Sheena meets Sparta

This is a little story of my first OCR, that’s obstacle course race to, you, civilians.  I was curious about this OCR world and Corn Fed Spartans, so I decided to make a road trip to a near by (5 hours) event at Miller Park, WI and see what the fuss was all about.  I was called a chicken, and, basically, dared to sign up to race, so, against my better judgment, I did. I didn’t need guts to race, I have been having heart trouble and didn’t know if I could, actually, endure a race.  I put my trust in the team and in God to get me through.

I met a girl, two days prior to leaving, who would end up being the best battle buddy a first timer could have asked for.  I revealed my heart condition after about 250 or so stadium stairs when I couldn’t hear do to the ringing in my ears and I could feel my heart beat in my face.  I confessed that I probably shouldn’t be doing this, but with her help and patience, I would try my best.  She used the words,”You will finish” and I didn’t grasp it at first, but something inside of me clicked.  I don’t know which obstacle or, exactly, which moment, but my flesh became a normal human color, my brain shut off and my heart starting chasing the finish line.

I can’t explain the feeling of seeing the first 4 foot wall and thinking,”I can’t climb that!!” to later in the course, seeing an 8 foot wall and thinking,”How am I gonna climb this one?”  Your mind set changes from “can’t” to “how” and it’s nothing I can explain, you just have to experience it.  It was like I was living in the dark for years and didn’t know it and, finally, someone flipped the switch and turned on the light inside of me.

I reached the finish line with no power left to fight the gladiators.  The look on their faces… they just let me pass.  I think they might have even bowed!  The medal was placed around my neck, but that wasn’t the trophy.  My body was broken, my brain was bruised, my lungs were on fire, my throat was raw from puking, my fingernails were caked with red dirt from the field, but my soul was restored!!  I thought,”This must have been what David felt like slaying Goliath.”  I DID NOT do this on my own power!  I came here a weak, shell of a girl and I finished a freakin warrior…. I showed up over weight, terrified, timid, health questionable, fragile, defeated little girl and I crossed the finish line A SPARTAN!!

More stairs than I care to count

Yes, I did get a medal, but the trophy I received cannot be displayed on a plaque or hung from my rear view mirror for all to see.  It’s worn with my head held high as I enter the gym!  It’s announced when I’m wearing a sweat drenched “I’m training for a spartan race” tshirt!  It’s a little smile and a blush of my cheeks when I hear,”That’s the girl I told you about that puked 5 times, but kept going!”  It’s relieved when I shower and all my bruises are revealed at once!  It’s being immortalized when I look in the mirror and see my muscles start to peak back out from behind the layer of protective chunk, winking at me, begging me to come out and play again!  Yes, I do have a medal, but the prize is ME!!!  Not a new me, not the old me, just the me I’m supposed to be.

Thanks for reading this installment of the story that is my life.  This isn’t the beginning and, definitely, not the end, just a chapter in a long line of adventures.  Enjoy the ride!!!!