Eco-Challenge Motivation

On By DavidIn Inspiration, VideosLeave a comment

If you’re like me, you just spent the last few days stuffing yourself with sugar plums, eggnog and figgy pudding and you might be in need of a little motivation to get off the couch.  Well, step right up folks, I have just the thing you need.  You see, back in the day when the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a historic high of 4000, Windows 95 debuted, and girls thought overall shorts were sexy (they’re not), Mark Burnett created one of the best reality shows ever, Eco-Challenge.  Back before Jersey Shore, or whatever the cool kids are watching today, there was a reality show worth watching where coed teams of 4 insane people raced across some of the most remote and intense terrains.  Competitors ran, biked, and canoed for hundreds of miles all the while land navigating with only a compass and altimeter.  Sleep was a premium with most teams resting no more than a handful of hours.  Feet exploded, team dynamics imploded and most competitors never saw the finish line.  The races were epic.  Unfortunately, it seems that these races are all but gone, and none of them are televised anymore.

But, there is a glimmer of hope.  With the magic of the internet, a few of those long-lost VHS recordings (look it up kids) can be brought into your living room.  Ana and I have just spent the last 5 nights watching all of Eco-Challenge British Columbia, Morocco, Sabah (Borneo), New Zealand, and Fiji.  I have posted links to the first video for each series.  There are multiple videos in each series but if you follow the links, you will be able to find the complete episode.

P.S. If you know where I can find the other episodes, please send me the link.  Or, if you have a copy on tape, please help out this band of poser adventure racers by posting the videos on YouTube.  I promise not to report you to the FCC.

1996 British Columbia

1998 Morocco

2000 Sabah (Borneo)

2001 New Zealand

2002 Fiji

The Bestest Present Evah!

On By DavidIn Gear, Inspiration, TrainingLeave a comment

scalefromhellThe other day I gave my wife the bestest present evah!  I was so excited about it that I couldn’t wait until Christmas to give it to her so I gifted it a few days early.  I mean, who wouldn’t want a digital scale for Christmas?  Look at this thing, it’s stainless steel with blue backlighting…BLUE BACKLIGHTING!  I could see the tears of joy in her eyes as I told her how it measures not only one’s weight but also one’s body fat percentage.  Now, every morning we can instantly see how much fat our bodies are composed of…freakin’ awesome!  I couldn’t tell exactly what she was saying as she got in the car and drove away, but I’m sure she was so grateful that she was rushing off to WalMart to find my special Christmas present.  She didn’t have to knock over my new bicycle on her way out, but I guess that’s what love and excitement will do to someone.  I’m sure she’ll be back any minute now.

The main reason that I wanted to get a new scale was because I just finished reading, “Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance” by Matt Fitzgerald and one of his recommendations is to track one’s body fat percentage.  His main premise is that performance, i.e. speed, strength and endurance are optimized when athletes obtain their ideal racing weight.  Yes, I know, not quite the earth shattering discovery.  The book also gives diet and exercise recommendations for obtaining one’s ideal racing weight and also gives examples of the body fat percentage of elite athletes.  Now, I am in no way an elite athlete, nor will I ever be–beer, pizza, and chocolate being three reasons that quickly come to mind.  But, I am interested in increasing my endurance and speed, so I got really interested in finding out and tracking my body fat percentage with the hope of reducing it to a level that is optimal for performance without becoming a drag to maintain given my lifestyle.  The easiest way to monitor one’s body fat percentage is by using a digital scale that uses bioelectrical impedance to estimate it.

But, here’s one thing that you should know, it seems that all of these scales are incorrect and measurements made by the same person can fluctuate greatly depending on the time of day, amount of water one has consumed, wetness of your feet, planetary alignment, and a host of other things.  So why buy one of these scales?  Because, if the measurements are taken under nearly identical conditions; first thing in the morning, before eating or drinking and after using the bathroom, it is possible to get a good trend analysis.  So, even though the scale may say my body fat percentage is 17%, which it does–stupid, lying machine!  If I consistently take measurements over time, I should be able to see whether I am losing body fat or not.  Plus, it is a good motivator for me.  So, if you get a chance, read Matt’s book, get yourself a new scale, and start working on obtaining your racing weight for peak performance.

Oh, one more thing.  It seems that people tend to really underestimate their body fat percentage.  Here are two really cool website that talk about that:

Their suggestion is that the easiest way to estimate body fat percentage is to compare your own physique with photos of people with known body fat compositions.  So, here are a few pictures blatantly stolen from their website.

malebodyfat11menbodyfat2womenbodyfat1womenbodyfat3

Hey, thanks for noticing my picture in the middle of the top row.  Next time I won’t use so much bronzer.

Round the Bay Ultra Relay – What are we thinking?!

On By DavidIn Uncategorized1 Comment

What happens when you miss the Turkey Burn Adventure Race and there aren’t any races until January and it’s winter time and you really want to go do something?  Well, if you’re Team Disoriented, you sign up for something like the Round the Bay Ultra Relay of course. Could there possibly be a better way to spend the Saturday after Christmas than running 36.8 miles in a big ass circle?

roundthebayThe good news is that we don’t have to do all 36.8 miles at once.  Rather, the Round the Bay is a relay race.  The bad news is that we only have 2 people on our team whereas most teams have 6 people.  Ana and I will both have to run 18.4 miles and we plan on doing it in 6 legs, alternating between legs.  The longest run I have ever done is a half marathon a little over a year ago, so this will be a challenge.  Ana is a running machine so I’m not concerned about her making it.  Unfortunately, Stu will be visiting with family and won’t be able to make it again–yeah, what’s up with that?

Training Day 12/15/2013

On By DavidIn TrainingLeave a comment

RunAnother training day for Team Disoriented.  We were hoping to go up to Auburn, AL where there is a permanent orienteering course, but the forecast called for 100% chance of rain so we decided to stay home and train.  I really wanted to run, bike and canoe but with temperatures hovering in the 50’s and 15mph winds, I chickened out on the canoe bit.  Instead we ran 7.5miles on trails at Rocky Bayou State Park and then went to Timberlake and rode 11.5 miles of trails.  Ana conquered the big drop that cracked her tailbone last time.  I’m very proud of her for taking the challenge head on and not letting fear get the best of her.Timberlake

I really like the mountain bike trails at Timberlake, but sometimes I have a hard time figuring out which way to go.  Today we attempted Carbo and had a great run (check out the trail map for Timberlake under Local Links on the sidebar).  The trail is a bunch of switchbacks where you go downhill for a little way, do a 180° switchback and then climb back uphill before doing another 180° switchback and going back downhill.  By the end, my legs were burning pretty hard on the up hills.

After Carbo, we attempted to follow Speed Demon.  We got about halfway through and then I chose the wrong path and we ended up backtracking on the part we had already done.  You can see this in the GPS plot above.  I like Speed Demon because it doesn’t have the downhills and roots that the other trails have.  As the name implies, you can get to some pretty fast speeds on this section of track.  Well, someone with mountain biking skills could get to some pretty fast speeds.  We more or less meander down the trails as we build up our courage and skills.  Did I mention that on Carbo we were passed by a runner.  A RUNNER!  I felt like throwing a stick at him as he whizzed by.

Once we realized we were lost on Speed Demon, we took an exit to the main road and then went over to Stinky Creek for our last trail.  Stinky Creek is very well marked and it is a lot of fun.  Good drops, hard climbs, some tight sections and plenty of opportunities for disaster.  At the approach of the Big Drop, Ana said a little prayer, closed her eyes, gripped the handlebars until they bent and launched herself into the abyss.  I was there with the camera just in case she wanted to trying flying again.  But this time she nailed it and rode through without any issues.  By now, the sun was setting, the temperature was dropping and we were all ready to finish and go get some sushi and hot and sour soup from Red Ginger.  We finished the trail as quickly as we could and headed off to our favorite post-workout restaurant.  It’s awesome knowing that you just spent 3 hours burning 1700 calories and can go stuff your face with beer and sushi.  At least I think it’s awesome.

Pangea Resolution AR

On By DavidIn Adventure Race, OrienteeringLeave a comment

ResolutionARI can’t believe that it has been almost a month since the last post.  Guess I haven’t had much to say.  Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make the Pangea Turkey Burn AR due to injuries.  I was a little upset by it all, especially after reading the Canyoneros write-up.  But now I’m over it and we’re about healed so on to more training and more racing.   Our next race will be the Pangea Resolution AR.  That’s right, after a month of fattening up on Christmas eggnog and figgy pudding, we’re going to do an 8-hour Adventure Race.  This time we’ll have Super Stu with us so I know it will be a good time.

One cool development is that we may have picked up another teammate or two.  My 14 year old niece, Taylor, loves this sort of stuff and wants to run some races with us.  Did I mention she is a cross-country track star?  When I found out she runs a sub 7 minute 5k, I had to step up my game and now I have included a sub 7 minute 5k into my weekly training regimen and call it the Taylor Challenge.  For some of you speedsters, this may not be a big deal but for me it’s pretty tough.  Our other new teammate is Coop, who is probably the fastest guy at our daily pick-up Ultimate games.  He’s also a fan of hiking and land navigation, so I’m really excited about having him on the team.  But, he just had his first baby so I’m not sure when he’ll be able to start racing with us.

Lastly, we might attempt a permanent orienteering course this Saturday if the weather holds.  I definitely need some practice before our next race.  Check out the link to find a course or orienteering club near you.

Training Day

On By DavidIn Gear, TrainingLeave a comment

Team Disoriented hit Eglin AFB range today for some multi-sport training.  We didn’t have time to do any canoeing so we opted for trail running and biking.  While the grandparents watched the boys, we headed out to Timberlake for a couple of hours.  Since we didn’t know the area that well, we decided to run the mountain bike trails that we would later attempt to ride.  Unfortunately, Timberlake isn’t very well marked and it was somewhat difficult knowing where we were supposed to go until we stumbled upon the Stinky Creek trail, which was emblazoned with pink markers.  It was a lot of fun to run the trails as we have mainly ran on the street during our training.  I’m pretty much like the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz when it comes to flexibility so running the trails was definitely a good workout for my knees.represent

Following the 6-mile run, we decided to try some of the energy gel packs we bought before heading out on the bikes.  I’ve read that these are good to carry when doing endurance events and I wanted to try a few to find the ones we liked prior to our first major event.  On today’s menu we had: Lemon Sublime, Tri-Berry, JET Blackberry and Mandarin Orange all by Poo, I mean GU.  I can’t believe that people actually eat these things.  They have the consistency of honey and the taste of dish soap mixed with a pound of sugar.  I will say that they seemed to have worked well as I never felt fatigued during the 16 mile bike ride that followed our run.  I’m really hoping that we find a flavor or two that we like as I’m sure they work great.  We have about 8 more flavors to try…I can’t wait…really.

Poo

We finished our 16-mile dirt road ride on our new Trek bikes and I must say that they are great except for the seat, which after 5 miles felt like the seat had fallen off and I was riding on the post.  The 29-inch wheels ate up the miles with little effort and I felt like we were flying compared to our old Schwinns.  The shifts were precise, the brakes were awesome, but my bum was screaming, “Get off!”  We’ll be back at Bob’s Bicycle shop first thing on Monday to look for a granny seat.  For adventure racing, I figure it is better to be comfortable and the extra weight will be well worth it in the end (see what I did there).

After the dirt track ride, we had a little time to kill before taking the boys to soccer practice so we decided to ride the trail we had ran a couple of hours earlier.  We set off and everything was going really well but I could instantly tell that the 29er was not as nimble as the 26er that we were used to.  I think that once we get used to the bigger bikes, and trail riding in general, that the 29er will handle just as well.

Ana and I were riding through the woods and we came across this big drop off.  I make it through fine and looked back in time to see Ana doing her best Superman impression, the bike was on the ground and she’s flying through the trees with her arms outstretched.  Luckily, she didn’t hit any trees or roots.  Most importantly, the bike wasn’t hurt at all.  I’m kidding.

crash

Ana handled it really well but we were out of time to ride any more, so we packed up our pride and headed home.  We’ll be back next week with our granny seats to tackle that drop off again.

Team Disoriented sponsors Trek

On By DavidIn GearLeave a comment

After many days and nights of indecision, Team Disoriented finally decided to contributed heartily to the financial well-being of Trek bikes.  This afternoon, Ana and I went to Bob’s Bicycles and asked the sales guy, Mike, if the shop would like to sponsor the awesomest adventure racing team in Northwest Florida by donating two X-Caliber 8 bikes to the team.  In hindsight I think Mike handle the situation quite well by laughing for only 15 minutes.  Once he stopped, we were able to work out an agreeable price and he was even kind enough to hand me a fire extinguisher to put out the flames on my credit card once the purchase was complete.  So there you have it, Team WalMart, I mean Team Disoriented has stepped up their game from this…

bike_old

to this…

bike_new

All kidding aside, Bob’s Bicycles is a great place to go if your looking for a new ride.  They have a great selection and really friendly staff to help you out.  No, we’re not sponsored by them, but we could be…wink wink 😉  If you go there, talk to Mike and tell him that Team Disoriented sent you.  He won’t know who the hell you’re talking about, but that’s what makes it funny.

Gearing up for the Turkey Burn AR

On By DavidIn GearLeave a comment

The Turkey Burn Adventure Race is 3 weeks away and we have been busy gearing up for it.  Since this will be our first night race, there was a lot of stuff that we needed to get…mainly lights.  I looked at a couple of different adventure racing team blogs to see what they were using and then I looked at my checking account and decided to go a different route.  I finally decided to go with all Fenix lights because they seemed to be quality made products that were within our budget.  Yes Ana, we actually have a budget.  Of course, having a budget and following a budget are entirely different things.

lighting

In the pic above you can see our new lights.  Aren’t they awesome!  Makes me want to go for a night run right now.  Well, maybe if it wasn’t so cold outside and I wasn’t so lazy.  Anyway, one of the reasons that I went with Fenix and chose these particular lights is because they all run on standard AA batteries.  I didn’t want to worry about recharging the batteries or finding exotic batteries during a race.  In addition, by selecting lights that all use AA, we can swap batteries between lights if necessary.

Fenix HL21 Headlamp – One per team member.  Small headlamp on the bike helmet.  Very light weight.  This is the light that we’ll carry on our heads most of the time whether running or biking so it needed to be small, light, and waterproof.  Easily mounts on the bike helmets.

Fenix HP25 Headlamp – One per team.  Large headlamp with the battery pack.  This is the light that the lead runner/biker will wear when the conditions call for additional lighting.  The other team members will follow behind using their small lights.  Has individual controls for spot or flood.

Fenix BT10 Bike Light – One per team member.  Small lamp with battery pack.  Dual distance beam provides simultaneous illumination for near and far objects.  The bike light also comes with a mount to let it be used as a helmet light.

Fenix LD41 Flashlight – One per team.  Small flashlight.  521 lumens and waterproof, this is the torch we’ll be bringing out when we’re looking for those difficult to find checkpoints.  This is a really bright light that uses AA batteries.  Fenix has a new variant that is even brighter, at 680 lumens, but it has less run time–so I opted for this one.

So far, I am very pleased with these lights but I must admit that we haven’t used them much.  In the next few weeks we should give them a run for their money and, after the Turkey Burn AR, I’ll do a review to let you know what worked and what didn’t.  If Fenix would like to positively influence this future write-up, Team Disoriented is taking donations of cash or gear and I can provide the appropriate shipping address…I’m kidding of course.

(wink…wink…IM me).

Training Day

On By DavidIn Training, VideosLeave a comment

Perhaps the most boring YouTube video to date but I wanted to play around with Google Earth in preparation of documenting the Turkey Burn AR.  This is the GPS timestamp of our training brick on Google Earth.

While Super Stu was out doing his 4th Tough Mudder, the rest of Team Disoriented had our first training brick in over 3 weeks.  You see, the old man blew out his Achilles tendon and hasn’t been able to run since.  It was good to get back out and be active again.  We started at 4:40PM and since it gets dark really early now, we started off canoeing because honestly canoeing up a creek in the dark kinda freaks me out.  We went 1/2 mile up Rocky Creek against the current before turning around and heading across open water to Rocky Bayou bridge.  I like to mix creek paddling with open water paddling because going against current up a narrow creek  helps us work on control of the canoe.  The first time we went up Rocky Creek we ran into at least four overhanging trees.  And do you know what likes to live in overhanging trees, big ass spiders.  Each time we ran into a tree, 3 or 4 spiders would drop into the canoe as we worked on dislodging ourselves.  Ever try dancing in a canoe to get away from big ass spiders?  It’s not easy.  Needless to say, we quickly became much better at avoiding overhanging trees.  The trip to and from the bridge was uneventful as we’ve become much better at paddling a straight line.  The first few times out we zigged and zagged across the bayou.  Using our new kayak paddles instead of canoe paddles has really made a difference in control as well as speed.

Once we finished the canoe section, we grabbed our bikes and headed to Rocky Bayou State Park to ride the trails.  I wanted to ride them at night so that we could test out our new bike lights.  Night trail riding is a lot of fun and we only crashed once.  Once we finished the trails, we were hoping to do another 10 miles of street riding but it was really dark and we don’t have tail lights yet, so we wisely cut the ride short.  Back at the transition area, we dropped off the bikes and completed the night with a 5 mile run.  In the end, not having done much in the last 3 weeks, I would say it went okay.   But, I’m a little nervous about being in condition for the 12-hour Turkey Burn AR in 27 days.

Good Reads

On By DavidIn InspirationLeave a comment

Even though you have already found the best adventure racing blog ever, yeah I mean this one.  You may be craving a little more information on Adventure Racing.  Below are three books that I highly recommend you check out:

Ian Adamson is an Adventure Racing legend who has competed in just about every major adventure race held.  His book, “Runners’ World Guide to Adventure Racing” is a good introduction to the sport.  While it is not a “How-to” book and may be short on specifics that leave the reader wishing for more, Ian’s passion and excitement for the sport comes across.  I recommend reading this book first if your looking for inspiration or something to make you want to get off the couch and go train.  Amazon has this for the Kindle and I think it’s worth the 10 bucks.

Ok, let’s say you’re already pumped about doing an Adventure Race but you want specifics like what to wear, how to train, what to eat, gear to pack, etc.  Then Liz Caldwell and Barry Siff have the book for you.  “Adventure Racing, The Ultimate Guide” is more of a how-to style book giving good advice from two of the best racers out there.  Well, probably not out there anymore since the book was published in 2001.  Regardless, the information is still pertinent today.  The book is out of print but I picked up an autographed copy for $0.32 + shipping.  Yep, that baby is going to be a collectible one day…probably even double my money.

Now, you’re psyched for your first race, you got the how-to manual and know what to eat, what to wear, and how to train but then you realize, oh crap I can’t use a GPS or my super smart phone to get from point A to point B.  I must learn the ancient art of orienteering.  Well take a look at book #3 my friend, “Wilderness Navigation“.  This book tells you everything you need to know about wilderness navigation (it’s even in the title).  How to read a map, how to use a compass, and other useful tidbits are in here.  But let me tell you what I really liked, in the back there are maps with questions where you can test your newly acquired skill. It’s a great way to find out if you really understood what the book was telling you, or faking it like you did in high school.  I recommend getting it in paperback rather than Kindle format so you can make notes and write on the maps.

There you go, three good books to lead you on your way to dominating your first adventure race.  And if that isn’t enough, you can download and check out free editions of Adventure World Magazine, the official magazine of the United States Adventure Racing Association (USARA).  If you have any recommendations for Adventure Racing books, magazines, or blogs please post them in the comment section.