Out Of The Woods

 I remember this song coming out when I was in like eighth grade. I was homeschooled at the time. I was doing online classes, and I had the music video for Taylor Swift's Out Of The Woods pinned to my browser. The song is about feeling trapped, constantly fighting and trying to break out of a bad situation.  The video shows Taylor running through, surprise, the woods. Taylor is seen climbing through forests, fire, water and many other elements. In the end she finds herself, and somehow that was everything. 

Sandbag Pull

2018 Spartan Sprint

This week I am attempting my third Spartan race. I have previously completed two Spartan Sprints. The Sprint is around three miles long and has around 20 obstacles. Obstacles can be anything from five to 10 foot walls, rope climbs, and mud tunnels. The worst obstacle last time was the monkey bars because they are so far apart which I physically cannot reach. The monkey bars are built for men with long arms and not for my short arms. Additionally, each course is quite different. My first race was in Indiana and on a skiing course. This resulted in lots of elevation changes and really pushed my endurance more than anything. For that race I was on a team of four. Composed of my best friend Samantha, her dad, and a family friend. It worked out well because we are all competitive people so we pushed each other during the race to do our best. 

The Aftermath

2021 Spartan Sprint

The second race I did right after Zach returned from basic training. He was in the best shape of his life, but I was not. I did train, but just not enough. Especially, not training nearly as focused on completing the obstacles I knew I was going to struggle on. This race was also a Sprint so I wasn't too worried about the length of the race, but I was worried about completing the obstacles. If you don't complete the obstacles, the penalty is 30 burpees so not too painful. However, when you can't do a lot of the obstacles, 30 burpees start to add up pretty quickly. In the end, this race was easier than the first, and I completed more obstacles while having a shorter overall time. My car probably still has the dirt and dust from this race. It was so extremely hot, and it was located on a giant farm so it smelled quite bad. 

Rope Wall

This time around Zach and I decided to challenge ourselves and sign up for the Super. The Super is a six to eight mile race with 25 to 30 obstacles. I did cross country in High School so I am no stranger to longer runs, but Zach hasn't really done that before. I spent this summer getting back into running longer and slower. However, to no surprise, I still haven't trained enough for the obstacles. I do not have a gym at home so it is hard to find ways to train for the obstacles. I am most excited for the wall obstacles because I find those fun. I am not looking forward to the 2033ft elevation change. This race is in West Virginia on a campground and has many large hills. It will definitely be a test of endurance, but I am excited to complete this new challenge and look forward to racing on Sunday.