I went to Vermont with the intent of completing a Spartan Beast on Saturday and volunteering for the UltraBeast shift all day on Sunday….

I ended up DNFing somewhere around mile 5-6.

A few things went into this, so I’ll just bullet point the lessons I want to pass on:

• Don’t drink heavily the night before a big race. Even if you don’t get to the point of puking, you still dehydrate yourself enough that you just can’t make that up in the few hours before a race.
• Race with yourself or with someone you like/tolerate enough to get you through the race
• Know your strengths and weaknesses
• Know you limits
• Know when to push yourself and when you need to rest
• Have the strength to admit defeat and call it quits before you seriously injure yourself.

Am I made that I didn’t finish? Absolutely! Have I made peace with myself for making that decision? Definitely! Will I come back stronger and kick the ULTRA-Beast’s ass next year? You bet your ass I will.