Let me begin by telling you about the race format, for those who are unfamiliar with this series. It is billed as an adventure race, but to hardcore Adventure racers like Eco-Challengers and such, this is more commonly referred to as a Sprint.
Teams of three compete as a team, not in relay format, through a series of three main disciplines, Flat Water Kayaking, Trail Running and Mountain Biking. Distances will vary depending on race location. There are also a series of "Special Tests", most of which are kept secret until you actually get to them. The one exception to this Secret Clause is "The Wall". The Wall is a 12 or 13 foot wall that must be negotiated by all three team members, more to come on this in a later chapter.
My team is named "Step Smack", and is comprised of myself, Jim & Kyle.
On Saturday, the day before the race we went to the venue which is about 45 minutes outside of Atlanta at the Fort Yargo State Park. A wonderful park and probably the pride of Winder, Georgia. We had to go for the team meeting, but also wanted to take the opportunity to practice with the Sevylor inflatable kayaks. It only took about ten minutes on the water to practice our paddling and boat tethering technique, again there will be more on that later.
Then comes the Team meeting, blah blah blah, hype the sponsors, hype the pro teams, which are coed, blah blah blah. Now for the interesting stuff, the event schedule, which is unknown to competitors at this point.
Event #1 - kayaking 1.9 miles
Event #2 - Mtn Biking 6 miles
Event #3 - Trail Run 5.5 miles
Event #4 - Mtn Biking 6 miles
Keep in mind that the special tests can appear anywhere throughout the race.
The race Coordinators, Michael Epstein Sports Productions, www.mesp.com, provide us with an instruction sheet for our first Special test. All teams must remove the Wheels and Seat/seatpost combo, from one of their bikes, to be reassembled before the first Mtn Biking leg. Not a big problem for us, but maybe for some of the less than skilled Mtn Bikers, more about them later.
Step Smack goes to Macaroni Grill for Carbo loading and final strategy meeting. Home by 9 pm, take a Melatonin tablet because I am hepped up like a speed freak, in bed at 9:30 after final preparations, asleep by 10 pm for a 4 am alarm clock.
I wake up at 2 am, and waft in and out of sleep for the next two hours.
That is all for now. I will gladly respond to questions that I feel are relevant for what is commonly known at this point. Please let me know that you are interested as I have an insecurity complex.
Teams of three compete as a team, not in relay format, through a series of three main disciplines, Flat Water Kayaking, Trail Running and Mountain Biking. Distances will vary depending on race location. There are also a series of "Special Tests", most of which are kept secret until you actually get to them. The one exception to this Secret Clause is "The Wall". The Wall is a 12 or 13 foot wall that must be negotiated by all three team members, more to come on this in a later chapter.
My team is named "Step Smack", and is comprised of myself, Jim & Kyle.
On Saturday, the day before the race we went to the venue which is about 45 minutes outside of Atlanta at the Fort Yargo State Park. A wonderful park and probably the pride of Winder, Georgia. We had to go for the team meeting, but also wanted to take the opportunity to practice with the Sevylor inflatable kayaks. It only took about ten minutes on the water to practice our paddling and boat tethering technique, again there will be more on that later.
Then comes the Team meeting, blah blah blah, hype the sponsors, hype the pro teams, which are coed, blah blah blah. Now for the interesting stuff, the event schedule, which is unknown to competitors at this point.
Event #1 - kayaking 1.9 miles
Event #2 - Mtn Biking 6 miles
Event #3 - Trail Run 5.5 miles
Event #4 - Mtn Biking 6 miles
Keep in mind that the special tests can appear anywhere throughout the race.
The race Coordinators, Michael Epstein Sports Productions, www.mesp.com, provide us with an instruction sheet for our first Special test. All teams must remove the Wheels and Seat/seatpost combo, from one of their bikes, to be reassembled before the first Mtn Biking leg. Not a big problem for us, but maybe for some of the less than skilled Mtn Bikers, more about them later.
Step Smack goes to Macaroni Grill for Carbo loading and final strategy meeting. Home by 9 pm, take a Melatonin tablet because I am hepped up like a speed freak, in bed at 9:30 after final preparations, asleep by 10 pm for a 4 am alarm clock.
I wake up at 2 am, and waft in and out of sleep for the next two hours.
That is all for now. I will gladly respond to questions that I feel are relevant for what is commonly known at this point. Please let me know that you are interested as I have an insecurity complex.
