Spartan Challenge 2009 | Final 300 Workout: A Story In Photos

The Spartan 300 workout is a beast! Before I get into the details and controversy (!) of my workout, take a lookie at the photographic evidence of bad-ass-dom at CrossFit Central last Saturday.

Maggie was looking adorable, as usual.

Erin and Maggie were in the first heat. Yay, pullups!
Hair flying, Erin conquers the 65-lb. deadlift.

“I’m a showgirl, doin’ box jumps… I’m a showgirl, doin’ box jumps.”

Floor wipers are F.U.N. (f*cking. unnecessary. nonsense.)

Erin’s got Spartan Spirit. Hooray!

Then it was my turn. Wheeeee!

This was my reaction to Big Mike and Zach saying I was going to do the whole thing, straight through, no breaks.

First 25 pullups…

95-lb. deadlift…

Dang, but those pushups were hard. Five at time, 10 damn times. Yeesh. My elbows are farther out to the sides than I’d like.

I caught my toe and halfway ate it on one of the box jumps. Thankfully, there is no photographic evidence of me grabbing the white board ledge to catch myself.

95-lb floor wipers. There are no words.
I just did the math on the 12kg kettlebell. It’s 26.45 lbs. No wonder that dang thing felt heavy.

Last 25 jumping pullups. Next year: all kipping, baby.

While I huffed and puffed and sweated and recovered, Jennifer started her workout.

And then Devon. Check out those abs!

Devon FLEW through her pullups, and you can see from the image below, she smoked the box jumps, too.

Then we were all finished. The nice one:

The mean one:
Oh! Bullets and Octane is a rockin’ rock band.  I like the songs “Pirates” and “Save Me Sorrow.”

The well-deserved breakfast at the Frisco Diner.

I even had onion rings!

The end (of the photo story).

The beginning (of the rest of the story).

I called time at 19:04… but I may or may not have done the complete workout. There was some confusion among my counters and me during the floor wipers and the last set of 25 pullups. (Apologies to Randal whom I’m pretty sure had the accurate count.) Whatever. I’m trying not to get hung up on my time and feel bad about the workout. Instead, I’m focusing on this: I went as hard as I could for 19 minutes, I threw around some heavy weights, and I felt pretty damn strong doing it.

Plus, the numbers I am sure about are very. exciting.

Carey has been taking my measurements for more than a year now. We use the same measuring tape every time, and she puts that sucker in the same place on my body. During the 6-week Spartan Challenge, I lost a total of 5.75 inches… including half an inch from each arm, 1.25 inches from my waist, and 1.5 inches from my hips. My body fat is down 1.1% and in the last three weeks, I lost three pounds.

That makes me, like, ridiculously happy. Seriously, I’m insufferable right now.

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Comments

  • el_twirpo says:

    that is awesome!!! you're like the incredible shrinking woman. way to go, melissa!

  • Blake says:

    there's so much to say about this, i don't know where to begin! the pics are awesome, you all look amazing. the pullup and deadlift pics are smokin'. those numbers are something to be so proud of. truly inspirational. and in reading your small print notes, i think that all makes so much sense. you make the goals that work best for you and your body. you've got a lot of support out there and we're all rooting for you!

  • Erin Clare says:

    Dude was that not THE BEST SATURDAY????
    It was so good meeting Jen and Maggie! Everyone did a great job.

    Mel you rocked the Spartan, you rocked the breakfast, then you rocked Red 7!

    Best group workout I've experienced yet.

  • Mindy says:

    WOW SPARTA MEL!! You are amazing!!! Congrats on all your success!!! What is your plan of attack for formerly "Mission 17", now "Mission decrease body fat %"?!!! No matter what your strategy is, you are unstoppable and you will reach whatever goals you set!! You are so inspiring! Hope you have a wonderful vacation and hope to c u friday!!! Keep up all the great work!!! =)

  • Aaron says:

    Way to go on the 300 Mel!! That's awesome, just awesome.

  • Team CS says:

    I'm ecstatic about your performance! And…super jealous about your perfectly shaped and evenly spaced bun hairstyle!! 🙂 So, it's been said by everyone here – but truly – you really look amazing in all the "photographic evidence," not only that but you are confident, determined, and strong. You're such a special woman. 🙂 As you are always striving for more, I know that kipping pull-ups are going down. And last time I checked – they're terrified of you.

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