Briefing

We have just had race briefing. Same kinda thing as usual - no rocket science. Nice to see all the teams in one room. Andre Gie is here. He flew in this morning. He will be racing with Team Sole. Chad Ulansky is in the same team.

The weather is mild, cooler than Joburg has been. Humidity is not that bad either so I think we are in for fine conditions. It will be about 5C warmer in the desert.

We are going for a kit check at 11h30 and them at 5 there is a formal opening function with VIPs and country ambassadors. We hope to meet our SA ambassador.

Breakfast tomorrow morning starts at 4am. We are then bussed to the main beach front for the prologue, which is a 40km sprint. We bike along the esplanade and then sea kayak across to Lulu Island and then clockwise around it. Then we run around on the island, pretty much
clockwise too.

Chat later.
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Doing nothing much prerace

We all slept very well last might. Even Garth, a farmer, woke up long after sunrise. We took the shuttle into the city again, trying out a different mall. Not great - the Marina Mall is definitely the place to go.

We did meet other teams on the bus and the hotel is rocking. From this morning there have been teams all over the place. The hotel is very chaotic though and because view had to wait for guests to check out, rooms were only assigned late afternoon. So teams were on every available chair and couch. We had to check out of our rooms when we got back from the mall at lunch time and them had to wait around. We got our room after 5!

We have just been preparing our compulsory kit. At 8h30 in the morning we have a team meeting. We are down for our technical check and gear thing at 11h30.

This is when we get our bikes and boats and other bits from the race organisation.

At the moment we are having a picnic in our room. It looks like a tornado has passed through. We are looking forward to another good sleep. Night everyone.

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A day in Abu Dhabi

So what do you do when you have a day in Abu Dhabi and no car? You take the hotel shuttle to the mall. Then you head for a supermarket to buy food, gaping at all the exotic goods and spotting familiar ones, like Ouma rusks. Then you go outside to loiter on the lawn with a view of the city, eating sandwiches and dozing in the shade of a tree.

We had dinner at the mall and caught the shuttle back.

We have just come back from playing tenpin bowling and walking around inside this massive snorts complex. Seeing is believing. Is is the most massive building we have ever seen and there is every conceivable sports facility too.

We just saw Team Nike in the lobby. Most teams will arrive tomorrow.

Time to sleep now. Till morning...

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We have arrived

Flight went well. Christiaan slept the whole flight; we got in a movie or two and them slept. Our crates and paddles made it through. We are just missing the one bag, which has our casual clothing, toiletries and Garth's food. We should get it in the morning.

We got two taxis to the hotel. Nice BMW station wagons; our crates fitted. Driver drove at 140 the whole way. Big open roads and tons of palm trees. But a bit like a ghost town on the outskirts. We will go into the city shortly.

We have checked into the hotel where we will be hosted by the event tomorrow night too. It is 5 Star and costs a small fortune; in Rand. R1500 per person - excluding breakfast! Place is huge, rooms are not; quite ordinary. I dont know where the people are because we haven't seen a soul.

We will spend the day in Abu Dhabi and have dinner there. We will catch the hotel shuttle. Have just ordered toothbrushes from housekeeping. Mmmm. . .

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At the airport

All checked in with a total of 108kg luggage. Three 160l craters, a tog bag and paddles. Everyone is well. Thank you for all your good luck messages.

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Race programme & disciplines

We leave SA on the night of Monday, 8 December, flying on Etihad Airways to Abu Dhabi. We arrive very early Tuesday morning and plan to spend the day sightseeing.

We connect with the event on Wednesday, 10th and also have the day to relax and check kit.

The team meeting, administrative checks are on Thursday, 11th.

The race course incorporates three elements: the sea, the desert and the mountain.

Friday, 12th is the first stage, a prologue. It includes mountain biking, running and sea kayaking in downtown Abu Dhabi; a lovely show-and-tell adventure tourism punt.
At the end of the day we're transported by bus to the camp on Sir Bani Yas Island. The event provides the camp and food (we sleep in our own tent).

Saturday, 13th is our first big stage. It includes 50km mtb on the island. We then continue with 30km sea kayak to reach Kirkum Island, where we will spend the night. We need to be off the water by 18h00 until 06h00. We're planning to have a fun picnic and a good sleep.

Sunday, 14th is the HUGE paddle stage we've been preparing for. We sea kayak 80-odd kilometres from our overnight island to Mirfa. Race organisation kindly provides a meal on this night.

We will have to visit checkpoints during the paddle stages. We all wear the SportIdent wristbands and have to punch in within a minute of each other.

Monday, 15th and Tuesday, 16th constitute days 4 and 5 of the race. This is the big desert trekking/orienteering stage. Yes, 110km during two days and two nights. We're on our own except for water provided by the organisation. During these two days we have to take a compulsory 6-hour rest time at a checkpoint. I get the impression that the in-between parts include a rogaine-like structure. We carry our own food for the entire trekking stage, being rewarded with a meal from the event at the end of the section.

At the end of the section we're transfered by bus to the Green Mubazzarah camp near the Djebel Hafeet, the mountain where the final stage will take place.

Wednesday, 17th is the final stage. It includes activities in a dry canyon, rope activities, mountain biking and trail running. We spend the final race night at the Hilton Hotel in Al Ain. We'll really appreciate the comfy beds and showers by then.

We have the day to chill on Thursday, 18th and we fly home Friday, 19th, arriving home at night.

And that's it.

Lauren on the paddle ergo

Our last training session with coach Russell Willis. He put us on the paddle ergo to focus on our reach, arm height, draw and rotation. This machine is hard work!

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