Addicted to Adventure Racing!
Simple Pleasures in Moab
We'll, we made it back from our from our first experience with Adventure Racing! And the same group that started, was all in one piece, and still drinking beers together at the end of the day. Which says a lot about a sport that has the ability to challenge both your physical and mental limits. But this, to me, is what sport is really all about. Competition? Yes, of course. But it's also about the comraderie, and the of sharing of what you just experienced, with other people. Team Simple Pleasures, comprised of three friends who love to try new things and who have a slight tendancy towards chaos, took on their first sprint Adventure Race in Moab, Utah on March 29th, 2003 and all I can say is.... We are hooked!
Let me begin by affirming that Moab, Utah? Is one of the THE most beautiful places in this country that I have ever seen - especially in the Spring! Something about that red rock landscape backdropped by towering snow-capped mountains, that makes you feel really small, and makes you feel really lucky to be there to witness their beauty. My favorite phrase of the weekend , which was spilling out of my mouth pretty much on the hour was "oh my God, look at THAT!" . It was that gorgeous.
The whole idea of trying out Adventure racing was born in my head the previous Summer. I was training for my first Ironman in Florida that same year. And I, like any slightly manic 37 year old woman with excess energy to burn, was already looking ahead to what my next challenge would be. I had watched Eco-Challenge over the years, fascinated by this ultimate physical endurance test and interested in the added component of strategy, co-ed teamwork and problem-solving. This was a thinking-person's sport! I started looking around on the internet for a race series that would serve as a good introduction and which was located in the Western part of the United States. This type of racing wasn't cheap, so being able to get there by car was a definate bonus. Then I started thinking about teammates. Hmmmm, who else could I sell on this idea?
I immediately thought of three guys I knew and girlfriend of mine who may be interested. They were all of various ages and with different race styles and backgrounds. But they had all done multi-sport at one time or another and loved adventure! The hard part, was seeing if we could all work together, race together, and still be friends at the end of the day! We spent that Fall and Winter working out team combinations, looking at everyones schedules for the next year and were even fortunate enough to be given a free entry to try out a Lake Tahoe adventure race from a local, highly -competative athlete, Michael Tobin. Michael adventure races professionally, and wanted to help us get started in a sport he had grown to love! We ended up not officially finishing this particular race - our first and only DNF! ( Did Not Finish ) Not great. But we had learned a valueable lesson by being introduced to the harsh reality of time cutoffs. Ouch! That one hurt. But it was still an educational experience overall. We saw what the sport demanded. Now, we just had to learn to do it better!
During that time, I met my now boyfriend and fellow thrill-seeker, Nic Stover. A Colorado transplant who loved to climb mountains, ski, mountain-bike, and who was looking to get into Adventure Racing himself. We hit it off right away. To our good fortune, Nic was a natural-born leader and had an uncanny gift for navigation, which was our team weakness, and critical to the sport. Nic's outgoing spirit and ability to keep things fun made him fit quite well into our group. So after prepping for several months and attending local orienteering meets to learn the basics of navigation, Nic, I and our friend, Jim Cooper headed to Moab. This time - no DNF! We were going make all those checkpoints, even it killed us!
THE DAY BEFORE:
Man, we were organized. But it felt good to go through, go through and go through again...all our gear, our transition strategies and plan of attack. We had practically no experience in this sort of racing. We had practiced a few long training days with multiple disciplines and transition practice. And Nic had even printed up some maps in the local area with simulated checkpoints, so we could practice our orienteering. But going over it that one last time - it just soothed the jitters. Jim and his girlfriend, Rhonda, met us in Moab the day before. This was the tailend of their two week road trip through Lake Havisu. Jim was relaxed but fired up. And he was way too tan for March! Rhonda was a saint, keeping us laughing with her unique and often campy humor and pampering us with leg massages and assisting at all the transitions. Brad Acker had come along with us strictly as a support person. And let me tell you, when it comes to setup and organization, he be da man! If you ever need a go-to guy? Brad's it. As an Idaho Search and Rescue member, not only did he help prepare us in Boise by setting up rope practices off Table Rock and Black Cliffs, but he got us a place to stay in Salt Lake City en route, helped us with all our bike and boat setup... AND breakdown at each transition, and most importantly...had cold 'Olys' for us at the finish line! We love you, man!
RACE START/ FIRST SECTION - 18 mile paddle on the Colorado River.
For some odd reason, I felt really calm at the start. We had prepped so well, that it just seemed like another big workout day. Plus, I guess I have learned to tune out everyone else at race starts over the last few years, knowing I can easily get over-charged. Nic and Coop were antsy but ready. And then we got a nice surprise! Our friend, Eric Simon came out early that Saturday morning to see us start! He had been camping in the area, and had made the extra effort to get up early and see us off. That gave us the extra motivation we needed. Thanks Eric! So the plan was....to put me into my kayak, give me a shove off and then the two guys would catch up. It sounded like a simple plan. So when the gun went off, I jumped into my boat and started paddling like crazy! I felt strong, and was moving well, getting past other racers who were bottle-necked at the start. But then I looked back. Where were the guys?! In the madness of the race start, they had a small problem with getting their spray skirts on. But after struggling for several minutes, they were finally on the move. Oh well. That would all get better with practice. I finally heard the familiar "On, On!" call ( our running group's mantra ) behind me. They were in the water and closing in fast! Hooray! We were all together and on our way. The paddle section took us a little over three hours. And it was F.L.A.T flat! And it was a slow-moving course. But despite this, and the little paddle practice we had, we did fairly well. Nic had worked out a cool tow system so that we could paddle together at the same pace, and take turns taking lead while the others got food and... 'relieved' themselves. This proved to be a much easier task for the men than for me. And they made quite an impression on the other teams with their 'fountain- technique' over the side of the kayak. Me? I was just going to have to hold it till we got out.
THE BIKE - 35 MILES ON MOUNTAIN BIKES - split up into 2 sections.
Okay, let's just put it out there right away: This girl needed a new pair of legs! We jammed through the post-paddle transition and jumped on the bikes. We were 'pumped', despite Coop and his long legs having difficulty un-wedging himself from the kayak after three hours of immobility - ouch! But the kicker, was the climb they threw at us right at the beginning, AND the ever-so-thoughtfully-planned one at the end. It's Moab, folks. I am a strong girl but mountain bike legs are very different from road-biking or running legs. I was to find this out the hard way over the next few hours. Thank God, Nic ( aka McGyver ) had created another awesome tow system for the bikes because we had about 2500 feet of elevation to gain over only four miles! I am talking about sections that had 10-12% grades and had us tilting our heads back to look up and see where in God's name this road was taking us! We had driven part of the course the night before, but somehow it just all looks different on your bike....than from the back of a 4x4.
So we grunted up that section with persistance. Nic and Coop each took turns towing me some. And I struggled on my own at times. Some sections were so steep that I had to get off and push my bike. And sometimes, I was traveling just about as fast this way! We got to see Brad and Rhonda at the mid-way transition. What a highlight and mood-booster! They had all of our clothes laid out, and our food ready. Brad was barking out the gear list items to make sure we had all that was required for the next section - which now included our harness and trail shoes because next... came the fun part!
ROPES SECTION - 250' rappel at Gemini Arches
We were re-energized coming off the midway bike transition, flying down the ever-so-needed downhill. But we still managed to miss a turn somehow! Nic, our navigator, had been 'on' all day. The maps were coordinated the night before with ease, and we knew the route. But one still slipped by us somehow as we were enjoying that screaming fast downhill. But Nic got us out of it, finding a way back to the needed checkpoint and onward to the ropes section. And that's just part of what Adventure Racing is all about - problem-solving. And despite the small time setback, it proved that Nic was our guy when it comes to course guidance. Not just because he can read a map well, but because he can come up with a plan and get us out of a jam readily and with confidence. Which I think is critically important in this type of racing. And something you never get to practice ( or want to! ) ahead if time in training.
We arrived at the rappel, which turned out to be a 250' cliff wall that faced Gemini Arches - an amazing natural red rock formation. Nice! I was a bit jittery...but feeling okay overall. I trusted the equipment, but had only rappeled three other times EVER before this race - and all less than fifty feet! So in my head I kept telling myself, " It's the same thing, Jen....just times 5!". Doh! Nic went first, over the top without hesitation. I was next. Yikes! I tied in as practiced and looked down. But just once. My throat constricted a bit. For the rest of the two minutes it took me to get down, I looked at the wall in front of me. The rope was heavy due to its length and took some effort on my part to feed it through my rappel device. But I got myself down and surprisingly, in less time than I had anticipated! Then Coop was up. This was easy stuff for a Search and Rescue man! As I watched and waited for Coop to get down, I quickly packed Nic's and my helmet and harness into our backpacks while he belayed Coop down. The trail run was next.
THE RUN: 10k trail.
The run was actually no surprise. We simply had to get back up to our bikes....which were conveniently located way up on top of those cliffs we just so effortlessly rappeled down! Great. We started off at a decent clip, passing shocked teams who were still hammered from the first mountain-bike climb. But then my legs started to cramp. Didn't I work out this issue in my triathlon training last season?! But today, in the frenzy of the start, I had forgotten to take my salt tabs on the paddle section. Plus I had to race with a different electrolyte drink this race, as I had absent-mindedly left my regular mix at home - rookie mistake! So, this foreign combination didn't settle well in my stomach, leading me to not drink as much as I should have by this point. And as any athlete can tell you, dehydration is really hard to chase. So we ran / hiked the 6.5 miles back up to our bikes as best we could, taking advantage of the downhills when they came. But even in the heat, we were able to complete the section in 1 hour and 3 minutes! Which was fine by us, considering everything that led up to that point. Hey, maybe were doing okay afterall!
THE FINAL MOUNTAIN BIKE SECTION TO THE END!
Man, we were sooooo ready for this! I never thought I'd be happy to get back ON that bike. But I was. This last section started out with a fantastic, crazy downhill with jaw-dropping views of the mountains. It was also pitted with occasional sandtraps which grabbed at my tires a few times and almost had me down in the dirt. I kept thinking,"we are almost done! How much worse can it possibly be?". Then I looked out in the distance. There it was, right at the end - another hill. Not just a little 'bump' but another blasted huge CLIMB! And it was another 10% grader...which although shorter than the first, was a B**ch at 7.5 hours into racing! My quads were fried. Coop was starting to burn out, realizing that paddling for three hours? ..even if only using your upper body pretty much? ..has an exponetial exhaustive effect on you. Then there was Nic. All I have to say is....
The man is possessed when it comes to mountain-biking.
He's not human.
He's a demon.
I am sure of it.
We looked up at that final climb and all of us softly muttered the "F" word. Then Nic barked back to me, "get on! We're doin' it!" meaning he wanted me to grab hold of the tow system on his bike ( a long piece of surgical tubing threaded through a light-weight PVC pipe and attached under a bike seat ) ....and tow me up the hill! I suddenly found some more of my quads at that moment, that I thought were gone for the day. And off we went. Audibly grunting and heaving, hunched over our bars....Coop behind us...digging deep within his own body for that last piece of....of anything! At one point I was barely spinning my tires. It was THAT hard for me. And thinking of the effort Nic was experiencing pulling ME as well as himself.....I yelled up to him,"maybe I should drop off for a bit and walk some of this section??". The next moment was kinda like a slow-motion scene from the Exorcist....you know, that bedroom scene where the little girls head is spinning around and that demonic voice comes out of her body and says, "Geeeeet Ouuut!!" ....? Well, that was Nic. Except the phrase was this seemingly slow-motion, warped, demonic response of, "Noooooooo, Staaaaaay Onnnnnn!!".
I was staying on.
And we did it. Up and over and racing down that last downhill to the finish.....aaahhh the Finish - eight hours and 30 minutes later. And we hit all the checkpoints and were still in the competative class. Nice.
THE AFTER-AFFECTS
Relief.
Burnout.
Adrenaline.
Exhaustion.
Pride.
Some disappointment. Yah, it was there, too. We are all somewhat perfectionists. We were aiming to finish under 8 hours. But we were happy overall, and were laughing and had cold beers in our hands! Good stuff!
Motivation. It wasn't even an hour post-race that we were brainstorming on how to make the next race in Breckenridge even better! We were hooked. It was something about pushing your limits, and then realizing that you can push them even further if you make some changes and gain some insight. I can't even really fully describe it.
But it's definately what makes me feel like I am living my life....in a very large way.
Cheers.
Jen.