Dynamic

Sorry, more rubbish camera phone pictures. I was supposed to be racing...

Saturday I headed up for my first attempt at a Dynamic Adventure race. I was feeling a bit under the weather, with the onset of a horrible cold, and probably should have stayed in bed but a chance to stretch my legs was too tempting. The Intelligent Sport World final is less than two weeks away so I wanted a bit of a test of my navigation skills and a nice run in the countryside. Although as Challenger team mates Chewy and Pete are out injured and ill respectively above all I really needed to stay healthy!

Tom and Big Dave paired up and I raced solo. I opted to run first, with half a mind to skip the cycling entirely in an attempt to avoid the sick list. It was a lovely frosty day and the wildlife was out in force. I had planned a conservative start with options of how much to do on the return leg, depending on how I was feeling. Due to this choice I soon found myself breaking new trail through the frost and ice. I lost track of the number of deer, pheasants and foxes I saw as I ran alone through the mist. Overnight ice had formed on all the trees and long grass. When the wind blew it would flake of and it seemed as if it was snowing huge flakes. It was all very pretty. Visibility wasn't great but a couple of hours in it lifted for an hour or so, just long enough for some fantastic views.

My legs felt good but the cold was hampering my breathing so I took it easy and enjoyed the day. The navigation went well, with only one over mistake. I cleared all checkpoints in 3hrs 20. I got back to the transition to re-evaluate. In the name of conservation I opted out of the ride section, a move that was a little disappointing, as I thought I had a good chance to win my category. It turned out my run time was only 15 minutes slower than Tom and Dave who went on to win overall, so not at all bad.

It was a very fun event and I'll have to have a look in to doing more in the future.

photo by Lipsquid.