The first test - I mean race

We had our first ever adventure race on Sunday morning as part of our intro training. 6km of kayaking, 3km on foot and 20km of cycling may not be the toughest challenge ever, but to the uninitiated it was a good effort.

Our teams were picked randomly (hello team Wayne, Alana and Mel) and it turned out to be a pretty even matching. We had Taryn and her team breathing down our necks for most of the race which is a pretty good motivator to keep going.

We started with a 3km paddle upstream with a couple of controls along the way. We didn’t know it at the time, but we were paddling with the current which helped speed our leg up.
My teammate, Alana, grew up around the area we were running in so we had some great local knowledge to guide us. We collected the foot controls backwards and this decision turned out to be a godsend in relation to the hills of the area.

We were first back to the canoes and set off at a cracking pace. Unfortunately it was only at this time we realised we were against the current on the way back – not good when your upper body strength is zilch and you have already exhausted your arms on the way there. Needless to say it was a very, very, very long way back.

Alana had a mishap kayaking close to a pontoon and ended up in the water. Whilst assisting her getting the kayak righted I gave thanks to the fact it wasn’t me swimming. Unfortunately I didn’t learn by her mistake and copied her style a short while later. Therefore, just like Taryn, I got a taste (literally) of the Brisbane River and its pungent qualities.

At this stage in the race I would like to send out a huge thanks to the makers of Tupperware for providing such airtight/water tight containers. When I heard my mobile ring some time later during the mountain biking leg I knew that beautiful piece of kitchen brilliance had come through the goods and kept my phone dry! Definitely something to add to any good equipment list.

We hit the bikes with a small lead but this alternated with Taryn’s team through the suburbs. My mountain biking confidence got a little shaky as the pressure to keep up speed sent me off track a few times. Obviously something I need work on in future.

Tiredness started to kick in and a wrong turn and unobserved map features lost us valuable time. We made it back to HQ shortly after Taryn and Co, only to be given a cryptic clue and sent out on foot for one last control.

Our saving grace came in the form of the other team forgetting their control card, and while they backtracked to get it we were able to sail past (ok, it was more like a groaning, moaning putt past) and keep our lead for the final leg.

We were victorious, even if only by small margin. But it really didn’t matter who won or lost as it was all about the journey. Our fellow course members were fabulous as everybody was so welcoming and friendly, and there was a real feeling of camaraderie by the end of the week.

Many thanks to Andy for running such a fun, inspirational and beneficial course. And bring on Teva next weekend!!

Mel

Tips and tricks

I'm loving this course. The strength and agility session on Tuesday night was a useful reminder that the terrain won't be what I'm used to. We did an exercise that involved leaping in a zigzag between markers - a useful skill, we were told, for rock hopping.

Judging by my performance, I will spend a lot of the race in soggy shoes.

Trail running this morning, drove home a few things for me. The first is teamwork. Andy reminded us to keep an eye on our team mates' position and call out trail conditions to give them warning. My problem will be deciding quickly how to describe a thing so everyone else will understand it perfectly - is it a stick or a branch? A branch or a root?

The other lesson I took away from it was remembering to use my core - it becomes really important for balance on the downhill.

Tonight's session was one I had been looking forward to the most. We went abseiling at Kangaroo Point. It was fantastic!! I was a little fearful at the beginning of each descent, because as the cliff drops away out of sight your natural instinct is get back to level ground. But, deep breathing and not looking down got me over that initial feeling - and the edge.

The rest of the trip down the cliff was cruisy. It's amazing how much control you have of your speed just by tightening and loosening the grip of one hand. The session was run by Susan from Adventure Seekers. She made us feel safe and at ease very quickly. To my thinking, that's exactly what you need when you're about to fall backward off a cliff.

Navigation, kayaking, team building and mountain biking are all to come, then the race on Sunday.

t