Links to use

Ok, these are links you'll need to follow the race:

http://www.abudhabi-adventure.com/ - event website, with sat tracking
http://www.checkpointzero.com/ - race reporting [I'll meet Paul (aka Yak), the editor for the first time in person - and I've written for him many times over the last 5 years!]
http://www.sleepmonsters.com/ - race reporting

And, of course, we'll post content and images here during the race.

Passport woes solved

Alex's temporary passport came through today; and the good news is that his lost passport is now found. It was handed in to a police station in Portugal and Alex is having it couriered home. So, we're waiting for the original to arrive and have the temporary passport in case it doesn't get back in time. Phew!

FoodState gives us a boost

After the Rogaine, in early Nov, Christo, Francois and I are sitting down chatting and eating. Mark, my friend, comes up to say hi, meet the team and ask how things are going for Abu Dhabi. We chat a while and then he goes off to join his partner Debbie, one of my teammates in our all-girls Triumph AR team.

I then tell relate who Mark is to the guys (partner to Debbie, did the car race with us on bikes etc) and I add, "He's the FoodState guy".

"Ohhh... that Blitz stuff," says Francois. He attended some of the Blitz MTB events, organised by Uge Events, out at Pelindaba. Blitz sponsors these fun events.

"They make that recovery stuff too," says Christo.

"Reignite!" I contribute.

"That stuff is good!" adds Francois. It's the glycogen, amino acids and proteins (glutamine, PeptoPro and whey protein concentrate) and FoodState vitamins and minerals that give Reignite its kick.

Indeed, SPN is part of the FoodState supplement company - and these supplements are included in the SPN products, which are made for sports people.

There are five products in their range:

• Blitz, the carbohydrate drink (powder, in a sachet; add water)
• Blaze, the carbohydrate gel
• Reignite, the recovery formula (powder, add to water)
• Flame, a meal replacement formula; and
• Stoke, a carbo loading gel

My personal favourite is Blitz - it is great tasting too without being too sweet.

Thanks to Mark and FoodState, we've got Blitz, Blaze and Reignite for Abu Dhabi. We'll keep fueled during each stage with Blitz and Blaze and the Reignite is really going to help get our bodies ready for the next day. Thank you!

Sand gaiters - done!

Yay! This afternoon I finished sewing the gaiters for our team. Gaiters are probably the most crucial pieces of equipment that we're taking to the race. They're for the desert trekking stage - to keep the sand out of our shoes.

In thinking back to last year... we used mini gaiters last year, which stopped sand coming into the top of our shoes but did nothing to stop the flood of sand coming in through the mesh on the front. I cannot begin to describe how fine that desert sand is; it infiltrates and just does not stop. In fact, it pushes your toes out of the way so that within an hour you're walking with scrunched toes and you just have to stop to shake the sand from your shoes and socks. And each time you stop it probably costs you 10 minutes.

I don't know how many times we stopped last year but saying that we lost two hours is a conservative estimate... probably a lot more. With gaiters alone we should be able to improve our efficiency on this trekking section.

These new icy blue lycra gaiters in this picture are the Rolls Royce version of the sand gaiters I made for the Namib Desert Challenge, which I ran in the Soussousvlei area in February this year. I stitched them on to my shoes and purposefully dragged my feet through the fine dune sand. Limited infiltration. This new design is a half-leg variation because when you go down dunes the sand easily comes up mid-calf. I have also included a velcro strip on the front for access to laces.

The gaiters have been my biggest stress to get them done; I spent the whole weekend at it and finished the four pairs off today. Yay!

*I'm wearing one of the guy's gaiters - they're a bit longer than mine, thus the 'crinkle'

Adventure World Magazine interview

How exciting! We're featured in an interview on Adventure World Magazine Online.

AWM is an electronic magazine, covering all kinds of adventure sport and adventure racing from around the world. They also run various features, interviews and releases on their website. Great resource.

Racing with diabetes

Alex is an insulin-dependant diabetic; and this is a condition that gives less trouble within a race environment than you’d expect.


“It's all about managing my insulin vs. carbohydrate intake vs. Exercise,” says Alex. “Exercise and insulin push my blood sugar down, eating carbs pushes it up.”

He explains that the short term problem is low blood sugar. “It’s like 'bonking'. I'm pretty good at preventing it. If it happens I just eat something sugary, go slower for bit, feel flat - and then after 10-15 minutes, I'm back. This can be avoided with steady eating. It rarely happens to me in races.”

Alex has briefed our team on what to do in an emergency situation. If his blood sugar level gets crucially low he could slip into a coma. “I’ve never come close to that, but we should be aware,” he explains. Simple sugars, like Coke and sweets work best to deal with low blood sugar; and for emergencies he carries a glucagon kit. Glucagon is the hormone that facilitates the release of sugar into the blood from the liver. “You’ll have to inject it into my butt,” he adds.

What about high blood sugar? “It isn’t a big problem in the short term. When I'm 60 my kidneys and eyes might not work too well, but that’s only if I have long periods (like weeks and months) of high blood sugar.”

Within the sporting environment diabetes can be easily managed and over the last few years, as he has moved into longer distance events, Alex has learned to manage his blood sugar and to recognise the signs of low blood sugar early. Indeed, racing is actually a diabetic treat. “I generally avoid sweet stuff and junk food because of my diabetes, so I enjoy opportunities to eat sweet things. After the race I'd really like a donut.”

Alex home and passport application is in

Alex came home safely during Wednesday and he shot off to Home Affairs. He has submitted his paperwork for a temp passport, which should be ready Wednesday next week. We do have a backup Plan B (another mechanism for getting a passport through Home Affairs quick-quick) and a Plan C, another team applicant on standby. I hope we won't need either!

Media: Abu Dhabi Week

Alex on his way home

The much needed letter from Pretoria came through today (Tuesday) and Alex should be back in Joburg tomorrow. He'll be rushing off to Home Affairs directly from the airport. There seem to be various ways to get a new passport pronto. And we'll need it with 13 days to go until we leave for Abu Dhabi.

Francois blitzes 94.7 Cycle Challenge

Francois rode the 94.7 Cycle Challenge yesterday, completing the ride in a speedy 2h40.

Alex's passport gone

Alex was due to return from Portugal today - but his passport has gone AWOL, lost during XPD Portugal. He will return tomorrow.

It will be a mad rush once he returns to get a new one, in time for our departure in two weeks. Eeeekkk!

Our sponsors help to make it happen

Our team is very fortunate to be supported by a number of companies who help us in various ways to get our clothing and equipment together for this race.

First Ascent are our clothing sponsor. We have selected a number of really cool goodies from their new range. Because I prefer people to race in 'bottoms' of their choice (shorts, tights, baggies - anything dark coloured goes), we just go for same-same team tops.

This year we've gone for First Ascent's white Trail Tees, light-weight long sleeve Quik-Wic Crew Tops (blue) and Firestorm 1/4 zip fleece tops (blue, compulsory clothing). And because their stuff is so good, we've all ordered other bits and pieces to compliment our gear.

RAM Mountaineering and Adventure Inc  are also supporters of Team www.AR.co.za. They're the best for Black Diamond trekking poles, carabiners and lighting systems, Pacific Outdoor drybags, Sea2Summit travel towels and everything outdoorsy and rope-related inbetween.

Eiger Equipment are our Petzl people. Last year we got our mountaineering helmets (Petzl Ecrin Roc) and Petzl Shunts from them. This year only Francois needed to get a helmet. And as of this week, Shunts are now no longer required. Eiger are also the agents for Nathan, a company well known in the US for their running goodies; I already have a 3-litre Nathan water reservoir (and a running water bottle that 'holds' on to your hand with it's hand strap thing).

The best thing about all of these guys is that we get amazing deals on gear - we save a fortune in getting kitted out. And this is all really good stuff that you keep for years and use over and over and over again. Even more pleasing is that dealing with these companies is a pleasure; they're friendly, helpful and efficient.

Carmen, Morne, Randall, Simon, Tatum, Warren, Christo, Yvette and John - thank you ;)

Paddle coaching session

Still in Jo'burg, Christo squeezes in another session with paddle coach Russell Willis at Emmarentia Dam. Here Russell is demonstrating how to use your legs within the paddle stroke. This was Christo's second session with Russell and the difference to his stroke, in terms of smoothness and efficiency, is marked. He's also getting better rotation through use of his torso more than just arms. Awesome!

Foot rogaining fun

What an awesome weekend! Rogaining is probably my favourite orienteering variation and to share it with friends is even better. This was Christo and Francois’ first rogaining experience and they totally excelled. We were without Alex as he is currently in Portugal on Team Cyanosis’ support crew for the AR World Championships. But we were very fortunate to have Nathan Thompson make up our second pair. He’s a superb runner and navigator, so well matched with Christo. I paired up with Francois.

Lisa, Francois, Christo and Nathan: post-race pic

Christo came up from Bloem on Friday afternoon and we headed through to Belfast, meeting Francois at his family friend’s farmhouse. We arrived in the dark and would only see how lovely and green the area is in the morning. After dinner and lekker kuier together and with Francois’ other friends (Izaan, Frans, Renier and Johannes) also joining us at the house, we were off to sleep. With the event only starting at nine, we wouldn’t have to be up at the crack of dawn.

I’d been sick as a dog all week with a flu-throat-chest-coughing-snotty thing – not nice at all, especially before one of my favourite-favourite events. Doc gave me good stuff to take and I was taking everything I could lay my hands on. I’d also been monitoring my heart rate all week and while it wasn’t much elevated, I definitely wasn’t on the health straight-and-narrow. Nonetheless I’d decided to go ahead and take it steady; Francois would just have to go easy on me.

We woke to mist and non-stop rain, which would continue throughout the race. The weather, although great for running, had a major impact on the event because when we drove up there were hardly any cars parked around the lodge at Lakenvlei. Although around 100 teams had entered, only 30-odd showed up to run in the rain.

Francois and I were in the first start batch; we took a few minutes to assess our route options and decided to head North-west-ish first, gobbling up the controls in a mostly clock-wise direction. I definitely kept our pace a bit slower in the beginning, worried about getting my heart rate too high, especially on the ups.

Overall I think our route was sound and efficient. It also worked out perfectly in that we weren’t stressed getting to the finish – it is wicked when you have to run 5min/km to make the finish in time after being out there for just under 6hrs. We had a easy sweep through to the finish, reaching the end with a bit over three minutes to spare. We were second in the mixed category and 8th overall.

Christo and Nathan had an awesome run! They headed East around the dams and vlei before shooting North and working mostly anti-clockwise. They collected all but a few checkpoints to win overall! And by a decent points margin too.

Having run the whole day in the rain and not in tip-top health, I decided not to do the mtb orienteering the next morning. As Nathan was heading back to Joburg for a triathlon, it would leave Christo and Francois together. They decided to chill with me and skip the wet and mud. Instead we stayed up on Saturday night playing ’30 Seconds’ (Johannes and I are the undisputed champions) and had a chilled morning. It was a beautiful day with not a dash of rain in sight. We went for a lovely walk up a beautiful, nearby kloof to see the most spectacular waterfall.

Francois is an excellent rogaine partner and I’m so totally proud of Christo and Nathan’s win. All in all a superb weekend.