Guest blogger and Ranch Ehrlo employee Nicole Bonner shares her story of setting a personal goal and doing all that she could to achieve it.

A Spartan pushes their mind and body to their limits.
A Spartan masters their emotions.
A Spartan learns continuously.
A Spartan gives generously.
A Spartan leads.
A Spartan stands up for what they believe in, no matter the cost.
A Spartan knows their flaws, as well as they know their strengths.
A Spartan proves themselves through actions, not words.
A Spartan lives every day as if it were their last.

For most of my adult life I have made a conscious effort to lead a healthy life. I have had my ups and downs but stay fairly active and eat fairly well. When a girlfriend of mine suggested I take up Spartan Training (SGX) at Readiness Fitness, a local gym I had no idea what I was in for. I had been almost completely sedentary for a year after completing my last half marathon. I decided to join thinking that I wasn’t in that bad of shape and that I would shape up quickly. I had no intention of running a Spartan Race. I am a half marathoner at heart and the chances of broken bones in a half marathon are pretty slim, unlike a Spartan.

I signed up and attended the first session. It was May 4, 2014. Little did I know it would be the easiest session of the 14-week program; I was certain I would soon die from lack of oxygen or over exertion – burpees, lunges, squats, pushups, more burpees…endless burpees…countless burpees.

When I got home I was in a world of hurt and it took every ounce of pride to return for the second session. This session was outside in the yard. There were walls to climb and tires to drag and push and smash. Cements block to carry overhead, sandbags to run with, pull-ups, chin-ups, pushups and of course burpees; so many burpees.

My coach Tracy Read, said, “if you follow what I tell you to do you will accomplish your goals”. At that point my only goal was to get through the class! I couldn’t complete any of the walls (climbing over or across) or push or pull a tire for more than a few seconds at a time. It seemed pretty daunting.

The next day I got my first ‘homework assignment’. Each week our homework was sent out. We were expected to do it. It started off pretty easy. Drink four liters of water a day. The next assignment was to increase cardio by running/walking a few kilometres each week. Every time I got an assignment I did it and then thought what if I did more than what was expected?

Something clicked for me. I began running every morning before work, I attended every class and extra session she threw at us. I did all of the homework on top of that, even the five minute double pump burpees. Why so many burpees? I still couldn’t get over the eight foot wall, but I could do the traverse wall and the A-Frame wall like a champ at seven weeks in, about halfway through the training.

A new challenge was presented. Eating. Change your eating she said. I changed my eating 100 per cent. I saw increases in my strength, more endurance in my cardio workouts. I was sleeping better, had more energy during the day. Still couldn’t get over that eight foot wall!
I increased my strength training, kept up with the cardio, stuck to my eating, did all my homework. Tracy is a great coach. Tracy kept us motivated, reminded us of our goals, and threw new challenges at us knowing we needed it. Tracy was inspiring. She had done a trifecta the year before; she is the only female certified SGX trainer in western Canada. She had boundless energy and patience. Eight weeks into the training I thought should I do a race? But decided, no, not interested! Plus I still couldn’t climb that wall! I kept working at it though.

At 10 weeks into training I had the wall conquered. I could feel it. I am afraid of heights and eight feet isn’t very high, but to me it seemed insurmountable. Tracy encouraged me, gave me a boost when I needed it and after 11 excruciating weeks of trying to climb it I was up and over.

I decided I would race.

When we picked up our race packs the first thing I noticed was the disclaimer “There is a real possibility that you may die or be catastrophically injured”. Crap.

The first race was the Spartan Sprint in Calgary. It would be five kilometers and 17 obstacles. The obstacles are unknown, but there are common ones seen in every race. I had three more weeks of training to go.

The race was challenging. The obstacles were hard. Tracy had trained us well. There were over 20 of us participating as a team. For most, it was a first race. My time was 1:10 and I was hooked. No one died or was injured; catastrophically or otherwise. I signed up for the next one.

This was a harder more challenging course; I had another three weeks to train. The Red Deer Spartan Super was 13+ km of trail running and 26 obstacles. My finishing time was 1:42.

I have continued training SGX and will train for next year’s races. I plan on doing my Trifecta (Sprint, Super and Beast – the Beast is 21.1 km and 40+ obstacles).

I have done the homework, shown up to training, and put in the effort. I have realized so many goals and if I hadn’t started on this, if I had let my fear and insecurities get the best of me I wouldn’t be the person I am now. I have seen so many positive changes I hardly recognize myself from that sad, unhealthy, out-of-shape person I was just a few short months ago. You get what you give and every workout, every homework assignment and all the extra training I did on my own shows that. I gave as much as I could and I couldn’t have done it without the group and without the best coach I have ever had!

Achieving your goals is small steps that you take toward them every day. Keep stepping.