The 24 hr challenge

We pulled out of the race some 10 hours in. By the time we'd called it I was convinced I was never going to be able to achieve 24 hours.


Since then I've had time to digest the experience, as demonstrated by the long-awaited publishing of this blog entry, and to reassess my thinking.

When deciding to give the 24 hour Adventuregaine a go I never really gave full consideration to what was involved. The closest we have achieved is 5 ½ hrs in a Teva race, so not quite comparable.

I went in to the race with my usual embarrassing lack of training. This was due in part to a 5 week niggling bout of tonsillitis which I thought I'd kicked just prior to the race.

The extent of my preparation involved getting my gear out and packed 4 days prior, which really is quite impressive for me. I also quit my minimal intake of caffeine over a week out and happily loaded up on carbs the day prior. Note lack of actual physical training mention here.

On the morning of the race I was little nervous, but also excited. The excitement turned to fear and the adrenalin started building as the race start got nearer, particularly when organiser Liam mentioned the race starting with a large and unpleasant hill in his pre-race briefing.

The race

The first leg was on bikes, and we commenced the hellish goat track climb within a few minutes of setting off. The one (and only) benefit to this ride was an enjoyable downhill to the first transition and trek leg.

After the trek we were back on the bikes for road and track ride. We reached the kayak transition at around 4.30pm where we stopped briefly to refuel. Paddling started at the base of Wivenhoe Dam and included a 10km trip down the Brisbane River. We were able get in around an hour of daylight, before the banks all but disappeared in to a sea of darkness, save the moonlight and occasional house or camp light.

The night started to chill down while we were on the river, and by the end of the leg I knew the tonsillitis was fighting its way back.

We got in to our warm clothing and topped up on food before heading off on the next cycle leg. As we set off I was starting to get worried about my ability to continue and in hindsight I should have reassessed this at the transition.

Around 6km down the road I was starting to really flag. We came across Liam driving back from the next check point and after a quick discussion made the decision to pull out. There was really no way out of the course if we had continued on, but at that point we still had the opportunity to back track to the last transition and grab a ride back to HQ with the guys from Blackheart Adventure Racing.

We competed for around 10 hours, which is nothing to be ashamed about!

Maps – don't be fooled

The course was hard. The big map, which all bike legs were on, had topography lines of 35 metres. So decent elevations could easily end up not translating on to the map.

I discovered this when we rode a ridge line parallel to Wivenhoe Dam. I naively made the comment at the start that it should be relatively flat. I was so wrong. There were tough climbs in there that just didn't show up on the map. They involved a lot of pushing bikes up inclines, cursing and general unhappiness. However I felt vindicated about my behaviour when a couple of the top teams passed us on this section, as they were even pushing their bikes up the hill (note - faster than us) and commenting about 'this not being on the map'.

navigation

There was a lot of room for improvement in our navigation as on trek leg as we made a few errors that could easily have been avoided if we were on the ball a little more. I love the strategy around navigation and am still amazed at how much information can be found on a map. There are so many elements to look at, such as the lay of the land, tracks, directions, human structures etc.

There was a later section on the kayak leg where we demonstrated some savvier nav skills. We were able to work out roughly where we were on a rather long and unassuming section of the Brisbane River after dark by using house lights on top of the bank of the river and relating them to the tiny black dots representing 'structures' on the map.

I want to hone in my nav skills by making more of an effort to participate in to a couple of longer rogaines this year. For me, a 12 hour race would involve trekking rather than running, so you get more of a chance to take in your surrounds, appreciate the bush and prevent run-ins with spider webs. We live in such an amazing country, and living in the city you really tend to forget what's out there.

The joys of nature

I've always had a fear of spiders. As an example I will opt to go without bathing should an eight legged critter be in or near the shower. I'm so intimidated I can't even get close enough to relocate them should one threaten my happy existence.

When I lived alone my greatest fear above all else was to have to deal with a one. For some unexplained reason they really freak me out.

So the notion that I quite happily take off through the bush without any contact with the outside world save a pealess $2 whistle, and nothing more than a plastic A4 map holder for safety, is somewhat hard to explain.

I am very conscious that they are out there, but I somehow lock the thought away the majority of the time. However if I happen to walk in to a spider's web my female instinct kicks in and my reaction is very stereotypical. It involves a high pitched scream, a lightning quick retraction, and mad-person arm waving and leg flying. It happened a few times during the race so I hope it provided entertainment for Taryn.

She on the other hand had a nervous moment relating to some brown cows we came across on a bike leg. Some would think her fear is slightly more justified as an unhappy cow could probably do more harm than a small spider.

And so we continue…

I am keen to try another longer race, with more preparation of course!

We are talking about doing the 24 hour Fairy Bells race (the reduced Geocentric Hells Bells course) in October. We volunteered for this last time and agree that it should be achievable.

It's great to look back and see how far we've come in a fairly short space of time. I was really intimidated in our initial races as our fellow competitors looked so confident and experienced, which in hindsight was not necessarily the case. I look around now and realise that we can hold our own. We have some good skills behind us and don't look so amateurish – or clueless – any more.

We are still relative newcomers to the sport, however I think that through our enthusiasm and willingness to learn, we are starting to tackle the adventures with some solid knowledge behind us.

M

Bike, trek, bike, kayak, bike, trek, bike, kayak

The genesis for me, for this adventure racing lark was the decision to have a go at the GeoQuest 48 hour (well, the GeoHalf to be precise) and as part of our strategy to get there, we knew we would have to build up to the longer races. This weekend, Mel and I had a go at our first 24 hour gig, The Rogue Adventuregaine, to see if we could do it.

Unfortunately we weren't able to complete it and we withdrew after 10 hours. But 10 hours is a mighty feat! That is almost double the amount of racing time of past races. And this was a seriously tough race.

The race rolled through a sequence of nine legs that I thought had a nice cadence all of their own - bike, trek, bike, kayak, bike, trek, bike, kayak, bike.

The first leg of the race was on bike and took us up what seemed to be an almost perpendicular incline. Pushing our bikes uphill, trying desperately to find purchase for our feet in the loose scree, we burned off the adrenalin early.

It kicked in again for me when we came across three cows barring the track. They looked kinda mean - one in particular looked as stubborn as a three year old. So, I chickened out and, as Mel rolled her eyes at me, we lifted our bikes and ourselves over yet another barbed wire fence.

Running into animals of all sorts was a real risk on the race. The legendary size of some of the spiders that we narrowly avoided would make an Irwin gawp and, at the inital race briefing, we were told to be on the watch for wild pigs (apparently the only escape is to climb a strong, tall tree).

We had so much fun on the race. For all of the uphill on the race, I got a kick out of some of the wicked downhills that followed and Mel enthused about the trekking part, relishing the rogaining challenge. I was amused at our kayaking technique that saw Mel calling out 'two left' multiple times to keep us on course, as our craft seemed to have an aversion to going straight.

Nutrition was a key part of this race and we took a lot of food. Even so, watching what other teams had packed gave us some great tips for next time. In our boxes, which we could access at transition areas, we had packed peanut butter sandwiches, baked beans, rice desserts, sultanas, bananas, savoury nut mix, biscuit bars and chocolate. That seemed like plenty, but when we sat down to eat at night and saw teams with delicious-smelling pasta dishes - huge portions of it too! - it made us think differently about what to pack next time.

We also carried gels with us, though we didn't have them as regularly as we would on shorter races, trying to save them for later in the race when we might need the boost more. Although it was my idea, I now doubt the wisdom of it. I've since read more about the usefulness of caffine and some nutrition strategies for long races. Maybe having my gels more often would have lifted me at key points in the race.

I noticed my mental and emotional states shift in direct relation to my hunger and tiredness. It may have driven Mel nuts, but I would share every shift with her. My thinking was that as a team, we needed to keep communicating about how we were feeling and coping.

I hit an emotional funk as we were on the kayak. It was dark and I was wet. We had picked up the last control of that leg and were heading to transition. Another team was keeping pace with us and the two guys seemed in high spirits. They were singing loudly, songs from Rocky Horror Picture Show. I wanted so much to get into the spirit of it, but I just needed to eat something. I had food in my pack, which I could have pulled out, but that would have meant slowing as I stopped paddling and we would have lost our serenading neighbours and the bit of brightness their voices lent us. It seems all quite dramatic, but tired, wet and hungry makes for a dramatic mix. Next time, I will try to remember that a little loss of pace is preferrable to feeling low.

The kayak leg was challenging, but it was beautiful scenery. As night fell we turned our lights on, only to later switch them off when we realised the light from the moon was more than enough in the open water. We used them then, only to search the banks for controls as we approached the likely locations. We passed a number of camp sites along the way and were teased by the smell of bar-b-ques and the thought of a cold beer - or a warm cup of tea.

As soon as we stepped out of the kayak and were no longer sweeping our arms through a paddle, the cold kicked in. I couldn't think of where to start as we reached our boxes at transition. Eventually, I pulled it together and got into dry, warm clothes and ate some food. We took our time at this transition and when we finally climbed back on the bikes and hit the track, I felt like a new woman. We were almost half way through and we were dry. Unfortunately, the cold night air got the better of Mel, who had not been well leading into the race and so she chose to stop when we came across one of the race organisers.

I had the option to find another team to finish the race with, but that didn't seem right. Mel and I went into it together and although I was disappointed to not be making it to the end, it wouldn't be the same success to cross the line without my team mate. I had no qualms about pulling out in favour of protecting the health of the team. There will be other races.

We caught a lift back with Amanda and Matt, the owners of BlackHeart Events. We had plenty of time to chat with them as they hauled the biggest, reddest, heaviest trailer along the hilly, winding road that threads through Brisbane Forest Park. Given the size and weight of the thing, we made good time. Mel and I got a good insight into the behind-the-scenes workings of race event organisation and all credit has to go to Liam from QRA and the guys from BlackHeart and other organisers like Geocentric and In 2 Adventure, for the time and effort they put in to all of these events. The volunteers also need a mention. Wayne Benton, who we met through the Intro2AR course, was one of the many officials we came across as they manned transition areas and offered encouragement to all the teams.

All in all, it was a great experience another learning curve in our foray into adventure racing. I was quietly proud to notice that my stamina and recovery seem good and I have already told my trainer that I want to work on my speed. I learned how I can improve my nutrition and how I deal with physical, emotional and mental pressures. And on a practical level, I will need to get myself a pair of proper trail shoes and cleats and shoes for the bike - I know it will make a huge difference to my race.

Perhaps the 48 hour GeoHalf is going to be too tough to achieve this year, but it's still on my list of goals. Mel has spied a 12 hour Rogaine that may be our next challenge and we're both keen to have another shot at a 24 hour race with this year's Hells Bells/Fairy Bells - we'll do the Fairy Bells, thank you.

 

t

Getting some rapid action

Has it really been two weeks since the Easter long weekend? Perhaps I've been having too much fun! More likely, it's that the weekend was so awesome that the memories are still so vivid - surely not already a fortnight old.

Andy and Miriam at Phoenix Adventure organised a fab camping trip for the Easter break, down at Nymboida Canoe Centre, which is south west of Grafton. Mel, Candice, Jenaya, Clarissa and I joined in the fun with the dozen or so other adventure racing fiends, for a weekend of rapids action on the Nymboida River.

The camp ground was gorgeous. We pitched our tents right beside the water, going to sleep each night to the burble of the river. Not everyone slept so peacefully. Some were kept awake by the 'burble' of a fitfully snoring neighbour.

During the day, people donned helmets, thermals, life vests and shoes before taking up their toy of choice - kayak or tyre tube - and trying their luck on the rapids. I could have spent all day watching the braver souls in the group hurtle down the rapids with nothing but air and rubber between their backsides and some enormous and very stubborn rocks.

On Sunday morning, I was coaxed and cajouled by the girls into having a go. Walking up to the top of rapids with my tube, the nerves had locked an awkward, rigid smile on my face. I should not have been so worried. If the past 10 months has taught me nothing else, it has taught me that the things we are afraid of are rarely so scary when we tackle them. I had a great time on the rapids and escaped mostly unharmed.

Even so, I am no natural on the tyre tube. I think the fact that the only photo of me on the rapids is one of my foot in the air (while the rest of me is most definitely submerged), is testament to my lack of grace.

I had one scary moment as I came off the tyre on a big rapid and lost my shoe. I felt myself caught between the two opposing surges of water, which were effectively forcing me down. The more I struggled, the more I was caught. The calm faces of Candice and Jenaya relaxed me enough to let the natural flow of the water push me out of the vortex and recover my shoe. I was so relieved. Mind you, I came so close to a waterborne Cinderella story...maybe I should have let the shoe go.

The kayakers in the group were, in my opinion, the most brave. I'll have to let the photos speak for it though, because I was not confident enough to get in one and test my bravery a second time. I think I'll stick to kayaking on flat water.

It wasn't just kayaking and tubing. Andy organised a bike ride and a trail run. The ride was dusty and hilly and great fun. And the run, well, as I explained when questioned about the run, I was only there to bring up the rear and make sure there were no stragglers (hehe). We also enjoyed dinner at Russell Crowe's place on Saturday night.

I had an absolute blast all weekend. The perfect camping trip, in my opinion.

t

Back in the saddle

The team got back together for the first race of the Mountain Designs Adventure Race Australia series on 28 March. Candice, Mel and I haven't raced together since Teva Champs and it was great to be back at it.

The event was held in the Noosa hinterland and the scenery was spectacular. In one section of the trail, we rode across a creek that was shaded by a full canopy of leaves and had the remains of an old wooden bridge. It looked like some forgotten glade from a fairytale - well, that was the fleeting thought I had for the all-of-three-seconds that it took to sail through on my bike after letting go of the brakes on the wicked downhill that lead to the creek.

We competed in the Raw course, out of respect for our various injuries (past and present). I was delighted to get through it uninjured and feeling like I could have done double the distance. The navigation was easy and we had a canoe leg that put Mel's dragonboating experience to good use.

At the beginning of the month I had done Phoenix Adventure's navigation workshop, to get a better handle on that aspect of adventure racing. It made a difference because just looking at the map I could make more sense of the terrain, more quickly than I had been able to before.

The race was great fun and we caught up with all the usual suspects, as well as meeting plenty of new faces, all just as keen on adventure racing as we are.

We finished the race in good spirits and good time, and took the opportunity to get away early. It wasn't until the middle of the next week that Candice excitedly emailed Mel and I to share the amazing news that team An Adventure Beyond had won the female Raw category. What a buzz!

t

Twist, Rip and Glide....

It’s time to add another feather to my new-found activities cap, this time Dragon Boat racing. I hear you, it’s slightly unrelated to adventure racing as the chances an oversized 20 man raft being included in a race are pretty slim, but it is a waterborne activity.

I knew about Dragon Boat racing and had done my usual ‘I’d love to give that a go’ spiel. This was followed up with my usual ‘full of good ideas, lacking in action’ style. Hence I hadn’t quite gotten there.

The opportunity was recently provided to me courtesy of an old workplace and their decision to field a team in a Chinese New Year corporate dragon boat racing regatta at Southbank.

Team ‘Twist, Rip and Glide’, aka TRG, was born from a mottled crew of mixed males and female colleagues. We’d been bought together by our illustrious coach and team captain, Mark/the man with the big voice/‘Skins’, a lad who is unwaveringly passionate about his chosen sport.

The training
It all started off with 5 training sessions at the Brisbane River Dragons headquarters near Bulimba.

There is a certain technique required which translates to the power of your stroke. You need to twist over to get the paddle in to the water, then pull through by sitting upright, which in essence is all about your side core muscles and not arms.

With the technique down pat, the success of the team is all down to timing. A team should be paddling in perfect unison and this is achieved by watching a teammate diagonally in front of you and emulating their stroke. You don’t look at the water, you don’t look at your competition, and you certainly don’t check out a hot guy on the bank. You need to watch your teammate like a hawk, to a point where in any other circumstance it would be considered stalking.

There’s a system that is used whereby you start with 6 big powerful strokes, before ramping up the rate for 15 strokes to really get the boat moving, before settling in to slower powerful hits.

If the team is working well (aka in perfect unison whilst demonstrating a beautiful twist and rip), then you don’t need to paddle like the clappers. Some boats were only paddling at half the speed of other teams, yet were out in front. As Mark explained, a slower rate with a full buried blade, a big sit up and spot-on timing can bring home the trophy.

Off and racing!
The regatta was a lot of fun and proved to be a fantastic team building exercise. There was a lot of high-fiving, back patting and general fond words being shared throughout the day. Taryn was our official team photographer and we had a good cheer squad to back us up.

The races were 250m long (which is fairly short), and I can only relate them to a theme park ride. There seems to be a long lead up with stretches, waiting in the marshalling area, getting in to lifejackets and boats and sorting out the start line – a bit like standing in a slow moving line for the fastest roller coaster in the park. Then all of the sudden the starter horn blows, there is an explosion of paddles, noise and adrenalin, and the race is over and done with in a minute.

We competed in 4 races and came 2nd overall, only to be beaten by a (dragon) nose and around .5 of a second. The photo demonstrates how close the race was! It turns out we exceeded Captain Mark’s expectations, and probably our own.

I’m keen to keep on going with this sport. Aside from the usual physical benefits, it’s fun, being out on the water is enjoyable and it seems to be pretty social as well – which we all know I’m all for!

M

When nobblies become slicks

Tre-X Endurance was two weeks ago now and that seems like a lifetime. But looking at images and video of the event brings it all back.

The day was wet, which we were told is typical of the endurance race. I'd never ridden in wet and muddy conditions, so I was wary about the conditions. Even so, I chose to not do a practice lap before the start of the race. Retrospectively, I think that was a good idea-it would have spooked me!


Going into the race I had a simple goal. I wanted to come out of the swim feeling stronger than last time. I certainly did that. In fact, I felt stronger through the whole race and took time off my run. I finished without feeling fatigued and knew that all the work I'd put in with my trainer had paid off. Thanks Dayna and well done on your race and result!

My swim was exactly the same time as the last race. I really need to do my swim sessions without breaking every 50 metres, though!

My bike leg was a lot slower than the first race because of the mud and rain. It was so muddy that I had to stop two or three times to clean muck out of my tyres and brackets so my wheels would turn!!

Riding in mud is so different and with our climate and conditions, it's not something we get much practice at. My tyres had a thick coating of sticky mud on them part way through first lap of the mtb course. There was no tread to speak of and the ground was incredibly slippery. Most riders around me were walking their bikes through bad parts of the track. A few times I attempted to jog through it, but my feet were slipping around as much as my bike.

The rain came and went throughout the race and by the time I was on my second lap of the mtb course it seemed to have diluted the top layer of mud enough that it was no longer so sticky. I was able to stay on my bike a lot more on that lap and did a quicker time.

I felt so good the whole race and remember smiling and laughing a lot. I couldn't have been much happier when I crossed the finish line.


The guys from Phoenix Adventure were there, always smiling, helping out with advice and race tips and letting me crash their tent-a blessing given the weather! Thanks Andy, Miriam, Katherine, Shane, Alannah, Clarissa and Co and congratulations on your results!

There are so many events coming up, it's hard to keep track. I'll post a list of them soon, with links to the websites.

t

Whose silly idea was it?

Back when we registered for LunarC a couple of months ago it seemed like such a fun idea.

Sitting in (the back of) the starting line up, the idea did not seem so good any more, rather it seemed like a foolish, stupid, idiotic mistake.

People had talked to me about lights, particularly the magnificent Ayup lights. But at $300-400 a piece I wasn’t rushing out to buy one. I didn’t realise that the reason they were so focused on lights was because they are actually really important in a race run in the dark.

Funnily enough you really do want to see where you’re going, particularly when it the road is actually a narrow dirt potted track lined with trees and containing the occasional log or other obstacle. Shame.

I was woefully unprepared both mentally and physically. I knew there were hills, but I had some romantic notion that downhills leading in to some of them would propel me most of the way up - ha. The hills were horrible and I got to a stage where I didn’t even going to bother tackling them. Once I ran out of puff, instead of grinding and moaning and gasping for breath spinning like mad in granny gear, I just got off and started walking.

And as for the few hills that had a downhill lead up – I was too scared to let go of the brakes on the rutted way down, so the little momentum I had got me, if lucky, a huge 5 metres up the other side!

My first proper lap was horrid. I had never been in a race situation where you start as one big mob of riders, and the experience spooked me. I accidentally ran my bike in to a rut somewhere in the third kilometre and went over the handlebars. It wasn’t a bad stack and didn’t really hurt, even though I now possess a bruise on my leg the size of a saucer (great war wound), but it certainly knocked any confidence I had.

Also unbeknown to me at that minute, the stack had jammed my right gear leaver up so soon after I found myself stuck in 7th gear with no way down.

In my darkest moment pulled over beside the track, while trying to calm my adrenalin and scratching my head in wonderment about my sticky mechanical situation, who should show up but my trusty partner in crime, Taryn.

As usual her calm demeanour was a godsend and she helped me put the whole thing in to perspective. So we scratched our heads in wonderment in unison about my sticky mechanical situation. We poked and prodded the gears, chains and all moveable things related to my back derailer before deciding we had no f*@king idea.

So the decision was made to push on and Taryn moved ahead to ride her own race. About a kilometre later I came across the first checkpoint. A guy there had a look at the bike but was unable to help. By this stage was really hoping that the problem was unsolvable so when I got back to HQ I’d be able to pull out completely.

After this checkpoint the track got a little flatter so with the pack well ahead of me I was able start riding at a pace more suited to my skills and sticky gear situation.

I made it back HQ and went straight to the mechanics. Unfortunately the very pleasant chap had my lever fixed in seconds, so I had no excuse not to continue. I had actually started to find my form in the second half of the track and after a few words of encouragement from Taryn and the fabulous Coach Jeff I set off for my second lap.

The traffic had thinned out and I was getting use to letting faster riders past and navigating in poor lighting. Ignoring the hills, I actually started enjoying myself.

I got through 4 laps during the race, and when adding the practice lap on arrival I rode 50km that night. An effort not to be shunned, and a figure to improve on for the next night race.

M