This weekend's race was absolutely awesome. Everything I was hoping to get out of it was amazing. The race course was difficult due to the terrain, but throw the snow, mud, water and a 24 degree temperature start and you had the makings of a great challenge. 

The training I did leading up to this race paid off in a big way. I had my fastest Spartan Sprint time on a tougher course then I am used to running. Over all I finished in the top 15%, 431 out of 3039 runners. The one I am most proud of though is finishing 31 out of 150 runners in my age group of 50 to 54 years old. The best part though was when I crossed the finish line. I knew that I had gone out and had done everything I was hoping to do. I passed runners from the previous heats. I took on the scale up challenges the Spartan had put on the course to make things more challenging if you wanted to. I crossed the finish line with not much at all left in the tank. Because of this and all the training I had done leading up to the race, my first thought was, "What else can we do to crush this day and make it totally epic"? 

That right there is the special piece I am always talking about. It is at the end of the race and what happens afterwards. Do you crash and burn and say it wasn't worth it or do you take a huge step forward and realize there is more? There is more to be done. There is more that you want to do. There is more that you have to do, because the core of yourself is telling you this. This is the special piece that comes at the end. It is the growth, the desire, the need to search for more because you know you can and you know if you don't the feeling of disappointment is to heavy to deal with.

Think about this the next time you don't think you can or you are wondering if you should try. The person who was the last runner on the course never gave up no matter how difficult it was for her. She still crossed the finish line because the challenge was too great to pass up. Her time was 11:56:25. That's right almost 12 hours. I was there and got to watch her cross the finish line and she was and still is a total inspiration. Don't ever say you can't.