Journey to my Trifecta

In 2013, I was supposed to get my Spartan Race Trifecta (completing a Sprint, Super and Beast in one calendar year,) but I broke my ankle at the Spartan Super in NJ that September. My Beast was scheduled for December in Dallas, and although my ankle was better, I knew it wasn't ready to run a 12+ mile Beast in December. So, I skipped that trip and vowed to get my Trifecta another time.

I could only fit one Spartan Race into my schedule in 2014, but in 2015, I looked at the race calendar and saw that it was possible to get my Trifecta, with my schedule. I planned my Trifecta - The Beast in NJ in April, the Sprint in PA in July and the Super in VA in August - all in driving distance and all on weekends when my kids were with their dad. Done deal.

This past weekend was supposed to be the completion of my Trifecta. I contacted some Spartans who I raced with in the past and even paid an extra $40+ the Thursday before the race to change my time so that I could race with my friends. I was all set to go, but that Friday morning, (the day I was supposed to leave for my trip,) I started getting really strong feelings about NOT going to VA.

My brain told me I was crazy. This had been a goal of mine for over 2 years. I was going to achieve it with friends who I'd raced with before and there was no logical reason NOT to go to VA. But, everything within every fiber of my being told me that I shouldn't leave for VA that day.

It's the Sunday after the race, and all I see on social media are pictures of fellow Spartans with their medals, and some people with pictures celebrating the completion of their Trifecta. Yet, I sit here in my house wondering why it wasn't meant to be for me.

I'm a very intuitive person, and somehow I know things that logic doesn't explain. I don't read people's minds and I'm not a psychic. But, I often just "know" things without any explanation. This was the strongest feeling I've ever experienced, and somehow, I just knew I shouldn't go.

I will probably never figure out why I wasn't supposed to go on this trip. Maybe I avoided a car accident on the way to/from VA - or maybe I avoided a serious injury at the race. I wish my brain could figure out why I wasn't supposed to go, but I know in my heart that I needed to stay away from VA.

So, as I sit here on a Sunday night, wondering what to do next, and feeling bummed that I didn't achieve my goal of getting that Trifecta, I did what any normal Spartan would do...I looked at the Spartan Race map and found a Super in Alabama that was taking place on a weekend when my kids are with their dad - and I registered!

All that's left is for me to book my flight to Mobile, Alabama in October, and I'll be on my way to achieving my goal. I've been here before - I've wanted something that didn't happen, and somehow I figured out a different way to make my dream come true.

This is just part of everyday life. When something doesn't go your way, you just need to start working on plan B, then plan C, then plan D. But, most importantly, I've learned not to give up. As Thomas Edison once said: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Keep trying and eventually you'll achieve your goal. It just might not be the way you planned to achieve it.