Here is a race report from the same race but in Portland, OR. They are all a little bit different but this will give you an idea of how the race directors minds work:
Well, there it was: The 3rd Adventure Race in my Log Book and 2nd time at the BB Sprint at Haag Lake. I knew after last years Race, that I want to do it again!
Besides the need to stack up on free Balance Bars, I now had improved my overall fitness level, shed some pounds, and were ready to get a team together.
Due to travel plan changes, my fellow training buddy Ellen was able to join and race as Team Next Adventure again. The search for Team mate #3 was a stab in the dark as we had to look online to find a match for us.
Not being a strong believer in online dating, I must say, we hit the jackpot with our choice: After we described our goals and fitness levels as honest as possible, the chosen candidate was Erika, a 34 fitness instructor with (4!) kids from Washington.
Frankly, I was hoping for a male team mate knowing that we needed some strong arms to pull and push us through the course. But Erika, despite her heights (I was the tallest with 5.4ft), made up for the small gender difference with incredible strength, determination, and team spirit! Who needs men? Go girls!
We only had a few hours to get to know each other but the chemistry worked well from the first moment on. We discussed goals after Erika arrived on Friday night and Ellen and I repeatedly reiterated to her that there was not the slightest chance of a podium spot, so she would not put up her hopes, right?
We headed out to Haag Lake early on Saturday to join some of the race clinics and to tryout our settings during the kayaking leg, while the sun was burning at about 100s degrees. The heat made us realize that we were fortunate for having a night race.
This Race proved again that no matter how many races you did and how much assumptions you make, chances are, the course order will be different.
We would have bet that the race organizer does noto let us paddle or bike in the dark to keep us out of trouble, but hey! This is an Adventure Race, right?
The race started in stages. (They probably did not want to have the Elite teams stumbling over the amateurs.) Soon after first group took off, the announcer kept us posted of who took the lead after the first -Special test-. Little did we know that their -special test-, was not the same as ours.
Our group started 10 minutes later with the - Easiest - part first: Running (wrong assumption #1). Even though I do not particularly like to run, I trained in steady pace and besides mental doubts of necessity; manage to run of up to 11 Miles on good days. Only, that this was not one of them.
Somehow the organizer talked a property owner into permitting him to carve out a new trail through hills we did not even know existed around Haag Lake.
After a short run through familiar terrain, the trail took on a different look and we trekked up hill, through slopes, and bushes, forting, and scrambling. Suddenly, we heard shouting and expected to reach the anticipated special test.
Since we were the last group to depart, the occupants of this hill side had about 200 people running through their territory before we came along. Needless to say, they were quiet aggravated by now and greeted us with countless stings accompanied by unexpected pain that would not subside for the next 24 hours.
Yellow Jackets (or wasps?) are not those that ride the Tour de France, but they made sure, we left their terrain just as fast, in pain and misery. Especially to those that were unfortunate to be stung in places nobody wants to be stung at
I was lucky to get away with about 4-6 attacks to my ankle, back, and neck. But if I was mentally occupied before with speeding heart rate and breathing, I now switched to Autopilot to overcome the pain and urge to stop and pity myself for awhile.
The stings and/or the 6 hours in the heat prior to race star transformed the running section for me to the biggest challenge of all: My heart rate did not come down, I gasped for air, and I felt like boiling up from inside.
After developing goose bumps and starting to shiver, I remembered the First Aid treatment for heat exhaustion: Hydrate, Shade, Rest, und Cool Wraps.
Well, I had shade and water, but the -rest- and -cool wrap- part was out of the question, so a tow line to Erika had to do for time being. We tried the tow system before the race and it paid off to have the setting dialed in.
Erikas pulled me through more then half of the course, while I thought of Food, Gatorade, and a dip in the Lake when we get back. As we came off the trail, I was glad to see that the sun had settled behind the mountain and after a quick break to fuel up we ran towards the Kayaking leg.
Here came assumption mistake #2: Paddling is my strength! Well, forward that is - not backwards! The muscles required to rotate arms backwards exist only theoretically in my body. There was no way to paddle more then 4 strokes without resting.
I was in a single kayak and felt bad for my teammates that dragged me yet another time, but I used the rest to cool my head &; neck with water, fueled up with food, and hydrated in between every few paddle strokes.
Our boats were towed together which turned out to be very helpful. Most boats that were connected did better then those that were not.
The turn-around at the first buoy was also my personal turn around: Mentally and Physically. Finally we were allowed to paddle forward and I started to feel good.
I concentrated on even paddle strokes and followed Erika and Ellen as closely as possible to minimize the dragging effect.
The paddle went well and when we got out of the lake, we had left a few teams behind us.
The mud pit was generously light this year: One person face down first into the pit, second one crawl over and 3rd to follow, while staying in permanent body contact. And of course cameras waiting as you get out. Smile!
Now, back to transition area to get the bikes. First came a 7ft wall and a sloped wall where teams and bikes had to go over. No problem by having Erika first as the strongest, me second and Ellen last. This order worked best for us. (Mental note: Hurdles are a good place to loose gear that is not securely fastened to the bike).
We started the bike section quickly to catch as much daylight as possible, knowing riding in the dark would be much slower.
I was surprised on how well we did on the bikes at night. I was proud of my idea to have my teammates hooked up with glow sticks under their seat which enabled me to track them easily. Ellen with the best light system, rode ahead and did an awesome job of calling out curves, ups, downs, and obstacles throughout the course (you still got your voice, Ellen?)
Night rides are challenging. I did focus on avoiding crashes and bike trouble, even if it meant to walk some of the obstacles that I otherwise was able to ride during the day.
We passed many teams that got stuck on the trail, waiting for their teammates to get up from a crash or to fix the bike. Our strategy showed that slow &; steady sometimes can be better then fast &; furious.
Every so often, when we got onto the road, I was able to power through and speed a little ways until the next trail putin came up.
Back from the bike leg, we heard the announcer calling in teams and ranks, and I was glad to hear that we would not be the last team to arrive, while everybody had gone home. The lights were still on and crowed was cheering: good sign!
Knowing, we finished the last gear related discipline we were able to drop our packs and ran towards the final special tests.
We had already seen the (20ft?) cargo net hanging from the pier and I remembered my miserable struggle from last year. We swam to the net and this time I had no trouble to get up and over and plunged back into the water.
Second to last obstacle was the 12ft wall: That is defiantly one discipline in which women need men (or a tall woman that plays basket ball
Our heights did not add up to 12ft, so we needed volunteers helping us to get Erika up.
The wall clinic showed a technique on how to overcome this obstacle, but those 7ft guys wore dry shoes and therefore had traction! The trick to -walk up the wall- does not quiet work in wet shoes, but somehow we all made it.
On the way down, we heard people saying -you are the first female team to arrive- and could not believe it!
This incentive helped to face the last but not least challenge, the famous Crisco Wall: a sloped wall, covered in Grease! Our system to get Erika up first, by crawling over each other worked well, except now Ellen had to improvise for us not being tall enough to pull her up, and not having support from the ground to push.
Not being shy, she simply asked a guy from team #46 if she could -use his body to crawl over it. Sure, he said, and so she went. Try that, guys!
Last sprint to the finish line and here we were on first place in the Female Division!
4:30Hrs. (36th overall from 70 teams) What an awesome race! Thanks to Ellen and Erika!
Conclusion:
As much as I would like to believe that I improved my fitness level to account for one hour in less time over last years race, the absence of the orienteering part made even the Elite teams finishing this race 30 Minutes faster.
Except for the running, I suffered less than last year and I did not have any -I can not do that- thoughts, which crossed my mind at least twice in 2003 (Cargo Net &; 12ft wall). We also worked better as a team by having an experience racer with us, stayed together at all times, and the ability to refuel sufficiently when needed.
Our team was very lucky and did awesome and I can not think of anything that would need improvement, but to all those, that have a solid and committed team assembled:
Hang on to each other, you have a definite advantage!
Looking for a teammate at last minute does not only add stress to the uncertainty to know if you are racing or not, it also prevents the team from training together and learn about each others weaknesses and strengths. It also deprived me from developing a good race fever that is so much needed for motivation.
Some teams lost &; found their teammates 30 Minutes before race, while we were lucky to have Erika committed 2 weeks ago.
Looking forward to Balance Bar Race @ Haag Lake in 2005!
Beate
Linear Mode
