Well, I am back from my short sabbatical.  I pretty much did all that I promised I would.  I have been playing around with my Smartphone to figure out how to take pictures (success – and I can link them to Facebook and Twitter).  I trained and competed in the Spartan Sprint last weekend (likely the most fun I have ever had at a race).  I played around with new designs for my blog (but nothing has changed).

I don’t know about you, but I found looking at live previews of new themes a bit overwhelming.  There are so many to choose from, and I am scared that if I activate a theme, my old stuff will be gone.  Now, I know this is silly – I have attended a few blogging info sessions to know that theme and content are stored separately, but I was still hesitant to activate new themes, so choosing a new look will be a slow process…..

Competing in the Spartan Sprint last weekend was amazing.  I had been researching what the course and obstacles might have in store for me, but you really don’t know until you get there.  Before I get to the list of obstacles that I had to over-come (or the numerous burpees I had to perform) I will tell you this – if you have ever thought that you might want to come out and try one of these events, I say do it, don’t think about it.  It was so much fun.  Find some friends and have them join too!

The official site indicates a 5km course with about 15 obstacles.  This is not so.  The course was almost 7kms (up and down a ski hill three times) and at my last count I encountered over 20 obstacles (not counting going through lots and lots of mud).

Was I a dirty mess when I crossed the finish line?  Yes

Did I conquer all the obstacles? No (I did about 150 burpees)

Did I break any records?  No (it took me about 3 hours to finish)

Will I do it again? Absolutely – Jamie and I are signing up to do it again next year

So, if you have stumbled across this post in search of a listing of obstacles, you have come to the right place.  I made a list immediately once I got home.  I wanted to make a complete record of all the obstacles for anyone who might be interested.  Obstacles are not the same at every event, but this is what we had to encounter on course:

• Running over culverts
• Crawling under barbed wire in the mud (we did this twice)
• Crawling under a wall
• Running through an ice bath
• Pulling a weight behind us up a hill
• Running up a hill carrying a sandbag
• Running up a hill carrying two ammo boxes
• Running up a hill with a gas can full of water
• Climbing up and over a cargo net (super terrifying for me!)
• A torture device with rings, monkey bars and a rope to climb up – I wasn’t successful in any of them!
• Jumping over fire
• Crawling under a camouflage net
• Using a rope to pull yourself up a wall and then sliding down a rope on the other side
• Climbing over walls of varying heights (4 ft, 5 ft, 8 ft)
• Crawling through a small, dark space
• Running over logs
• Throwing a spear to hit a target
• Going across parallel bars using only your arms

And if you are looking at this list and telling yourself that you can’t, remember, there are always burpees to do if you can’t complete an obstacle.  Oh boy…..