It's not over til the skinny lady sings: We are Spartans!!!

So last Saturday I competed in the Spartan Race down in Wonthaggi with my husband, sister, best friend, and brother-in-law.

We were all so nervous about competing. We had no idea what was coming and how we would cope.

It was a 7km obstacle course in the heat, over things, under things, through things and even swimming in muddy dams! You had one chance at each obstacle and if you missed it or couldn't complete it, well.... 30 burpees for you it was!

We said our anxious goodbyes to the boys, because they were due to start 20 minutes after us, and made our way to our Spartan fate! Walking towards the start line we came across our first obstacle... a mud pit already?! Ewww!!! So shoes, already muddy... its not so bad is it? I can totally deal with this!

So we stood at the starting line, stressing about the race ahead. Already I look down to see my heart rate sitting around 120bpm! Oh god... We wait, and with 10 seconds left we count down.

TEN... NINE... EIGHT... SEVEN... SIX... FIVE... FOUR... THREE... TWO... ONE... GOOOOOOO!!!

I started off strong, I jogged all the way to the first obstacle up and down hills (which I didnt actually train for because there aren't many hills near my house). The first obstacle was a crawl under barbed wire, followed immediately by a knee-high wade through a muddy creek. Walking through the muddy water was difficult because you couldn't see where the little pot holes were under the water so you'd fall into them and then slip or get your foot stuck! Yuck-o! So many times we all came so close to losing our shoes in the mud!

The other obstacles included climbing over giant hay bales, carrying 10 kilo bags for a long walk, jumping over walls, balancing beams, 8 ft wall climb, wading through more muddy water then hauling yourself up a mud hill by ropes, rope climbs and more! At the end, the spear throw, monkey bars and lastly the Spartan WARRIORS!!! They were 3 or 4 beefy men with giant cu-tips ready to boof you or spear tackle you!

(This is me jumping the fire pit)

I got through more than halfway without missing any obstacles, and I feel I can be forgiven for the first one being the 8ft wall climb. 30 burpees for me! It was just downhill for the last kilometre or so. I got through the super long barbed wire crawl up and down a hill and was exhausted. The five of us stood up from crawl and were COVERED in fine dirt, we looked like we'd rolled in cocoa! The final obstacles were a slanted wall rope climb on slippery rubber surface which I couldn't do because it wasn't grippy enough (which I cried at because I was just so tired and hot and thirsty, and wanted so badly to get to the top and climb the cargo net). Then cargo net climbs, giant rope climb, spear throw and then finally monkey bars. I missed them all! So sad, but
fantastic for calorie burning!

Receiving that medal at the end of it all was the best feeling. I had the biggest smile on my face and the sense of pride that took over was almost enough to bring me to tears again! We all looked so muddy, cut and bruised, but very very happy.

It was so much fun, I never imagined I would enjoy myself so much! It was incredibly tough, I was tired at the end but felt hungry for more! I burnt over 1600 calories in total! I was so proud of myself for finishing it, and I can't wait for True Grit coming up in May! Adelaide, here we come!