The Spartan warriors are celebrated in history and popular culture not because of their own military triumph, but because they sacrificed themselves at the Battle of Thermopylae. (Remember, this is a crappy running blog, not a history lesson. I'm going to over-generalize things like this.) So, if you run something called a "Spartan Race", it seems appropriate that you're out of commission for at least a little while.
That's what I'm telling myself, anyway.
My legs felt really good after the Spartan Sprint, though my ankles were a bit wobbly the next two days. It's my bruised (I think it's just bruised, because it does feel significantly better than it did on Sunday and Monday) tailbone that has kept me off the roads all week. I'm hoping to get out for 3-5 miles tomorrow morning, but I was hoping to do so yesterday and today, too. If not tomorrow, I think by next week I'll be able to return to normal activities.
Missing a week of running won't kill me, and it'll probably help to rest my legs. But I did end up skipping the Harrisburg Mile on Wednesday, which means the 5:59 mile won't happen this year. It probably wasn't going to anyway...but still.
I've gone back and forth about whether I'd do a Spartan Race again. On one hand, I'd like to try again to see if I could do better. I swore right after my first marathon that I'd never do another one, but by the time we got home from VA Beach I knew I wanted another shot.
On the other hand, note the disclaimer:
I'm sitting here a week later alive but with a not catastrophic injury by any means, but still a significant one that's kept me from even attempting one of my goal races for the year.
Maybe this is just one better checked off the bucket list. (Note to self: Start a bucket list and cross "Ridiculous Obstacle Race" off of it.)
Chris and I had a funny conversation yesterday with my Dad about the Spartan Race:
Brian's Dad: "Why did you do this again?"
So, we'll see. This is probably the end of obstacle races for me this year, but who knows what the running future holds?
A timed mile is just four laps around a track...there are others out there who run mile time trials on their own. Get yourself going and make a date with the local track.
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