How to Carry Nutrition & Hydration for your next Adventure

This article is for Adventure Racers, Runners, Cyclists, Kayakers, some triathletes, multi-sporters and for anyone else getting out there for an adventure for at least a couple hours needing a place to carry food.

Running/Trekking

Backpacks/ running vests

• If you are getting into adventure racing, multisport or trail running it is SUCH a useful investment to get a quality running vest. Also comfy for mountain biking. They fit snuggly on your body to limit chafe and come in a useful variety of sizes. If you are running anything up to 12hrs generally about an 8-12L is plenty big enough. The best part? Lots of pockets at the FRONT for food! Back pockets mean having to stop and get food out or asking your team mate to reach in all meaning slowing down. The other awesome thing is they come with soft flasks – lightweight 500mL bottles that are great for sports drink, water or electrolytes and easy to fill. Most have a spot for a water bladder in the back (very useful) for extra water – up to 3L depending on the bag and bladder you choose (Tip! Only use water in your bladder and dry it out after every use otherwise it will go mouldy quickly!) Salomon and Ultimate Direction have heaps of great options! If you are just starting out – Anaconda and Rebel have fantastic bags for a fraction of the cost.

Tights & Shorts Pockets

• Tights nowadays are fashionable with pockets – well why not? Super useful for a quick snack spot. However also think about these pockets usefulness for chucking the map and compass in your pocket for a quick shoelace tie – often it can be more comfortable to keep them free and empty. Have a try on your next training run!

Bum bags

• Personally, I don’t find them as comfortable as a good running vest however they are useful for shorter sprint events where a whole pack isn’t necessary or if water is supplied on the course and you just need a few bits of nutrition. Bottom line (mind the pun) get one that fits snuggly and is comfortable on your hips or waist. If it makes your tummy sore or flops around while running – try something else. You can also get pretty snug drink bottle holders for your waist too; I haven’t tried these so cannot comment! Just make sure to avoid the drink bottle hand holders if you want your hands free for navigation, grabbing trees, scrambling or if doing a multi discipline event.

Kayaking

Always remember to have a way to waterproof your food in the kayak – nothing worse than soggy race food!

Lifejacket

• If you are choosing to invest in a lifejacket go for one that has big pockets on the front and a pocket on the back for a water bladder. Some have drinking mechanisms you can set up to be “hands free” or you can rig these up yourself. If you are borrowing one – then you may not have time to pack it with food – so perhaps you just need to keep your new back pack handy to get food out! Often in an adventure race you’ll need to keep your mandatory gear on you anyway.

On the kayak and paddle itself!

• Depending on what you’ll be doing most of the time it is safe to carry a drink bottle in the front of the kayak near your feet. Just take care not to lose it if you need to get in and out for checkpoints on an adventure race!

• If you are using your own kayak you may already have a spot to store a picnic, stash a drink bottle or have a water bladder on the bottom of the boat under your legs.

• Some bars stick well to your paddle – so for a shorter multisport event consider sticking bite sized chunks to your paddle the night before and wrap it in glad wrap for the night. For adventure races there is just no time for this pre-race prep and often your paddle is thrown in a bag somewhere. Or if you are borrowing a paddle – don’t even bother considering this!

Cycling

There are three main places to carry food and hydration for cycling – on the bike, on yourself and in bike bags. Cycling is often a good leg (if you are doing other disciplines also) to catch up on any missed nutrition or hydration such as after a swim leg of a triathlon.

On the bike

• Check out how many bottle cages you can have on your bike and have as many as you can because you never know when you will step up the distance or rides in the heat and will want them all! Most road and gravel bikes can take two or three (one underneath) and it is the benefit of having a bigger frame if you are a tall person! Hard tail mountain bikes can take one or two and usually dual suspension can only hold one. Ask your local bike store if you are unsure!

• Check out the size of your cycling bottles – they go up to 1 Litre! Which will fit in most frames (I am a shorty and I fit them in all bottle cages). Cycling tends to have a trend for little bottles because they are light. If you are sacrificing your hydration, you may be “that person” who is always asking for a water fill stop, then adding 500g to your bike will not be slower in comparison.

• What can you tape to the frame? For a short distance triathlon, multisport or adventure race you might decide you don’t need a bag on your bike and you can get away with taping a gel, or bar to the top tube of your bike so it is staring you in the face as a reminder to “Eat Me”! Use electrical tape to not damage your beautiful carbon … or use it anyway as it is easy to get off!

Cycling clothing

• Cycling Jerseys are awesome if you are not planning on wearing a back pack. They generally have 2-3 pockets and sometimes a zip for the car key or credit card! Usually there is enough room for some repair kit, nutrition and sometimes an extra bottle in the heat. Just get used to pulling food out of your back pocket, have your place for nutrition in the side pockets for easy access and keep your repair kit in the middle as hopefully you won’t need this one! A perfect spot for bananas and lollies (Tip: keep lollies in a little snack sized snap lock bag!)

• Cycling knicks, bib shorts, tri shorts or tights some but not most have mesh pockets on the sides which are super handy for extra nutrition like bars and gels. Avoid storing things that are not going to fall out or get squished like lollies and bananas.

Cycling Bags & Backpacks

• Backpacks – see up in “Running/Trekking”

• Top tube bags (also known as the “Gas Tank”) a seemingly small bag that ties on to the front or back of your top tube but can carry oh so much food! In perfect position to nibble away at your hearts content. This would be the first bag I would go for on shorter events such as the Maximum Adventure Race! Generally, I get sideways looks if I use this on my road bike due to breaking road cyclists fashion code (but for ironman length or long road races they simply are perfect!). Mountain bikers are much more forgiving and Adventure Racers will actually come over and ask where you got it from. Here is a full review from Bikepacking.com for the gear junkies out there!

• Snack pouches. These can hang between the handlebars and front of top tube on your bike. You can carry just one or both. Awesome for a hungry rider to access a handful of goodies, stash a bunch of bars, snakes, a curled-up Sammie, potatoes or a banana. They also fit drink bottles but just check how well they handle the weight – maybe use your fashionable 500mL or 750mL bottles here! There are also some purpose built that attach to the outside of some gravel and mountain bike forks.

• Handlebar bags vary in size. Kmart actually has a great little one for small adventures which would work well off road with an extra zip tie. For long events or adventures that need something more robust – my personal favourite which I have truly tried and tested on my Gravel bikepacking trip to Tassie is the Ortileb Bikepacking Accessory bag (waterproof, 3.5L, easy to unclip while riding) which either goes directly on your handlebars or goes nicely over top of a front roll bag. Awesome for bike packing or storing mandatory gear to get it off your back. Fits filled rolls, freeze dried meals – the lot!

• “Not for race” food bags Saddle bags, panniers and lightweight bike racks are all possibilities for carrying stuff on your bike – but you don’t want your race / cycling food in them as they are not easily accessible! Unless of course you don’t need it until dinner.

Got an event coming up? Logistics driving you nuts? Book in an appointment and we can nut it out together. Or check out this webinar recording: Planning Nutrition and Logistics for your next Adventure Race.

If you need help with your Race Day Nutrition plan, Training Nutrition Essentials or have other dietary requirements. Nicole, your Sports Dietitian can help you out in Brisbane, Gold Coast or Online via Telehealth.

Carb Loading, Pasta, Weetbix galore? – Nutrition before your next Adventure Race

Pre-event nutrition is like topping up the fuel tank before you head away on a long drive. You are maximising your muscle glycogen fuel stores for the adventure ahead.

Pre-Race Dinner

The pre-race dinner is important to prepare you or your athlete to wake up feeling rested, with a happy stomach and fuelled for the event ahead. We want to eat food you are familiar with ensuring you are catering to your USUAL dietary needs eg: gluten free, lactose free, avoiding onion or garlic. Don’t try anything new the night before race day if you can help it! Have a carbohydrate drink with the meal or after to top it up.

Hydration – Try to sip water throughout the day and especially in the evening before an event. It does not pay to scull just before bedtime so you are not up all night to the bathroom so get started early in the day and keep on top of your fluids. Have a drink containing carbs with your meal such as a natural fruit juice or a milo/hot chocolate (each have 25g carbs per cup) before bed to top up the carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates - It true in a way to “eat lots of pasta”. Carbohydrates are the main source of fuel for exercise that we want to keep the tank topped up with. By combining rest and a high carbohydrate meal the day before a race we are maximising carbohydrate available for during the race.

Protein and other “normal foods” to keep including! -  Some vegetables and a lean protein source is still important the night before – for muscle repair, fullness and to keep your bowels going in their regular routine the night before. Don’t try anything fancy here and they don’t need to be the star of the show on the plate just part of the action on the side!

How much should I eat? This is so individual I cannot tell you! Aim for at least 50g but if you are a bigger or hungry person you will need more! My suggestion? Eat until you are comfortably full but not bursting! Eat a greater proportion of the carbohydrate on your plate than normal (half your plate of food).

Some perfect Examples (with carbs):

-        Fried Rice (50g per cooked cup) with added chicken, lean beef, tofu and/or egg + chopped vegetables

-        Chicken Enchiladas (30g per wrap) with a side of homemade sweet potato or baked potato wedges (30g per cup)

-        Pasta bake (30g per cup cooked pasta) with a topping of tomato base sauce, vegetables and chicken or beans topped with cheese

-        Spaghetti bolognaise pasta (30g per cup cooked pasta) with lean mince, added vegetables and cheese with a side of garlic bread.  

-        Roasted vegetable salad including good portions of potato and sweet potato (30g per cup) + some other vegetables such as zucchini, carrot or capsicum topped with chicken, feta (add a tablespoon of pesto per person for some yummy flavour!) and/or chickpeas for a vegetarian option!

-        Stir fry with lean beef or chicken, vegetables and rice (50g per cooked cup of rice)

Need a convenient meal on the go?

-        Try Radix or another freeze-dried meal – just add hot water (service stations, campgrounds can have or take a cooker)

-        Grab 3 ingredients:

o   Microwave rice/quinoa pot / packet

o   Microwave vegetable pouch / pre made salad

o   Can of flavoured tuna, salmon, chicken, beans or chickpeas

-        For the team:

o   Pre-roasted chicken +

o   White buns or wraps +

o   Coleslaw or salad +

o   Hummus / Avocado as desired

-        Subway with steak / chicken and vegetables – go for safe sauces that you have had before!

-        Service station sandwiches / toasted sandwiches + juice

What about carb loading?

Carbohydrate Loading is effective to “super-compensate” your muscle glycogen and fuel stores. It is like filling up the tank AND taking a spare jerry can of fuel for the journey. Great for the biggest events of the season and when done well, it does improve performance and the bodies fuelling capacity. However, there are ways and means of doing it properly without compromising; weight, good nutrition in the lead up and picking what events to do it with. Get in touch with me if you want to talk about carbohydrate loading for your next event!

Pre-Race Breakfast

You want to E-A-T:

-        Easily digestible carbohydrates that are not too high in fibre. How much? At least 1g carbohydrate per kg body weight for your pre-race breakfast. Eg: if you are a 60kg person eating 60g carbohydrates.

-        Add some protein to keep you full

-        Time it 2-4 hrs prior to your event You may also need a Top up snack if it is more than 2hrs before like a gel, banana, or sports drink.

Examples (including carbohydrates) might include:

- 3 x weetbix + skim milk + banana and a fruit yoghurt (85g carbs)

- 2 x white or wholemeal bread with Honey or Jam on one + Peanut butter / an egg on the other + glass of juice (65g carbs)

- 1 medium can (approx. 200g) creamed rice + banana (70g carbs)

- Smoothie made with banana or 1 cup other fruit + 200mL skim milk + honey (55g carbs)

- Porridge (1/2 cup oats) with skim milk (1 cup) , dried fruit (2 Tablespoons) and some honey or maple syrup or brown sugar on top (75g carbs) or try this Bircher Muesli Recipe

- 1 large Up and Go (65g carbs)

- Baked beans (the one for two) on 2 x toast (70g carbs)

- Weetbix Slice and glass of juice (60g carbs)

Got an event coming up? Get your nutrition sorted now! Book an appointment with Nicole, your Adventure Racing Sports Dietitian today! Or get in touch: ascentsportsnutrition@gmail.com

What makes a good competition day breakfast?

You have spent months training, early mornings, exhausted evenings, missing sleep in’s and the odd social occasion because you are focussed on your goal. Whether it be your first 10k, wanting to break 3hrs for a marathon, complete an ironman, your standard Saturday netball, the season AFL final or a day hike you have had planned for months – you have worked hard. But what are you going to have for breakfast on that important day?  

So often we plan and train for months for a sporting event whilst we plan nutrition the night before! Good nutrition won’t make a weekend warrior an elite athlete. However, it will quickly make an elite athlete mediocre if not done well! What nutrition will do is make YOU (weekend warrior, average athlete, elite athlete or whoever you are!) feel like an absolute superstar on the day and perform at the absolute best you can be. Great nutrition is like a secret weapon you have above all the others – you can always mask a certain amount of pain, fatigue, those few sleep in’s and missed trainings, or that slightly slower speed if you have the best fuel to keep you going. 

Where does good nutrition start? Well on race or competition day of course it starts with a good breakfast.

Key Ingredient #1 Carbohydrate

Eating carbohydrates at breakfast is like topping up the fuel tank. Carbohydrate is the primary source of fuel for our bodies during sport. When we work at a higher intensity (race day, competition day, finals in particular) we also burn through carbs a lot faster. In fact, our muscles can only store 60-90mins of carbohydrate therefore we have to maximise that by topping it right up for the meal before. It is also why we often need to think about nutrition DURING an event too!

Key Ingredient #2 Type of carbs

This mostly depends on how you tolerate food before training. Fibre is great for day to day health however on race day it can be a bit of a problem if you are feeling those butterfly tummy nerves or have difficulty with stomach discomfort during sport. Fibre isn’t crucial for performance so on event day we can leave it out. Go for things like white bread, cornflakes, bananas, juice, sports drink or smoothies in particular if you have stomach issues or want to keep the carbs simple and easy to digest. Liquids do not sit for a long time in your stomach making them more comfortable again if you have a few butterflies.

Key Ingredient #3 How many carbs

Generally, about 1g per kg body weight eg: a 60kg person needs about 60g carbohydrate for breakfast. What does this even look like? Check out the examples below based on a 60kg athlete. If you have a bigger engine then you need more fuel! Smaller engine? Less fuel required – on paper however you still might have a good appetite! If you can eat more – comfortably then go for it! Remember this is your time to maximise the fuel within your body and make the most of that precious 60-90mins worth!

Key Ingredient #4 Add a bit of protein

Day to day protein is essential at breakfast as it to keep us full throughout the morning. It also helps with recovery if brekkie is post exercise and helps with recovery anyway even if our training was at a different time in the day. On event day we still need to feel satisfied and not hungry, it is still beneficial to have amino acids around for recovery however if we are talking the main event of the season… the carbs trump in the priority list. Plan your brekkie based on Key Ingredients 1, 2 and 3 (the right amount and type of carbohydrates) first – then include some protein. Protein is better when it is low in fat where possible to reduce the risk of stomach upset during that high intensity activity coming up or to prevent irritating those butterflies in the stomach. Include things like; low fat milk, fruit flavoured yoghurt (as it has extra carbohydrates), peanut butter or eggs.

Key Ingredient #5 Timing

Breakfast timing is important – if you have problems with your tummy then having breakfast 3-4hrs before an event helps for your food to digest before you get started. It is then important to have a small top up snack within an hour of starting such as 250mL sports drink, a banana, some lollies or a gel. Breakfast within 2hrs of the event start is fine without a top up snack and good for those who tolerate food well before an event.

This is all well and good but sleep may also be compromised in the process if your marathon starts at 7am for example. It is always a balance to get both right, but make sure nutrition is just as much of a priority as sleep. Consider for you the impact of 30mins less sleep vs having a decent pre-race breakfast and what performance different that might make.

What are some ideas that have all the ingredients?

-        3 x weetbix with a Banana, skim milk and a fruit yoghurt

-        2 x white or wholemeal bread with honey or jam with a glass of juice

-        1 medium can of creamed rice

-        A smoothie made with a banana, 200mL skim milk, honey

-        Porridge with skim milk, dried fruit and some honey or maple syrup on top

-        A large (350mL) up and go and breakfast biscuit or muesli bar

-        Baked beans on 2 x toast

-        French toast with maple syrup

-        Weetbix Slice and a glass of juice

But where does good nutrition actually start?

With your breakfast every day to fuel your training too! Imagine if you could have a race day quality breakfast every day of your life to fuel your body and brain to be the absolute best it can be. Now this one is more individual and the above factors might vary day to day. For example; you are more likely to tolerate things like fibre, fruit, healthy fats and need things like a certain amount of protein to contribute to the day to keep you fuelled for more than just sport. There are also the longer-term considerations of having foods that include lots of vitamins and minerals to ensure you have enough of things like iron to keep up with a heavy training load.

Training for Breakfast

Yes, there are some trainings where it is beneficial not to eat beforehand – but these fasted sessions are best used strategically. Just remember when “Breakfast is best”, before high intensity, skill sessions or long trainings that mimic a race or competition. The other thing we often forget is that training is not only training muscles but also training our gut. If you are the person who struggles to eat before exercise or the above suggestions have made your stomach curl just at the thought of trying to eat all that prior to race day – your gut needs training too! Starting with just a small bite of something before training morning or afternoon can help to overcome this.

““Breakfast is best” before high intensity, skill sessions or long trainings that mimic a race or competition”

Where to next?

Breakfast is where good nutrition starts – however the pre-event meal, carb loading, race plan nutrition and recovery nutrition are all very important parts of your race or competition day nutrition plans too!

Get in touch!

If you need help with your Race Day Nutrition plan, Training Nutrition Essentials or have other dietary requirements Nicole can help you out. She is an Accredited Sports Dietitian with Sports Dietitians Australia and works with athletes from many sporting codes to be the best they can be with elite level sports nutrition. From ballet dancers, to boxers to ultra-endurance runners to rugby players Nicole loves personalising nutrition to your sporting logistics! She has worked with people with medical conditions such as Irritable Bowel syndrome, Diabetes, Coeliac disease and requiring weight loss and can work with you to alter metabolism and body composition.

Book an appointment with Nicole, your Sports Dietitian today! Now based on site with the team at Physiologic.

Take us to the Wildside

The 5th and final race in the Australian Adventure Racing series took place on the first weekend of October down in Kangaroo Valley, 2hrs drive south of Sydney. The ruthless, unrelenting, technical and raw adventure of Richard’s 36hr Wildside was simply an incredible race.

With yet another loaded team of legends, Trev back from Peru to captain his team Tiger Adventure, fellow inseparable pocket rocket Sara, Aurelien lead nav / gorge hopping moutain goat and myself completely and hopelessly in love with Adventure racing therefore the first to say yes to this kind of team!

Team Tiger Adventure #19

This race was a slightly different from the beginning as we were not given Race Logistics prior to the event, merely a list of the “order of events” therefore had absolutely no idea about how long each leg would take and what we would be doing during the day or night. We didn’t know where we would see our gear boxes making it very difficult to plan both food and gear for each leg. My method for this was to pack a supermarket bag for each leg with 3hrs food for each, earlier legs having food I could eat at higher intensities and later legs having more “morale” foods and things I could eat while going more slowly. I packed a change of clothes into each leg and figured I can always take them out.

Checking the weather a week out – it was going to be cold. Checking the weather half a week out – it was going to be hot. Checking the weather the day before – it was going to rain and be early 20’s down to 8 degrees overnight on Saturday then fine up on Sunday to over 30 degrees. Brilliant for when you need to pack your gear and food a week before the race for your team mates to drive it down and have no idea what time you will be doing each leg! Basically the best of planning will be planning at best, as always with adventure racing!

I flew down to Sydney midday on Friday with good mate and training buddie Milford chatting logistics, predictions and strategy the whole way especially as it was Milford’s first race in a while. Greeting our friendly ride and new mate Pierro helped to get excited about the adventure to come. By the time we neared Kangaroo Valley the mist rolled in, the landscape became greener, hillier and more densely packed bush I was buzzing to get into the wilderness surrounds. The setting reminded me more of NZ, a stark contrast to the brown, dry, prickly and relatively quite flat terrain of Queensland. There was one particular road that I am writing in this blog to refer back to for good reason – Moss Vale Road. Remember the name road cyclists if you are ever in the area. Descending into Kangaroo Valley this road offered Tour De France quality switchbacks in dense beautiful green bush descending/climbing almost 600m across 8km. I will definitely be keen to give it a ride someday, but as this weekend called for a lot more activity off road – it was an adventure to be had another day.

Arriving at camp my team mates had already taken over our cabin with gear and packing. Trev and Sara – legends – had done the 12hr car trip the day before, truck packed up to the sky with gear. The immense amount of gear required for these races is unbelievable, I will detail this more in one of my blogs over the summer – look out for it newbies as I will share my gear lists after three races of my experience to get you started. My first gear packing venture took two weeks. I now have it down to about 2 days.

Just one corner of the house packed with gear. This was the area of the floor with the most walking room!

Arriving about 5pm, some excited hugs were shared and had a brief meet and greet with my newest team mate Aurélien Penneman. Aurélien has raced many times with Trevor including twice at New Zealand’s prestigeous GODZone 7 day expedition event. He is a very experienced racer having raced in many events in home country France and other AR World Series Expedition events in the Nordic Islands, Scotland and others. I was pretty proud to be racing with this speedy, experienced Frenchman and had full confidence in his role as Lead Navigator – just as much as I always had in Craig. This for me is such an important factor as a team member who is still pretty new to the sport. With Aurélien leading Tiger Adventure #19 and my trusty faithful’s ever strong Packhorse and Team Captain Trev, and motivational, everlasting side kick Sara it was set to be a solid team. With a few of the big dawg teams still recovering from Eco Challenge the field was looking promising for us to rank well. I knew I would need my game face on in order to pull my weight with this team, time to pull up the socks for whatever was to come our way!

Favourite Race Tucker – Baked spuds and the increasingly famous Weetbix Slice

Packing last minute sammies and baked potatoes before Rego at 6pm where we get the customary “fresh as a daisy” team pics and Map handout and briefing was at 7pm – after which the course is revealed and we can finally pack our bags.

Briefing was a little different to normal – we didn’t have the maps before we were introduced to the course. I actually loved the way Race Director Richard introduced the race. Telling a story of how we would pass through the course revealing one epic leg after another, having full attention of all 60 odd racers in the crowd listening to every detail of the adventure ahead.

Hearing we would be bussed up the river to start with a 7km kayaking up one of the side creeks as far as it would take us on water into the start of the Bundanoon creek gorge. Where we would then navigate up the gorge with approx. 500m vertical elevation over 12km. At the top we would find our mountain bikes and a box of gear in the hub of a large trail network to complete a 50km MTB rogaine. After the rogaine – back at the box to change or restock food again we would head back down the neighbouring Tallowa gorge for 14km descending back to our kayaks. Next a 24km kayak down the lake would take us to our next and last Transition Area (TA2) before finding again our bikes to complete Part 1 of a 70km Mountain bike (MTB) that would end by taking us approx 600 vertical metres up Meryla pass. At the top we were to complete a 20km Foot Rogaine before completing Part 2 of the mountain bike back to town and the finish line. The second MTB would include a compulsory walk with the bikes along a tourist walking trail and a fast downhill to reclaim all the elevation gained in the earlier part of the MTB. By the end of his description I had butterflies in my stomach – two epic canyon/gorge hikes (my absolute favourite trekking terrain but by far the most energy draining also) and a total of 46km trekking/running, a huge hill on the MTB with 120km to pedal all up and 30km of paddling we would have our work cut out for us across the ~200km course in just 36 hours racing time. What made things more tricky was the two time cut offs at the MTB rogaine and the Foot Rogaine which were essential to make in order to not be short-coursed. We thought at the time we would have a good chance at meeting the cut offs if we were moving steadily through the course but it certainly wasn’t a guarantee. Throughout the brief and course notes Richard still did not give us an estimated time for any of the legs meaning we had to give it a go ourselves after maps.

After mapping the course and Richard’s adventurous tale we had the best idea we were going to get of what was in store – time to pack our gear and food for the mission ahead. Now remember – briefing started at 7pm, it was 8pm by the time we got back to mark up the maps. By 9pm we were packing our gear and approx 10.30pm we were getting into bed for a measly 5 hours sleep prior to our 36 hour venture. We were due on the bus at 5am to be shipped to the start. Sometimes the adventure racing mission starts well before and clean up certainly ends well after the race itself.

We woke to steady rain on the roof at 4am, shovelled in some breakfast, last minute packing gear in and out – rethinking how wet and cold it could potentially get. I had already done some sleep “packing” overnight, poor Sara waking at about 3am to me grabbing the duvet of the bed we were sharing and trying to “pack” what I thought was clothes into a “bag”. I woke from the eventful slumber in the middle of the night to Sara’s “You ‘right mate?”, us both taking a second to realise I was in fact “sleep walking/packing”. At least no one can say I am not organised right? Off to the start line and onto the bus. Bus trips at the start of an adventure race I find incredibly amusing. Just to paint a picture. Think of 50-60 odd athletes wearing kayaking gear, carring brightly coloured dry bags, lifejackets, packs and paddles, wearing race bibs, tight shorts, rain coats, compasses around their necks, carrying maps and the last minute banana tucked in a pocket somewhere all trying to walk down the aisle of a bus, and fit into the tiny two man seats. I imagine these bus drivers must find it quite a unique crowd compared to their normal shipments!

Arriving at the start at the Tallowa Dam picnic area in Kangaroo Valley to a steady drizzle everyone is collecting their barge of a kayak off the trailer and lugging it down to the waters edge, having last minute toilet stops, taking off and putting on last minute clothing changes, tying dry bags to the kayaks and putting split paddles together. The lake is beautiful – glassy, misty and green and I am feeling pumped to get going.

I love the colour of adventure racing kit with the contrasting rich greens, browns and greys of the rainy wilderness surrounds.

Before we know it 6am arrives and the hooter goes. There is not many formalities at the start of an adventure race I have discovered, no countdown, no warning just a hooter so often people are caught out and it requires you to be organised and time keep for yourself. So, off we go!

And we are off!

The kayak was a fast and uneventful 7km starting in fairly clear weather which slowly closed into a steady downpour heading up the arm of the lake to our transition into the gorge. With banks getting steeper on either side and some cool rock formations and cliffs at the top we were getting more excited for the depths of the gorge to come.

Getting to Dougie – the man with the flag on the bank at the top of the arm of the gorge. At the end of the kayak we ran our boats up the bank, ditched our kayaking gear and grabbed our packs out of the dry bags. There was no box at this transition therefore we had to carry everything for the Trek and the next 4hr paddle on our boats – a real staged adventure in my eyes, I loved it! Getting a couple minutes into the Trek a team member from Team Rogue was running back at us – only for Sara to thankfully ask Trevor if he had grabbed our tracker (one of the absolute essential pieces of equipment). Something so easily forgotten was actually forgotten so Trev back tracked and we vowed to make a team effort to remind him at each transition from then on. Thankfully it was only a 2 minute mistake on this occasion!

Heading on up the gorge was fast at first, travelling with team Rogue was pretty fun, knowing they were in the running for the win and having the title to defend from last year we were pretty stoked to be comfortably travelling with these guys up the Bundanoon Creek. It felt fast at first, running over rocks, clambering around trees moving at a fast pace we were travelling well and quickly caught our fellow Tigers team Tiger Shackleton containing my mates Milford and Pete 250cc, previous team mate Joel and the experienced Kevin. Finding the right junction easily with these other teams we turned up Nyes Creek where the going got a little tougher and a little slower. The boulders got bigger, the terrain thicker and the ascent steeper. We came to a junction where we could take a right up the waterfall or a longer left up a steep spur and Sara and I, pulling up our courage we put our trust into the boys faith in our ability to climb up the waterfall while team Rogue and Shackleton headed up the spur. It was a potential shortcut that turned out to be a little slower but nevertheless that sort of decision is impossible to know how it will go until its gone and can potentially mean a nifty shortcut or that you fall behind slightly. In our case this was where we lost sight of the leaders team Rogue. We quickly caught and passed our Tiger Shackleton mates again to head deeper into the gorge. Aurélien showed his true strengths at this stage, our team now alone in the gorge he led us with a finesse over the rocks that I could only dream to be able to move with and he did this while navigating with a map in hand. We often had to call back our nimble French mountain goat so we were in sight of his movements, finding it much more efficient to follow his footsteps than bumble our own way through the terrain with an eye on him in the distance. It was at this point I taught him the game Marco Polo often losing sight just 10m away behind the boulder in front. Sara and I held our own well enough with half the length sized legs and strength of the boys while we all collected our fair share of bumps, brusies and scratches on the unforgiving slippery moss covered, wet creek bed. It was absolutely fantastic.

Approaching CP 3 we were certain we were in the right place and double checked the area before heading further up and down then around the creek to find the CP. Unfortunately by this time, we had missed the 11am cut off we were racing for at the mountain bike transition and 50mins later we orientated ourselves and had found the CP. We were passed by three other teams in this time, the Avengers (who had also made an earlier nav error costing them the cut off), Mont (who apparently chose the high road out of the canyon for a while) and the trusty Shackleton boys who were impressively without errors in the gorge. Soon learning as we arrived at the mountain bike transition that Rogue were the only team to make the 11am cut off and not be short-coursed for the rest of the race, meaning as long as they finished they had won the race just 5 hours in.

This timing gives you an idea of how slow going it is in the gorge. The fastest team, without nav errors moved at a speed of 23 minutes per kilometre and took approx. 4.5 hrs to complete the 12km gorge. Personal speed is important to know to be able to time when you might be approaching a creek, CP or judging the distance travelled in a race. I am usually timekeeper for the team and Trev has a keen feel for our pacing meaning we always had a fair idea how we were travelling.

By the end of the gorge and transitioning into the MTB Rogaine, simply put I felt like shite. My knee was starting to niggle at the end of the gorge and I was terrified and ashamed that my body was starting to crack this early in the race. I was especially worried because I knew downhill is always worse on joints and we had another, longer gorge in reverse to take back to the kayaks in Leg 4 to come. I popped my first Ibuprofen at around 10am just 4 hours in and was hobbling along the roads to the MTB TA1, this was not good news. I spoke up early to my team – it is always a hard pill to swallow to admit the first niggles for yourself and the team but absolutely essential to be able to go on and complete the race. Often your team mates will have suggestions that will save you that you hadn’t thought of or if you are dehydrated, low on fuel you often cannot see the correct solution yourself. From experience I knew I needed drugs and Sara also told me she had stronger anti-inflammatories I should take next time and reminded me to hand over weight to the boys if it was still niggling on the way back down the gorge.

At the TA we got our MTB Rogaine maps and Aurélien and Sara quickly decided and mapped out which 5 CP’s we were getting.

The Nav man himself, refuelling on Baby Bells – legend.

Setting into the bike I was red lining it trying to keep on the wheel of my team mates and quickly falling behind I had to also try and play catch up with food shovelling snakes into my mouth as much as my heavy breathing would allow. Trev dropped back and mentioned I might need a tow. Towing is an important part of a race – the team is fastest when it stays together and helps one another out. Although I was gutted. They were words I never wanted to hear 7 hours in. I have pride in my cycling fitness from the past two years but at this point I was busting my ass and only making 20kph on the flat – something else was definitely up. Thankfully with the word “tow” mentioned and a couple of helpful pushes from Trev and Aurélien I was able to keep on Sara and Aurélien’s wheel…just! Trying not to think of the later consequences of a 2 hour sprint session, I did what I had to to keep up with my strong team.

This was definitely the lowest moment of my adventure racing so far and although I ate something in TA, it was a quick transition and probably not enough. Looking back – the gorge and kayak took us almost 6 hours and I definitely had not had my usual 6hrs of food whilst trying to clamber over rocks and keep up with my speedy team therefore was likely running very low on fuel. Lesson learned the hard way.

Back at TA I shovelled in as much food as I dared before our run ahead. At this point it is super important to realise what is coming. Yes I was underfuelled and we had a 14km trek – during which I would be able to handle a large volume of food in my stomach as we slowly worked our way down the gorge. However to get to the mouth of the gorge we had a 6km run on fire roads – for which we would definitely run at a solid pace. Chatting quickly to my navigators I soon figured this out. Therefore TA food was calculated – liquids with sugar, potatoes, couple of mouthfuls only of rice pudding and baked beans but nothing crazy to upset the stomach. Even some of you may think, I could never run on that! This shows the importance of not only running for training but training the stomach to deal with food whilst running.

Girls on Tour

Running to the edge of the gorge and slipping into our second canyon of the day we starting making our way down the impressive Tallowa Gorge realising it will take us into the evening to get to the end of it. So, we set off with haste to get as far down in daylight as possible and after I had popped my second lot of Ibuprofen, egg sammie for dinner courtesy of Sara (wham bam thank you maam!) and sucking up my knee issues for the bumpy road ahead. Tallowa Gorge was more knarly than the first with boulders the size and height of cars and sheds often requiring negotiation around or down. For us pocket rockets – we become rather height challenged in this environment. Sara at 1.57m and I at 1.62m understandably find it a little difficult to clamber down the front of a boulder with a two metre rock face. Whereas Trev and Aurélien standing at near 2 metres tall themselves they quickly became essential to getting us down the gorge. Aurélien used the bear hug method standing front on to us and essentially grabbing us like small children and lowering down to the ground or grabbing our hands to pull up a tall boulder absent of footholds. Trev used the tree trunk method, standing strong whilst we climbed onto his shoulders and slid down his back to the rock below and giving us a leg up from the ground for the tall rocks whilst Aurélien gave us a pull up. Thanks boys, we would have definitely had trouble without you!

Finally dark descended on us in the gorge and the progress became slower, but who should come upon us at this time – our mates Rogue Adventure who had been travelling with us in this section of the Bundanoon creek earlier in the day. With 8 pairs of eyes and headlamps, spotting routes in the creek was much easier and we kept up a good pace for the remainder of the gorge, the need to keep up with Rogue outweighing nagging knees and other niggles. Finally we came across our kayaks once again that we had left so long ago that day, after a mighty 11 ish hours in gorges and just 2 hours on our bikes, it was safe to say most bodies were pretty glad to be sitting in a kayak for the next 4 hours.

Usually kayaking at night is sleep-inducing, disorientating and difficult to keep a decent pace however this particular 24km course I really enjoyed. Aurélien and I worked well in the navigating boat, me keeping timing and pacing at approx. 7km/hr and my spotlight on the obstacles ahead and the shoreline for orientation whilst Aurélien kept his eye on the features of the lake matching to the map. He chatted to me about the map and what to look for ahead which was really helpful in both of us keeping our orientation. A strong headlight beam up front was essential to find our way in the pitch black. With cloud cover and no moon there really was a deep velvety black colour in the night. We luckily had Rogue to follow in the distance and kept pace well. Collecting CP’s without error, as we paddled to more populated areas of the river we came across campers and the lights of distance campfires along our travels who were startled to see paddlers at this time of night, and in an intoxicated state called out “what are you doing!!?”. I feel once they got their answer they were probably more confused as we informed them we were in a race and had 12 odd kilometres more to paddle and were only halfway through our race! Nearing the end Trev and Sara became a little dozy and I was in the mood for a song, having downloaded some Elton John words in my mind earlier that week I cracked out some Crocodile Rock and Tiny Dancer to keep the brains of my team going. Nothing like the cliffs of a river to accentuate and echo the voice of an undiscovered star bellowing out a Rocket Man chorus (I always knew I sounded amazing, why did Mum never agree?). Unfortunately I didn’t hear Sara’s request for Eminem whose songs I have had unashamedly memorised since I was 12, oh well I will save it for next time mate!

Making it to TA2 in a nifty 3.5hrs and the second and only TA with a box of gear to restock we were feeling good. My team mates were pretty chilly at this CP however I was thankful for my NZ blood and slight winter layer at this point finally being the one not in discomfort. It all swings in roundabouts over 36hrs! Just to paint a picture at this point – we spent approximately 45 minutes at this checkpoint. You may be thinking woah thats a huge amount of wasted time! But this was our last and only overnight transition, the last place in the race (with 15hrs to go) where we could change clothes, pack extra clothes for warmth, rain, the heat of the next day, shoes for the foot Rogaine to come, reapply chaff cream and gurney goo, eat a decent feed that weighs alot eg: tin of beans or can of coke, refill water and electrolytes, fit lights to our bike, use the bush bathroom and dump the gear we didn’t need. We need to pack up our kayak gear, close up the boxes and carry the kayaks to wherever the transition volunteers direct us. Its not a fast process and almost essential to take this time in order to have the energy and gear later on to survive the race. I am sure the fast guys reading this will be thinking that it is a long time but relatively I bet they spent there longest break here also.

Setting off on our bikes we had a big night ahead, zooming through the first few CP’s on the road we set off into the bush, thankfully my bike legs were pretty much back and I mostly kept up with my team, except for the odd hill here and there. There was one descent that lulled all of the team to sleep especially classic snoozer Trev, I become increasingly worried about the lack of NoDoz taken by Trev at this point compared with his usual requirements by 2am and his veering towards the cliff on the side of the road. So I directed him to ride on the inside of Sara and I so at least we could try and wake him before disaster. Falling asleep whilst biking downhill does sound funny, and is certainly laughable at times but the consequences are potentially very severe so it does need to be taken seriously! Paddling is a little safer, and in fact falling in would probably solve the problem! The packs were heavy on our backs with 15hrs of food and 6 hours of fluid plus rogaining shoes and clothes heading up some steep hills including the intimidating and epic Meryla Pass. This was one helluva hill on which once again we found team Rogue curled up asleep in the ditch halfway up. Disturbing their peace they joined us for the walk / granny gear slog after 20 hours of racing up the 550m of elevation over approx 3.5km required to get to the Foot Rogaine at the top. However at least it kept us awake and as we neared the top we were rewarded by dawn breaking across the Crackey’s Creek canyon looking very similar to the picture of the Blue Mountains I had seen.

After frustratingly looking for a CP15 with Rogue for a good half an hour that some little bugger had nicked off with and no longer existed we approached the Rogaine. Now in full daylight, breezing within the first 7am cut off by about half an hour. Us girls and Trev were pretty knackered by now (Aurélien barely seemed to break a sweat the whole race … machine!), with probably 2000m elevation, 25 hours of racing and 11 hours of gorge trekking in our tired legs, a 20km fire trail run ahead was not a welcoming task.

Got to love that superstar Tiger’s grin

Collecting our rogaine maps we set off, quickly realising that Sara and I , the pocket rocket twins that we are, had now both developed twin ITB knee pain issues and running was not an option at least for now. Keeping to a fast walk we were pretty bored at this point, collecting CP after CP at a slow pace to our usual in the increasing heat of the morning. With knees becoming increasingly painful and our minds more, to be honest, disappointed in this relatively boring leg of the course we started to get savvy with our race decisions. Trev, realising we wouldn’t catch the teams ahead at our current max pace and that we had been the last team to enter at the 7am cut off suggested we get 5 checkpoints out of our potential 7 CPs allowed which was one more than the 4 CPs allowed for those who reached the rogaine after 7am. To still come ahead of those teams but also to not bust our girls knees completely and take an extra 1.5hrs on course for no change in placings. It was a welcomed and motivating call so, giving the boys our backpacks we were able to hobble an interesting style of jog for the last 2 CP’s.

Looking buggered in the early hours of the morning

Now for the last stage – the MTB back to the finish. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy but somewhere involved 600m of elevation loss and a section of sealed road, can’t be too hard right? Wrong.

Zooming through the first few fire roads through massive puddles was super fun to start and then we got to the section of the race where we had to walk our bikes for 3.5km along a tourist scenic walk called the East Rim Walking Track. Reaching the entrance we were greeted with absolutely breathtaking views at Twin Falls lookout over the incredible Yarrunga Creek gorge. Looking even more similar to the Blue Mountains pictures I had seen this was confirmed by team mate Aurélien who knew the Blue Mountains well, that this sight was potentially even more impressive.

What incredible views! Definitely looking like we are 30 hours in!

Yarrunga Creek Canyon from one of the lookouts on the East Rim Walking Track.

Walking our bikes along what was admittedly one of the most incredible short walks I have ever seen past many waterfalls and lookouts, was also extremely frustrating at the time! Just imagine midday on a beautiful Sunday long weekend at the end of school holidays how many tourists and families were out enjoying the trail in the good weather. And here we are now 30 hours in, sleep deprived, hungry, tired, exhausted, now hot and some who-will-not-be-named very grumpy racers trying to keep up a pace through the mahem. Thankfully the pictures don’t look as bad as we felt!

Dodging tourists…took some of them out with those handlebars, whoops!

Finally out of the circus, smiling again we came to the Fitzroy canal, we hooned along the fire road keen to get to the finish line. A couple CPs collected and our last hill done and dusted, we had the most epic section of riding to go! A massively steep and fun switchback fire road down down down losing all our elevation in one go, certainly testing my down hilling guts and skills with butt right back behind the seat, brakes on, conservatively pumping, it was a cautious descent for this weary rider. I made sure Trev was behind me knowing I would slow him down and how tired he had been getting in the last few km’s. Sara and Aurélien were fast out of sight with skills vast excelling mine in this terrain. Hitting the road we were almost home. With our second to last CP under the main bridge into town at the popular swimming bend on the Kangaroo River, Sara and I couldn’t resist jumping in fully clothed shoes and all to cool off on what was now a 30+ degree afternoon. Looking a little out of place amongst the other bathers, thankfully our boys joined us for safety in numbers. What an amazing feeling!

Riding into the finish I thought back to that moment in the gorge when I had to admit my knee was niggly and the worry I had at the time about completing the race. Adventure racing really digs deep into your abilities as a human, through sleep deprivation, physical exhaustion, mental obstacles and real physical pain shine qualities of endurance, determination, grit, teamwork, strategy and mental toughness. It really is an amazing discovery of self, of those supporting you and those that you are there to support along the journey.

I did finish with the team, honest, I am hiding behind Aurélien, camera shy after all those hours in the bush!

Another race finished, another adventure had, job done superstars. That’s my team of which I am immensely proud to be part of, Tiger Adventure. This pic will always bring a giddy smile to my face. We came away with 5th overall and 4th in the premier mixed my best result yet. This meant that overall for the year team Tiger Adventure finished 6th in the A1 National Australian Adventure Race series of which I was able to be part of for three amazing events with five incredibly gutsy, awesome humans Trev, Sara, Aurélien, Joel and Craig. Thanks for the adventure guys!

Some of you may be wondering why my race report has come out so fast, usually it’s a month later! Well, the aftermath of this race in the last few days have been a tough ride. Scratched and bruised, hobbling with the knee that managed to persevere the remaining 29hrs after the original niggle, a creaking back from carrying 15hrs worth of supplies by bike over the pass and sore muscles I never knew existed after the gorge. On the drive home the immune system started to fail also, leaving me with a head cold, sore throat and mouth ulcers that are yet to heal meaning a week sick at home alternating between bed and couch writing my race blog! Probably didn’t help having by far the greatest the volume of long events back to back throughout the year, it caught up on me and I am wrecked. Lesson learned…But what better test of endurance, sometimes you learn more about yourself from the tests in life that hurt the most or don’t go to plan.

That’s a wrap for racing for 2019 my debut year into the sport I feel I am truly made for. I’ll be taking a break until March but over summer I plan to blog about stuff that will help those newbies out there get started comfortably into Adventure Racing with gear lists, discussions, recommendations especially for the ladies! Also my forte of food, what to eat, when and how to plan it. So if you are interested, getting in to it or perhaps are still working on getting it right, then I will share all the secrets for your 2020 debut! Stay tuned to my adventures, share the blog with your mates and comment away! I love hearing your stories and advice.

Bring on 2020 with first race in the calendar in March, 24hr Explore Gippsland run by AR, Rogaine and Orienteering Aussie legend Rob Preston in Gippsland, Victoria. However, next years overall goal is bigger than 24 hours. It’s been my life dream since its inception in 2011, the world class 9 day expedition race in Rotorua, New Zealand, GODZone 2020. Bring it on Tiger Adventure! Lets get training!

Thanks Trev for all the amazing Tiger efforts you do to bring together fantastic people for incredible adventures.
You are Awesome.

“Awesome (defn): extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring awe.”

Pocket Rocket Tigers debut at Wildfire 6hr

This blog was originally published 1 August 2019

Brought to you by Pocket Rocket #2 Nicole Walker

I had such a ball bashing through the bush, hooning round MTB tracks and just general gas bagging with my new found adventure buddie Sara Barrett at GeoQuest in June that I didn’t hesitate to sign up when she asked if I wanted to join her racing at the 6hr Wildfire Raid at Mt Joyce and Wyaralong Dam last weekend.

Introducing the Pocket Rocket Tigers

This 6hr Rogaine had three legs – kayaking, mountain biking and running. For those readers unfamiliar with Rogaining… Definition from Google: a competitive event in which participants find their way with a map and compass. My definition: turn up to an event and having no idea where you are going, how long you’ll be doing each distance for or the terrain, only that you’ll be doing “it” for about 6hrs!

One hour before race start you are given a map with some circles on it and then 59 mins to go, have to figure out how to find them in the bush. Isn’t that like orienteering you say? Well the key difference that I understand between a rogaine and orienteering is that a rogaine you can collect checkpoints in any order, and orienteering you have to collect in the order the race directors set. Or to those that ask, why can’t you just use Google Maps? The IDEA is that part of the challenge of racing a rogaine is the tactical navigational component rather than just pure speed around a pre marked course.

Note to those who want to try rogaining… Things to pack: Fold out table, fold out chairs, highlighters in a few different bold colours (yellow is crap FYI), standard writing pen, black marker pen, ruler, scissors, clear contact. Oh and of course a compass! Be prepared food, drink and gear wise for what you expect (we expected kayaking on a lake, mountain biking on mostly trails and running through scrubby scratchy bush off trail for a total of 6 hrs). Once you get your map the time is ticking to figure out what you need to do and how to do it in the most savvy way to collect the most points. Each circle is a checkpoint and each checkpoint is assigned a number. The number refers to the amount of points you’ll get for “punching in” at that checkpoint. Eg: checkpoint 91 was worth a damn sight more points then checkpoint 14…. and they are rounded down to the nearest 10 - worth 90 and 10 points respectively. The big checkpoints are generally because they are harder and will take longer to reach. In this case checkpoint 91 was a top of Mt Joyce…400m higher than the Hash House (HH) or aka race HQ.

Checkpoint 91 Mt Joyce 469m above sea level, 406m above race HQ

So what I learned is there are a few things consider when planning a route: 1. Big points are good targets provided they are not going to be too time consuming to collect and to determine this we need to take into account distance – ruler handy here, elevation – looking at contour lines and terrain (this one is still yet to be revealed until you get out there!). 2. Look at what route makes sense to get lots of checkpoints eg: if there are a few in quick succession they may add up to more than the 90 pointer and be quicker to get! 3. Paddle points don’t have elevation so may be more predictable timing. 4. Whatever plan you make, also plan to change the plan…. several times! There’s probably many more tips and perhaps I got these ones wrong but I’ll be keeping these learnings in mind for next time!

We mapped out our route with highlighters, stuck the clues for each checkpoint somewhere handy to look at and decided what food/equipment/fluid we’ll need where, had a last minute toilet stop then lined up all within the precious 59 minutes.

We had a ball! Starting out on the trek choosing an ambitious, albeit beautiful route around the headlands of the lake, practising counting corners, walking up Spurs for stunning Wyaralong Dam views and getting thrashed by speargrass and thick Lantana. For those kiwi readers and Aussies who don’t go bush often I intended on finding a photo of this awful stuff but I couldn’t find anything that did it justice so stay tuned for my next blog during which I’m sure I’ll have another exfoliating session I can take a picture of. Try to imagine walking through a crowd of people where everyone has their fingernails out ready to scratch you as best they can and then the odd child has a stick in hand which they decide to prod you with unexpectedly wherever they like and that’s about Lantana! Why would you walk through that? Well to find a checkpoint off the track we need to follow “handrails” (thanks Rob Preston’s nav lessons!) which are features in the terrain that help you know you’re on track. Such as a fence line, ridge, spur or finding a “flat spot” in the hill. Now if you decide to avoid the scratch fest it’s very easy to lose these landmarks and therefore lose your position on the map, the checkpoint and waste time “beating round the bush”. So basically you can’t go under, over or around it you just have to go through it!

We took an anti clockwise route and decided that no matter the cost we wanted to get up Mt Joyce and would not miss out on the “scenic” route. It was a steep old track but pretty easy to follow so gave the brains a bit of a breather. The views gave us a boost (as well as the bananas consumed at the top) for a steep technical jog down to find CP 22. This one was a little sneaky out and back for us but we found with no dramas and no unnecessary elevation loss or gain. At this point in the race we’d had a feel for what the MTB would be like running on some of the trails and decided to flag most of these checkpoints. Steep fire trails, technical downhills sure looked fun…but time consuming and we were racing after all!

Spectacular views up Mt Joyce on this gorgeous Queensland “winter’s” day

We got a few mountain bike check points on the way into the run course and left our bikes with the friendly TA1 volunteers / go pro photography extraordinaires. It was nice to get back there, have a mid race Sambo (what Aussie’s call sandwiches FYI) and nail a few easy bike checkpoints on the way out. The one actual MTB trail we did get onto gave us a sweet little taster of what fun the park had to offer and Sara and I vowed to get back out there for a bike sesh another day!

I have to say cutting the mountain bike a little short was attractive to me as a paddler at this stage. Having looked out over the completely glassy dam running around in temps of the mid 20’s for a couple hours, getting in that gorgeous water was too good to wait! We got to the paddle leg with 2.5 hrs to go and decided to give it a shot to sweep the paddle course. Hilariously we were so keen to get paddling we forgot to get the easiest bike checkpoint on course a little 14 pointer basically in the carpark… whoops!

Wyaralong Dam flat as a pancake

The paddle was the other highlight for sure. Absolutely flat as a pancake it’s rare to paddle on water like that in the middle of the day, especially being used to NZ winds! We took an anti clockwise route deciding it would be an easier way to drop just one or two checkpoints and still getting the high pointers if we ran short of time. Paddling without any navigational mistakes, at a modest pace for these pocket rockets, enjoying a Sunday yarn it was a rather pleasent way to spend an afternoon actually. Seeing other teams pretty regularly meant for some good banter on course too. We got nearer to the end and realised we would sweep the kayak course and get all the checkpoints meant we had to knuckle down to ensure some safety time to get back to the finish. And of course time for a selfie to wrap up the arvo!

Stoked to sweep the kayak course!

Absolutely not forgetting checkpoint 14 on the way out after getting back our land legs we were off and away to the finish line! Finished in a time of 5 hrs 49 mins and 1060 points on our belts we managed second placed female team and 7th overall! With the calibre of athletes around us Sara and I were pretty stoked with that!

That’s a wrap!

The Wildfire Raid 6hr at Mt Joyce this year was well supported with some awesome volunteers spending their Sunday help make this fun event happen and certainly the organisers did a great job making it fun yet challenging, scenic yet shitty enough to keep us toughened up and for the top teams it seems to have the goal of clearing the course kept in sight without being easily achieved. Liam and Adam seem to be the main men behind the manpower – thank you gents!

After some post race yarns, a cold lemonade and fresh Subway Sambo that was a wrap. Watch out for next edition… Pocket Rockets 2.0. Looking forward to the next A1 series adventure race in our backyard Maroochydore on the Sunny Coast in two weeks time….the 24hr Hell’s Bells!

Post race Lantana scratches made for a few interesting conversations in my work skirt on Monday… Back to work reality after another stunning adventure weekend!

What put the “Sport” in Sports Dietitian

I grew up in a small town called Palmerston North in New Zealand with plenty of Swimming, Surf Lifesaving, Football, friends, family camping and fishing holidays to keep a kid out of trouble. Surf-lifesaving was where I found my first true love in the waves and I have been boldly calling myself a “surfer” ever since.

Competing at the New Zealand National Surf Lifesaving Championships for St Clair SLSC

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.”

Going to university in Dunedin, Otago (NZ) in 2008 was where my true adventurous spirit was born. Cultivated and nurtured well by friends around me and fuelled by wanting to get off my bum and have a break from study. I remember looking out the window on many cold and dreary winter Dunedin days, choosing a hill, putting on my shoes and running out the door for hours to see if I could get to the top of it.

Otago Peninsula - picking a hill and running to the top!

In second year (and also in winter) I took up kayaking in K1 boats for fitness for my surf lifesaving in the summer months and I remember wearing almost my entire wardrobe of warm clothes to ride to and from the kayak sheds to paddle in the pitch black wintery nights. I was also introduced to some (very!) muddy and slippery mountain biking and hilly road cycles through my different circles of adventurous friends. This is probably how I have become such a lover of the mountains and hills now - the bigger the better both on the bike and running. Naturally these interests (and lack of commitment to a single sport!) led to multi-sport racing in 2010.

Peak to Peak Multisport race involving skiing, mountain biking, kayaking and running from the top of the Remarkables skifield to the top of Coronet Peak Skifield in Queenstown, New Zealand

Side step - I wanted to be a Physio and went to university with this intention, however after taking up a couple of sports nutrition papers my interests shifted to the power of nutrition in fueling human performance and maximising potential in sport and health. Physiology and the human body in health and disease or injury has always fascinated me therefore naturally after staying on the nutrition path, I continued on to being a Sports and Clinical Dietitian. This I have always used as my secret weapon in sport. I have never been the fastest, fittest, nor had the lightest gear or the most dedicated training schedule however I have the power of nutrition up my sleeve to always perform and keep up much better than I should on paper!

2012 brought my first major event Coast to Coast where I scrimped, saved, fundraised, begged, borrowed (but stopped short of stealing as the saying goes) and trained my butt off to get a car, mountain bike, kayak and other gear, pay the race entry fee and complete the 2-day event. Coming in at 9th place as a 22 year old in the Open Women category I was stoked.

Since those days I have enjoyed many smaller events mountain biking, rogaining, multisports, trail runs, three half ironman distance events and a couple of marathons. Exciting travel also got in the way of any major events but in that time I enjoyed some overseas events and cycle touring as a means of travel through Cyprus, France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and now Australia. I also landed an amazing job with the British Army on their base in Cyprus for 2 years, where I was also exposed to living, training and competing in some pretty extreme heat! Travelling between NZ and Cyprus I realised the uniqueness of both hot and cold environments and despite moving to yet another hot location in Queensland, Australia I cannot say which environment I favour most for adventure!

Competing in Cyprus at “Olympus Man” the half ironman with a twist - from Sea to Summit (Mt Olympus at 2000m).

Reaching the top of Mt Ventoux, a famous road cycling climb in the middle of a 5 day cycle tour around the south of France with this awesome friend of mine

In 2018 I moved to the big brother country (to many kiwi’s like me) of Queensland, Australia. It was the surf and the weather that brought me here, especially after spending 4 months cycling and surfing around Europe earlier that year. But it has been the Hinterland and diversity of Australia that has kept me here, exploring every weekend and even some weekdays before or nights after work.

2019 brought with it new goals and challenges getting into Adventure Racing. It was also the year I established Ascent Sports Nutrition. These two ventures are where my need for a blog started. I hope to share with you a mash of my sport, local and overseas adventures and sports nutrition insights.

Enjoy!

Hiking Mt Barney - tallest South East Queensland peak