Spartan Champion!

Ok sports fans...so much for placing in the top 10 in the Spartan Breckenridge Beast...

I placed first!

It was a big surprise on my part but I will certainly take it.  Erin and I had a late start driving to Breckenridge the evening before so it was late to bed.  But we showed up on time for the race and were both ready to go, if not truly ready, our nerves were done with the anticipation of a 12.5 mile race with 30 obstacles.  My friend Tim was out running in the mountains the evening before the race (training for the Leadville 100) and decided to check out the Spartan race course.  So he took a few pictures and texted me the description...cold lake swimming at mile 1, crawling straight uphill under barbed wire in the snow...it was enough to make me question what the heck I was getting myself into...

We started a little late...maybe 5-10 minutes.  Erin and I stood at the starting line and I kept joking that I already felt lightheaded from the altitude.  I ate a few M&Ms, which is something I never eat, but for the race I would pull out my arsenal, reserved for the sole event of a competition, not to be used in training or in my daily nutrition, caffiene and sugar...

I lagged behind Erin for a half mile before I passed.  She kept looking back in the beginning as I'm sure she thought I would jet when the gun went off.  But I didn't.  I just went my pace.  The crazy thing is after the water...after hiking uphill a ways...after crawling under barbed wire in the snow just before the 2nd mile, a volunteer announced as I came by, "first female!"  All that I could think was, holy crud, I don't really want the pressure of leading the race.  But I corrected myself fairly quickly...pressure is only something that I can place on myself.  There's only pressure if I accept there is pressure.  So I decided just to go my pace and not worry if I was passed.

And so went the race.  I had a few tough spots but in the end I crossed the finish line in first place for the women and 23rd overall.  I was in shock...didn't win the lottery but might as well have. 

It was a fun ride!  I submitted the race to COL Collins and on Thursday I recevied the official email stating that I had made the team.  The significance of this is mainly that I will be able to compete in the Spartan World Championships in Lake Tahoe, CA this October.  That said, my race performance in Breckenridge qualified me for the World Championships on my own, but I would much rather go with the support of the Army.  I'm very grateful for this as earlier this year I wasn't even able to run.  The barefoot and minimalist experiment continues although it's proving to be quite effective (one ultra and one spartan win in the span of 2 weeks).

No races for me anytime soon but I do have the Pikes Peak Marathon in August, a likely pacing gig for teh Leadville 100 in August, the Imogene Pass run in September, and the Spartan World Championships in October.

Poor me.