Boar Adventure Race

* If you're looking for detail-oriented, fact-based, race reports that include pics of the maps and details about particular checkpoints (like their numbers and locations) you might want to check out the reports by  the Canyoneros or Dr. Eaglin. My reports are more in the touchy-feely, these are the-moments-I-wanted-to-kiss/choke/hug-or-murder-Dave-and/or-the-other-participants.

** All photo credits to my boyfriend Kevin Newell.

*** He's not really my boyfriend, but I made the mistake of telling Dave (and mentioning on this blog) that I think he is adorable and that is how we refer to him now.

Speaking of adorable...

The Boar took place on March 2nd at the beautiful Orlando Wetlands Park in Christmas, FL. It's a really gorgeous park, awesome for hiking or biking. For my motorcycle friends, ya know that one nice curve just past Ft Christmas Park? If you're anything like me you never noticed that there is a small side road on the right of that left hander because you're too busy trying to figure out how fast you can take it without killing yourself...or ya know just paying attention to the road. But as it turns out, that little side-road takes you back into a beautiful public recreation area. Who knew?

It was one of those Florida Winter days where when the wind laid down and the sun came out, it was warm  and lovely. But when the clouds went in front of the sun and the wind picked up, it was COLD! Being the idiot that I am I wasn't really dressed for it and was mise-ra-ble hanging out prior to the race. Yes, I am a precious, precious snowflake. Though not actually a snowflake, because a snowflake would like the cold. More like a precious, precious reptile. You see, reptiles thermoregulate, they aren't endothermic, so if it gets too cold they just start to shut down...like me. (and if you think I knew the difference between thermoregulation and endothermy before I started writing this you are very, very wrong)

Anyramble, we drew canoe first, which did not make either of us happy. But that's the way the multi-colored pebbles fall, so away we went. The Boar required taking the bikes to both the Canoe and Foot portions of the race. Off we went, and seeing how bad the wind was we made the executive decision to just go for a couple of the CPs on the water. Normally, we go for broke on the first leg at least, because (dur?!) if you don't, you've already given up on clearing the course. And that's always the primary goal. Sure it gets to a point where you have to cut your loses, but we hate to do that on the first leg. But the deck was stacked against us, and everyone else (we hoped.) The wind sucked and the weeds didn't help.

Not us, but other unfortunate souls.

Seriously the combo was so bad, that when we were returning from getting two of the CPs we got out and waded through the hip-deep water and weeds and dragged/pushed the canoe through this section. In the cold. You can't say we're not dedicated. You can say we are morons.

The bike portion, when the wind wasn't right at you, was fun. (so...not a lot of it was what a normal person would call fun) But there were so many pretty birds out there and lots of gators too. Two in particular were sunning themselves about 5 feet off the trail...which I did not notice till I was whizzing past them. The need for new underwear was a possibility. It took us a couple of extra minutes to find the Elite CP that Greg had included on this leg, but it wasn't too bad. Finding it involved triangulation or some sort of navigational sorcery of which I know nothing. In fact, Dave totally had us in the right spot for it, and it was right along the trail, but for some reason we blew right past it the first time. What I find intriguing is that judging by the FB pics several of the teams went to some little hill to do their triangulation, which we did not. Dave just used the map. Did we just get lucky? Or was that really not necessary? Weird.

And now you know why I don't race without Dave. #can'tnavigateforcrap

By the foot portion I was really over riding the bike on that road in and out of camp. But whatevs. Once we dumped the bikes we were on the Florida Trail, which I love. By this point the wet socks/shoes had my feet pretty numb and jogging on the single track through the forest is just so much more mentally pleasing to me, than when we are out in the open. That said, I  was definitely in Adventure Race Shuffle Mode. That's what we call the light jog we do on the foot portions when we are tired...which is pretty much whenever  we haven't drawn Foot first. But Mr. Fuchs on the other hand was still in runner mode. Geesh, dude starts getting stricter with his Paleo and doing his Crossfit regularly and suddenly I'm getting left in the dust! Which is fine really, I prefer to be the weak link. I'd rather get mad at myself for holding us back than him. Just works out better for everyone that way. 

We found the Elite CP on the foot portion, though it did make us a minute and a half over time. Bummer, but what are you going to do? With the time we had left when we started looking for it, we couldn't not go for it. Especially being that it was supposed to be a little more difficult to find. (Pride goeth before the fall, and whatnot)  Once it was all said and done, we had no idea how we had finished compared to everyone else, as per our usual. But it had been a pretty challenging and tiring race for us and we were really proud of our efforts. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I'm really proud of how "in the moment" we both get during the races, willing to wade through the weeds or ford a canal instead of going a different, longer route around it. (Yeah, that happened on the Foot portion) I really dig that Dave assumes I'm along for the ride and I also dig being around so many other cool folks (Pangea AR and Crossfit peeps) who are the same way. 'Cause let's face it, we're not like the other Soccer Moms and Dads. 

Anybrag, we were crazy stoked to hear we came in 4th! The smug levels rose to even higher levels when we realized we finally beat "You're Dead to Me," our Adventure Racing besties. Beth and Brian are both super-awesome people, despite that fact that they always beat us. Partly due to said awesomeness, partly because Brian has more experience doing adventure races (he's done some 12 hour races up north, GAH!) AND they are also both professional trainers. So naturally, we don't feel really bad when they beat us, because, you know...awesomeness? On the other hand, to finally place just a smidgen above them on the Leader board was pretty cool. And something I'll hold onto as they proceed to kick our asses in all future races I'm sure. 

Afterwards, we took part in the post-race Weenie Bike tossing.

 This pic kinda reminds me of the old Calvin-getting-attacked-by-his-bike storyline from Calvin & Hobbes.

I feel like Dave has a very natural weenie-bike-tossing form. He's a man of many talents.

So that in a nutshell, was my impressions of the Boar. Another great race by the Pangea Family. Greg and his troops do such an amazing job putting on these events. I really love how organized and well-run they are, while still having such a friendly, no-worries vibe to them. Up next the Treasure Coast AR on March 23rd. Due to schedule conflicts, we probably won't be able to play with them again until Holden joins us for the SCAR on Father's Day.

Till then, stay dirty Adventure Racers!

Lighterknot Adventure Race

The Lighterknot, held in Palm Coast October 20, 2012, marked a full year of our doing Pangea Adventure Races. Something about this place is lucky for us, I guess. I do credit the fact that despite the lowest of low expectations (for ourselves) we managed to clear the course last year. Which really inspired us to keep at it. Dave admits that he went into the first one just wanting to appease me. However when he realized how fun it was and that we actually had a shot at being competitive, oh and that the people are awesome, he was hooked. And by competitive I mean not coming in the bottom 1/3 ALL the time. Not, ya know, actually winning. The fact that ARs are as much about the brains as the brawn is what makes it so attractive to us. We're never gonna top ten at a 5K or triathlon or even the obstacle races. We're just not, nor I think ever going to be, that fit/fast. But Dave is better than your average schmo at navigation due to his aviation background, so with his skills and our ever increasing level of fitness, we can actually have finishes we can be proud of.

  I broke out the pre-adventure racing jeans for the Team Photo. Size 20 to size 10. Yeah-ya!

The Lighterknot was another well run event, as we've come to expect from the Pangea Crew. Greg and everyone else associated with their events just could not possibly be more encouraging, supportive and sweet. And did I mention I have a mega-crush on their photographer? He's totes adorbs (yes, I know how that sounds and I don't care) and it doesn't hurt that he still manages to take decent pics of me despite the fact that they are taken at the potentially most unflattering moments. 

Helmet hair, sweat, dirt, etc, this pic could still be SO much worse.

Dave and I take turns drawing the marble to see which discipline we start on. It was my turn this time and I drew the Trek marble.Happy dances ensued because we have found that we both really prefer to start on foot. It's definitely my strongest of the three disciplines and I'd rather start with what I am strongest with and make the most of the energy I have. So off we went. After the first checkpoint we went off trail to cut a corner hoping to get ahead of the team of 18 year olds. With their navigation skills (they had some) and their youth, we knew they'd be tough to beat. So a trail blazing we went. Dave did a great job cutting the corner and we emerged from the woods back on to the trail, at the same time we see the kids (Team Slack Pack. No, that's really their name. I'm not being catty) come around the bend. Oh well, if we hadn't taken the woods they'd be even further in front of us.

And so it went, we leap-frogged with them and a couple of other teams all day. We ran, ok jogged, the entire Trek portion for the second race in a row. That's a big deal to us. 

Still feels wrong that in the ARs and at Crossfit the running portions are my favorite parts. What happened to me?

No navigation issues at all. Maybe others found faster or more direct ways, but Dave led us to every one all day without a hiccup. Well, there was the one CP on the paddle for which  I disembarked pre-maturely. No, I didn't fall in. This time.. The clue was that it was "on a mound." So just as we are thinking we are getting close, there was a very obvious mound alongside the river. We stopped, I hopped out, but didn't see anything. So a couple of minutes were lost there, I suppose. Just as I was giving up and getting back into the boat another team came by and assumed it was the spot. I yelled, "No, no! Keep going! It's not here. It's too soon." At least one team member seriously questioned my honesty for a moment. 

I assured him that I was not lying and we had a very fun banter with them for the rest of the paddle. Which reminds me, listen up ladies! Another bonus to the ARs, besides ya know, inspiring and being great workouts, getting you outdoors and providing a sense of accomplishment, they often provide a fair amount of eye candy in the way of cute twenty/thirty-somethings. Just sayin'.

Anycuties, we felt hella strong on the paddle. All those push-ups and pull-ups at Crossfit are definitely paying off in my paddle strength. And it continues to amaze me how well Dave and I do paddling together. I guess after 18 years together you're either going to be really good or really bad at that kind of thing. Though I know the key to our success with the races (and again the measure of our success is very personal and does not necessarily have anything to do with how we appear on the leaderboard) is that we leave it all on the trail. Do we occasionally snip at each other? HELL. YEAH. But we let it go immedi-freaking-ly. And of course, we give each other as much positive encouragement as possible as well.

On  to the bike. The bike, like the last race, was the bike. I still don't feel like I am as strong on the bike as I could be. Now that the weather is getting more friendly I definitely need to make more time to ride off road and build up a little more endurance. I'm going faster and longer every race, no doubt....but I know I have it in me to do better. 

The end of the race was actually quite exciting. On our way in we knew we had cleared the course, but we had no idea where we were in the standings. Just as we reach the homestretch we saw a team of runners giving it all they had to get back. And then another team on bikes comes flying out onto the road from the trail that took you to the Boat TA. I gave it all I had but we couldn't catch the team on bikes, though we did catch the runners. (I'm not that slow) What fun! 

We ended up in 5th place. I'm not going to lie, we'd really like that Top Three someday, but we really couldn't be happier with the progress we have made this year. In January of 2011 as I was preparing for gallbladder surgery I set the goal of doing the Missing River Race. I was over 250 lbs and I knew it was time to make some changes. Dave and I had always watched things like the Amazing Race etc and thought "we could totally do that!" When I stumbled onto the Pangea events on-line, I thought that this could be just the thing to inspire us both to eat better and start getting in shape. I started working out some, but quite frankly had not hit bottom enough to make the changes needed to have some serious weight-loss. And then in May I found that rock-bottom. If you care, you can read about it here. But my point is, we are so happy with how far we have come...how the ARs (among other things) have resulted in a complete lifestyle change for our entire family this year. Have I mentioned Dave has lost at least 30 lbs this year and is working out regularly for the first time in all the time we've been together?

Yeah, the ARs have done that. They've inspired us to work harder, try harder, be better. It's prepared me mentally for the challenges of Crossfit which symbiotically, makes me better at Adventure Racing. Are we ready to move to the Elite class? Not quite yet. Call me Goldilocks, but for me, the 3 hour races (for now) are just right. Though I did just sign us up for next month's 4 hour Turkey Burn. Crap.

Till next time, stay dirty!

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?

Before and Currently

A little 'Before' action for you. This was taken a few years ago but is pretty representative of where I was a year ago. I held on to 250lbs for several years. With my former amount of activity and intake, my body maintained that weight happily. (in a perverse way)

At last month's Adventure Race about 195. I've been playing with same 5lbs for the past month. 194 is the lowest I have gotten thus far. I am committed now to getting to 180 for May 9th. That date is the one year anniversary of my hysterectomy and cantelope removal that inspired this transition to a new, fit lifestyle. 

I'm not going to lie, like everyone else I want to lose weight and get fit as fast as possible, but at the same time I knew my only hope in truly being successful was in doing it slowly. Via a lifestyle change, not a diet. Have I gotten frustrated at the pace at times? Hells yeah! But I also know that those who take it off slowly have a much higher success rate in terms of keeping it off. I know now and accept that I will always have to journal my food. I always have to get in at least 30 minutes of real exercise 5-6 days a week. (strolls/leisure hikes don't really count)

And that's ok. A few years ago I had half of my thyroid taken out and I have to take Synthroid every day too. It is what it is. There is no end to this process, well other than ya know, death.

And of course the fringe benefit, beyond a longer, more productive life is that I can do stuff now! I don't have to research the Zip Line or Trail Riding Outfit ahead of time to find out if I am within their weight restrictions. I'm doing mother-loving Adventure RACES! Fairly well, even! I can get on my horse from the ground like it ain't no thing.  A year ago with a mounting block I was struggling. Ass is seriously being kicked. By me.

I'd like to amend that old "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" saying. You can take your skinny and your size 0 pants and shove it. 

Nothing tastes as good as being fit feels.

January Madness

Dave and I did our first Adventure Race in October. It was the last race of the regular season. I named our team the Out of Steam Punks.

If you're unfamiliar with the sport check out http://www.pangeaadventureracing.com/sport

When we arrived I heard the old Sesame Street song playing in my head, "One of these things is not like the other, one of these things does not belong." Now, I've been to a couple of local 5Ks in my day and sure, most folks are pretty fit. But there are always a good portion of folks there to walk or who are just getting started who don't look so....athletic. Not so, here. I felt like I had wandered onto the set of Shape magazine shoot. To be fair, at subsequent races there has a been a little more variety in terms of body shapes, but talk about intimidating! As it turns out however, Sport Class ARs, and all all ARs really, are as much about the brain as the brawn. Thankfully, Dave is excellent at map and compass work. (I'm learning, and am good at spotting the Control Points when he gets us in the general area). So for us it was all about racing smarter, not faster. 

We ended up clearing the course and coming in 8th place out of 33 teams. We were overjoyed.   

November is the season championship race for the Elite Class, and they usually take December off. The new season begins in January. There were two races planned, with a weekend between them. There just so happened to be  a Warrior Dash scheduled for that free weekend. So as part of our Christmas present to each other we registered for them all. I'll create separate posts for each race. Stay tuned.