The Frozen Otter event that we did last weekend is run by an adventure racing team called, “The Fat Otter.” Their slogan is, “For the LOVE of Misery!” Just an intro…
Our training day last weekend made us realize we weren’t going to make the entire 64 miles. With the cold weather, brutal terrain, and little training, we just weren’t ready for it. We don’t quite know what we were thinking… but we were still going to go to the event and see how we could do. And it was still a lot of fun! The more things hurt, the more we laughed at ourselves.
When asked for a team name, we called ourselves “The Snails.” And we lived up to our name! Hey – someone’s gotta’ come in last, right? Well that’s what the Snails are for!! It's a tough job, but someone's gotta' do it! J
As it turns out, some dropped out before the half-way point. One guy sprained his ankle and hiked 4 miles to the next checkpoint!! Like I said, brutal terrain – oh, and we ended up getting quite a bit of snow, too, so that added a new element to the whole thing. Hiking most of it at night made things difficult, too. We just got plain tired at about 11:00. Our bodies were thinking we were supposed to be at home in our nice warm beds – but instead, we were out in the freezing cold, pushing our bodies way past their limit! I guess it got down to 10 degrees while we were out there, and we felt it. We did okay, we just couldn’t stop for even 2 minutes or we got chilled. So we just slowly trudged on. At a snail’s pace…
So we made it 32 miles – we ended up doing it in about 15 hours (from 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, to 3:00 a.m. on Sunday). 32 miles is a long freaking way – especially under those circumstances. We were the last ones getting to the half-way point, and when we got there, we dove into the hot soup and hot cocoa and took a chair by the hot fire. We found out that no one else continued on – except for ONE woman!! And she did the entire 64 miles with about an hour to spare. We bow to her! We are extremely impressed, and a little jealous of her stamina. J
In trying to find myself, I realized that one of the most exciting things about being alive, is having the ability to try new things. Trying out adventure racing was a new thing for me. And although it’s hard for me to admit, I think I may have found something that I’m just simply not cut out for. And I was saying that pretty confidently after we finished hiking 32 miles in the cold and snow – and up and down short, steep, rocky, killer hills. BUT… I’ve already stepped back and I’m telling myself, “Well, maybe I’d still try one of those adventure races with the three activities – orienteering, paddling, and mountain biking.” But that’s easy to say now – when my legs, knees and feet don’t hurt. J
So, what’s next? I’m taking on public speaking. Now that I’m nervous about! I’m confident that I’ll be just fine, but there’s just something about getting up in front of a large group of people and talking. I’m actually speaking tonight at the Community Blood Center’s Donor Recognition program. Even though I’m a little nervous, I am VERY excited to have this awesome opportunity to get up in front of a huge group of blood donors – and THANK them for what they do – and what they’ve done for me. I think that will outweigh the nerves.
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