Spartan BC

Micah has been really into obstacle racing the past few years.  He loves running, but he finds the obstacle races more mentally challenging, more interesting, and more of a total body fitness challenge.  His current favorite race series is the Spartan.  The Spartan comes in four lengths - the Sprint (3+ miles/15+ obstacles), the Super (8+ miles/20+ obstacles), the Beast (12+ miles/25+ obstacles) and the Death Race (48 hours)
The obstacles include things like carrying sandbags, traverse wall, spear throwing, crawling in mud under barbed wire, rope climbing........and many more.  The course map is not revealed ahead of time, so you don't know what the obstacles are until you get there.  If you miss an obstacle, there are penalties.  For example, if you fall off the traverse wall, you may need to do 25 burpees.  You have to train and you have to be in shape to get through these races!
This past weekend, Micah went up to Vancouver, BC to participate in a Super Spartan Race with a group of guys (including my cousin, Matt).  I've been told it was a beautiful race with mountains, trees and rivers.

Here's the best part - Micah placed 23rd out of approximately 1000 people!!  That the top 2-3%!!
I'm proud!!  :-)  :-)

He trains for these events by incorporating workouts into his everyday life.  He wears a 40lb weight vest to mow the lawn or clean the garage.  He does push-ups with the girls on his back and he runs regularly.  These are just a few examples.  When he has specific workouts he needs to do, he heads to the backyard and all of the little ducklings follow.  They love to participate using modifications.  #1 likes to create obstacle courses in the backyard so all of them can participate.  #3 loves to do burpees, lunges and crunches so much she'll do them absolutely anywhere, even the grocery store!  It's fun to watch and hopefully these seeds of physical fitness will stay with them. 

Aside from including the children, my very favorite part of the way he does his workouts is that he gives all the glory to God and makes all of it a spiritual exercise.  He prays while he works, offers up his workouts for those who are unable to use their bodies as he can and he meditates on inspirational bible passages that parallel his physical work.  It's pretty amazing to watch this man tie it all together.  

Micah's next race is a Spartan Beast in Texas in early December.