Know before you go - AdventureSmart

Starting with an apology, yes I know this race was over a week ago.  But I'm busy at the best of times and I'm only just starting to get caught up on some of the work I wanted to get done before the earthquake.  I'm also sorry that there are no photos.


Preparation

I'll say up front that even though I run a multisport website, this was my first actual multisport race. I've done a few half marathons this year but nothing that includes a transition. So I was really looking forward to this one as a new experience.

I knew I can do a 12km offroad run, and I also knew that a 28km bike ride on gravel roads would be fairly straight forward. And if I'm not stupid I should be able to do them both one after the other. Apart from that I was just hoping for good weather.

The forecast wasn't too good, but the weather in Hanmer is hard to predict at the best of times. On the way in I noticed the Waiau river was quite dirty but the river coming out of Hanmer (sorry I don't know its name) was clean so it hadn't been raining up that way. The weather on the morning was pretty nice, so I relaxed a bit in the hope that we'd have clear weather for the race.

With my usual level of over-organisation I'd packed the kitchen sink so I'd be prepared for just about anything. I had my windproof bike jacket and had also packed my Goretex one in case of rain. I had my polyprop and my bike tights which are windproof on the front. I had food, I had water. I'd even remembered my bike.

The women's race was held in great weather in the morning but it had clouded over and cooled down a bit before the men's start. At the last minute I threw my running gloves into the back pocket of my jacket, just in case it got too cold on the course. They don't weigh much and I tend to get cold fingers. This turned out to be a very important decision later on.

I left a whole bag of stuff next to my bike at transition so I could opt to change into whatever clothing I felt necessary after the run. I felt a bit silly as everyone else only had their helmet and bike shoes. I'd have done the same if I'd been a bit more sure of the weather. Or a perhaps bit more ignorant about it.

My only real transition plan was to put my bike shorts on over my running shorts. The bike shorts have padding, and they also have pockets. I had stuffed a One Square Meal bar into each pocket so I could have something to eat on the ride.


Race Time!

We came off the start line at a cracking pace and to cut a long story short I found myself getting dropped by most of the group within the first couple of km. The quick start had knackered me and it took quite a long time to get into a good rhythm after that. I train on the hills at home but during the race I struggled on the climbs after such a blistering start.

I felt pretty peeved but there wasn't much I could do so I consoled myself by enjoying the scenery. I might finish last but I may as well make the most of it and try to finish within my conservative target time of 3 hours.

We had a bit of spitty rain during the run but nothing really substantial, so at the transition I stuck with my original plan. The thought of going without the bike shorts had crossed my mind during the run, but I remembered the food in the pockets so on they went.

I was really glad to get onto the bike after such a hard run and I started off at a pretty good pace, managing to catch & pass another competitor rather quickly. But I could feel that my leg muscles were definitely not fresh.

It wasn't long before I hit the big unrelenting climb. On fresh legs I'm quite a good climber but after that run I wasn't able to hold much of a pace. To make things worse, my glasses were wet and muddy and were fogging up quite a lot. So when I finally got to a short downhill section I had to take it VERY carefully (ie slowly). I had to stop a couple of times to try and clean my glasses so I could see where I was going. I was getting quite frustrated to put it lightly.

I noticed the next day that my efforts at wiping the mud off had put a couple of scratches into the lenses. I actually have some riding glasses but they're road ones which are too dark for the MTB.  I've been thinking about getting some clear prescription sports glasses, I guess I should have thought a bit harder.

When my bike computer said I'd reached halfway I muttered a few choice words, but the climbing was nearly over by this stage. I was feeling wet, cold and quite miserable.

Soon after that, the big downhill started. This would have been a great ride on a fine day. Unfortunately it was a cold and wet day and the wind chill from the riding was terrible. My hands soon got to the point where I couldn't feel my fingers and I eventually decided to stop and walk for a bit because I didn't think I'd be able to work the brakes for much longer.

I started to wonder how the hell I was ever going to finish the race. Am I coming last? Where's the tail-ender? If I see him now I'm going to have to DNF as there's 10km to go and it'll take ages to walk out, if I don't freeze to death on the way.

But I kept calm and rational, and that's probably the most important thing when faced with a hopeless situation. Because you may have a lightbulb moment that saves the day, or at least makes things a little more bearable.

As I finished off one of my OSM bars I suddenly remembered my running gloves. They're no more waterproof than my MTB ones but they are a bit more wind resistant, and most importantly they were dry. I took them out and put them on, and put the wet bike gloves away in my back pocket. After a few more minutes of walking I was feeling good enough to start riding again. Crisis averted... for now. I knew the gloves wouldn't last me long but riding is a lot faster than walking.


Hypothermia Sucks, Don't Get It

A little further down the hill all my misery was put into perspective when I came across another competitor who had stopped. He was sitting at the side of the track in quite a sorry state, shivering uncontrollably with hypothermia. Straight away I took my jacket off and gave it to him, and I fished out my other OSM bar and handed that across too.

I stood next to him and started to make conversation while my mind ticked over trying to think of what to do next. I had no idea how long the tail-ender would take to find us. I was starting to feel cold without my jacket, but he needed it more than me. But I could see myself getting into a similar state without it if I wasn't careful. I was just glad that there wasn't much wind.

Within a few minutes another couple of guys arrived. Between them they dished up a survival blanket and a beanie. Absolute godsend, my hypothermic friend owes these guys a beer or two. One of them offered to stay behind so I took my jacket back - not needed with a survival blanket - and jumped back on the bike. I was really feeling the cold by then and needed to keep moving. The other guy had left a few minutes before so he could find a marshal and raise the alarm. I went off to not only get home before I froze, but also to act as backup in case Murphy's law struck and he crashed or got lost.

The only thing keeping me going for the rest of the ride was knowing there were some thermals with my name on them, and that stopping really wasn't a realistic option. I'd just get colder with the lack of activity and I'd have to wait for rescue which could take ages.

I noticed my fingers going numb again but I was off the downhill by then so it wasn't quite so dangerous. I knew I was on the home stretch so there was a good helping of stubborn determination keeping me going. I was feeling the cold very badly in my legs and feet as well. My legs were bare (and wet, of course) and the feet had been wet since crossing a stream early in the ride.

Then in the distance I saw someone in a high-vis jacket. I figured that must be a junction near the finish as my bike computer indicated there was a few km to go yet. It turned out that my computer was wrong, I was actually at the finish! I only noticed the chute in front of me just before I rounded the corner - that could have been embarrassing.

I checked that the organiser knew about the hypothermic competitor and he confirmed that the 4x4 I'd seen coming past had been dispatched to pick him up. So it was straight to the car with the Mrs in tow.


Recovery

Another good piece of preparation was that I'd taken a towel to go with my change of clothes. The idea was that there might be a shower available, like there was after the Hanmer Half Marathon that I'd done earlier this year.

Well there was no shower but the towel was a damn good start. One of the keys to getting warm is to get dry. Then on went the polyprop and tights, then the dry clothes, then a polarfleece-lined jacket. We cranked the A/C in the car and headed off to a coffee shop for a hot chocolate (the other key to getting warm is to eat or drink something warm).

Now I'm asking myself why I didn't have a quick soak in the hot pools that Hanmer Springs is so famous for. The thought didn't even cross my mind. I suppose it wouldn't have been very fair on the Mrs as she didn't bring her togs.

I'd have liked to have gone to the prizegiving - for all I know I might have won a spot prize, but I didn't relish the idea of leaving the A/C in my present state so after a comfort stop we headed for home.

It took me about an hour to start feeling comfortable again, and even then I really noticed the cold whenever I left the car (I needed a few comfort stops on the way home due to rehydrating). Getting home meant a good hot shower. I was so drained that I didn't bother to unpack anything from the car, I just left it there to deal with the following day.


Post-Race Analysis

Now I've had a few days to reflect on what happened during the race. I can't help this, it's probably caused by my engineering training. But thinking back and analysing what went wrong is why it isn't going to scare me off, because I can learn and be better prepared the next time around.

  1. I failed to read the conditions during transition. Coming off the run I was feeling warmed up so I didn't notice just how cold it really was. If I'd been paying attention I'd have noticed that the weather was worsening, albeit slowly.
  2. I should have at least carried the thermals in my MTB backpack. They're not much use back at the transition.
  3. I got lucky. Having those running gloves was all that kept me from a DNF. Wearing the bike shorts probably contributed a lot to my comfort level as they're much bulkier than the running shorts so my legs were less exposed. My windproof jacket was a lifesaver, even though its water-resistant lining has all but disappeared. In hindsight I should have swapped into the Goretex jacket at transition but I didn't anticipate as much rain as we had on the ride.
  4. Just because you don't ride in the rain at home doesn't mean you won't end up riding in the rain when racing. I need to find some wind/waterproof gloves or overgloves. I'm not expecting it to be easy to find something suitable.  I already have 5 pairs of bike gloves and I use them all regularly depending on the conditions.
  5. I need to train better so I can get faster and outrun the weather :)
  6. I need to improve the first aid kit that I carry on the bike. I've already added a survival blanket, and I may add a second one. They don't weigh much. I might also throw in a whistle in case I end up down a bank, even though there's not much chance of me being able to retrieve and use it after a crash that bad.
  7. It was actually good to have the bike computer so I knew approximately how much distance was left to the finish.  I only mention this because I'd recently moved my primary one across to my new road bike, and for this race I pulled out my old one with the broken sensor wire and fixed it up.  And I'm glad I did.

In the end I finished in a few minutes over 3 hours. If I hadn't stopped to help out the other competitor then I'd have probably made it under, but when duty calls time and placings go out the window. On a good day I think I'd have made around 2:45. Position-wise I came 12th out of 14 finishers, from 18 who started in my category.  So yes I have a lot of work to do.

Will I go back next year? I probably will. And I'll be better prepared. And I think I'm going to start programming the race organiser's number into my cellphone whenever I race, in cases where I'd be carrying the phone. You'll get help a lot quicker that way than with 111. Assuming you can find cellphone coverage before you reach a marshal... something you can't guarantee out in the mountains.

But this is why they call it an adventure race. Because if you don't come out with a story, it's not an adventure.

See you next time.

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