The infamous Palmerton Super, located on the Blue Mountain Ski Resort in Palmerton, Pennsylvania! I ran this race last year and really enjoyed the difficult terrain of the course so it was good to be back! The Palmerton Spartan Super is an 8+ miles and 32+ obstacles course located right on the black diamond ski slopes of Blue Mountain! This race took place July 8-9th and is definitely one of the harder Spartan Super courses around!

This race sold out pretty quick and I signed up to compete in the Elite Division for the NBC US Spartan Championship Series, which was also being recorded live!

There were some new obstacles this year including the rig wall pictured above and I was very proud of myself for completing this new obstacle! (and glad someone was able to capture this moment for me!) It was definitely a challenge moving from side to side that required grip strength. I had been doing some rock climbing lately which really helped to improve my grip strength.

I remember struggling getting over one of the 8 ft walls. As an elite athlete you are not allowed to use the sides to get over and I had to run and jump a few times to get myself over and I was very proud of myself  once I did! There were a few other elite females struggling as well. Nothing like the feeling of conquering a difficult obstacle in your way!

I finished the Super in 3 hours and 52 minutes and was glad to have finished in under 4 hours.

Not only did I complete in the Elite division of the Spartan Super, but I also signed up for my first Hurricane Heat that same afternoon! (What did I get myself into!?)

For those who don’t know, a Hurricane Heat is a 4-6 hour endeavor, kind of like a boot camp where you follow an instructor and work together as a team.

The theme was red, white, and blue since it was pretty close to July 4th so I made sure to represent!

We participated in numerous exercises to include sit ups, push ups, crawling on the ground, getting in the water and more.

We ventured out onto the race course and did numerous different exercises.

We even did an exercise where every 3rd person was considered “dead” and had to be carried. As seen above I was selected!

We also did some team exercises carrying massive tires from one end to the other. I was more than exhausted towards the end of this, especially after racing a 4 hour race just earlier in the day! My legs felt like they were going to fall off and I was very much looking forward to getting back and resting. I ran over 20 miles that day and really pushed myself more than I could have imagined!

The Hurricane Heat was definitely an experience and I am glad I was able to challenge myself so much physically and mentally! Until next time Spartan!