Dear Arizona – Month Eight (Family)

Dear Arizona,

Well dear, you are now eight months old. I can’t believe how much has changed since last month. This was such an exciting time for your mother and me, as we were able to celebrate your first Christmas with you. Although you will never remember it, it was truly one of the best Christmases I have ever had. (Don’t worry, dear ole dad took plenty of pictures to remember this!)

Before I start right in with telling you about how important I believe family is, I wanted to let you know about some of the things you accomplished this month. You had been eating solid foods, but your mother really stepped it up and you ate yogurt, bananas, chocolate pie (I know right?) and you started drinking water. Then you started talking more than just loud sounds and we will argue forever about if they were real words or not, but you are saying DaDa! I also get the occasional Daaaaaaad, sometimes you blurt out baba and nana but they are not really words, just sounds mostly. Still, it melts my heart when you say dada! Last but not least by any means, you started to crawl! It was so amazing to watch you crawl and I was there with you, of course capturing it all on video! Now that you are right at the 8-month mark, you are all over the place!

I titled this month “Family” for a reason. You see darling, I grew up in what I think was a very loving household. Now my dad was not always a big hugger type, but mom (grandma) was. This has rubbed off on me and I hug you and your brother a lot. I want our family to always be close. I want to celebrate holidays, birthdays, and special events. Yes they will be big deals! Along with that, we will be doing family activities as long as I am breathing. This will include adventures, sport activities, and doing things as a family. I believe this is important because because we get to bond, be close and enjoy each other. I want to avoid you or your brother sitting in your room on a computer or video game just ignoring the world. So when you grow up, when you get a family of your own, I hope you will understand and do the same with your family. I still have fond memories of all of the cool things we did and places we went. I want you to have those same memories.

With that said, this was your first Christmas in what I hope to be many in your lifetime. We did so much this year, not just because you entered our lives, but because we wanted to create memories for your brother with you and because it was just fun, cool stuff! Christmas is the ultimate time for family. So always remember that no matter what, we should always spend the holidays together no matter where we are living or how mad at each other we are. We are all we have, you, your brother, your mother, and me.

Your grandma (my mom) and I have had a Christmas tradition we created when she finally moved to Texas and I try to keep it every year. She loves looking at Christmas lights, so every year, we go drive around on Christmas Eve and look at lights and then go and eat. This year we had you and although you slept through the most of it, it was fun. We all crammed into the truck and went driving around Arlington. Then we went to downtown Fort Worth and saw the giant Christmas tree in Sundance Square. This year was special because we had both of your grandmothers with us.

We actually did a couple of new adventures, which may or may not become some of our family traditions, but they were fun. The first adventure was actually to head out to The Ballpark in Arlington, (yes the baseball stadium where the Texas Rangers play) and we saw more christmas lights. Your brother and I also went ice skating! It was a lot of fun and they also had man made snow we tried to take cool pictures in.

The next adventure we took was going on the Polar Express. Yes it is modeled after the movie (which we watched right before hand) and it was a ton of fun. You actually drank chocolate milk that Mrs. Clause brought us and you received your first ever Christmas Bell. By the way, the milk was special snow chocolate milk from the north pole made by Santa and his elves. After the train ride, we watched a show put on by Santa, Mrs. Clause, and his elves. I held you all night and you never stopped smiling!

The last adventure we took was to head out to Durango, CO and go skiing at Purgatory Ski Resort. We took a road trip from Dallas to Roswell, NM to pick up your brother and then we went to Durango the following day. Being 8-months old, it was quite a long trip for you in the car seat, but you as always, were just the best baby. Although you didn’t get to actually ski yet, we all did and we had so much fun. We made some memories we will never forget. These are the type of things I am trying to tell you to cherish and keep close to you for the rest of your life. We all laughed at each other, had fun and created memories I won’t forget.

Coming home you slept a lot and were such an angel, even though we stopped and did some funny things. We are a wacky family full of fun and spontaneous happenings. We stopped and took selfies in front of state road signs and we now have Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas added to the list. We also stopped in Amarillo, TX and saw Cadillac Ranch. It was not as cool as I remember, but we did get in more selfies and your brother managed to get his brand new white shoes full of mud.

You definitely had a busy month eight. More than anything I want you to know how much you are loved by everyone in our family. You have a brother who adores you and loves spending time with you, three grandparents who can’t get enough of you, a mother who loves you more than life itself, and me. Arizona, you are my baby girl, there is nothing on the planet that I would not give to you and nowhere I would not go to make sure you safe. I want you to know that I love our family and I hope you do to as you get older. I hope you grow up to love the weird, quirkiness of our family and the adventures we take. Family is the most important thing to me, please stay close with your brother. I know there is a good age gap, but as you both get older, stay in each other lives. Don’t wake up one day and have it been 25 years and you have not seen your brother in several years or just once a year. Be a part of each others lives. Talk on the phone, video call each other, spend time with nieces and nephews, and spend Christmas or at least Christmas Eve together. Create your own traditions and make them your own, pass them down to your children.

Love Dad.

How one month has changed my life

One Month, 4 States, 8 Races, 89 Miles, Life Changed Forever

I was going to write about all of my recent races in detail and I still may, but after this past race I had some time to reflect on what I just accomplished as I prepare to take some much needed time off from racing. So I started thinking and wow…I just did a lot of running, probably the most ever and I loved every minute of it!

So this journey of me all started on July 25th. Why is this important? Well it really isn’t except for the fact that I had not really been running. You see in May I rolled my ankle so bad, then attempted to still run on it, I had to do the smart thing and take the entire month of June off.  Sure I raced once in June and it was horrible. I started my rehab running on July 1st. To see where I was at, and knowing I felt like my conditioning was still off, I raced my first race on July 11th in PA.  I felt tired, but I did well all things considering. But afterwards, I feared I fractured my foot, took some time off and eventually went and had x-rays. They were negative so more rest for me.

As I am in rest mode I get an invitation to join a few friends at this Fossil Valley 6 hr trail night run. I originally went to cheer on my friends and spectate. But unfortunately that is not in my DNA.  I brought my gear “just in case” and the foot was feeling good so I went for it. This started a domino effect of what the next month was going to be like. Okay, here is a recap of the month that changed my life.

Race 1 – Fossil Valley 6-hour (26.9 Miles) 7/25/15

I already wrote in detail on this Race, but this one has to be the defining moment when I learned the most about myself. I discovered  can do anything, my mental toughness will get me through the physical pain my body endures. I ran for 6 hours, did 10 laps of a 2.69 mile course.  My first attempt at anything over 16 miles and no obstacles. This was such a challenge to run trails with a headlamp on in the summer Texas heat, in the middle of the night! I loved every minute of it.

Finish – 5th AG, 9th OA

Race 2 – Trinity 5000 5k (3.1 Miles) 8/6/15

I stumbled upon this 5k summer series purely by accident because it was across the river from the float the river night in Fort Worth. So I thought what the heck! It was 100* at 7:30pm when the race started and it was glorious! I was excited to see how my pace was on concrete. I have not run on the road race since January, and seldom train on the road. This was really my first run since the 6-hour too.

Finish – 1st AG, 20th OA

Race 3 – BattleFrog Pittsburgh (9.66 Miles) 8/8/15

Battlefrog has become one of my most loved/hated race series to date. I love it because it is so challenging and the mandatory obstacle completion actually give me a chance against the faster guys. I actually don’t hate it all, it just makes me the most nervous of any of the races I do. The DNF possibility is always there lingering in the background.

Pittsburgh was no joke! I mean I heard how great it was from the cave swim to the terrain. It did not disappoint at all! I crushed the first lap, took me 1:30 and only one repeat on the monkey bars. Feeling confident, running in the top ten, I had a mental and physical break down on the RIG. I spent an hour trying to get through it on lap two, then the rest of the race was cake.  I tried to make up some time on the runs, but the creek runs were brutal and I couldn’t make up the hour. Still I finished with my band. Mission Accomplished.

Finish – Masters Elite – 13th place Male, 13th OA

Race 4 – Spartan UltraBeast Hawaii (26.2 Miles) 8/15/15

I went to Hawaii to earn my Hawaiian Trifecta. Three races in two days…no problemo! Then an unexpected turn, peer pressure. Who would have thought at my age I would get peer pressure to run an UltraBeast? I mean I am not a distance guy, I don’t like distance, I like the shorter Sprint type courses, that is my thing! Nervous about the if you don’t complete it, you get nothing and worried about making the check points I was very concerned. But I threw caution to the wind and I went for it.

Running this race I definitely took my time, worked on a slow and steady pace, I knew I wanted to stay in the 15 minute mile running pace if possible. Well I was doing great, I finished the first lap of that tropical hell in 3:30. Half way done! I took a 15 min break, tried to eat PB&J but that was not going down too well. So I went back out on the trail, I didn’t want to lose anymore time than necessary. The second lap I did slow down just a tad, it was hard to get going again after the break. But I already knew I had this, I figured I could have walked the rest of the 2nd lap and still made all of the cutoffs. I was pretty stoked at this point. I continued going, into the tropical jungle hell of 85* and 80% humidity, where many people were suffering, I did not. I guess the Texas heat had me prepared.

What a feeling, tired and exhausted once I finished the second rope climb which was the highest I have ever seen, I knew I had done it, just the spear throw and rig left. I ran into the festival area to the spear and I see my good friend Laura Messner standing there and cheering. I nailed the spear and as I ran to the rig I remember giving her the “double check discount” motion. I am sure she has no clue what I was talking about, but I was referencing to the fact that I am about to get a damn belt buckle! I smoked the rig, over the non-slip, slip wall, nailed my epic fire jump pose and crossed the finish. My time was 7:49 for the 26ish mile race. ZERO burpees, yes I ran a burpee free race!

Finish – 15th OA

Race 5 – Spartan Super (8 Miles) 8/16/15

The start of a two race day. I wasn’t out to crush this, just complete it so that I could get in the sprint also. Feeling the full effects of the day before, blisters, sore feet, tired calves, slow and steady was the objective. Basically as a group effort, we jogged and walked and did all of the obstacles.

Finish – Yes I did!

Race 6 – Spartan Sprint (4 Miles) 8/16/15

Yes I am exhausted, but sadly I am refreshed also. Unfortunately I don’t leave a man behind, no matter how much they beg me to “just go on.” So there is no running even though I swear I could have done it. At this point a lot of people are just trying to finish. This meant strictly walking the final 4 miles to my Ultrafecta glory.

Finish – Yes I did!

Race 7 – Dirty Rock Triathlon (Swim, 6 Mile Bike, 2 Mile Run) 8/23/15

I know its not even a real sprint TRI, but I was itchy watching everyone else race all weekend so I found something to do. It was literally Saturday afternoon and seeing all my friends post about their Spartan races, made me want to do something. So I looked at the local race calendar and boom here I go! Since I only have a mountain bike, this was perfect. I did pretty well considering I have only ridden my bicycle once this year and no trail riding at all. The trails slowed me down, but I was able to make up for it on the run.

Finish – 3rd AG, 18th OA

Race 8 – Battlefrog Cincinnati (10 Miles) 8/29/15

I have to admit I was somewhat intimidated just by the location and after seeing first hand some of the obstacles, I knew I was in for a true test. The running was never a worry for me, it was basically two obstacles I had in my mind. The Rig and the monkey bars from hell. I shouldn’t worry about the rig, but second laps tend to have a mental block on me. The Monkey bars on the other hand, were just plain brutal for me, no strength left in my grip or forearms on the 2nd lap had me hanging on for dear life to not fall. I knew if I did, then I would be done.  Once I got past both of them on lap two…I knew is was over, I did it once again. Now I was just running for time. Trying to catch the ones I let get by me from the rig. Lap one was 1:50 with no failures, lap two with a 45 min break at the rig came in at 3:06. Granted I took my time on the hills and my watch died so I had no idea about time and pace…ugh. I was shooting for the 3:40 mark (total time)…which in the end was the difference between 5th and 8th.

Finish – Masters Elite – 8th Place Male, 12th OA

 What I have learned

When I had my summer schedule out, there were no intentions of running the equivalent of a marathon, much less two. What changed you ask? Well, for starters I stopped thinking there was something I couldn’t do just because it was out of my comfort zone or I thought I would be in discomfort. All year I said I was never doing an Ultrabeast…too much running. Then people began inspiring me, actually watching others go out and do things they had never tried before was exhilarating to me.  It was like I drank some hypnotic love potion, this lust with wanting to challenge myself in a new way.  I mean seriously watching someone nail 50 miles…its just awe inspiring. Secretly observing friends race everything from 10k’s to triathlons to OCR, at all ages, but especially people my age, motivates me to do epic things. This whole thing started with the 6-hour run and just showing up on a whim, no training for distance, no clue of what I was doing, just some good friends doing it so I thought why not. Once I did it, as difficult as it seemed towards the end, I knew from that point on I could do anything. Sure I will admit I was up in the air about the UB in Hawaii, but not because I didn’t think I could do it, I knew I could do it, it was whether or not I could do it in the allowed time frames.  I knew once I completed the first lap of the UB that it was mine. The whole second lap I just smiled and laughed and knew I had a buckle.

My mindset has changed over the past month too, now I want to run the 9-10 mile distances, I love the two lap Battlefrogs.  I am thinking what the future holds and honestly, I have to say I want to try new things, push myself more. If that means less OCR races and more trail running or adventure racing, then so be it.  I’m still skeptical of a real marathon, I think it will be too boring, but you never know.

I posted this phrase the other day which pretty much sums up my last month.

Sometimes

it’s the very people

who no one imagines anything of

who do the things

no one

can imagine

I think I absolutely fit in this category, I have never been a great athlete, I was an average wrestler, I didn’t start running until late in my 30’s.  But I am competitive and everyday I want to get better to be better. So I never imagined in a million years I would be where I am right now, doing the things I never thought I could do.

So the real realization…I am a distance runner.

My name is Travis and I talk to strangers.

Things I think – Thursday AWOL Edition

Floods, Road Trips, and Funny Ass Sh!T

Oops I did it again! I know, I know I went AWOL for three solid weeks again, but I do have an excuse, I have been traveling and just too busy to write. Granted I have been writing down thoughts but I was just making a list in order to write this. So lets catch you up over the last three weeks.

Week One – Spent time traveling to Ohio in a car with one of the funniest people I have met lately. We went through Arkansas, Tennessee and Ohio. Then I raced a Spartan Race on Saturday and Sunday!

Week Two – Spent a week in Pennsylvania and had such an awesome time. I painted coffee mugs, watched a killer sunset over Lake Erie, attempted some acro-yoga and failed but haven’t laughed that hard in a long time and went to Cedar Point and rode roller coasters!

Week Three – after finally getting back, I kicked off my 9-days until my birthday do EPIC stuff week, so I missed the deadline there too…but the good news is, there is a part two today and it is all about my birthday!

Floods

Right before I left on my road trip, Texas under went a record amount of rainfall and it brought about some of the worst flooding we have had in years. One place in particular which is special to me was affected is a huge way. Luckily the two people who I hold dear in my heart were not hurt and are doing okay.  But it does make you think about the big picture of things and how quickly everything can change and totally change your life forever.

It was also great to see Texas communities coming together for those in need and help people who were affected by the flooding. Also watching my OCR friends volunteer to head down there for a weekend and help out a family in need was outstanding!

Road Trippin’

As you may know by now, I love going on roadtrips and traveling all over the place. My travels to date have mostly consisted of just places across the united states, but they are fun none the less. So when I was giving the chance to actually drive to a race, of course I took it. I had the most fun in a car I have had in a long time, lucky for me my partner in crime loves to sing and I think we sang every song on the radio. Oh yeah, and you can never here the song “Footloose” too many times!

Along with making several videos, we also did this during our road trip:

• Arkansas Road Sign
• Tennessee Road Sign
• Graceland in Memphis
• Karaoke in Nashville
• Spartan Race in Ohio

After Ohio I traveled to Pennsylvania and stayed 5-days there visiting the great town of Erie. Sandwiched between a couple of work days I got to do more awesome things. I already mentioned them above but definitely going to Cedar Point was the most fun. I am glad I had the company I was with, I love roller coasters and having a super awesome partner in crime makes it even better!

 Funny ass Sh!t

So here are some random thoughts I just thought were funny over the course of the past few weeks.

• People in PA think line dancing is country dancing! Yes I knew this was the way northern people thought when I first moved to Texas over 20 years ago, but I was asked if we could country line dance in Texas. Then I heard a country radio station advertise that they were going to be doing that…I just shook my head and laughed. No, we don’t line dance in Texas. (unless that is we are doing the electric slide or something)

Did you know? In Salt Fork State Park in Ohio, this is the home of bigfoot? While in the gift shop at the lodge, I asked why they sold all this bigfoot stuff and why the statue in the lobby. Well, they have had “sightings” for over 100 years and even as recent as 2015…

• Laura not knowing what Graceland was! At least she did know who Elvis was!

• I know I touched on this before regarding athlete pages, but I also think if you have the word “Spartan” as a part of your name on any social media platform, I think you are just kinda lame. I mean think about it, that is the name of a race and a company. I know you are going to argue that you think it means you are a real spartan kinda like a warrior or something, but no, no you are not. It would be like someone putting their name to be “Dopey Sam” or maybe “Triathlon Steve” or why not one of the other races? I’d love to see someone be “Savage Joe” or “GladiatorRR Bob” or even “Battlefrog Tony”…no, no one else does it for any other of their hobbies, we don’t have “Marathon Jane” or “Scubadiver Sally” or “Motorcross Ken” so just stop it already. I am sure if your profile pic is a picture of you doing a run and you labeled it correctly in your profile, we all know already.

                                                                                                  I’ll be your top thrill                                                   (quote as seen on a shirt at Cedar Point)

• I absolutely love the women’s world cup! Pretty much the only time I watch women’s soccer is when the cup is on! USA won the pool and now the march to the cup starts!

• So after my recent trip to ROT (blog coming soon) I have decided to add a new event to my list of goals for this year. I am going to try to complete the Iron Butt ride before the end of summer.

• I know this is very random, but how many people have you said “I love you” to? I was thinking of this on my ride recently, while reflecting as I usually do while I am riding and it occurred to me that I have posted a lot recently about being in love or I was in love or had been in love and my feeling on love and yeah…pretty much a lot of love stuff.  Well that tends to happen when you wear your heart on your sleeve and you give yourself over to someone with reckless abandon. But contrary to belief, I have not actually told that many people that I love them. Sure I have had feelings for someone and I may have said I was falling or whatever, but at the end of the day, after 44 years, I have only told 9 (nine) women that I loved them. That is pretty much since I was 16 and I have to say some of the love I threw out there then, isn’t anything like how I think love is now (3 before 20YOA, is that even really possible?) So now I am wondering if that is a high number or a low number? I first thought it was pretty low, but now I am not so sure. What is your number?

• So I discovered the key to making our kids in this country smarter! It is bribing them with Pizza and Movies! Okay this was pretty funny when I saw it, so I am just going to leave this here…
• I also discovered a new thing…while in Erie, PA, I decided to go walking and I found that they have pizza joints on like every corner! So if I ever go to visit again, I am going on a walkabout, a pizza walking tour and I am going to try a slice at each place!

Fun Fact! If you need your house cleaned, dishes washed, light bulbs replaced, trash taken out…apparently all you need to do is invite me over and my OCD takes over and things seem to get done…flaw or great quality?

Music

So this week in honor or one of my favorite bands Lifehouse releasing a new album, I am going to list my top songs I love off the new album.

Lifehouse – Hurricane

Lifehouse – Firing Squad

Lifehouse – Wish

Lifehouse – Hourglass

Lifehouse – Hindsight

I know 5 songs is a lot, but these are my favorite so far, but there are a couple more that I like as well.

Making Natasha a Spartan

Austin, Texas 5/16/2015 – Spartan Sprint

“There is more in us than we know. If we can be made to see it, perhaps, for the rest of our lives, we will be unwilling to settle for less.”

~Kurt Hahn

Every once in a great while, you get an opportunity to change someone’s life.  I find most of the time I have no idea if something I did or said has made any impact on anyone’s lives. Sometimes I get emails from people who tell me I did, but I don’t go out trying to be a difference maker, I live my life and if I can be an example then I am happy to hear how I have inspired you in some way.

Last December my friend Natasha was in the ICU unit and posted on facebook she would love some company or someone to visit her and bring movies.  So of course I grabbed some DVD’s and went right up there.  I still get confused as to her illness (I’ll explain in a minute) but I gladly went up to visit. Unfortunately at the time she was under some heavy sedation so we did get a chance to talk in between her naps. I watched her sleep and chilled for a few hours. I don’t know if she really remembers everything, but I am sure she was grateful I was there if just for a short time.

I monitor her status from time to time and she has been living in the hospital basically for the last few years. Well this past week she commented on one of my pictures at how great I was doing at my runs. I privately asked her how she was doing and she said she had been out of the hospital for the past 3 weeks and was feeling great. In jest I mentioned if she ever wanted to run a race I would make her a spartan. Well she took me up on the offer! She decided on a Friday afternoon to up and participate in the Reebok Spartan Race Sprint in Austin, Texas the next day.

 Natasha’s Illness

So what I found out is that Natasha actually suffers from Eosinophilic Disease. What is an Eosinophil? An evil white blood cell that is a type of B cell. It has one job: attack parasites in the body. In her case these cells went rogue. Two (2) in every million people have  EGPA. In her case the Eosinophils are attacking multiple organs. EOS diseases have NO cure & NO FDA approved treatment. Let that sink in. We fight a losing battle daily with band-aid medications that rarely work.

She is currently in Stage 3, this is the last stage of her illness, and the cause of her recently mild heart attack. Yes you read this correct, she had a heart attack in March 2015 and is also on the transplant list for a new heart. Oh yeah and she also undergoes up to 5-hours of experimental Chemotherapy to fight this.

In September of 2014, she received her “death sentence” as she calls it, they told her she had give or take 5-years to live. As she told me “I no longer consider my illness a death sentence because I keep fighting through the tough times. Like I’ve said before, I’m Chronically Fabulous!” These are words of a true fighter.

The Race

Most of what I actually knew of her illness I learned during our race. I had no idea of some of these things when I asked her to do this, like the heart attack or that her cardiologist was probably going to hunt me down and shoot me because she has a strict no exercise policy or lifting anything over 5lbs.

But we started our adventure on the course at her insistence, she told me her illness was not going to determine how she lives her life and jokingly stated this could kill her today but it would be fun.  I guess it is a good thing she signed the Spartan “death waiver” then huh? So she tells me YOLO and off we go towards the start line.

Seriously I am a little worried at this point, but she is all smiles and doesn’t have a care in the world. We are in the starting coral and yelling AROO, AROO, AROO and now I can see it all sinking in, this is about to get real.

Just to review:

• Heart attack in March (2-months ago)
• On the heart transplant list
• No exercise or lifting over 5lbs
• She forgot her inhaler
  
• 6-days post race she goes in for 5-hours of chemo
  

So armed with her feeding tube (yes still in), oh yeah she can’ eat real food either, her chemo port and the biggest smile ever, we took off on our Reebok Spartan Race adventure.

So off we go, walking our way to glory.

Mile 1

As we start off we instantly start talking about the past 6-months or so. Sometimes I am amazed at how fast time flies by. This is where I learn of her disease in depth, all the restrictions and how we shouldn’t even be walking. But she won’t quit so we keep going. She went up and over the saw horse looking things and then the 6-foot wall, at first it was intimidating, then she went for it and made it!

We hit the 1-mile marker and and she asked me if it was really a mile. Then it gets silent for a second and I can see something going on in there and she tells me, if you had asked her if she would have ever done this, she would have said no. I could tell she was proud of herself and she was ready to keep going.

Miles 2, 3, 4

It seems I did most of the talking, (I know imagine that!) but it was okay because we were working on her breathing and keeping her heart rate low. So I talked and talked and talked some more. I had plenty to say, it has been a busy 6-months!

As we approached the obstacles, she did just about all of them. I stuck the spear throw for her and then let her try, she had obviously never done that before and it did go straight, just not enough arm.  I asked her if she played softball as I was showing her how I throw it and the response was “No, I was a cheerleader!” okay then, cheer for me!

I did the rig pipe thingy because they would not allow me to assist her in any way to even try and she could not hold herself up there, so no big deal I knocked that out.

I carried her sandbag and mine too, can’t break the lifting restrictions and the water was a refreshing break.  This  is where we almost called it a day. You could say she was a bit stubborn and refused to let her illness stop her from at least trying the things that were doable. But her heart rate was going off the charts and we ended up sitting down at the water station to rest.

She wanted the medic and then didn’t want the medic so we sat and we talked and I tried to crack tasteless jokes to lighten the mood. Then I told her about my Houston Battlefrog DNF and how my motto for the Dallas Battlefrog was “Not Today.” So I told her that was her new motto to, not today. You are not dying or quitting this race today. Tomorrow you can, but not today! Then we looked around and I pointed out all of the other people just sitting around, taking breaks, goofing off, not doing anything. You see she felt bad she had to stop and was mad that she couldn’t lower her heart rate a tad. Then I calmly stated the obvious…what was their excuse? They were all healthy people, granted maybe out of shape, but they don’t have a death sentence or chemo therapy this week or a heart attack a couple months back. At this point it was like I turned on a light switch, she looked at me and said “yeah, what is their excuse?” she looked around and mumbled you are all healthy people just sitting around, then she stood up and off we went.

I also ended up doing the sled pull for obvious reasons, but she did do the Z-wall, even after much discussion on if should could, well she could and she did! She also did her own barbwire crawl and did the tunnel crawl.

But after the tunnel she saw the hill. She became petrified she would not make it up such a steep incline. She asked the volunteer to call for a medic just in case she died on the way up, no lie her words. The volunteer walked with us, we went slow and steady, up and over the big rocks and when she got to the top, out came a big “I did it!” and a huge smile and a high five! She truly has no idea how inspiring this is right now that she is just beasting this course. I mean, she isn’t even supposed to be walking to the mailbox! I told her the hard stuff is over, we are almost there. Then we took a selfie! 🙂

Mile 4 Mile Marker was another milestone for us. When she saw the sign, knowing we had roughly a mile left she got really excited and of course we took the gratuitous picture. With her heart racing and struggling to get her breathing under control she looked at me and said “well crap, I’ve come this far, I can’t quit now with a mile left”…no, no you can not, not today.

Continuing on we just keep going, I scale the 10-foot wall and then we approach the floating bridge. Without hesitation she gets up on it and starts across. On the last one she jumps off and immediately her arms shoot over her head and starts jumping up and down in the water. What a sight to see, such a huge smile on her face. When I get over to her, she is out of the water and on the shore and crying. I instantly think something is wrong and I ask if she is okay and needs a medic and you know what? It was a happy cry, she got so emotional completing that obstacle she broke down. I told her not to waste her tears on this one, you save them for when you leap over the fire and get that medal!

On we go, walking to the bucket carry she was having issues and we stopped and again I was about to get the medic. But she no, and just said when she got so excited it took its toll. Actually the whole day had now taken its toll on her and every step was a milestone. She marched on to the bucket carry and got some water and rested while I completed it with no problem.

The Last March

You can hear the festival area, I kept telling her we were so close, but the walking was really starting to break her down. I offered to piggy back ride her, but no that was not an option. It took a while but we made it to the slip wall, I knocked it out. I did the Herc hoist, Tarzan swing and I kicked the bell for her on the rope climb. Then we marched to the dunk wall. I could see the terrified look on her face. I told her not to get in but she did, then she started to hyperventilate of the thought of holding her breath and going under. In the end she did it, like a champ! Nothing but smiles as we get out and look to the fire.

The fire took awhile for her to go, but at this point we were not in a rush. I know her breathing was an issue and I think the thought of jumping over fire and into a water pit may have also been somewhat intimidating. She looked like a lioness actually, she was staring it down, pacing back and forth looking at it as if where to attack it. I am just standing off to the side waiting, my plan was to go with her and jump together and get it all on video from the side view. She walked up to me as if to talk to me and then she just took off.

I am so happy she went, but it was the funniest moment of my day. I wasn’t expecting it, I was a step behind trying to catch up to video and she also kinda blocked me and went to the far right. I was behind and now worried about landing on her, but I just pulled up and went in right behind her. Then I heard it. That laugh. That happy laugh I had heard all day every time she accomplished something.  We climbed out of the pit and marched to the finish and she got her medal.

It was hard to not break down. While her little heart was bursting from over use and stress, my was the complete opposite, sure I was getting choked up but my heart was full. I made her a Spartan and now I know no matter what life throws at her, she will always have this moment to reflect on. I hope this makes her stronger when she gets sick again and we end up watching movies together. I guess the next time I can take 300 and the sequel and we can yell our AROO AROO AROO down the ICU hall! Hopefully I don’t have to do that for awhile. For now, I will visit on chemo day and we can laugh about our adventure.

Natasha we may not get 5-years more with you, but I hope we get more. You have a fragile heart, but it is a heart of a warrior and you have one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. Thank you for allowing me to bring you this special moment. I look forward to more adventures in the future! I am so very proud of you for this accomplishment.

Here is our video of the EPIC day.

The Day I Actually Quit

The longest 3 – Minutes Ever

When your desires are strong enough you will appear to possess superhuman powers to achieve.

~Napoleon Hill

Have you ever flipped that switch in your head and you become almost obsessed with something? Well that happened to me when I DNF’d at Battlefrog Houston earlier this year. Since then I made the decision I was never going to do that again. So I got off my ass and started working out hard to achieve my goals.  It never stopped, I kept getting more and more into what I was doing and I was driven and on a mission.

Although the Spartan Race has recently lost its luster in my eyes, I was none the less excited about the upcoming Austin Races, 4-races in back to back weekends. Training was going great, my diet had also changed and I was feeling like this was actually going to be a great couple of races for me. For the first time in a long time I went into a race extremely confident and ready to perform at a high level.

I was challenged the night before to not run the OPEN race and upgrade to the ELITE MASTERS race. My camp kept telling me I was ready to take the next step. They believed I could do really well and were pretty convincing. Ultimately I went with the plan I started out with and I remained in the Open heat. Not only to I regret that decision now playing armchair QB, I knew it the moment I watched the elite men take off for the start of the Super.  But nothing you can do now I told myself, just crush the race and try to catch the women elites.

So our heat started and off we went. I always try to control myself and not get caught up in the initial sprint off, I mean it is a 9-mile race, no need to die in the first mile. So I let the knuckleheads take off but I also kept a good pace myself. The beginning was all trail and I train on this, so I felt good. I caught up to the small group who took off and I was passing them. I even yelled out “on your left” as I was going by. Then it happened. I took my eyes off the technical trail with the wet slippery rocks for a second to look ahead at the group I was passing and my left foot came down, the ankle slipped and rolled on a wet rock and I heard a “POP” sound, this was worse than anything I had ever heard before with my ankles. I came down hard too, full force on the foot.  I took a knee, in near tears with the pain.

Time: 3:31

Yes I took a knee, I looked at my watch and I was only three minutes and 31 seconds into the race. My ankle was throbbing and I was not sure what to do. People started to run by now, people asking me if I was okay and each time I responded with “No, I am not.” Reflecting now, this was the first time I ever got hurt and admitted it. I mean like, I was saying, “yes I am hurt and I need help” never in a million years did I ever thing this would happen. I remember I could not put any weight on the ankle, I couldn’t stand, so I just kept kneeling and semi rubbing it. There were offers for people to send back a medic and one guy said he would tell the next water station for me.  I was in a state of bewilderment. All I could think was “why is this happening to me? I was in great shape and I was ready, this was supposed to be my race! I was supposed to kill it and then show them and myself maybe I can run with the elites.” Then I hear a familiar voice. My new friend Darlene came up and started talking me, made me stand up. I told her I was done. I couldn’t race, I needed to just head back towards the start line.  So we started walking back,  back to the start line, back to the festival area, away from the race.

During this walk so many emotions started going through my head, “what would people think?” for starters, I know I shouldn’t care but still, that goes through my head. I didn’t want the sympathy, I didn’t want to let down all of the people I trained with, the ones who took time to train me, I was feeling this defeat and I could feel myself getting emotional. I know Darlene was talking to me and I half remember what she was saying over the voices in my head. But then something happened, the foot started feeling a bit better, so I tightened up the laces on my shoe and I stopped walking the wrong way. I looked and Darlene and I said I can’t quit. I just can’t do it. I absolutely had to cross that finish line, even if I was crawling I was going to cross that finish line. She told me to lightly jog and see how it felt, so I did. It felt good, only some sharpe pain here and there. But then I started running a bit faster and then a bit faster and then I just took off.

Why is this happening to me? I was in great shape and I was ready, this was supposed to be my race! I was supposed to kill it and then show them and myself maybe I can run with the elites.”

I looked at my watch and this whole thing took a little over three minutes. Darlene was running with me and I told her, it was starting to feel good and now I was pissed that I just lost 3-minutes.  Her comment was something like “just run faster then and catch up, its a long race still.” So off I went to cross the finish line.

I was actually very surprised at how I actually was able to keep going. Mile after mile, obstacle after obstacle. I did twist the ankle three more times during the race, two were very slight tweaks and one was a good roll again on a wet rock. It wasn’t until around mile 8 when I hit the wall. Which is odd because I was actually putting down a good pace on mile 7, I was passing female elites and I had not failed an obstacle.  Mile 9 was hell, for some reason as long as I kept running I was good, when we stopped for any reason, I was getting bad. The last barb wire crawl, the tubes, and the sled pull, all actually hurt. Walking was becoming difficult but I motored on, I went slow through the rolling hills and I carefully went over the floating docs, but I couldn’t run as we approached the bucket carry.  I went through the bucket carry and then I tried to run to the festival area, I am glad there was no one there to watch because it was ugly. It was a jog/hobble combo thing. Slip wall was no biggie, up and over the bridge and then the Tarzan swing,  the only thing I failed. I think it as a combo of things why, but I was for sure doing everything off one foot, but I doubt that was why.  So I did my burpees (so easy when you practice them!) The rope climb was no problem and then the fire jump. It was a sad day, I didn’t jump (yes no fire jump pose) I calmly stepped over it and into the water pit, crawled out and crossed the finish line.

I crossed the finish line, mission accomplished. I basically walked right through the finish area without stopping and made a beeline to the medical tent. I got wrapped and ice and called it a day. I was sad I didn’t get to race the Sprint the next day, but the swelling was worse and it hurt to walk so I thought it would be a good idea to just lay low. Of course this did mean that I could be cheerleader to my friends, take pictures and try to take it easy.

So I learned something about myself again this past weekend, I do have a never give up mentality. I could have easily called it a day, but I didn’t, I forged on. What really makes me feel both good about things and somewhat disappointed at the same time is that I ended up with this time:I am pretty pumped about this considering I had a bum ankle and when I compared my times with the elite masters, I would have taken 5th place. So I think I do have the confidence now to try and run the elite class and say goodbye to the Open heats.

One more weekend lies ahead and I am not ever sure at this point if I will be able to compete or not. So for now I am resting this week, staying off the foot and hoping I can feel good enough to at least run the Sprint on Saturday. If not, I will have my camera and video camera, so I can take a ton of pics!

 My name is Travis and I talk to strangers!

Best Kept Secret in Texas – The Patriot Games

Patriot Games – Oklahoma 2014

The Patriot Games have been at this OCR/mudrun world for 4 years now.  This being their 4th year, they usually put on one event a year. 2014 has definitely started off right for them. Usually putting on runs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, they have changed locations twice in the past couple years. But 2014 appears to already to be another new year and plenty of changes are in store. Already boasting two events for 2014, The Patriot Games or PG as they are known around here expanded into Oklahoma, just over the Texas/Oklahoma state line and the Red River.

For the last few years the owner of PG has been working with the guys over at Reebok Spartan Race building their courses. Last years run definitely showed and the obstacles for the event were excellent. This year was no exception, what appeared to be mostly all newly built obstacles, this was definitely a mini-me version of the Spartan. I definitely do not want to take anything away from PG and demean them by calling them a mini-me, they only seem to be smaller in terms of production and festival.

So what about this race? I will be the first to admit, the first couple of races were nothing to write home about, but this one puts them back in the hunt for the best race in DFW outside of a national company. Many of them don’t exactly blow this away either. This course had to be the best course in this area in a long time. Instead of going over every obstacle in detail, lets just go with some of the basics in the likes and dislikes.

What I liked:

1. The terrain. This course was excellent! Like I said, the only course I have been on that was more challenging was Reebok Spartan in Austin in 2013 and the Glen Rose Beast.  PG had a better terrain than 2013 Savage Race, Run the Jailbreak, Gladiator Rock-N-Run and Merrill Down and Dirty. Why I liked it so much was the elevation. The first 1/2 mile was brutal up and down switchbacks and we constantly weaved in and out and up and down in the ravines. I ran this course twice and it measured 4.38 & 4.40 on my Garmin. So is it was an excellent length also.
2. The Obstacles. A majority of them were complete Reebok Spartan Race copies, but that is okay, they really didn’t have many of the harder ones so the mix was perfect for both the competitive runners and the fun runners.  The ending with the 1/2 pipe wall was awesome! This is the now the PG staple which I have only seen at a couple of national races and some local Florida races. The obstacles are my favorite part, so when I get to climb over, swim across or jump off, I am in heaven. They had plenty of water/mud obstacles to crawl through so it wasn’t just a dry run.
3. Registration. I know right! But I have to say that compared to last year at the Irving event, they had a better handle on the process of getting your bib. I never saw long lines and I didn’t have to wait, so all is good!
4. Festival Area/Spectators. There was a great way to get around the festival area and watch your favorite runners as they weaved in and out of the course that went through this spot. Numerous obstacles to get photos on.
5. Course Markings. We all learn from our previous races and this course was marked very well. Even in the “we just decided to run this way” part of the course, nice having arrows to follow.

What I disliked:

1. The Start. Nothing to bad here, I just think that there is a better way to start a race other than, ready, set, go! I mean they own a timing company for crying out loud so an air horn is not even too far-fetched. Personally, going with the theme of the race, I would have air cannons or a real cannon blasting every wave!
2. Water. They only had two water stations on the course which for a 5k would probably not be an issue, but this was 4.5 miles. The water stations were at 1.5 Miles and 2.6 miles and obviously at the finish line. I personally didn’t have any issues as I don’t really drink water during a run, but I did hear it afterwards with some of the other runners.
3. Timing. Only because the timing results were somewhat confusing to read once they came out. Still not sure where I finished because everyone was mixed in so if you sorted by time, you would have to go through each one to see if they were in the competitive wave or not. I think I was top 10 for overall males.
4. Race Photos. I don’t think they took bad photos, in fact I was pleasantly surprised with how many were taken and the quality. My only complaint is that I can’t afford to buy them! With so many races opting for free race photos, I hope more events adopt this avenue. Because $80 for 10 digital downloads is a bit extreme.
5. Medals. Bummed I didn’t my hands on the new bigger medal. Instead I have another blue one, all three look the same. But maybe at the next one!

So I just have to wrap up by saying I loved the event, I hope they add some more new and different obstacles at the next race. I think PG might just surpass the local giant Jailbreak as the best homegrown race in 2014. We shall see, that run is in September!

Armageddon Ambush 2014 Discount Code

Here is a discount code for 2014 Armageddon Ambush. 

Now good for all remaining events!

You can use this code for $10 OFF

HINT: It’s in the picture!

Savage Race Disappointement

Why my savage experience was definitely savage, but not one am I proud of.

I have been mud running now since 2010 and I love it. I am so addicted to running all these events that I was doing 15-20 a year. I was excited when I heard that Savage Race was coming to Dallas, I had heard so many positive things and their obstacles looked very cool and challenging. Well, I completed my first Savage Race and I have to say, I am so disappointed in my effort and the performance I gave. Here is a brief synopsis of what transpired on Saturday and my thoughts.

First thing first, I want to be clear I am not bashing Savage Race or saying that their event was bad in any way.  I think the circumstances revolving around it could have been better, but you can not predict what mother nature will do. As this event became known as “The Coldest Savage Race Ever”, at some point I have to wonder when does the event cancel for the safety of the participants. I am not on my soapbox, I have run races and organized races which were in the 40’s and 50’s before, but his just felt different than those and as a participant I was miserable.

I know what you are thinking, I paid for this, I should suck it up. I agree.  Which is why I am my own toughest critic and why when my friends tell me that I am a “stud” or I am so awesome for completing this, I just want to punch them.  I think this was the dumbest thing I have ever done and I am going to tell you why. Here I am going to break down my thoughts as I was running and at the obstacles I remember.

Let’s start with the wake-up. 5:03 AM, (why :03, I was lazy and didn’t set alarm correctly) and I am getting dressed, I see the temperature outside is is cold, for me, it is real cold, I hate cold weather. It is low 30’s, not quite freezing but 33-35 degrees. In the back of my mind I am thinking, this is going to be a hard race, am I positive I want to do this? My conscience is on both of my shoulders like the angel and devil. Once saying “go for it”, it will be fun, the other saying “seriously, the first obstacle is shriveled Richard with ice water, lets go back to sleep”. Well I make the decision, I paid for this and I will not let my money go to waste. So I prepare the best I can for the torture that lies ahead.

9:00 AM, I arrive there and the temperature is a lovely 36 degrees and a misty rain has started to fall. Perfect, I just can not wait!! Kidding I am, I start dreading this more and more. Oh well, I know there are some friends here and Savage told us not to run alone. So I know if a couple of guys who I can go with. But the decision of the day is, do I run for fun and to just complete this and go at the pace of these friends or will my uber competitive side take over and I end up running alone for 6 miles in this bitter cold weather.

As I am killing time, I see some of the guys I was going run with in the 10:20 wave. I didn’t pay extra for the competitive wave, which was going to start at 10am, so I didn’t notice they were lined up and ready to go. They said they wanted to get it over with, so I agreed and joined these knuckleheads in the first wave of the day. Stripping down to race clothes really sucked, it was cold and my coat was warm!

So the race starts and we are off, I don’t start in the front like I usually would, I actually started in the back of the pack at a nice jog pace. You can see the first obstacle and I am dreading it. Some of the people around me have already declared they are skipping all water obstacles including the first one filled with ice. All  I can think of is “wow, you paid for this run, why would you skip anything?”

1. Shriveled Richard – jump into a chest deep box of water filled with ice cubes, then you have to go under water to get out. Basically under a wall, come out the other side and climb out. My running buddies decided to “skip” this obstacle as did many people, I was on the fence, listening to the screams was making me change my mind, but when a couple of women jumped in, I said what the hell! OMG this has to have been the coldest thing ever. Who on earth thinks that having people jump in ice water, dunk in it when it is 36 degrees outside is a good idea? I took off my wool hat in an attempt to keep it dry. My face froze! I had a mini brain freeze…I am already dreading running 6 miles like this.

2. Thors Grundle – at first I was thinking, this won’t be that bad, it was just a ditch with some water in it, had to crawl though, no biggie. Well, welcome to another cruel obstacle. You have to dive under a wall again, and this time two of them! I am still feeling the effects of the ice bath, but I go in, with the lets do this mentality! Again a group of smart people go around, they want no part of this water, one guy holds my hat for me because again I didn’t want it to get wet. I come out and I had an even worse brain freeze then the last obstacle. It was so bad, it felt like a migraine. But I put my hat on and took off running. Oh yeah, and now it has started to really rain.

3. Prairie Dog – I don’t remember what this even was, but I think it was a tunnel we went through with some wood over the entrance.  No biggie, bear crawled through it, dirt was so hard still, it hurt to try to go on hands and knees.

4. Big ASS Cargo net – This was a good obstacle to do, no problem here, passed a bunch of people, but I was starting to have issues with my fingers. I couldn’t ring out the water in my gloves and my fingers were starting to go numb. But I pressed onward.

5. Pig Pen – I believe this was an annoying little pond that we had to wade though. I skirted the edge about knee deep and several people skipped this altogether.

6. Nutt Smasher – This was the balance beam, as I approach it all I can see are people falling the water right and left. Splash, splash…many go around as they see no one completing it. I get a big grin on my face, I love balance beams, I think I have great balance almost ninja like!! But I got over 1/2 way across and these guys made the beam so long that is starts swaying the further you go, mix that with the cold and it was harder than I expected. Splash I went into chest deep water, I made it almost to the end about 3 steps short.

7. Low Crawl – I can’t remember what this was, but I think it was the first barbed wire crawl. I rolled the whole way and was super dizzy running side ways for a few steps…

8. Barn Doors – I have no idea why they call it this, it was like a ladder, up and over, no problemo. I can say at this point my hands were really starting to hurt. The ends of my fingers hurt really bad and griping anything was becoming difficult.

9. Slippery Incline Wall – Approaching this one, it didn’t look at that difficult. In reality, it was not that difficult of a obstacle, but the weather conditions made it hard. My first attempt I grabbed the rope and lost my grip and failed. So I backed up, and went again, I remember I grabbed with my left hand and held on to the knot at the bottom of the rope. I had the most intense pain in my hand that I have felt in a very long time. I had an issue grabbing the rope with my right hand, by the time I got it, I was struggling, gripping the rope was so difficult because my fingers were on fire and not working. I managed to get up and over. My left hand was toast. I was chatting with the guy next to me and we went over the wall together and he had the same issue. My hands hurt so bad due to the cold, it was difficult to hold anything.

10. 96″ Stiffie – I don’t remember what this was, but I think it was the climb over the Colon Blow. No issues here.

11. Swam Ass – I do not know what this one was

12. Colon Blow 5000 – This was the first obstacle I skipped. I know what you are thinking, but I am disappointed as well. This was not a hard obstacle, it was just crawling through tubes, going up an incline and then down the other side. The problem was, as we approached, (I was running with the same guy since the slip wall) there was a body in each tube. They were all slipping and sliding and could not get up the entrance of the tubes.  They were all taken, we waited for like 30 seconds and then decided to keep running, it was too cold to stand and wait for these bozos to get through it. Plus I couldn’t feel my hands.

13. Sawtooth – running and talking I learned a couple of things, I was not the only one having issues with my hands. As I approached this one, which was the one obstacle I was so looking forward to, the crazy ridiculous adult monkey bars, I was defeated before I stopped running up to it.  I knew I couldn’t grip anything, my left hand was gone, I couldn’t feel my fingers. I actually remember thinking and wondering if I was getting frostbite like symptoms.  I look across to the other side and I see a guy wrapped in one of those tinfoil looking blankets which I know is for hypothermia, of course he is not wearing a shirt and I am thinking, what a dummy. Everyone attempting this is failing and falling in the water, some people are just saying screw it and jumping in the water and not trying and others just walking around. I tried to grip the first bar. I knew it was bad, and it was, I could not hold on with my right hand. I knew I would fall immediately and I honestly didn’t want to get wet. It kills me to say it, I walked around and just started running.

I want to say this was about the 3-mile mark. Other than my hands hurting extremely bad I was physically fine and my mental toughness was the only thing pushing me on. I seriously though about tapping out and just trying to find a way back to the start. But my mind said no, I told myself I was doing great, my feet were not cold at all, in fact they were warm with the wool socks I was wearing. So I thought if I could warm up the hands, I’d be okay. So I pressed on.

14. Rubbers – These were monster truck tires and not that hard to get over. Went over easily.

15. Kiss my Walls – Running up to this one, I was like sweet, I nail this one at spartan! It is like rock climbing walls, I got this. No unfortunately I didn’t, I failed again. I couldn’t hold myself up on the wall, my fingers hurt so bad I had no strength at all to hold myself up. I didn’t even get off the first block. So disappointing, I just walked to end and started running…running was the only thing working for me at this point.

16. Me so Thorny – this was just another version of a barbed wire crawl, just they had specific rows you had to go into.  I  crawled through most of this on my hands and knees, I ended up tearing my shorts with my butt up the air…that sucked, time to get new race shorts. BTW the event photo guys were not here when we went though, so no photos of anyone in the top 30 or so people.

17. Lumberjack Lane – more like lumberjack lame. They had these little blocks of wood, which we had to carry down and up a hill. I carried it like a football and didn’t get off pace.

18. Colossus – This was the 2nd obstacle I was looking forward to. I was defeated before I got to it. As I approached, there were several guys standing round a fire warming their hands. I watched several people trying and giving up because they could not get up the rope. I knew I could not hold on to a rope much less be able to pull myself up. My hands were toast and I still did not have feeling my left hand. I saw the huge water pit on the other side and I walked away and started running. I wish I was at full strength so I could have attempted it, but I knew it was no use. I put my head down in shame, I knew I couldn’t get up the wall and I didn’t want to get wet if I did.

19. Mud N Guts – this was one long ass crawl. Did the army crawl for part and the log roll for part. Nice and muddy.

20. Missionary Impossible – At this point the only thing keeping me warm is running. So yes I winced when we had to lay on our backs on a piece of rubber and crawl up hill using a cargo net to pull us up. Oh yeah, they were nice enough to have cold running water going down the hill. It was actually a fun obstacle until you get to the end and have water spraying you in the face.

21. Davy Jones Locker – approaching this I just thought why? watching people climb up the platform and voluntarily jump off in water which is over your head and swim out using a cargo net. Yeah. I pussed out and said no thanks. I knew we were close to being done, and I wanted no part in getting in any water, much less getting dunked again.

22. Back Scratcher – these were a series of 6-foot walls to go over and then roll under the next wall. I really struggled with this, jumping was next to impossible for me, my fingers were numb and useless, I could barely pull myself up, I didn’t feel this spent, I felt like I was running well and still catching and passing people on the run portion. I pulled something in my shoulder at this obstacle and I wouldn’t know it until I got home and couldn’t lift my arm.

23. Tazed – As I approached this one I thought it was just another rolling on the ground obstacle, then I saw it was electricity, which I thought to myself, self, this could be ugly. It is raining and I am soaking wet and they want to electrocute me? The people at the obstacle said it wasn’t that bad and in fact they were correct, I could not even feel it. Went through and on to the finish.

24. Blazed  – I was disappointed they didn’t have this one. I guess they thought due to the rain that a fire obstacle was a bad idea.

25. Finish – So I finished, I say big deal. I am mad at myself for not completing or even trying several of the obstacles, but my better judgment told me it was not a good idea. Sometimes you have to go with your gut feeling. I tried to change, I finally got out of my clothes and put on warmer clothes and I was shivering uncontrollably. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Heated seats and a blanket all the way home.

So all in all, I wish they would come back to Texas in July or August of next year. I would run this race in the extreme heat, the water portions of this race would be great if it was not near freezing temperatures. I think the times are so skewed, the competitive wave had people finishing in 5o minutes and the next few people were are 1:01. I think they skipped more obstacles than I did! But if you look at the results, I placed #1 in my age group in the non-competitive people, I would have been 1st as well in the competitive group. I finished 10th overall out of 1075 people in the non-competitive group. Add both groups together and I am 27th out of the 1165 timed people. Whoop-D-Doo. I only take comfort in knowing I was not the only one skipping obstacles so in my mind the results are skewed. Great learning experience.

I do want to thank my sponsor, Bswarms Athletics for making this event possible.

Twas the Night before the BEAST…

by: Travis “Blydawg” Blythe

…and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even my spouse.
My bag was packed, by the door with care.
Filled with gels & protein bars, in hopes that the BEAST would soon be here.

The Family was sleeping all snuggled in their beds,
Dreading the alarm I’m sure, it was said.
I lay here awake, in thought of what to come,
Was I ready?, was I prepared?, could I make this run?

The BEAST it is said, is one bad mother,
It claims to be TOUGHER than that other mudder,
I survived the Super Spartan, in 2011,
Barely at that, I only finished on adrenaline.

But 2012 will be different I’m sure,
For this is why I trained consistently all year.
I met the Spartan Elite, who reside only in Dallas,
They trained me, prepared me, now is up to Travis.

As I prepare for the grueling run ahead,
I know I can do it, so let it be said,
My goal is 2 1/2 hours to finish this Beast,
My body is rested, now it’s up to my heart and my feet.

So on Feiock, on Mauk, on Vennerholm, Taylor and Luck,
For I will be following you through the mud and muck.
This is the BEAST and you I will chase,
The Lord knows I can’t run at your pace.

But watch out Call, Moat, Rutz and McKay,
You are now in Texas, which is the home in which we play.
Everything is bigger, and badder, and money is at stake,
Don’t Mess with TEXAS! The Lonestar State!

So come on BEAST give us your all,
We are Texans and will answer the call,
When we finish, we will thank the heavens,
and they will songs about us and we will be legends!

Good luck to everyone running in the 2012 Spartan Beast!

Run the Jailbreak Austin – 2011 – Race Recap

Burnet, TX – May 7, 2011

I have to say that it is a bit difficult remaining objective when you actually have friends that organize the race and you also work with/for the same race on a business level. Trying to leave the favoritism behind, we (DFW Mudcrew) traveled down to Burnet, TX to tackle the “Run the Jailbreak” breakin free hill country escape. This was already nothing like any of the previous races I had attended, which included The Spartan Sprint, DFW Mudrun, The Survival Race and Warrior Dash.

Yes it is true, this was better than Warrior Dash! Granted, lets keep it in context, while WD has close to 15k people attend, there were no where near that many, I think the approximate head count was close to 3000, it was the setting at Reveille Peak Ranch that made the difference. The setting was amazing, the pavilion overlooking the lake was perfect. When we arrived, it looked as if I was walking into the “Buffalo Chip” campgrounds (biker reference, if you don’t know look it up) and there was obviously a nice party the night before. I am guessing the camping was a hit!

DFW Mud Crew

So here we are, out in the middle of Nowhere, Texas and it appears as though this has a lot of potential. The band starts playing, the food is being served, corn-hole boards are ready to go (bean bag toss), the vendors are lined up, Monster Energy drinks in hand, this is going to be a great day. One of the perks of working with the event organizers is the ability to volunteer (free run!). So I did, and I was lucky to handle the fire hose with the Directors son. Together our job was to hose down the runners right after the start. All I can say, is yes I reverted to the 13 year old kid like my compadre in crime. While I was trying to be nice, my counter part was going for head shots on everyone, I went for the ground, then tried to move them into the slippery slope section. The best part…if you fell down, you were done, we totally kept the hose on…unti you got up and ran away. Every half hour a new batch arrived and the footing just got worse every time!

I know you are waiting for my review, well I can say that this was an AWESOME course. It had monster hills, challenging terrain, a cool slide and some great obstacles. The only draw back was that they didn’t have it chip timed, so trying to remember or find your time was difficult if that matters to you. I finished 3rd in my heat with a time of 32:02 with it being right around 2.86 miles according to my buddies GPS.

Course: This Course was way more than I expected, the big hill alone was a killer, but I can’t say enough how great this course was. I thought the Spartan course in Smithville was hard because of the three consecutive hills, but this was a little bit more challenging, because most of the front of the course was uphill at a slow incline. Not until you really went down the long water slide did you come back down. I loved it so much, I actually ran it twice. The second time, the last wave of the day, I ran with a friends son, my 13 year old buddy, who was no slouch finishing in 38 minutes. We ran the entire course together, at his pace and it was awesome!

Registration: Despite the small area near the entrance, they had the packet pickup pretty much under control and we were in and out without any hiccups. I was even able to snag one of the “white” shirts!

Atmosphere: Beside the run, the location was phenomenal, no wonder Spartan Race snatched up this location for its 2012 Sprint race location. The lodge are overlooking the lake is awesome, enough shade for everyone, we played corn-hole, jammed out to some awesome tunes and it wasn’t a beating like at Warrior Dash with a million people. One of the obstacles the A-frame was right in front so people were cheering others over the obstacle. By far the best after party of the year. I hated that we had to leave and drive back to Dallas!

If Jailbreak 2012 can live up to the 2011 race, then they definitely have a fan in me, it is going to be hard to get over that already established bar, but I think they can do it, I have faith! If you want a code to get a discount, here is your discount code!

Jailbreak Austin 2011

First Run

Time: 32:00

Distance: 3.36

Finish: 3rd in wave

Second Run:

Time: 38:03

Distance: 3.36

Finish: no clue