This is a question I continue to ask myself since I signed up two weeks ago. What the hell was I thinking? I'm not an athlete. I'm not an adventure seeker. I like wine. And my couch. I like the basics, remember?
But maybe that's not true? I have no idea. So since I've signed up I've been really thinking about why I'm doing this. Am I crazy? Am I fooling myself about my abilities? I'm currently listening to (yes listening, what's reading?) the book Spartan Up by Joe De Sena, the founder of the Spartan Race. He goes through lists including: foods to eat, what makes you a Spartan, how to become a Spartan, etc. So I thought I would go through my own list. Put it out there. Make my commitment. Convince myself that yeah, you can do this. Maybe.
1 – My husband: He is in love with this stuff. He’s going for his trifecta this year, which is three crazy ass Spartan races (Sprint, Super, and Beast) that continue to increase in difficulty, and he’ll do it no doubt. So when he asked me to do the Spartan Sprint with him, at first I laughed. And then I thought about it, consulted a friend and took the plunge. Well, I didn’t, my husband signed me up and I got the email. You’re registered! I know what you’re thinking – “How cute. You guys want to swim through mud and jump over fire together. How adorable.”
2 – Am I more than the sum of what I do every day? As mother, wife and worker, is there something else I can do solely for me by me? Don’t get me wrong I love being those things. Those all give me fulfillment in different ways, but this would be all about me. Can I do something for me that is all me? Is doing something like this just for myself motivating enough?
3 – Making a commitment. So apparently the first step to making the commitment to do the race is to sign up. Check! I have that part done. But I’m wishy washy. In my history of dieting and working out, if someone says, “Hey, you’re looking good,” my next step is to reward myself with a pizza. Hey, I earned it! Ridiculous right? In making the commitment to do this race, I know I cannot do that. Someone like me cannot be fueled by pizza and finish this race. I will need to stick with my workouts and my nutritional plan to get this done - to kick some ass.
4 – Monotony. If there were medals given out for most accomplished in dealing with monotony, I would win. The phrase “same shit, different day” is not lost on me. Not by a long shot. Not by many of us right? And again, I love my life, and know routine is necessary but I’ll be damned if I don’t need something like this to shake me up a bit.
5 – People are masochists. Am I wrong here? I say this often. I believe it. And my example is always hot wings. It’s silly but it’s true. People eat hot wings, love hot wings, but they make their eyes tear their noses run and they continue to eat them. And they keep ratcheting up the heat level. People like some pain. So here is proof of my own masochism. I can’t wait to put myself through some torture.
6 – To feel like a badass. This one is self-explanatory. When I finished the much less taxing Dirty Girl Mud Run, I felt great. I felt accomplished. I felt a bit of a high in completing something I had never done before. I want that feeling again.
And there's my list. Those are my reasons. And at the end of the day maybe I can't make all of the obstacles. Maybe I fall off of those monkey bars and am forced to do more burpees than I deem a human being should ever do. But either way, I'll be giving it my best damn shot. In my quest for badassery, I will get to the end. One way or another.
Holy crap, was that some optimism and positive thinking? See, I'm not good at that so I don't even know it when it happens.
Oh, and if you’d like you join our team in the quest for your own badassery, feel free to reach out and I’ll give you the details.
Peace. Love. And sanity.
Go Beth. Total bad ass. Nice post.
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