It was only two weeks ago that I published my blog post about Spartan London West (after it was a little late) but the next instalment of the Spartan season is here and ready for your reading.
This time round, it’s going to be a short and sweet one covering just the one race. As painful as it was to give up the feeling of having that neck full of medals, jangling away as I walked back to my car, my body and my bank account liked me a lot more this time round. Plus, it allowed me to have a better performance in the race that mattered unlike last time.
Speaking of last time, if you haven’t read it and interested to see how race weekend one of the UK season went, click right HERE and you’ll be able to get up to speed with the season so far..
Now, for those interested in race weekend two, please read on.
How Did The Race Go?
This time round, there was only one race to look back on, which was the UK Regional Series Sprint race. I knew this was going to be a fast one from the very start, accepting that it would likely be the case that I’d have to go out fast and just hold on to the pace for as long as I could, recovering my breath when I could.
And that’s exactly what happened! We were set off and pretty much the whole field, which was full with all Age Group competitors from 18-39, went into full sprint mode. So to try and be one of the first at Over Under Through, I had to put it all out there.
I made it there second but nearly ended my race on that first over… For the readers comedy value, I’ll leave this part in: in all the excitement and me trying to get over as quickly as possible, I managed to catch the Crown Jewels on a wall. Luckily, I survived and lived to tell the tale. (Is that a pun…?) However, there was some significant discomfort for a while after.
Based on the course layout, things were relatively spread out but one thing that was noticed by many competitors was the lack of really technical obstacles throughout. There were only two where your bodyweight was on your hands with the rope climb and multi-rig at the end. It seems this hasn’t gone down too well in people’s reviews after the race.
At around the halfway mark, roughly, I did seem to hit a mental red line when I dropped down to 3rd place, which brought about a bit of a mindset change. I’ll cover that more in the lesson learnt but thankfully, I was about to have a word with myself and get those thoughts out of my head.
With that, I put my foot down again and tried to reel in the competition over the coming kilometre, which was pretty successful, gaining plenty of time at the sandbag under the cargo net and sneaking back into 2nd place.
Unfortunately, the next sequence of events changed the complexion of the race and the result in a couple of ways that I would never wish to be the deciding factors in a race on their own, never mind together. Due to what appeared to be a mishap for another competitor in obtaining an injury, I was able to take first place with only a kilometre or so left. This is never something that I want to be a deciding factor in the result of a race however, you have to carry on and race the situation.
The next obstacle that followed had become a controversial one across the weekend. Firstly, for its inclusion in the first place for some people, and secondly, for the interpretation of how you are able to complete it. Going straight into the pits and embracing the mud, it appeared that other competitors were somewhat skirting around the edge as the course markings weren’t as tight as they could be, giving them a significant time advantage. This left me dropping down to second place again.
This position I was able to hold for the rest of the race whilst trying to chase down first place to regain it. Crossing the line, it was a second a place finish at line.
The Aftermath
Based on the situation that had unfolded, I’ll admit, I was angry and aggrieved at what happened. After mulling over it whilst I was given my finishing medal and t-shirt, I proceeded to ask for a clarification on the rules from the Head Referee concerning the obstacle in question, without disclosing the full details as to why. The conversation indicated that there were grounds for a dispute to be raised and when asked if I wished to formally dispute the race result, which left me in a sticky situation.
I want fair racing that is within the limits of the rulebook but for a race to be decided in such a way, after the race on such grounds didn’t feel great, I won’t lie. Knowing that it could be ruled in my favour only increased the discomfort. Whilst mulling over this decision, a second competitor approached the Head Referee on the very same topic, with a third individual approaching him, brandishing a video clip of infringements by competitors, after overhearing the conversation.
Before I made my decision, based on the statements of the other two, it had been already decided that a dispute would be raised. Once the process was followed, a decision was made by the Head Referee, resulting in a change of the finalised results, leaving me now with a 1st place finish and the remainder of the field being pushed up.
Of course, I came into the weekend wanting the win but this was by no means the way in which I wanted it to happen. It certainly doesn’t feel as fulfilling as it could have. On the flip side though, there is a need to ensure that the racing is fair and within the boundaries of the rules, allowing for a fair and proper contest for all individuals.
It isn’t a situation that I wish to find myself in again.
As for the actions out of it and what should be done to make things better, some would say that the course markings should have been better, others would argue that you should know the rulebook so you don’t leave yourself at risk of being penalised, whilst some would say that the rules aren’t clear enough and it’s a grey area.
I’ll leave you to decide that for yourselves.
Lessons Learnt
As always, there are lessons to be learnt from any race weekend, no matter how they end up. Whether you finish on the top step of the podium or at the back of the pack, there are always lessons for you to learn from your race to take forward.
If you’re not continually striving to get better, you’re going backwards.
Don't Give Up
Yes, you read that right. This thought crossed my mind, but I will give you some context. It wasn’t a full blown “That’s it, I’m dropping out!”. I was suffering a little from the speed, I won’t lie, and when I dropped down into 3rd place, it got into my head a little bit. As I saw 1st and 2nd place start to pull away, I nearly convinced myself to set the speed to cruise control and just glide back into the finish line, accepting that was that.
A bit of self talk and a reminder that ever second counts in deciding the number of points that you get at the end of a race reignited that fire in me. Full pedal to the metal was applied and I tried to start reeling in those ahead of me. In the end, this paid off for me as I was able to slowly reel in those in front of me, managing to retake 2nd place again and sticking in front until the end. This obviously would have been a very different finish if I’d stayed in that mindset.
Who knows, when it comes to the end of the season, those saved seconds or minutes could make all the difference.
The Rulebook
One of the things that this race will likely be known for across both competitive levels. The only thing I will say as a lesson is knowing the rulebook for yourself so that you are able to have a clean race, not end up contravening the laid out rules, whether by accident or on purpose, and saving any pain after the race.
I’ll leave that one there and hopefully it’s not a topic that has to come up again.
Concentrating On Important Races
This is more to verify a lesson that I identified in the last blog post about concentrating on the important races, and as you would imagine, it paid off. I definitely feel that if I wasn’t as fresh as I was, I wouldn’t have been able to go as hard as I did.
It was still hard to resist booking myself on all the races across the weekend as I love a decent collection of medals by the end of Sunday. However, I have to be sensible in both what energy I have to compete on the day and what is in the bank account when I have ambitions of racing internationally again near the back end of the year.
Focus shifts now to the next one: Spartan South West. Preparation for this race was subpar with injuries taking 3 weeks of training but this time I have a plan to stop that and ensure that the conditioning is again, up a level.
AROO!
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