Post Race depression?

So it's been 2 days since the adventure race and I am wondering if there is a such thing as post race depression?!? Take me back to the race. The people. The...ambiance of the whole thing. I feel like any time I try to explain the sequence of events of the race to anyone outside of the Adventure Racing world and they just don't get it. People ask "how was the race?!" and I explode with details and excitement and then when I start to focus on their faces I realize some people just don't get it.

Try telling someone you rode 15km of trails, your shoes permanently smell like swamp and poo, you were into marsh up to your knees (person looks at your knees then continues making eye contact), you were bush whacking in forest Les Stroud might reconsider, you suffered from bug bites, dehydration and hunger and that you LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT. Really. Every second of it. The people I met were awesome and the race was organized so well. The after party helped. That was pretty fun too, but that all came with my rockstar attitude. I had to prove I can party like I race.

Once I get over my post race depression I will be sure to blog some specific highlights of the race. My perscription? Storm the Ten. September 18th, 2010. http://www.stormevents.ca/stormthe10.htm

So if you ask me what I did on the weekend, be prepared for an answer. I didn't sit on the couch and watch movies. I didn't go to the bar. I may have had a few too many drinks, but afterall, I'm a ROCKSTAR now.

wooohooo

Ahhhhh

I'm so scared I might puke.
Tonight's the bike night.
Wish me luck!

A lesson well learnt

Sunday's workout was the real deal (again) and we pulled it off. We set off on our own team navigation test. Each of us were given the opportunity to lead the gang for a good portion. I learned some valuable lessons during my time to lead and you are definitely only as strong as your weakest link!
Keri set us off to a good start with her running the first portion. She set a good pace and she managed to get us from point A to point B. Yeah Keri! We then went onto our bikes where (I think Gail and Szrenka led us. They did amazing - they really have those mapping skills down! The two ladies led us into the trails where Shane kindly asked me to take a turn to lead ("is it wrong to kindly decline?") I was scared and I felt the pressure. I also learned a good lesson. Slow down and think about what you are doing and where you are going. I lead us into a wrong loop and cost us a bit of time. A huge learning curve for me. We continued on our challenge where Mel lead us through the trails on our bike. We get to the look out point successfully and Susie has us run the stairs. Awesome. My legs were burning. We finished off with some burpies and kept on biking. I can't believe how far we have come. To think about the amount of endurance we have and where we came from is pretty amazing.

I felt awesome after this workout, I learnt a lot! I have also really grown a lot as an athlete over the last 12 weeks. I'm excited to see where this will take me. Stay turned, the good stuff is yet to come!

Putting the puzzle together...

...we are definitely coming together as Adventure Racers, Sunday helped to prove that. What an experience. We were basically given a quick refresher on how to use the compass, minor details and BAM. Off we were to find 4 beach balls in Hilton Falls. Lucky for me Susie was on my team. We got off to a slow start because we struggled with the first check point. No biggie, we were quickly off to find the others. At one point we passed the same man three times (it was all in our strategy). By the third check point we opted for the road less travelled (this way is shorter) and the rough patch of the course....seemed like a good idea at the time. Wow, that totally put my mountain biking (or lack of) skills to the test. I looked down at my hands and my knuckles were white, I vaguely remember someone telling me this is a nono. Ooops.

When we met up with Shane along our detour and he reminded me of some important points. Switching gears, shoulders back, lock your core, let your bike take the bumps etc. etc. Good thing I don't have ADD because that's a lot to focus on. Susie and I made it back safe, sound and pretty muddy. What an awesome day, Susie and I even managed to get some chats in along the course. I loved the whole morning! I'm officially hooked. Thank-you!

Burn Baby Burn!

Sorry about the lack of blogging last week. Reports cards got me.

I loved loved LOVED the workout today. Fresh after the Moon and June and after Susie's e-mail last week I was pumped. Pumped to get whipped! This will give you a sligh idea of how the workout was. I just had a shower and I couldn't shampoo my own hair. That's how awesome the workout was. So here I am, blogging with half soapy unbrushed hair (and by hair I mean fro).

We started out with skipping and ladders. I love the ladders, they always remind me how uncoordinated I am. "Lock your core" I hear in the background. After that we went to the football drill, I can't believe I was pumped before the workout :) Truthfully, this is an awesome all around workout. I felt it everywhere, especially in my forearms (which might explain my hair right now). We lie side by side in plank in a straight line all the way down the field. OH WAIT...before that we do 15 burpees (see previous blog on burpees), 20 mountain climbers, and 15 squat jumps. Then we lie in plank, then continue to jump over each person one by one. Just take a second and picture it. Then listen to it...you wouldn't believe the sounds that came out of us ladies. I think we did that one three times but to be honest - it's much of a blur.

Then along came the TRX machine. Oh boy. This definitely reminds me how much I have to work my core. Honestly, this was so hard. I love it, but it was so so hard. At one point my thighs wouldn't move and Susie replies "how many are you at?" I manage to get out "12" and Susie just laughs. I probably sounded like I just complete 100. Nope 12. I definitely need to get working on my core. That's embarrassing.

Finally was the windsprints. I don't mind the wind sprints, in fact sickly enough, I love sprinting. This was a great opportunity to try out our new Sunnto Heart Rate Monitors. Sprint. Check your HR. Rest. Repeat. After the second sprint Susie comes over to me and asks about my HR. I tell her and I'm waiting for a 'great job Carpenter!' Nope. "I guess you could have went a little harder out there." True.

Awesome workout thanks to Susie. The weather managed to hold off for us, which was a bonus! As always, I'm totally looking forward to next Sunday.

Mountain biking + navigation skills = a wicked Awesome DAY!

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