It has taken me a week to get this blog out, maybe because I am still recovering from the 30 Hour Adventure Race I did last weekend.  Well, 27 hours and 48 minutes, to be exact.  But who is counting?  Either way, it was a long way to go, and my muscles are still thanking me for the countless repetitive movements I signed them up for.  28 hours of paddling, mountain biking, hike a bike (for those ultra gnarly sections that were too hard to ride), orienteering, running and trekking.  

So why would someone do this?

I decided several months ago to do something very out of the ordinary to celebrate my 30th birthday this year.  I thought about throwing a big birthday bash; I thought about going to a fun concert; to Las Vegas; however, none of those ideas really struck a cord with me.  I wanted something to look back on and really remember how I rang in my 30th birthday.  Well, I think I did a good job on picking something I definitely would remember!

I originally started the 3 person team with 2 other females.  Unfortunately, while training the Monday before the race at the rock climbing gym, one of my partners suffered a terrible hip dislocation injury.  A family emergency that Wednesday led to the other female having to drop from the race.  3 days before my 30 hour adventure, I was left with no partners, to no fault of anyone, just circumstance.   So I did what needed to be done…got on the phone and called every single person I could think of that might be or might know someone as crazy as I, to embark on a random 30 hour adventure race in the North Georgia Mountains.  

Thankfully, there are other like me out there, and I was able to find 2 males willing to slug it out with me, only 48 hours in advance of the start of the race.  I had no idea what to expect anyway…this was an adventure!!!

So with my injured partner, who was now acting as part of the Support Team for our race, we loaded the bike, canoe, 5 changes of cold weather rain gear, and tons of food, and headed up to the mountain top to meet my new racing partners.  The team hit it off right away at the race registration, which I am so very grateful for.  (I won’t mention that I got lost on the way up there….who said navigation was my strength?!?!)

We received our map and first 19 checkpoints to plot our course for the next day, which would cover between 75 and 90 miles throughout the duration of the race.   Back to the cabin for course prep, food prep, and sleep.  Up at 6 the next day to get 4 changes of clothes ready, as the rain would most certainly begin early on in the day.

Leaving the cabin, we noticed the car had a flat tire.  What a way to start the day!  However, in no time, with GREAT teamwork, we were able to change the tire in less than 10 minutes and be back on our way.  

We headed down to the lake (getting lost once more….), to the start of the race.  The race would begin with a short, but insanely steep 1.2 mile run for 1 of each of the 36 3-person teams.  This would spread out the start, so for the first canoe leg, not all canoes would be launching on top of each other.

We did quite well on the 15 mile paddle for never ever having paddled together.  5 hours later with 2 very tough over-land portages (one ascending a 17% grade, super steep hill, then down the other side through the brush), we were ready to get out of the boat and onto the mountain bikes.  A quick transition and some great food from our support team, and we were back on our way.

It began to lightly rain at the end of the canoe, and steadily picked up as we were on the mountain bikes, climbing over 2,000 feet to the top of Ft Mountain.  Road, Fire Road, and Single Track welcomed us over this 4 hours of climbing.  Back again to transition, where we spent a good deal longer here, knowing the next leg would be 10-13 hours, in the dead of night.

35 degrees and rain required some heavy duty gear.  We also had to carry all of our food, water, supplies, and emergency kit on our backs.  Needless to say, I burned quite a few calories that day.  (I roughly calculated 18,000 or so.  Now THAT’S a diet plan!!!)

The night riding was fantastic, when I could get my light in place.  It would have been neat to see the full moon and stars up above, but the light reflecting on the fog and rain made for an eerie coolness that I will never forget.  Super steep drops were to our left a great deal of the way, with one mishap sending you down the face of a mountain.  With racers spread far out along the course, the only lights I saw were of my own, and teammates.  Sometimes, after going around a mountain curve, the only lights I saw were my own, creating a sense of how small and vulnerable I was along this course, praying that we were able to simply stick together and stay safe the whole way.  

We were thrilled to hit checkpoints that were ‘manned,’ or staffed by the race crew.  This meant food!  At one CP, we were given warm ramen nodules.  Another CP was at a cool mountain biking lodge, called Mulberry Gap, where we were given homemade barley soup, hot chocolate, cookies, and various other snacks.  Needless to say, it was hard to leave and head back into the cold rain, but we forged on.  

At that point, the heavy descending from our 2nd time down the mountain had fried my brakes.  In other words, I had burned them out and had none left.  This led to the decision to skip CP 18, which would have made us descend the mountain and climb back up a 3rd time.  I opted for my life.    Descending 3,000 feet with no brakes surely would have ended in a disastrous tree episode, or certainly something of the like!

Dave’s knowledge of the area and trails helped us immensely.  We were able to get back to the last transition at 5 AM and our support crew looked like saints.  (Actually, they were!!  NEVER have I had better support for a race:  calculating nutrition, supplements, providing warm food and drink, smiles the whole way, and concern for our health and safety.  There is no better support crew out there!)  We were also lucky to get a 30 min nap before heading out on the last section for some orienteering.

Mike was a true champion, nailing our orienteering checkpoints like you wouldn’t believe.  4.5 more hours on foot and the rain finally let up.

Crossing the finish line for our last checkpoint was noting special, simply internally satisfying.  In fact, we called our support team when we finished, grabbed a couple of boxes of pizzas, and went back to the cabin to clean up.  You could say it was almost anti-climactic, but after running on pure adrenaline for almost 28 hours, I don’t think any of us really cared.  It was the internal gumption, respect for each other and self, and ability to push the human body to its limits beyond belief that became the ultimate reward.

I was thrilled to complete the race with two fantastic individuals and two extremely wonderful support team members.  We all played a part in keeping the team moving.  I honestly would not have been able to complete the race without Shelley’s contribution to my nutrition and supplements.  I felt like a champ the whole way!  (That being said, I cannot wait to race my next ½ and Full Ironman races….never did I think I would EVER say that!?)

All in all, would I do it again?  I guess the answer to that is…will I ever turn 30 again?