Here goes guys..please read at your own risk. LoL Like many of you may know, this weekend Spartan Races were not my first, and most def not my last. I’ve had the pleasure to join this team in SR in SoCal and Vegas before this weekend. I wasn’t feeling nervous for this weekend, instead I was excited for all my friends and team members who were about to tackle their first SR. It hadn’t hit me that I hadn’t completed back to back SR before and I might just be in a bit of trouble. I had previously done Warrior Dash on a Saturday and then went on to complete my first half marathon, Alamo 13.1 on Sunday…but that was def no back to back SR weekend. The distance doesn’t scare me, the obstacles I can manage, what did bother me the most is that sometimes my body just doesn’t want to cooperate w me. You see, I have a debilitating disease that well doesn’t play nice at times when I push my body too hard. I’ve learned there’s some things I will never be the best at, but I’ve also learned that I will not let it control my life.
With that being said, the Super was a blast..the Sprint is a complete different story. My body wasn’t having it anymore. After the inverted wall, my body said I was stupid and my legs started twitching. Some of the peeps that completed Warrior Dash w me had seen this happen before. It was mild and soon as I got rest it went away at WD. Not this time around, it was different. Doing the SR super before really left my muscles feeling like crap. At that point Pati helped me to sit down under a shaded tree. The rest of my pace group waited til I felt a little better. No man left behind..a lot of ppl and groups can say that, but not many can say they’ve witnessed it like I have. I recieved water, gels, jelly beans, and pretty much any thing they thought I needed to feel better at that point. It took some minutes for me to feel better and to see some of the twitching calm down. When I got up I felt weak, so weak my legs felt like dead weight. I thought to myself, I can’t quit. I can’t let MS win. Not today. Today when I had brought a close friend to complete her first SR w me. The person I reassured day in and out that I would see her finish both races and we’d stick together til the end. The person that signed up only because she believed in my words. I would not fail her. I would not fail my daughter, who’s so proud of her mom for doing such tough events even though some days she sees me not being able to walk much. Each medal I bring back home, I see her beautiful smile and I know she’s proud of me for not letting MS win.
Weak w legs that were dead weight, I walked w help from Pati and then Corey at the other side. We waited a minute before going to tackle the log hop. “How can we help?” Katie and everyone else were there by my side. I said “someone just grab my hands”. My legs were hard to lift by myself at this point. What someone normally takes for granted, the mere ability to lift one’s legs was not happening right now. Each log seemed so far away, at this point. I remember seeing my legs w tremors and having Katie’s help to lift them and set them on the logs. Katie on one side and Corey on the other. I had tears roll down my cheeks, not only because at that point every muscle in my body was being rebellious but because here were these people I had only met not so many months ago…these people that I call my team..these wonderful people who didn’t just leave me behind and let the medics pick me up…these people that helped me complete not only this obstacles but so many more after that, to complete the hardest sprint up to date that I have ever completed.
The sprint continued as my legs got a bit better when we only walked, then kept on giving me a hard time going uphill, or downhill. And of course, with any obstacle we did. I remember still wanting to carry my own yellow spartan pancake up the hill. At that point, my twitching was up to my head. It looked morbid, I’m sure. I had the bandana to cover my twitching mouth. I walked up the hill w assistance from each side. There was Megan and Corey, almost holding my arms only. While I made sure I carried that pancake up and down hill, all I could think about was not letting anyone down. I finished it. While each time someone asked if I was okay on the way, I’d say “I’m a LONE STAR SPARTAN! I got this!”
Throughout the entire event I remember telling my pace group, “Have I told you guys how much I love you today? Because I do!” That always made me smile and I noticed they never complained either LoL On we kept keeping on, til the end of the race, each obstacle really turning 100 times harder for me. I can’t begin to thank those that helped me through it all. From Elizabeth assisting me walking w Megan, from the mud pits to the water obstacle (which I had to go around)..to Katie guiding me in the mud pit to going up the height obstacle…to Sean for holding my hand when I most needed it…to Corey for walking w me, while holding me to make sure I didn’t fall…to Miguel for keeping me motivated by saying we almost finished lol..to Melissa for sitting behind me and giving me that much needed prayer while Megan helped me control my breathing and focus away from my pain…to Brandon for getting the my spear throw in…to all those that gave me that much appreciated hug at the finish line of my most hardest Sprint SR up to date. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I can’t wait to race w you guys again. Team LONE STAR SPARTANS..more than a racing team, we’re family! AROO!
