down a sand dune. I didn't need to rest. The next obstacle, though, was a barbed wire crawl up a sand dune. Uphill, with tons of sand and rocks digging into our knees and elbows, and the wires being occasionally high and occasionally low. It was pretty sick and twisted and awesome, and of course there was a photographer at the end to capture our joy. Miraculously my shirt remained spotless on this obstacle.
We all felt like Monica Lewinsky after this.
Z-walls, which were nice and dry, then Atlas Carry which is way easier without the burpees in the middle (new rule as of August). Then a plate drag through deep sand, followed by a sandbag carry which was, SURPRISE, up and down sand dunes! All the heavy carries on this course were really playing to my strengths, pun intended.
Heavy carry #1, feeling super duper fun
Heavy carry #2, lots of sand to drag it through
Heavy carry #3, Prom Date Bag's in love with me
We walked through a giant puddle (which there weren't as many of this year as last year) and immediately scaled the slip wall with all the grace typical of middle-aged weekend warriors. At the top of another hill was the multi-rig, which was rings only as usual. Easy clear for me, and another first-time clear for Wes! High fives all around! Vertical cargo net was nice and tight so it was really easy to get over. Then under the dunk wall, which had no rolling mud beforehand and was lined with a tarp. It was gloriously clean. I felt like I wouldn't even need to hose myself off after this race.
I look like I'm cursing in Italian.
Right afterward was a soaking wet and quite high Hurdle, which instead of the usual 5' was more like 5'8". That extra 8" makes a difference (THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID...which, incidentally, was the Phrase of the Day with me and Wes reverting to our college selves out there). I had to try a couple times to get up there, but I did it solo. [Bruised the hell out of my abs, but I wouldn't discover that until the following day.] We came out by the festival area and saw the spear throw. Wes nailed it. I...almost nailed it. Good accuracy, good power, but the ass of the spear plopped down at the last second. Thirty burpees right by the finish line, and they got my outfit filthy (I'd need the hose after all). Herc hoist went well, though, and we leapt triumphantly and ran across the finish line to glory.
Unfortunately, style points don't count.
We are the champions!
-Venue. Just such an awesome venue in Badlands Off-Road Park. And even better when it's totally dry! The forest had no mud, and the sand was not nearly as "let's get in everyone's shoes" as it seemed last year. We also got to scale some dope rock walls this year. I just FLOVE this venue.
-Parking. Steps from the festival, easy to get into, even better than Spartan Sprint Minnesota if you can believe it. Let's just put all the logistics into this category because it was all very smooth. The layout of the festival was tight and intuitive and nothing had waits.
-Obstacles. This was the least grip-intensive course I've ever been on. It was mostly about raw strength on tough terrain. It played perfectly to my training and let me feel very confident despite my potentially precarious health situation.
-Parking. Steps from the festival, easy to get into, even better than Spartan Sprint Minnesota if you can believe it. Let's just put all the logistics into this category because it was all very smooth. The layout of the festival was tight and intuitive and nothing had waits.
-Obstacles. This was the least grip-intensive course I've ever been on. It was mostly about raw strength on tough terrain. It played perfectly to my training and let me feel very confident despite my potentially precarious health situation.
Cons:
-Mile markers weren't perfectly placed. Seriously, that's all I got.
Race Grade: A+. My first-ever A+ grade, because seriously, MILE MARKERS (which no Spartan racer takes seriously anyway) are all I could come up with for a con. This event is a must-do in the Midwest. Next year I might do the Beast AND the Sprint just to enjoy as much of it as possible.
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