The motivation to overcome a challenge comes in various forms.
One Spartan racer is using a little spite to her advantage.
Kelly Shores, a customer of HomeTowne Auto Repair & Tire in Woodbridge, is training for the Spartan Peak Death Race.
Shores’ journey began five years ago when she saw a Spartan commercial at a bar.
“I talked about how this was something I might want to do and the group I was with said, ‘You could never do something like that. That’s crazy,’” she said. “So, I signed up the next day completely out of spite.”
Since then, the Fredericksburg resident has completed 25 races.
While on her honeymoon in Hawaii in 2019, Shores learned about the Death Race. It was originally scheduled for 2020 and later postponed to this summer.
“I said that I wanted to do it. My mom told me I was crazy and that I was not going to do it,” she explained. “So, I signed up immediately.”
Seeing a taco truck, Shores added, is the only reason she would quit the race.
When she began her first Spartan race, Shores saw participants lifting large atlas rocks. It was then that she realized how unprepared she was.
Overtime, she has adjusted her workouts.
“About three months ago, I hired a coach because I just didn’t feel like my training was sufficient,” Shores said. “So, my coach sets out endurance workouts at least twice a week and then he also has me strength training, mostly in my legs.”
This includes running, squats, back squats, and her nemesis – sled pushes and pulls.
Shores participated in a 24-hour workout fundraiser last year.
“I’m doing a 36-hour workout in a couple of weeks, where I’m just going to do a long ruck, a lot of crossfit style workouts, a lot of weight lifting, so I can just mentally get past that 36 hour mark and stay awake and just mentally continue to focus on working out,” she explained.
This article is sponsored by HomeTowne Auto Repair & Tire, an authorized Michelin and BFGoodrich tire dealer in Woodbridge. The auto repair shop performs various services, including oil changes, alignments and computer engine diagnostics.
