Lizelle (the other one) on racing

Lizelle v/d Merwe was also at Kinetic Full Moon and the Diamond Dash Duathlon.

These are her experiences...

Full Moon

Full Moon made me realise that AR is an addiction. During the race, sometimes I ask myself if it is a good addiction, BUT after the race you realise what SATISFACTION there is in completing a race where you went through hard tough times, freezing your bones off, getting lost and fighting the sleep monster. What is AR without these things? That's why we do AR and not just running or cycling events. IT IS AN ADVENTURE, NEVER KNOWING WHAT TO EXPECT!

Full Moon was definitely an adventure for me and good preparation for longer races coming up. I am always amazed with the areas and terrain that we go through. The human body can do so much more than what prepared for. I know there is a saying: never look back in life, BUT I think that during a long adventure race you have to take time to stop and look at the terrain, hills, mountains, miles and areas you have overcome. For me, this makes the road ahead so much more rewarding and any mountain or hill ahead then looks so much easier!

Also a highlight of the event, is socialising, gathering and chatting to people that also went through the same experiences over the past 24 hours. I always learn so much from just listening to what worked and what did not work for other teams and then comparing it with our own experience.

Diamand Dash Duathlon
I woke up the morning with a bit of a flu, but decided to still race just for the exercise of it. We kicked off at 09:00 with a 8km trail run. At +- 5/6 km we realised that there were no arrows and bunting on our road anymore. So it kind of felt more like an adventure race for me, but the duathlon and trail run people were not so pleased. So we backtracked until back on the road.

I got to the transition and off I went on the 21km mountain biking. Slowly but surely I battled my way through the 21km, as it was very technical and lots of sand. You had to fight for every metre. I fell twice (thought I broke something in my knee!), but up I went to complete the last few kilometres of the biking leg. I didn't see any ladies the whole way, so I thought that I am definitely at the back and have to gear up a bit. So pushing a little harder, I eventually saw a girl and passed her just before the end of the biking leg.

Heidi said she would like to get in some exercise for the day, so the two of us went for the last 2km run. Not realising what my position was, we cruised with lots of chats. In the last 1km the girl that I passed on the cycling leg passed us and off she went to finish the last bit. I CAN KICK MYSELF, because what I didn't realise was that the girl that has passed me was now in 1st position. I ended up in 2nd place and that girl was 1st.

So I learned from my mistake: THE RACE IS NEVER OVER UNTIL YOU GET TO THE FINISH LINE!! Another thing I have learned is that you always always always have to give your best up until the end, no matter what you think your position is or even if you think you are last, just keep on going and do your BEST. The Duathlon was good exercise, but still do I love adventure racing so much more.

Lizelle's racing experiences

We've all had quite a lot of racing recently with Kinetic Full Moon and Ystervark - both overnight races - and Diamond Dash all happening over the past four weeks.

Lizelle (Smit) has written the following about her recent experiences and lessons learned about adventure racing from these races.

During my recent adventure racing endeavours, I learned that one can never use the saying, 'this is going to be easy'. Doing predominantly on-road triathlons for the past four years, I am used to thinking of 80-120km races as being short and relatively fast. Hence, mainly a 4-5 hour race. What adventure racing has taught me is that distance cannot be measured in time. It can take up to 12-19 hours to complete 'short' distances.

I realised that advenutre racing is filled with elements of surprise, such as a freezing night-time paddling legs, steep kloofing sections and amazing abseils, which we experienced in both the Full Moon and Ystervark races. It is a sport in which you constantly wonder where you are heading and whether you are in the right place; especially if you are hanging off a cliff at 2am. Yes, this sport has no marked routes that you can practice before hand or get used to. Routes depend mainly on your navigators.

This sport is very much a team sport; without the help of your team, there is no way you will complete the race. There is no such thing as ME or I, only US and WE.

At both Full Moon and Ystervark we were faced with the task of taking on the winter cold head-on. Usually in triathlons one is scared of swimming in water that is 20C without a wetsuit. In adventure racing we were in water that was 8C and we had to carry on racing, with soaking wet clothes, in outside temperatures that were below -1C! 

At Full Moon I thought,"this is the last winter event I will EVER do". Yet two weeks later I found myself at yet another cold and wet event (Ystervark). Luckily, I had my very supportive boyfriend Charl, who was more than willing to join me for each event, and one of my favourite racing partners, Nathan.

In triathlons you are always aiming to better your time but I found that with adventure racing it is a matter of ensuring that you manage to cross the finishline (no matter what your time is), with all your team members.

Perhaps it is the thrill of finishing and the feeling of accomplishment you get after you have had some of Mother Nature's bum-kick sessions, that gets you addicted to the sport and makes you look forward to the next challenge.

Ilze eye op successful; withdrawn from squad

Ilze underwent an eye operation on Friday, which was scheduled last minute due to complications following an infection (from an insect that flew into her eye and made itself at home!). The operation was successful but her doc has advised her to keep a low profile on the racing and training side for a few weeks while she recovers and heals.

As a result, Ilze has decided to withdraw from the Team http://www.ar.co.za/ squad. I fully support her decision and doctor's advice; health and wellness should always be priorities placed above everything else. There are races all the time, year-round and, as a talented and enthusiastic athlete, I have little doubt that Ilze will encounter many other exciting opportunities in the future.

Ropes skills workshop morning

Yesterday we were in for a treat! Ryno Griesel (Team Cyanosis; and from Gravity Training) organised a basic rope skills course for us. He recruited a number of Gravity Training instructors to assist; we were not short of personal attention - very special indeed!

Ryno started off by going over some basic kit - harnesses, carabiners, slings... thing commonly used in adventure racing. A really fun component of the course was the 10m and 20m emergency rope and what to do with it. This sounds kinda arbitrary but it is definitely something worth paying attention to in your race preparations. Also, it is one thing to lower someone down on a rope, but how then does the last person get down AND retrieve the rope afterwards.

Ryno demonstrates things to do with your emergency rope

Ryno also taught us useful and essential knots like figure 8-on the bite, Italian (Munter) hitch, bowline and an alpine butterfly. The latter can be used as a makeshift harness too!

My apline butterfly. Lizelle in the background making her knot.

On a low wall we simulated 'going over the edge of an abseil' using three different devices - Figure 8, bug (belay plate) and a Petzl Stop. We also learned the techniques to lock off these devices. Cristelle, Jaco and Susan supervised and guided us through each step.

Then it was on to the high structure (old drive-in screen), which had been rigged by Gravity's instructors, Jaco and Louis. We climbed up three times to abseil with two devices and a Munter hitch (on a pear-shaped carabiner), locking off mid-air before completing the descent.

As I haven't jumared for ages, I did a quick session with Ryno to refresh on adjusting the length of the foot loops and also the length from the upper jumar to my harness. It's something I don't always remember because I practise this so seldom. And then I climbed up a bit, attached my abseil devices, locked off, detached the jumars and then abseiled down. It was fabulous fun!

Ryno, thank you for organising this for our squad and for taking us through ropes elements most important and relevant to adventure racing. And to your Gravity Training instructors, Christelle, Jaco, Louis and Susan, we really appreciate your expertise and your morning spent with us.

Adri and Steven practise knots

"The rabbit goes into the hole, around the tree and then where?" - Steven ties a bowline

Charl (Lizelle's boyfriend), Lizelle, Adri and Steven

Ja, ja. Rules are made to be broken ;) Susan guides Adri.

(Note: Gravity Training are the only ones with permission to use this structure, which they also maintain to certification standards)

Ryno shows Steven how to rig a Petzl Stop

Ropes, ropes everywhere! Lizelle gets the giggles while locking off.

Adri in action!

This time, it's clockwise

MEDIA RELEASE: Every year since its inception in 2007, we've introduced a slight twist to the event. For 2011 we've literally gone 360 degrees.

In 2007 the race began with a sprint start to the kayaks, parked on the sweeping Corniche Beach in downtown Abu Dhabi City, which was followed by a 118km paddle along the picturesque Al Dhabela coast to Mirfa.

For 2008 we introduced a triathlon-style prologue around the Corniche involving a bike sprint, a short kayaking loop to Lulu Island, a few hundred metres off the beach, with a run around the island thrown in for good measure.

Last year we spiced up the prologue with a 900-metre dip in the city's panoramic lagoon following a run around the stunning Emirates Palace gardens.

But this year the twist is a little more pronounced. Day One will still include the opening prologue in the cosmopolitan heart of Abu Dhabi City but from them on it's about face. The teams will first transfer to the oasis city of Al Aïn, for a confrontation with the rugged outcrops of the Jebel Hafeet range, after which they will traverse East to West across the unforgettable dunes of the Rub al Khali, the largest expanse of unbroken sand in the world - with a final sea kayaking section back to the finish in Abu Dhabi city. This clockwise rotation around the Emirate is sure to introduce some fascinating new race perspectives.

http://www.abudhabi-adventure.com/