aroo!!

Yesterday I finished my second Spartan race of the year.  The Spartan race series works hard to keep its participants engaged so they will continue to participate.  One of the questions they ask (mostly on social media) is "why I race."

The race I did yesterday was just over 12 miles long with 30 different obstacles.  It took me about 3.5 hours to finish.  When I train, I run/workout with headphones, listening to music or an audiobook.  Because of the wet and muddy terrain during the race, I spend all that time, talking to myself.  Just in my head, so nobody else thinks I am crazy.

During yesterday's race I had a couple of conversations with myself that I thought I would share with you today.  In order to understand the conversation I think you need to understand a little bit of background about how I decided to do my first spartan race almost 2 years ago.

 My friends (Davy and Mckay) were showing me some online videos of a mud race they were thinking about doing in Utah.  It looked really hard.  I couldn't help but give these guys a hard time that they were crazy to even attempt it.  I am not sure what they thought (I wasn't very nice) but I had a pretty good laugh imagining them doing this race.  I decided to share the laughter with my family when I got home that day.  I showed them all the same videos and started laughing about how Davy and McKay thought they could do it.  I did not get the response I expected.  Nobody laughed.  they all looked at me and said, "Yeah, dad you could never do that..." Whoa...That is not acceptable.

I immediately signed up for the race.  I texted my friends and told them I had signed up and they should join me (I am sure I forgot to apologize for my earlier attitude.)

Well that day I started preparing for these races and I have been pretty obsessed ever since.  I ran 3 races in 2014, and will run 3 this year.

During yesterdays race I kept thinking what I would tell someone if they asked me "why I race."  This year I have raced both races with my shirt off and a big tattoo* on my back with Alisa's name.  So do I run for Alisa?  No, I don't think so.  After I ran 2 races last year I decided I was in good enough shape to try and run a marathon for the first time in my life.  Out of all the sports/activities I have done in my life, the marathon impressed Alisa the most.  After she passed away, I signed up for the Salt Lake Marathon, in her honor, that I will run for her.  After I did my first Spartan race of the year (in June) I thought for sure the marathon would motivate me to keep running and working out.  Well it didn't quite work out that way.

Monday (after the race) - alarm set for 5:00 AM.  Snooze button every ten minutes for over 3 hours, wake up just in time to get the kids to swim lessons.  determined to be better tomorrow.

Tuesday - alarm set for 5:00 AM.  Snooze button every ten minutes for over 3 hours, wake up just in time to get the kids to swim team.  determined to be better tomorrow.

Wednesday - alarm set for 5:00 AM.  Snooze button every ten minutes for over 3 hours, wake up just in time to get the kids to swim team.  Immediately signed up for 2 more Spartan races.

I haven't been perfect getting up to exercise, but looking forward to a Spartan race is great motivation for me.  So, why do I race?  For myself, for my own sanity, because I am afraid of what I become if I don't (sleeping in every day, just getting out of bed when necessary, not a pretty future)

So then the question, why Alisa's name on my back.  This is actually much simpler.  Each race I ran in 2014, I would come home, scrapped, scratched, and bruised, and Alisa would ask, "Did you run with your shirt off?"  I would reply, "No way, that sounds miserable." Alisa, "Well, then I guess you are not a "real" Spartan then."  Now I run my Spartan races without my shirt, and a big tattoo* to show Alisa I am a "real" Spartan.

It only took me half of my 3.5 hours to figure that all out.

The second question I asked myself only requires a little background.

While waiting for my heat to start yesterday, I overheard multiple people talking about how they are running the race with their significant other.  I started thinking about what I would say to the question "oh, your wife doesn't do Spartan races, what does she do?"  This imaginary person would not know that this kind of race/competition was not up her alley, and even though I am having an imaginary conversation, I am not interested in explaining what Alisa has been busy doing the last 8 years.  I thought, what has Alisa been doing for "fun" the last 8 years?

As I thought about this, I realized that Alisa's favorite pastime over the last 8 years has been planning and plotting her battle against cancer.  She studied her enemy, understood its weaknesses, planned her strategy, and executed an attack.  I don't know if she enjoyed it, but she was dedicated to it.  She spent many nights reading articles, communicating with other cancer patients, and looking for clinical trials.  She was a warrior, a General in her war against this horrible disease.  She won many battles, and in the end lost the war to an enemy that doesn't play by the rules, and has hundreds of years of experience.

My Spartan training pales in comparison to the preparation Alisa put in to her fight, and the pain I endure is nothing to what she passed through.  My respect and love for Alisa grows each day as I think on her life and the impact she had on me and my family.  We will be forever blessed for having her in our lives.


*the tattoo is temporary, in case you were wondering.