Getting in to gear

I have started researching adventure racing and related disciplines, and what exists blows me away. The more you research, read and talk to people, the more you realise that there is a massive culture of very fit people out there.

A prime example is this morning on the way to kayaking training. I’m not generally out on the streets at 5.15am, so was amazed by the number of cyclists on the road. And I’m not talking about the casual Saturday peddler, but the serious, hard core, fully kitted enthusiast.

And that’s just road cycling. The mountain biking scene is astounding. From what I can ascertain so far, there is downhill, long distance, relays, and cycle-gaining just to name some. I have an appreciation of the organisation involved in setting and organising any sort of event so the list of races I have stumbled on is astounding.

All of this investigation is not helping my fitness situation. I am struggling on the running and hate any sort of uphill riding with a passion.

I’m not at the stage (or discipline level) yet whereby I am willing to attack my aerobic levels myself. I am displaying that all too common skill of finding every plausible excuse to not take myself off for that jog or bike ride.

I am trying to tackle this challenge by obligating myself to as much physical activity as possible that involves others. I won’t let people down, unless completely unavoidable, so when I agree to get up early, catch up after work or meet at lunch to partake in exercise I will be there. I also practice this approach in my social endeavours, so if anyone wants to meet at the pub I won’t let you down unless completely unavoidable!

Taryn and I are currently midway through a week long adventure race training course, and I am loving everything we tackle. I am getting excited about our first real race on the 23rd of August, which is part of the Teva series.

Taryn and I had a discussion last night about our individual goals and what we hope to achieve out of racing, and as usual we were on a pretty similar page. As our skills improve we may take on a more competitive edge, but our initial goal is not to come in a specify place, but just to c…… finish.

M

a decision

I've decided to train for an adventure race.

About a month ago I was checking my emails. A newsletter for an outdoor retailer came through and at the end was an ad for GeoQuest.

I can't say exactly why it caught my attention, but it did so I clicked through and had a look at the website. In a very bizarre/fateful/impulsive/dumb moment I decided that competing in next year's race was the challenge I needed.

Since April I had lost the drive to stick with my training, so I was looking for something that would inspire and motivate me to keep working harder. This was it.

Two nights later I was out for drinks with Melissa and I mentioned my plan. She was keen and we started making plans; we were so excited. Melissa has rogained in the past and had wanted to do something like this for some time.

GeoQuest has a half-distance race that involves two legs of mixed disciplines, like trekking, rogaining, mountain biking, kayaking, estuary swimming etc. You need a team of 4, plus a support driver.

I need to learn a few important things, like how to mountain-bike (in fact, I need to buy a mountain bike and get used to wearing a helmet and having scary hair every time I remove it!), but I'll get there.

We've set an interim goal of competing in some smaller events in August and have planned regular sessions to build fitness and skills.

I'm so excited about it, but kind of overwhelmed by the size of the goal. What keeps me excited is how amazing it will be to look back over the year, at all the new things I will have introduced to my life.

taryn