Obstacles are way harder (and often impossible for me) to complete in the rain, so I kept an eye on the weather forecast for Asheville during the week. It was raining for much of the week leading up, so much to the point where Spartan advised that only SUVs and Jeeps attempt to come to the parking lot. Fortunately, there was a knight in shining white Jeep who offered to take others in a carpool.
The course at the quarry is one of my favorite Spartan venues... not that I've been to a ton, compared to the biggest enthusiasts, but it's something special. The mountains surrounding the valley are a beautiful, deep green, and bands of cloud above the mountains complete the picture. The side of the mountain is a giant tiered wedding cake of rock.
It was extra muddy this year, with all of the rain. Normally, I volunteer post-race at every race I do, but I was glad that I wasn't signed up for it this time. You had to wade through mud through the festival.
Team Southern Spartans had the biggest team perks for the weekend, so I hung out in the tent before my age group heat. It was a bit chilly, so I used a trash bag to keep warm. Before I knew it, it was time for me to start.
The race always starts with a long hike up a river... in the river. There are large rocks under the water, so I have techniques to try to avoid banging my shins against them, having learned in past races the hard way. What I wasn't expecting this time was to hit my knees against sharp rocks. I raced the next day, too, and I think I found the culprit. There was a rock that looked like a giant stack of razor blades... that explains the deep cuts I ended up getting from it, on both legs. It was on the left side of the river, too, where most of the runners were going. On facebook after the weekend's races finished, people were sharing pictures - I wasn't the only one who hit this rock, it seems.
Fortunately, it wasn't raining during the race, but with all of the mud and the numerous water crossings, you were wet, which got the obstacles wet. The obstacles were the usual ones, for the most part. I failed Olympus (which I have always failed apart from my very first time on that thing in Tahoe), Herc Hoist (heavier than usuasl with the rain that seeped in to the sandbags), Twister (too wet), Multi-rig (too wet for me), Spear (always fail), Monkey bars (too wet). Their new obstacle at this event was the Great Wall, which is a Devil's staircase (a slightly leaned in wall), but with more wall with some rock climbing holds above it, such that the only way to get up was to jump up high enough to grab onto the lowest series of handholds, then pull your way up.
I couldn't get my hands to grab onto the handholds... I was tall enough, but not enough strength to hold myself up on it, once I do. I can do fine, jumping and grabbing onto pull-up bars, or tops of walls, but either my strength was gone by the time this obstacle came around mid-race, or there's something different about this kind of grab. I hope to get to try it again at some point, maybe earlier in a course, so that I'm fresh for it.
The Asheville course is known for its elevation gains, so we had the usual steep ups and downs through bushwhacked trail. It always amazes me how the competitive racers bomb down the hills with no injury to their ankles. That's brave of them. I take my time going down.
I can't say enough about how beautiful this course is... there were a few times that were "wow" moments. Even though I've been here twice before in 2016 and 2017... it never gets old.
Something else that was new this year was the finish line photos. They had props! I've always been into 300 and Spartans, and I have my own shield at home, but they had nearly full kits (no capes... I may need to bring my own, for my next event)!
After the event, we had beer, then got out of the parking lot before it got more chewed up. I checked into and took a nap at the motel, and then went into Black Mountain to meet up with my knight for dinner. I walked around the town a little bit afterwards, doing some Pokemon Go. It's a nice town, with restaurants and shops. I can't believe I never knew this was here. I plan to be back in the future, and to bring others along.
THE SPRINT
The next day, I was out for more. I was signed up for AG again, since I had some remaining race codes to use before they expired. It was even muddier that day, if you can imagine, since it rained overnight. They even slightly delayed the festival opening in the morning, so that they could pump out some of the water, or something.
I feel bad for spectators, especially for those who expected to just be watching people get dirty... they would be getting a good taste of mud, too. An immersive experience.
My obstacle failures were similar for this race, although I did make it on the rig this time, since it was dry today. We got about as many obstacles on the Sprint as we did on the Super... only minor exceptions, like the Great Wall, which I was glad not to see again, since I know that I'd have even less of a chance on it today when I was already tired.
The Bucket Brigade has been easier for me since they started pre-filling and adding lids on them. Either I used to over-fill them, or I'm just stronger, or there's less of a chance of extra water weight from rain getting on the rocks, or maybe the shapes and sizes of the rocks of late have left more natural gaps. I've wondered if my rucking would help with the sandbag carry. Since they made the switch to the 40lb sandbags, it has been harder than the ultra-light sandbags that we used to have. It doesn't feel any easier, but I guess I'm at least more confident on them.
At the finish line photos, I went for the Spear prop this time.
After the race, I went rucking, so that I could take advantage of the fact that I was in Asheville and able to hit up some new trails. I went back to the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center, where I had found a trailhead the previous day. I discovered that the Mountains to Sea trail went to the Folk Art Center (and beyond), which was 3 miles away. Perfect distance to add 6 miles of pre/post-working rucking for Pathfinder, and a nice goal and place to explore for the mid-way point of my ruck.
I had been to the Folk Art Center before with my family when I was a kid. I remember thinking it was boring at the time, but I really enjoyed it this time! They had fantastic folk art on exhibit, and it was better and more interesting and diverse than what I find at most museums! And I've been to many museums around the world. I highly recommend it. It's free, it doesn't take up too much time since it's not a massive place, and it's a good mix of traditional art forms with modern designs and twists. Really cool. They don't allow photos, so I can't give you a preview, but you'll have to check it out and see for yourself.
After rucking, I went back to Black Mountain to try another restaurant - the Trailhead. It was decorated in an outdoors-themed way. My kind of place! They had a pretty good selection on the menu, and the menu items were named after local outdoors spots, too, which was nice. I appreciate local stuff.
Another fun weekend in Asheville. Asheville is great for outdoors stuff and food.
No comments:
Post a Comment