My Kind Of Weird

Well this week sort of just disappeared on me to be honest. Last weekend was a holiday and I was gone to Michigan for a training camp and a race. As soon as I came back, I began moving furniture out of my apartment to prepare for my move at the end of the month so my current sleeping situation is a sleeping bag on the hardwood floor in my condo.

As you are reading this, I am headed stateside again to do one of my biggest and scariest races to date: The Equinox Traverse. It’s not the fact that it is the longest race I have ever done (almost 200 miles) or the fact that there is rock climbing, mountain biking, orienteering, trekking and canoeing, it is the fact that I will be awake and racing for 2 days straight. 48 hours – non-stop and I am not going to pretend I am not terrified.

Thankfully, I have had a lot of adventure racing veterans lend me some important gear and give me advice so I am feeling a little more prepared. I spent all week thinking through what I am going to take and trying to anticipate what I will need if it is pouring rain at 3 AM after 32 hours of racing. I don’t even know…

There will be no post on Monday because I will STILL BE RACING. I have a big recap next week. If I survive.

Moving on, last weekend, I headed to Crystal Mountain in Michigan to celebrate this lovely lady.

 

I met Kim when I did her race a couple years ago in Yankee Springs. Not only is she a hardcore mountain biker, adventure racer and runner, she is a race director! She is going to be my team mate for Transrockies and it was her birthday last weekend so she invited her closest girl friends who all happen to be super athletes and we headed to her condo in Crystal Mountain.

Kim is also doing the Equinox Traverse this weekend with another team which we only just found out so she was walking me through what I should be doing to prepare. One of the things we did was sign up for a mountain bike race while I was in Michigan to practice my single track on the bike.

It was a gorgeous race and I was careful with my pace knowing I was racing this weekend, but worked hard and placed fourth female. I’ll be back next year to claim the podium! It was a big step for me to feel confident on single track because historically, I have been terrified. I am such a newbie at this that this was my second race ever with clips on my pedals and I was so impressed by how much of a stronger rider this made me. Moving a little closer to my 2015 goal to master mountain biking!

The rest of the weekend was perfect. We did a beach day after the race and spent the evening trail running and doing hill climbs to the top of the ski hill to watch the sunset.

 

These women are so refreshing. They are mothers, athletic and strong. They make me look like an absolute wimp – one running over five 100 milers in a year, another getting her toe nails surgically removed so she would stop losing them in races, many of them routinely getting up at 3 am to get their training in so they don’t interrupt their children’s schedule, and calming talking about 72 hour adventure races or near renal failure in an ultra.

 

There is something so refreshing to find the people who are the same brand of weird as you. The weird that just says YES to adventures, and losing toenails and eating a box of cereal in a sitting. The weird that spends weekends covered in mud, probably ticks and a huge smile. My kind of weird.

 

Here’s to a big summer of adventure.

Looking for a race to add a bit of adventure? Spartan Race is offering $40 off their races for a memorial day discount! Code is MEMORIAL.

Want more? Enter to win a Spartan Race of your choice this summer. Just leave a comment below and I will chose a winner in June!

What is your kind of weird?