Friday, November 12, 2004 - 08:13 PM

Once upon a time, I was afraid of swamps. I didn’t run from them in fear, but I did my best to avoid them. Even as a child, while it was ok to jump around in hay bales covered in pigeon droppings, it was not cool to swim in a swamp.

My first adventure race cured me. On September 11, 2004, I hiked down a trail with my teammates Chris Charles and Jordan Rosenberg in our first adventure race. No amount of training could have prepared me for what an adventure race is all about.The idea behind an adventure race is to navigate from checkpoint to checkpoint, in the wilderness, using only a compass and topographical map (and maybe some tips if you’re lucky). You never really know what you’re going to be doing until you get to the pre-race instruction meeting.

After starting down this trail, we soon realized just how difficult it was to navigate across dense terrain, with absolutely no clue as to where we’re heading. We lost sight of the trail as we closed in on the first checkpoint, only to discover that the second checkpoint involved crossing over a river in 4 feet of water and then climbing a large rock covered in moss. The temptation of following other teams took over, and pretty soon we found ourselves lost. We wasted about 40 minutes trying to orient ourselves, and finally found our way to the second checkpoint.

Seeing our canoes in the middle of a swamp, Jordan valiantly offered to go out and bring the canoe to us. Following our bearings, we are surprised to come to a waterfall that was too large for us to navigate by canoe. Our attempt to get out of the canoe landed all of us in the water…which was a minor inconvenience compared to the swamp land which we were expected to navigate.

Let me tell you about swamps. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of being in one, you’ll know that they are difficult to stand in. Filled with silt, your feet seem to sink into a pit of mud. Once you get over the smell, it's not so bad, or at least until you trip over an invisible log and get a mouthful of swamp water.

Our next checkpoints were at various points across the lake(s). We seemed to make up some time on the water, our team worked well together in the canoe thanks to some expert J-stroking from Jordan. I was impressed with Chris' knowledge of childhood camp songs - but next time I think he should avoid singing "Oh they built the ship Titanic" until we're on land.

After paddling, trekking, climbing, sliding, and portaging, we finally made it to our bikes. Thinking that this was a great time for me to eat, I scarfed down a good-sized energy bar. Feeling great, we hopped on our bikes and headed down the road to the next checkpoint. Now, I feel that cycling is usually my strong point, but this race proved me wrong. I started feeling a bit sick. In fact, I was downright nauseous. I dropped back and watched Jordan and Chris move ahead. Fighting back the urge to rid my stomach of it's contents, I'm forced to stop and deposit my energy bar on the side of the road. It took me a long time to catch up with the boys while dry-heaving on my bike!

Making it to the next checkpoint felt like crossing the finish line for me. We headed into the trails with gusto, feeling some freedom now that we're on our bikes and at the end of the race. Then we realize we're lost. Again.

Knowing that our navigational mistake at CP2 cost us so much time that we wouldn't make the cutoff at the next checkpoint, and now making a second mistake navigating, we took stock of our goals. This was our first race, and we were interested in the experience as a whole. We decided to head back the way we came and cross the finish line without the required checkpoints. We crossed the finish line as a team, and celebrated with some much-needed food and beverages. Ok, maybe the beer tent wasn't exactly what we needed...

So after participating in an adventure race, here is my summary of how I really should have trained:

Instead of spending hours hiking trails, I should simply jump over and over again into the largest juniper bush I can find. Rather than spending hours on the treadmill (incline 15%), next time I will simply climb the CN Tower with snowshoes on.
Forget practicing my paddling at the side of the pool, instead I will simply bang my fingers in between two hard surfaces over and over again to simulate the paddle vs. boat effect. Practice falling as much as possible - down the stairs, on the bike, into water...

Jump into every swamp I see. Drink the water. Go without water all day, then eat something and go sit in the sauna. To my racing team...thank you so much. You guys were fabulous. It was the best experience I could have hoped for and that was all because of you. Who wants to race next year???