Training Log Archive: Hermes

Trying to be more efficient on the bike so intervals and hills it is. 33 Sideroad. Found a loop that allowed me to get 2 decent climbs in. The good news, climbing hills on a road bike is way more fun then a MTB.
x4

Time includes 6min cool down (which consisted of me hacking a lung trying to remove the bug from my throat)

@Britton with DD11. Single track was slick but fun to be running in the Milton hood. DD11 seemed to be in great running form (or I'm talking way too much).

C • thought you were Home 2

Warm
Progressive pace hills on the treadmill
Cool down

After testing out Mission side trail for TNFEC (warning: massive amounts of poison ivy are littering that small section) Bob and I ran toward and around Blue. If we only knew Bent and Bash were running repeats...

Small world running into them on route to our post run Starbucks beverage.

Just beat the rain this afternoon!

C • Starbucks 11

Trout Hollow trail out of Meaford. The entire trail is a beautiful 14km out and back. Too hangry for the entire trail. Another time.

C • Welcome home! 3

Awesome stretch out. Feeling ready to run again.

C • one more sleep 3

Up Park and about Grimsby/Jordan/Beamsville. Lovely riding along all the wineries which clearly will be in my forecast in only 2 more work days! Whoop whoop!

Cruisy and hot catchup with DD11.

Magical evening ride at Kelso with Funderstorm. We got rained on but that wasn't going to ruin our night.

Excellent catchup and the most magical post ride picnic followed by more chitchats. I'm pretty sure the cheese Funderstorm brought had crack cocaine in it...delicious.

C • Was it magical? 2

Easy spin

Switchback to GP, Loree and back via Switchback.

Legs feel good but HR still running high - probably too much coffee ;)

Cruisey - Clarksburg Thornbuy loop.

More hips. Ouch.

The opportunity to race in South Africa was a dream come true. It began with an email entitled 'Any interest in making this your first expedition race?' It wasn't long before I knew the answer because I thought about the idea for a week straight. I was in. Fast forward a long winter of physical and mental training and next thing I knew, I was entering the Kingdom of Swaziland.

I went into the race with 3 (flexible) personal goals: staying positive, having a sense of enjoyment (enough that I would consider another race), and feeling sufficiently trained; mentally and physically.

I was thinking how I wanted to report on the race since I don't have the details to paint a picture of the course CP by CP. Nor the ability to really give perspective on our navigation, so I went a different route. I learned so much about myself that I didn't know I had in me and reflecting on that, I came up with some pretty amazing learning curves.

First off, the emotions of Expedition Racing are incredible. So raw and so overwhelming at times. Nothing could have prepared me for this. Like I said, I found out things about myself I didn't know. Before the race started, Liza Pye sent me a quick message. It was short but to the point. She said that I'll have my moments where I'll cry but that I'll probably also have a quite moment of strength. I had a few of the crying moments.

Sitting on a bike for over 250km with a pack can take you to some very low points. Especially when it's climb after climb after climb. Wil was amazing at towing me but Dave was concerned of Wil burning out too soon, so I was reluctant to take a tow as often as I needed it. This was a low point for me because I began to feel sorry for myself. (Although at the time I didn't know this, Mike was so helpful during these moments. He wouldn't let me be alone for any prolonged period for the exact reason that he didn't want me to spend any significant time feeling down. Smart man.) I knew I needed the help, but was reluctant to ask. I held back on my bike, had a little cry (which was liberating) then I decided that I needed to speak up. I told the boys that if we were going to keep this pace, that I needed to distribute some weight to them. Huge relief.

Another low point for me was when we were stuck on CP32. We just had a great transition with Suzi and Sidney present and I really felt like it was what we needed to get through the final trek. The navigation was not working in our favour, sleep monsters were kicking in and we continued to cross paths with Air Force and Keyhealth who were equally frustrated. With the frustration of not finding this CP, morale was dropping. This was the first time in the race that I thought we may not finish. To be honest, I hadn't even considered how I would deal with that huge disappointment nor did I know how to discuss these feelings with my teammates. This was a big learning point for me. In the future, I need to better prepare myself for the possibility of DNFing. So much prep went into training and finishing the race, that I hadn't even considered the 'what if's?'. As a team, we discussed our options of dropping the CP as well as the worry of the 'domino effect' of dropping other CPs out of convenience. At that point, the boys explained to me that missing a CP didn't mean DNF and that we would still cross the finish line. Phew.

What also comes to mind, is the ability to overcome fear. I didn't know I had this in me. Sounds cheesy. It's not. I didn't put much thought into the canyon section because I was expecting a river bed run ("sweet! I'm good at this!"). It wasn't riverbed running. It was decent cliff jumping/sliding into the coldest water I have ever felt in my life. It was honestly colder than Georgian Bay in May. I was terrified. This was the first time of the race I thought I might die. (Not to be confused with the time I almost *did* die - those rock cliffs are slippery!). Dave jumps first and I'm expected to jump second. I just remember looking at Will, saying "I honestly don't know if I can do this..." Nobody really knew what to say...I held my breath and jumped. The water pierced your body from the frigid temperatures. I still don't know how I got through the rest of this section because the water was painfully cold (the kind of cold where you can't get your words out). A few more jumps and slides and eventually the canyoning finished. Thankfully the section went right into a run so miraculously we were able to warm up. If it weren't for my teammates, there's no way I would have done this section. I learned after the race that Mike's reaction was along the lines of "Shit! Shannon just jumped so now I have to." It's a pretty neat feeling to be so terrified and then to get through it.

Going into the race I was very much afraid of getting too cold. The temperatures went down to zero at night and with 12 hours of darkness, the nights were awful for me. I selfishly tried to manage this with extra clothes in the TA bins as well as spare clothes and gortex in my pack. The cold was especially awful when we planned to sleep. The power naps seemed to work well, but the first hour plus sleep on day 2, I spent trying to stay warm. Again, selfishly, I ended up having to wake the team after 35 minutes so we could get moving and warm (I can see how annoying that would be!). It wasn't until after that night that I got bossy..."Dave, you're on my left and Mike, you're on my right..." Seriously. That seemed to work but getting up and moving was awful. I was warned, I was told that it's just going to suck but that I'll eventually get warm and it's true...but it really did suck and I probably complained much more than necessary. I apologize for that. Obviously we were all feeling the same cold.

Another fearful moment for me was the caving. The caves were super tight, sketchy and full of bats (super glad I got my rabies vaccine). For our direction of travel, we were to follow a string of twine (never mind the fact that the twine could have easily been pulled down). The boys were amazing getting me through this section but I was literally counting the seconds until we were done (average time was about an hour). Mike went first so he was able to coach me through a lot of the climbs and movements. He also knew when a cute little family of bats were approaching (which was instrumental in me not wigging out deep in the caves) "just keep your head down!" Dave was second so he and Mike were able to lift and pull me thru some almost impossible sections. There were sections of the caves where we were literally guiding the persons feet to the ground - talk about trust. My favourite moment in the cave was when I thought I could lift Dave down a flat rock. His stomach may have been bleeding after that...the section eventually ended and we were all super glad to be on our way.

The white water section - ironically, what I thought was going to be the biggest battle of overcoming fear, was my absolute favourite. Again, another attest to my amazing teammates. In the boat with Dave, he was able to coach me through the rapids and we only managed to dump twice between the river paddle and the whitewater.

Between all these moments of fear, I eventually got my moment of strength that Liza mentioned. It happened. It was the moment when I realized that we were going to cross the finish line and for the first time in my life I really felt proud of myself. It was pretty powerful. I've done a lot of things for myself, accomplished some pretty neat personal goals but this was the most selfless adventure that I have done. I've never had to take care of others as much as myself while racing. Adventure Racing truly teachers you the importance of that. When my teammates were hungry, hurting, or upset so was I and vice versa. My experience was amazing because I had the right teammates. Funny, empathetic, and experienced beyond words and they were all so instrumental in getting us across the finish line. I feel so humbled to have been a part of such an experience.

A few days after the race and I'm still overwhelmed in so many ways. The sacrifices and support from my Bobby, the help to get me to the start line, the support of family, friends, my adorable students and even complete strangers, the hours people spent tracking our progress, the hospitality of the Swahili people...the list goes on.

So, I'd say my goals were mostly a success...but there's always room for improvement. I did manage to tell Bobby that I'm hooked. His comment being, "we'll have to look at the budget..." ;)

Other highlights include...
-riding our bikes with the zebras and impalas
-seeing a hippo
-the most beautiful sunsets on the planet
-the homesteads we were welcomed into
-treking into a grow operation (true story)
-understanding the difference between barbwire and bladewire
-Mike's amazing ability to tell jokes for 5 days straight
-the worst bushwhack of my life
-blaming all my farts on Mike
-Mike taking the blame for all my farts
-Mid camp milkshakes
-Mr. Noodles
-riding alongside the school children while they chased us in their bare-feet.
-greetings from the school children
-roadside stops for coke and super weird popcorn
-magical custard drinking boxes
-finish line beer (which probably explains my finish photo)

C • Amazing!..... 27

Hip series. Not fun.

Flow and it felt so good

Event: Expedition Africa
 

C • GOOD LUCK!! 1

Shake out