Feeling stupid for writing this long post I want to share the tale of the 51 year-old man who got his first Spartan trifecta last Saturday thanks to a miracle: Loving OCR with passion but recognizing that have a few more years left on this sport, I have always listened good to my body. Somehow I got my lower back injured a few weeks ago so decided to start an early tapering to make it in one piece to South Carolina (that’s the reason I didn’t show up to the last EATA trainings). Everything was going according plan until the day before the race, when I got a strong lower back spasm. I felt something like needles piercing my back so painfully that my knees couldn’t hold my body weight and had to grab on furniture not to fall flat on the floor. From that point forward, I couldn’t bend by body and just walking hurts my back. I haven’t felt that intense pain since I broke a leg when playing competitive soccer years ago. At that moment I knew that quitting was not an option so asked my wife to help me walk, get into the car, drive to a local pharmacy and get heat patches and over the counter pain killers that would allow me to do that race. I would NOT let this pain prevent me from being with my OCR friends at the finish line. I would NOT let Casey and the EATA trainers down. I would NOT fail my children (who were taught to never give up) or my two-month old godson (who I promised the trifecta medal). My lovely wife knew that this was a bad idea but supported me anyway without saying a single word. During the race I pushed my buddy Travis Dulaney to leave me alone (so I wouldn’t impact his time) and then started praying so God lets these old bones keep it together until the end of the race (didn’t care if I finished last as long as could cross that line), then at some point joined Gisela Bretones for the rest of the quest and we had a great time strategizing on smart/fun ways to complete the rest of the course (I had a blast with her!). Although that night my body collapsed for good and I still can’t get out of bed without help, just can’t believe that it held proud during the race that we finished in less than 5 hours! God (and the pain killers) gave enough juice to get that small piece of metal that lets me be able to look at my OCR friends and family in the eye. Yes sir, there is magic in OCR!!
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 21:05:54 +0000
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