Dessert fun

We are eating dessert after a most amazing buffet meal. We each took
some different treats to try. 'Dis 'n vrek se een,' says Francois
about a decidedly wicked chocolate mousse cake. 'i have eaten more
sugar now than this whole year.'
Alex, our resident diabetic while looking over the treats
commented,with a smile, 'Diabetic man, this stuff is going to kill me.
Show restraint!'. We have a solution - we grab wicked things and Alex
gets to try a little bit.

We all agree that this does not yet feel like a race because we are
staying in a luxury hotel with exceptional done. We have got briefing
tomorrow morning at 8h30 and them kit check. More then. Night.

Wakin' up in Abu Dhabi

Knock-knock

Our room is dark and it feels too early for a knock on the door. I'm sure I pushed the room's 'Do not disturb' button on the bedside control panel. The room is automated with push buttons to turn on and off lights and also foor DND and 'make up the room' signals, which are displayed outside the room. It could only be Alex or Francois, who are sharing the room nearby.

I open the door, blinking into the light and probably looking like hell after going to sleep after 3am.

Alex and Francois are standing there looking bright and ready for the day.

'What's the time?" I ask.

"Quarter to 9."

"But aren't we meeting for breakfast only at nine-thirty? My alarm is set for nine."

"We've already been for a tour around the hotel, upstairs and down," Francois says.

"Mmmmm... we'll see you in a bit. Don't call us, we'll call you." I close the door and climb back into bed. But I'm awake now. We get up and 15 minutes later I'm bashing on their door. "Let's go play," I say.

Francois is an early riser. Alex woke up around 8; Francois opened the curtains to get him up. He'd probably been lying in bed being quiet for a good two hours. Hahaha.

Breakfast is an impressive spread. Good thing we have another two breakfasts here so we can try everything. I've seen Lotta, from race organisations; and Chris, from race media.

After breakfast Chris tells us about a South African guy who runs the fitness centre. We go to find him.

Willem is a friendly guy and he asks about the race adding that this is the only time of year you can do this kinda stuff out here. "Bliksem, die son brand. When you're out here in summer it isn't about just being hot. You get dehydrated. My kop klop." He has offered to take us sight-seeing this evening when he gets off work.

We caught a taxi into town - 23km from the hotel to the Marina Mall. There has been way more construction here and there are posters promoting many sporting events happening soon. Formula One power boats (starting on Friday) and some FIFA Club World Cup next week. We're at a coffee place now using their Wi-Fi.

We'll take a walk shortly around the beachfront area. We've got the day to play and then we'll head back to the hotel. There are lots of teams around so it is nice to meet and mingle.

L

Safe arrival

We had a bit of a stressful time at the airport this morning. We’d received confirmation from the event that our names were registered with customs for visas but that they couldn’t email the papers to us because this is a national holiday period. I’d printed off the letter from the event, in case we needed to present some kind of proof. Good thing I did as the email also has the telephone numbers for our event contact.

The airline wouldn’t let us check-in without the papers so after a phone call to the event and a few text messages, the email arrived and we checked in with an hour to go before boarding. The lady from the airline who checked our passports before letting us check-in cast a bit of doom and gloom when she saw Alex’s temp passport: “They may not let you in,” she said. “A guy flew on Friday with one and they turned him back.” My reply was, “Well, we’ll give it a try – safety in numbers”. Needless to say, Alex and I were looking forward to getting him on to the other side of the Abu Dhabi airport. Flights are not quite like Swazi Xtreme were one or two racers get into Swaziland burried under luggage and coolerboxes.

At the airport I bumped into Bradley Weinand – he used to organise adventure races in the KZN Province. He was on his way to Uganda on business.



On the plane we settled in. The flight was only half-full so we had plenty of space. The movies on Etihad are excellent – no shortage of good movies for the trip to Abu Dhabi and home. And as for the food… There were three main meal choices and they all looked good. Christo went for a chicken dish, Francois has ravioli and Alex and I went for a lamb thing. All excellent. We each got through anywhere from 2.5 to 2.9 movies; I’ve got 20 minutes of ‘District 9’ to finish on the way home.

At the airport all our luggage arrived quickly and we also went swiftly through customs. The other thing Alex and I were holding our breath about is that the passport number on Alex’s visa was for his lost passport, not the temp. We had all the police letters and old passport scans on hand, but didn’t need it. We almost ran away from the counter in glee!

A dude was waiting right outside arrivals with my name on a board. We’d booked a mini-van shuttle through our hotel, the Park Rotana, to transport us and our crates to the hotel. Last year we’d battled with taxis because traveling with big crates means that regular sedans just don’t cut it; we’d need three of them! The van was perfect and our trip to the hotel was smooth.

These Arabs build and irrigate and create like you can’t believe and I didn’t recognize a thing on the way from the airport. I look forward to seeing this place during the day. They’ve terraformed a lot of this area in the 12 months since last year’s race. Unbelievable.

Our hotel, and the event hotel, is the brand-spanking new Park Rotana. The hotel opened only 15 days ago and we could possibly be the first people to sleep in our rooms! This is a very nice modern and well designed hotel – not gold and kitch for this place. Lovely colours and a clean and open design. Our rooms are near each other – separated by one room – and they’re super. We’ve got the fluffiest white towels, gowns (too hot to wear but fun to try on) and puffy slippers. The tv is a Sony Bravia flat screen and the bathroom… divine shower! It is one of those flat-floor showers and the spray comes either from a normal (high, side wall) head of a rosette off the ceiling. And there’s no bath, which makes so much sense. I don’t think I’ve ever bathed in a hotel bath and you usually have to step into them to shower; putting baths in hotels is really silly. I’ll take some photos tomorrow to show you how cool this place is.

SA time is two hours behind Abu Dhabi. It is almost 3am now and we’re meeting for breakfast at 09h30. Then we’ll go play. Till later...

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!

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.

All together to paddle

We were all together today, for the second time, for a paddle session with coach Russell Willis. And would you believe that, despite having my camera with me, I forgot to take a photo of the four of us together!

This was Christo's first session with Russell and his intro to this focus on efficiency of stroke. Within 30-minutes Christo was in the groove and paddling much more efficiently. He'll work on the things learned today, back home in Bloem and then do a follow-up session with Russell pre-rogaine in early November.

The next time we'll all be together will probably be the day before we leave for Abu Dhabi. Alex leaves next weekend to join Team Cyanosis in Portugal on their support crew. Francois, Christo and I will be together for the rogaine (Nathan is joining us to complete the second pair). And then the next three weeks are certain to gallop past before we depart.

All is well and things are starting to come together. For me, this wil become more real once our clothing and branding arrives and also when I receive our visas and flight confirmations from race organisation.

Goodies start to arrive & rogaining

Our first bits of gear arrived today. Well, Francois and Alex were the recipients of the goodies (trekking poles, climbing gear - RAM Mountaineering and Adventure Inc.) as Christo and I have equipment already.

We're eagerly waiting for our clothing to arrive, which should be in the next few days.

We're all together on Saturday for another session with Russell. And then the next time we get together will be for the CapeStorm Foot & MTB Rogaine on the weekend of 7 & 8 November.

Francois and I will do the foot rogaine together. As Alex will be in Portugal as support crew for Team Cyanosis, we've got Nathan as our 4th. He's a very competent orienteer and swift on foot and bike. Christo will be with Nathan for the foot rogaine. And then we mix it up the next day - Christo with me and Francois with Nathan. I'm so looking forward to it.

First paddle coaching session

Today we had our first paddle coaching session with Russell Willis. Last year Russell assisted our team in tweaking our technique specifically for hours and hours of paddling.

Unfortunately Christo couldn't join us so it was just me, Alex and Francois. Alex and I have been paddling together since the beginning of September so this session doubled up as the opportunity to get into the boat with Francois.

Russell gave us all tips to improve the efficiency of our strokes - works like a bomb; the effects are felt immediately.

We'll have our next session in two weeks - all four together - and then another in early November.

Lisa and Francois play for tv

Lisa and Francois spent the last six days playing on the set of a new Gladiator-style tv programme, which will be shot in January 2010 and aired pre-FIFA2010.

"We've been part of the Dream Team, which tests some of the games for the show," Lisa explains. "The producion team uses us as guinea pigs to test the lighting on set, the camera angles and also duration, difficulty and rules of the games." A test episode, which will never be aired, will be made from the week's action as a demo of the show.

"This programme will make for awesome viewing. The games are way more physically challenging than Gladiators," says Lisa. Lisa was a contender in the first South African Gladiator series in 1999 so her comparison reference is accurate.  "It takes just over a minute to complete one of the big obstacle courses and when you're finished you can hardly talk from the effort. Upper body strength is a big element."

The show includes a soccer shooting component. "My team, which wasn't as fast as Francois' team, won 3-2 purely on our soccer goals. They were faster and had more scoring opportunities, but we scored the needed goals," she explains. This element will play a big role in the show - very hare-and-tortoise.

"It was also great to spend the week with Francois. We had super fun on set and got to know each other much better," Lisa adds.