The last Spartan trip this year.

Distance: 20.7 km

Elevation: 1034 m

Time: 8:18:29

I made my last Spartan trip this season in Czech Republic, at the Lipno dam. And the fact that I really thought of it as a holiday stay is that I didn’t even take a camel bag with me, even though I went to Beast. I planned not to rush at all, to keep my body fit, especially my knee and to enjoy the beautiful green nature. The moss-covered trunks, rocks, but also the entire path, it was awesome. One wanted to take off the shoes and walk barefoot like on a soft cloud.

In the morning I almost missed the start, after picking up the starting package I had only 9 minutes to finally wake up and stand ready at the start line. So I did not manage a proper warm-up, but I did not mind. I wanted to meet familiar faces on the track so I was not in hurry. The weather was good, it was sunny, a little cold in the morning, so I preferred to wear long sleeves and leggings. I withstand the heat much better than cold, moreover, since my pace was incredibly slow, so I needed to keep warm. I enjoyed nice views of the surrounding countryside and forest paths.

My performance at obstacles was, let’s say, not very good. Besides my traditionally burpee-making obstacles – spear throw and Z-wall, I did not make even Hercules hoist and for the first time I had to do burpees at atlas carry. The concrete ball was making me trouble in Valča and now it was even worse. Again, I felt as if the ball gained weight, but probably it was caused only by my weakened back. I think I improved stamina during the summer but the physical strength went slightly down. Never mind, at least I know what to improve.

However, my performance is not important and was not even interesting, I was happy with myself, I knew exactly where I had the reserves, where I could go faster, I could probably reduce the finish time even by an hour if I wanted to. But I would like to highlight another positive side of the Spartan Race, the human side.

These races are not just about rivalry, but also about mutual belonging, empathy, coherence or helping others. At every single race, X contestants need help from others. I also ask them sometimes, mostly when I need to hold my crutches, but I am also happy when I can help others. I like when people help each other, even if they don’t know each other, they don’t leave each other in troubles. This is something we should bring into our daily lives. Most of all, I appreciated the presence of some people, that I could meet them. I will not name them because there were more of them and each of them made my life more pleasant just with their presence. I was glad when they helped me, I was glad when I could help. I enjoyed the little things, trivia and I was also happy when I had a few second meeting, but I was looking forward to it for months.

I mean, little things like a hug, a smile or someone’s presence can be of great value to others, and when I’m on a Spartan Race, I see a lot of happy people there. I only we could infect people with such a positive mood at home, at work, at school, and everyone everywhere …

I will finish my story here, letting my hardly intellectually-philosophical idea resonate in the minds of every one of you who has come to this point. Just to add, my slow, energy-saving tactic was not worth it so much. I evaluated that it would be better to go faster. But this race has fulfilled its purpose, I only have to use my newly acquired knowledge in the next race.

We see on Spartan Race next year, soon. I look forward to all of you.

Next stop: Winter SR Banská Bystrica 18.1.2020