I am.....Bat Girl.

So Dave and I have a reputation amongst the folks who run the Pangea Adventure Races. As the fastest team? Uh, no. Most efficient? Not likely. Friendliest? I'd like to think so, but not what I'm getting at. We, as the Out of Steam Punks, are known as being the Team most likely to ham it up for the Team Photos. I have no idea why we would have that reputation.

So. yeah.

The Superhero AR was last weekend. All I can say is, thank goodness we have a nine year old son at home.

Ya know Bat Girl's alter ego is a Librarian, right? 

In my opinion, it was an extremely competitive, fast race. We ended up in 11th place out of 45 teams. Without a doubt it was our best race in terms of personal speed. We ran, ok...jogged, the entire Trek portion for the first time ever and were way stronger on the paddle than we ever have been before. I seriously credit that to the Crossfit-style workouts we've been doing all summer. The bike was the bike. I didn't feel slow, but I don't think I was any faster than I had been in the past. It just goes to prove how every race is different, from the challenges of the course itself, to the competition. Without a doubt had we performed at other races this year the way we did Saturday I know we would have top three-ed. (yes, that's a word) But that's what makes the ARs so fun, they are always different and it's not always the most fit or the smartest that win in the end. 

Which brings us to our latest conundrum. When we first started doing the ARs we felt so incredibly outclassed in terms of speed/fitness in relation to the other teams. Any success we had was met with elation and incredulousness. Now, well...we want to top three. And can actually see it happening if we keep working on our speed. We actually had a faster Trek (foot) time than any of the teams that beat us. But they all gained a few minutes on us during the canoe and bike. We lost some precious minutes during the canoe portion when another team crashed into us and made us tip over. Not really their fault, well kinda...but not really. It was an extremely narrow portion of the river and the current was strong..and well, rubbing is racing my friends. The dip was very refreshing, I can tell you that.

This would be pre-crash...in the area where I am pretty sure we heard banjo music playing.

 On the bike portion we did lose a few minutes to a couple of quickly caught navigational errors. That's not a dig on Dave. He's the bomb-diggety with the map and we wouldn't have 1/10 of the success we have had if he wasn't the one holding the map. 

But about that conundrum...when we first started we didn't care how we placed, it was all about just having fun. Which it still is, mostly. But it's also a little about trying to place as high as we can now, too. I guess what I am saying is that we care now. And sometimes it kinda sucks to care because then you actually have expectations. Which can result in disappointment when those expectations are not met. Which even though we haven't really admitted it to each other, I know we felt just a little disappointed with just finishing 11th on Saturday. 

That said, we are still crazy proud of each other and all of the physical gains (or losses as the case may be) we've made in the past year. And the slight disappointment or doubt wasn't anything a couple of beers couldn't chase away.

That's healthy, right?