Charlie Sheen has nothing on me.  I’m sure that Tiger blood pumps through my veins, that I also have the DNA of Adonis and that the normal rules don’t apply to me.  After all, I’m an adventure racer.

The normal rules can’t apply to me.  I go days on end, non-stop with little or no sleep, looking fear in the face and spitting in it’s eye.  I boldly go where few have gone before.  I cover great distances with little resources and under the power of my own body.  How can the rules apply.

I have had the good fortune of racing some of the greatest races in North America and lived to tell the stories.  I greeted by 50th birthday by starting a 9 day race through the most dangerous land on the planet and came home to tell about it.  Of course the normal rules don’t apply to ME.

And yet her I sit, just after my 51st birthday, with a sore back and struggling to get through my daily training routine.  How can this be??

Well, I guess the rules have a limited degree of application.  I often get nagging injures this time of year as I try to shed some of the weight of winter and start putting the miles under my belt.  Motivation becomes harder as the press of business, family and marriage take it’s toll.  And yet, in my mind, I should be able to do it all.  After all, in my head, I’m as much of a “Rock Star” as old Charlie (without the cash or the live in porn stars.) 

For the past three or four years (at least) I have noticed that the late winter and early spring are the toughest time of year for me.  Races are still months away (at least the big ones) the days have been short and I’m not feeling quiet as spry has I did when I was - say 45.  The joints take a minute to snap into place, the back gets stiff in the morning and my motivation wanes from time to time.  The most disheartening is that I’m just not as fast as I was in my youth.  The days of running 6 minute miles, back to back are over.  I find that I get dropped on my bike more often then before.  This plays on the mind.  Every year I notice everyone else seems to get faster and that the training is a little bit harder and it takes a little be longer to get back in to race shape. 

The shorter races, anything 24 hours or less seem too short, and I feel like I’m red lining the whole way.  For me, expedition races seem to be the best fit.  It takes 6 or 7 hours for me to get warmed up and settle in.  I get stronger as the race goes on and by the second or third day I’m leading the group.  This is more a function of experience then fitness, and being long in the tooth helps in that area.

On those long workouts where all I have are my thoughts and my iPod, my mind often wanders to those pro athletes that continue to play past their prime.  The old stars who have lost a step, who no longer can hit the long ball or brake away like days of old. Am beginning to become like them?  Past my prime and ready for retirement.  Should I listen to my wife and friends who ask me, when are going to give that silliness up and concentrate are more grown up endeavorers.  Be like the normal fathers and husbands and have BBQ’s and beers and watch the waist line grow.

I find more and more often that I am not able to do what I think I use to be able to do. 

But this is adventure racing.  The great thing is that the emphasis can be more on the adventure and less on the racing.  Sure I want to always do my best and help the team be as successful as possible.  But I’ve never been burdened by being the best or the fastest.  I have always done well but never been a champion on any level.  So finishing in the pack is not the trauma for me that it is for the others who feel that finishing 2nd is failure.

In the end,for me the fun and the challenge is the adventure.  Getting older and slower only slightly detracts from the experience.  Experience  has it’s benefits.  Some things I’ve learned the hard way while others I just figured out.  These “tricks” help the team move faster and to be more comfortable.  And I can still walk as fast as anyone I know - a skill that helps in a multi-day race.  As long as we can move fast enough to complete the long course and to be “competitive” in our own way, I am happy.

So I will spend another year or two pretending that the rules don’t apply to me and continent to push my body beyond what mere moral believe is possible.  I will be returning to Raid the North in July and Motherload in September with a few other events sprinkled  in. 

In fact I suspect that I will be doing adventure races long after Charlie Sheen has fallen off the radar and the goddess’  have moved on.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 13th, 2011 at 9:55 pm and is filed under Community, Team. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. [Permalink]

Charlie Sheen has nothing on me.  I’m sure that Tiger blood pumps through my veins, that I also have the DNA of Adonis and that the normal rules don’t apply to me.  After all, I’m an adventure racer.

The normal rules can’t apply to me.  I go days on end, non-stop with little or no sleep, looking fear in the face and spitting in it’s eye.  I boldly go where few have gone before.  I cover great distances with little resources and under the power of my own body.  How can the rules apply.

I have had the good fortune of racing some of the greatest races in North America and lived to tell the stories.  I greeted by 50th birthday by starting a 9 day race through the most dangerous land on the planet and came home to tell about it.  Of course the normal rules don’t apply to ME.

And yet her I sit, just after my 51st birthday, with a sore back and struggling to get through my daily training routine.  How can this be??

Well, I guess the rules have a limited degree of application.  I often get nagging injures this time of year as I try to shed some of the weight of winter and start putting the miles under my belt.  Motivation becomes harder as the press of business, family and marriage take it’s toll.  And yet, in my mind, I should be able to do it all.  After all, in my head, I’m as much of a “Rock Star” as old Charlie (without the cash or the live in porn stars.) 

For the past three or four years (at least) I have noticed that the late winter and early spring are the toughest time of year for me.  Races are still months away (at least the big ones) the days have been short and I’m not feeling quiet as spry has I did when I was - say 45.  The joints take a minute to snap into place, the back gets stiff in the morning and my motivation wanes from time to time.  The most disheartening is that I’m just not as fast as I was in my youth.  The days of running 6 minute miles, back to back are over.  I find that I get dropped on my bike more often then before.  This plays on the mind.  Every year I notice everyone else seems to get faster and that the training is a little bit harder and it takes a little be longer to get back in to race shape. 

The shorter races, anything 24 hours or less seem too short, and I feel like I’m red lining the whole way.  For me, expedition races seem to be the best fit.  It takes 6 or 7 hours for me to get warmed up and settle in.  I get stronger as the race goes on and by the second or third day I’m leading the group.  This is more a function of experience then fitness, and being long in the tooth helps in that area.

On those long workouts where all I have are my thoughts and my iPod, my mind often wanders to those pro athletes that continue to play past their prime.  The old stars who have lost a step, who no longer can hit the long ball or brake away like days of old. Am beginning to become like them?  Past my prime and ready for retirement.  Should I listen to my wife and friends who ask me, when are going to give that silliness up and concentrate are more grown up endeavorers.  Be like the normal fathers and husbands and have BBQ’s and beers and watch the waist line grow.

I find more and more often that I am not able to do what I think I use to be able to do. 

But this is adventure racing.  The great thing is that the emphasis can be more on the adventure and less on the racing.  Sure I want to always do my best and help the team be as successful as possible.  But I’ve never been burdened by being the best or the fastest.  I have always done well but never been a champion on any level.  So finishing in the pack is not the trauma for me that it is for the others who feel that finishing 2nd is failure.

In the end,for me the fun and the challenge is the adventure.  Getting older and slower only slightly detracts from the experience.  Experience  has it’s benefits.  Some things I’ve learned the hard way while others I just figured out.  These “tricks” help the team move faster and to be more comfortable.  And I can still walk as fast as anyone I know - a skill that helps in a multi-day race.  As long as we can move fast enough to complete the long course and to be “competitive” in our own way, I am happy.

So I will spend another year or two pretending that the rules don’t apply to me and continent to push my body beyond what mere moral believe is possible.  I will be returning to Raid the North in July and Motherload in September with a few other events sprinkled  in. 

In fact I suspect that I will be doing adventure races long after Charlie Sheen has fallen off the radar and the goddess’  have moved on.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 13th, 2011 at 9:55 pm and is filed under Community, Team. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. [Permalink]