Andy 4 & Asheville Spartan Super and Sprint 2024

TRAINING LEAD-UP

Monday, Jul 29:

5.5 mile ruck in 1:19:49 with 30# in the v2 rucker, wearing Salomon XA Comps.  My legs were sore but decent right after a long weekend of activity.

Thursday, Aug 1:

Played pickleball with co-workers, as a little goodbye get-together for someone who was leaving the company.

ANDY 4

Got another great lesson from Andy at Pigg River Precision.  

After classroom time to review fundamentals, corrections, and discussing potential opportunities to be more efficient, we zeroed, and then moved on to the long range for some simulated stages. 

We got to run through them as solos or in pairs, and then we'd talk through what went well vs what we can learn from.

We also worked on position building.

It started to rain, so we spent the last bit of the class talking about a potential lightweight Mammoth build.  We then took a trip to Andy's shop to look at some wares.

SB and I were pretty happy about how we did at the sim stages today.  We've improved over time and didn't embarrass ourselves or let Andy down.  We're learning something!

SPARTAN SUPER

Since I was participating in OCRWC this year, it would be good to get in some obstacle course practice.  Tryon Equestrian Center is a fun venue, since they have some nice props from their horse jumping events, and the venue is well manicured.  

I wasn't going for speed or anything.  I wanted to get in a good workout and conquer as many obstacles as I could.  

I got there early and ran into Jonathan.  Many of my GORUCK friends also enjoy Spartan racing.

During the Super, I failed the spear throw, got Olympus for the first time since Tahoe 2016 (maybe going right to left helped, since my dominant hand was the trailing one that hung the most), and failed the updated Z-wall which now has no footholds and only straight up-and-down short rope segments for hand holds on the last board.  The Z-wall was already pretty challenging, and now it was extremely challenging.  

SPARTAN SPRINT

The timing worked out pretty well, and I was able to refit without being rushed while also not having to wait around for a long time, before the Sprint.  The line to pick up bibs was the longest I've ever seen it, though, so it was good that I had some buffer.  They must've been short on volunteers, or maybe they changed something in their process which made everything take longer.  Spartan does tweak their process continuously, typically leading to significant efficiency gains.  That's something they're great about. 

 

I was much less peppy for this one.  The lines were longer on spear throw, and I ended up lining up for a spear that had no tip on the end, but the pole did hit the hay, though!

There was a gigantic bottleneck exiting a river crossing and going up a steep slope with a narrow bushwhacked pathway.  As long as there's a slower person anywhere on that, the entire field will get stopped behind them.  We were probably there at least 20 minutes.  I didn't mind, since I wasn't in a competitive heat.  It was pretty, too, near the river.  

SUNDAY VOLUNTEERING

The next day, I went back to volunteer.  It's not too far from where I live, so I drove home overnight and got to shower and everything.

I was originally signed up for the info table, but they were fine on staffing there and re-allocated me to the finish line.  It was foggy in the morning, but the sun came out, and I sought the tiny sliver of shade that the finish line arch offered.

I finally realized what the little poker chips redeemed at the Reign tent were from, after not knowing what they were at Fayetteville.  You do a little extra something after you cross the finish line, and you can redeem the poker chip for a commemorative "Extra Mile" pin and another can of Reign energy drink.

The one that they had was a maze where you carried KBs.  When I did it after the Sprint, I didn't realize that it was an actual maze with only one correct answer.  I should've followed the well-trodden path, but I blazed my own trail right into a dead end.  Extra workout.  It is kind of funny for spectators, I guess.

Highlight of my day volunteering: getting to put a medal around a dog's neck.  There was a second dog that I attempted to medal, too, but it wasn't as cooperative, so the owner ended up doing that one.

We helped out with tear-down afterwards.  Also a sizeable workout effect.